Catch Can / Attempt at TIG welding!!

So this is my second TIG project that I decided to do on budget with materials laying around. Never touched a TIG before my exhaust and this. It is a simple catch can for my car so I don't run the crank case vent into the intake and track oil through my intake manifolds and intake runners and then burn it. This will allow the oil to fall to the bottom of the can and the vapors to exit out of the filter. Like I said this was my second time with a TIG and any advice would be accepted.

Filler was 1/16 308L
1/16 1.5% Lanthanated Tungsten
~45 Amps
16ga 304 stainless
5 - 7 LPH Argon
The nipple were made from Galvanized steel pipe and ground on a little but I don't think enough.. Still was hard to weld to.

I started with 2 pieces of the pipe.
Http://www.projekt6.com/jackal/CatchCan/100_2820.jpg

Cut one in half and then flattened and then cut/ground into circles for the top and bottom lids
Http://www.projekt6.com/jackal/CatchCan/100_2823.jpg

Welded top and bottom on. I started using filler but it was leaving a thick bead as there was a slight edge on the top and bottom pieces that melted. These ended up being done with no filler rod used. About 1 to 2 inches at a time between rotation..
Http://www.projekt6.com/jackal/CatchCan/100_2824.jpg
Http://www.projekt6.com/jackal/CatchCan/100_2826.jpg
Http://www.projekt6.com/jackal/CatchCan/100_2827.jpg
Http://www.projekt6.com/jackal/CatchCan/100_2830.jpg

Here you can see the nipples added on. The one on the side was pushed into the can a little and then the top sat against the surface. I think these still had some of the galvanized coating as they popped some and turned everything all white. I wire brushed them after the weld was complete.
Http://www.projekt6.com/jackal/CatchCan/100_2831.jpg
Http://www.projekt6.com/jackal/CatchCan/100_2832.jpg
Http://www.projekt6.com/jackal/CatchCan/100_2834.jpg

And installed it into the car..
Http://www.projekt6.com/jackal/CatchCan/100_2835.jpg

That project [or ones just like it] are the exact reason I bought the 256. No one wanted to do them for me, I'll have to do them myself.
A thousand things like that I can make for the boats and the cars.

The welds are nice, but oil caught in the can will vaporize and the fumes will coat the engine black, back in the old days the vent pipe went to a point at the bottm of the oil pan to be blown under the car. The workmanship is very good but I'm not too keen on the design concept. actual use will prove my point.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by geezer

The welds are nice, but oil caught in the can will vaporize and the fumes will coat the engine black, back in the old days the vent pipe went to a point at the bottm of the oil pan to be blown under the car. The workmanship is very good but I'm not too keen on the design concept. actual use will prove my point.

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Thanks.. I have been running just a filter on the vent for some time and there is no coating but the oil dripped and burned off. I was planning to run this for some time and then when I am working again I plan to design a new can that will actually have another hose at the bottom that drains back into the pan. Also when I make the next, I plan to make use of AN fittings and have it actually look nice. With our motors, we dont have any way to drain back unless we weld a bung on the oil pan. There is only the one place for it to vent and I didnt want to let the oil blow under the car as it likes to track on the back of the car then and that would suck for people behind me :D How bad do you think this would be for say a month or two?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jason

Thanks.. I have been running just a filter on the vent for some time and there is no coating but the oil dripped and burned off. I was planning to run this for some time and then when I am working again I plan to design a new can that will actually have another hose at the bottom that drains back into the pan. Also when I make the next, I plan to make use of AN fittings and have it actually look nice. With our motors, we dont have any way to drain back unless we weld a bung on the oil pan. There is only the one place for it to vent and I didnt want to let the oil blow under the car as it likes to track on the back of the car then and that would suck for people behind me :D How bad do you think this would be for say a month or two?

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Dunno, all depends on the driving and condition of the motor, you should see road dust sticking to any oil on the motor, could work okay for a long time. At one time motors vented on the rocker covers and it worked until the engine started to wear then the engine got oiled. the down pipe was standard, you could always tell a worn engine by the amount of oil on the rear end of the trunk or tailgate.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by geezer

Dunno, all depends on the driving and condition of the motor, you should see road dust sticking to any oil on the motor, could work okay for a long time. At one time motors vented on the rocker covers and it worked until the engine started to wear then the engine got oiled. the down pipe was standard, you could always tell a worn engine by the amount of oil on the rear end of the trunk or tailgate.

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hmm I recenetly did a lot of work to this motor including a bump in compression and when doing so I noticed more oil loss through the vent. I wonder if it would help to have like a SS wool right below the filter. That would prevent the oil residue from coming out wouldnt it?

looks good. I just routed mine down under the truck. People always think something is wrong when ya see smoke coming from under it, but I just used 3/4" heater hose to keep the oil out of the intercooler and turbo. Mine's a powerstroke and you'd be amazed at the amount of people out there who think a diesel is right up there with a rocket motor as to how they work :O

I like it and I'm new to tig as weld but id be happy with those welds, another thing is when it comes to emptying it do u just unhook it and empty it out? A nice feature to add might be some sort of guage on the side to see how much oil collected, like two 90 nipples on the outside and a clear piece of tubing between them and then the oil would show on the outside in the clear tubing.

Yea that is the plan to empty it. I have since given this to my brother and it has a PTFE tube on the outside just as you said so he can see how full it is. I have pictures of a new one to post that I made for myself now that is 6061 3" Tube and 6063 3/4" Tube. It has a AN fitting so I can hook a AN line up. The old can also has a plug in the bottom now to drain it. My new one probably will have a plug in the bottom also. I welded it up to use until I get a chance to finish it. Gonna cut the fitting off and make a flat part to mount it to and add the plug at the bottom.

Instead of a plug, how about using a radiator type petcock for draining?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Rugar

Instead of a plug, how about using a radiator type petcock for draining?

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I thought about that or some type of valve but decided I would just stick a plug in.. Maybe a AN plug and then I have the option to change it to something else later if I wanted.

If you want that valve heres one that we use on our Subarus for quick oil changes

http://www.quickoildrainvalve.com/