Vapor canister refill

[htchevyii]

I bought a new one from EBay for under $10.

[RRoller123]

The only thing I see up there are $30 used ones. Can you share who is selling them new for $10? I would buy one for sure.

[geecee]

Same here. I see the used ones and I may end up buying one of those if I can't find a new one. But again....what if I bypass it completely?

For the time being I decided I'm going to try to fix mine. The problem is not replacing the charcoal since you can easily find new one at the acquarium stores (powder one, not pellets!), The tricky part is how to replace the foam that hold the charcoal in.
My canister is "leaking" charcoal because the foam is old and brittle, and I don't want it to be clogging the vapor line and fuel tank now that after a lot of effort is been all been cleaned out of debris.
I'll try to cut the canister open, replace foam pads in the upper and lower part to hold the charcoal powder in between and reglue it together also using black ducktape to hold it.
I'll take pictures when I'll get do do it, if it turns out allright, so others would be able to repair theirs.
Wish me luck.....

[RRoller123]

I think I would be tempted to cut a very large rectangular access hole in one side (the long side that sits against the bracket), and then it can be refilled, refoamed, etc and a patch glued on to hold it all in. The patch side can go against the bracket/fender wall and wouldn't be much visible at all. This I think is one of the good emmissions controls, I remember reading that a huge portion of atmospheric Hydrocarbon pollution is offgassing from fuel tanks. I plan to fix versus bypass it. My understanding is that the 2-way valve acts as a sort of pressure regulator, when the tank is rapidly filled at the gas station, or as the tank pressure increases due to temp rise, the pressure pushes the displaced saturated air through the charcoal and pulls out a significant portion of the HC. The vacuum from the running engine can also pull air through the charcoal and the HC's get burned. And the cannister provides venting to the gas tank to allow makeup air. I am still researching how this thing actually works, particularly the "two-way valve", but it is actually a pretty cool little gadget IMHO that doesn't seem to bother performance at all. For now I will keep mine in. <{:^)

[geecee]

...and so we did it!
We decided to gut the canister and check the insides to see if it is possible to "repair" it.
If you'd like to know what's inside, check out the pictures at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/55753437@N05/
I've already bought the foam and I'll cut out new pieces today, and as for the charcoal it shouldn't be a problem to find fresh material at the acquariums store.
As for re-glueing it together...keep you posted.

[TFichter]

How can I determine if my vapor cannister is doing its job and/or when it needs to be replaced?

[baltobernie]

... If you'd like to know what's inside, check out the pictures at: ...

Great idea using the chop saw for a clean cut; thanks! I'm thinking about JB Weld to re-attach the top.

I'm in the process of refurbishing mine, too. It is the round style used in earlier Spiders. Between us, we should cover most of the US cars.

I bought 2195K101 foam from McMaster-Carr. It looks to be the correct porosity for this application. I soaked it for a week in liquid gasoline to ensure it could withstand fuel vapor, and it remained intact.

Will post photos once completed. It's too darn cold to work in the garage now!

[Nanonevol]

I've got one of the sealed round vapor canisters. My system is intact and I plan to keep it. Trying to decide whether to cut the top off or cut a pluggable hole in the side. Tending toward the hole in the side as the simple solution for changing the charcoal. I don't want to mess up any spring mechanism that may be inside. Any one with experience see a problem with a 2"x2" hole in the middle of the side to pour out the old charcoal and add new from a fish store? I could then patch the hole with a larger piece cut from a detergent bottle or some thing like that.

[PhillySpider]

Does it effect the engine's performance if you just ignore the vapor canister (but keep it hosed up)?

didn't see an answer to this and wondering the same thing. what's the harm ignoring this?

[Frog2Spider]

Does it effect the engine's performance if you just ignore the vapor canister (but keep it hosed up)?

didn't see an answer to this and wondering the same thing. what's the harm ignoring this?

I have the same question?

Dave

[brackie1]

Nobody answered the question, can you just cap off the canister? What would happen?

[RRoller123]

The cap regulates the flow of make-up air back to the fuel tank, and regulates the flow of air to the intake manifold for fumes burning. the car would eventually stall, unless you had a vented gas cap, and would probably run rich from lack of air coming through the canister to the intake manifold.

[baltobernie]

I bought 2195K101 foam from McMaster-Carr. It looks to be the correct porosity for this application. I soaked it for a week in liquid gasoline to ensure it could withstand fuel vapor, and it remained intact.

Here are the photos from my refurbishment of the earlier round canister. I used this tool on my Dremel to cut the canister.



This is what you'll find.



The empty canister.



Replace with aquarium charcoal and the above-mentioned foam. The spring makes reattachment tricky; use straps, tape, etc. I used a "double bubble" epoxy.

[Nanonevol]

Thanks, that's helpful. Mine is round but different than the one shown cut above. Was that the top or the bottom cut off? I think I'll try drilling or cutting a hole in the side so I don't disturb the spring.

[baltobernie]

Sorry, top.