My brother (DrippinLead) and I purchased an Alpha-Carette compressor. We watched several videos and read many threads about coolant recovery tanks. We saw several very elegant installations which we liked very much, but we decided to install a simple, inexpensive coolant recovery tank for now. This is how we did it.
My brother found the following tank at his local O'Reilly Auto Parts store:
https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/interdynamics-3992/cooling---heating-16773/coolant-recovery-tank---universal-17482/interdynamics-coolant-return-system/mcr3/4384869
We also purchased the following clear vinyl tubing from Home Depot:
[url="https://www.homedepot.com/p/Everbilt-5-16-in-O-D-x-3-16-in-I-D-x-20-ft-PVC-Clear-Vinyl-Tube-714422/207144222"]https://www.homedepot.com/p/Everbilt-5-16-in-O-D-x-3-16-in-I-D-x-20-ft-PVC-Clear-Vinyl-Tube-714422/207144222
Add in some cable ties and the total cost was less than $20.
Here are some photos of how we installed it.
The tank was an almost perfect fit.
It needed a little support on the back, so we used a piece of wood connected by a cable tie.
We secured the tank to the frame with cable ties.
We drilled holes in the top for the input and output tubes. The tubes were inserted so that both tube ends were submerged at the bottom of the tank. This picture was taken before the compressor was started, without the added antifreeze in the tubes to prime the coolant pump.
After adding Prestone antifreeze to the tank and tubes, we started the compressor.
Here's a YouTube video of that event.
https://youtu.be/psZi-ib9nwU
Initially, the antifreeze was milky from air bubbles in the system. After several minutes, the antifreeze cleared up so much that the only way to tell if it was flowing was to open the tank cap and look for fluid turbulence.
It is our understanding that a coolant recovery tank is not required. We just wanted to keep the system clear of bubbles and allow for thermal expansion if any occurs. The compressor doesn't seem to get very hot.
We hope this helps someone who is looking for coolant recovery tank options.
My brother found the following tank at his local O'Reilly Auto Parts store:
https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/interdynamics-3992/cooling---heating-16773/coolant-recovery-tank---universal-17482/interdynamics-coolant-return-system/mcr3/4384869
We also purchased the following clear vinyl tubing from Home Depot:
[url="https://www.homedepot.com/p/Everbilt-5-16-in-O-D-x-3-16-in-I-D-x-20-ft-PVC-Clear-Vinyl-Tube-714422/207144222"]https://www.homedepot.com/p/Everbilt-5-16-in-O-D-x-3-16-in-I-D-x-20-ft-PVC-Clear-Vinyl-Tube-714422/207144222
Add in some cable ties and the total cost was less than $20.
Here are some photos of how we installed it.
The tank was an almost perfect fit.
It needed a little support on the back, so we used a piece of wood connected by a cable tie.
We secured the tank to the frame with cable ties.
We drilled holes in the top for the input and output tubes. The tubes were inserted so that both tube ends were submerged at the bottom of the tank. This picture was taken before the compressor was started, without the added antifreeze in the tubes to prime the coolant pump.
After adding Prestone antifreeze to the tank and tubes, we started the compressor.
Here's a YouTube video of that event.
https://youtu.be/psZi-ib9nwU
Initially, the antifreeze was milky from air bubbles in the system. After several minutes, the antifreeze cleared up so much that the only way to tell if it was flowing was to open the tank cap and look for fluid turbulence.
It is our understanding that a coolant recovery tank is not required. We just wanted to keep the system clear of bubbles and allow for thermal expansion if any occurs. The compressor doesn't seem to get very hot.
We hope this helps someone who is looking for coolant recovery tank options.
