Broken, cracked, discolored Nalgene overflow bottle

[Daves]

We have (2) Lexan 1000 mL bottles we are using for water and oil overflow. The water overflow bottle is holding up fine, but the oil overflow is badly cracked. How can we prevent it from cracking if we replace it?

[LSU Dave]

The only thing that I can think of is that the oil is corroding the nalgene in some form. I've never personally seen a nalgene oil overflow before probably for this reason.

[Agent4573]

line it with aluminum foil

[Z]

Lexan doesn't like hydrocarbons. That's why polycarbonate (Lexan) helmets carry a warning not to paint with oil based paints - they crack up.

Metal is best. A soldered up soup tin will do, but polished aluminium looks better.

[MikeWaggoner at UW]

Use bigass beer cans. You get can 32 Oz aluminum cans, they're lighter than nalgene bottles, and good for higher temps.

[Chris Boyden]

Instead of a ghetto overflow, how about a purpose built overflow bottle from Jaz.

[UTA racer rikki]

Dave,

We have used the Nalgene bottles for years. While they crack, they don t ever leak. It sounds strange, but it's true.

[dane]

couldn't you use the HD polyethylene nalgene bottles?

Isn't PE real inert.

[Daves]

beer cans: Not durable enough.
Jaz overflow: Looks like a good possibility, onl y about $19

Erick, our Nalgene bottle has cracked, and it leaks.

Dane, Nalgene states the following about their HDPE bottles: "Withstands temperatures from -100?C (-148?F) to 120?C (248?F)" Our oil temperature could possibly be higher than 248?F, so we would prefer to avoid HDPE material.

[Z]

Dave,

A good place to look for these "catch tanks" is in the kitchen section of a hardware store or supermarket (or whatever you call those shops in US).

Polished stainless steel cooking pots or kettles, with a bit of TIG welding, make great looking catch tanks. Two small aluminium pots welded open end to open end also works well. Aluminium cookware is 1000 series and easy to weld. Two second-hand bowl-shaped stainless steel kitchen sinks welded together, with a bit of internal baffling, make a neat exhaust muffler (the baffling is the "baffling" part).

There are so-called "Reject" shops here (Australia) where you can buy quite nice "Made in China" S.S. cooking pots for $2 each.

Z

[osubeaver]

Or you could just get some 6061T6 sheet metal, shear it, bend it, and TIG it and have a tank in whatever crazy shape you might dream up.

[Jeff The Pyro]

the gatorade overflow bottle is calling to you...

[Daves]

Problem is solved. Our chassis leader picked up an $0.89 empty tin paint can at Lowe's. Of course, we must paint it and hide it because it doesn't look as saucy as the Nalgene bottle.