I wouldn't wait 3K miles for your first run. I'd check it every thousand until you get a feel for the fill rate. You don't want your canister to fill up like a P trap, which is what your configuration can essentially amount to when and if the oil level fills above the first side port, hydraulically impeding vent flow. It appears your useable reservoir space is from the bottom of the can to the first side port. The rest of the can is not really useable as far as storing oil.

Another critical reason for checking is that you do not have any bypass provision should the canister and lower hose fill up on you to any point above the lowest side port. The commercially designed CCV filters have bypass springs/valves/routings built in, in case the operator neglects maintenance. And they port in and out from the top, affording much more useable oil storage space for the given volume of the canister... at least the Spiriacle (Donaldson) and the Racor do, which are the most common professionally engineered designs currently in commercial service that are also approved by the CARB.

So maybe keep an eye on it every 1K to start? And if you are towing over a mountain pass with a continuous high RPM demanding load, maybe a little more often during those times. High continuous loads make a very large difference in the amount of oil your canister will retain. Do not underestimate the "continuous" part... that was impressed upon me by the CCV engineer at Parker very strongly.

After you get a feel for your fill rate before risk of hydraulic trap, then you may find you can relax the number of dives under your truck. But being a diver (user name?) (San Diego?), I don't suspect you mind that much!

Some other thoughts... the long hose from the dog house to your canister is likely going to be oil coated every time you shut down. That oil will condense and gravity drain into your canister. That long tube is a lot of surface area to get caught in the cold, so it is normal to expect a bit more oil to be in your can with that configuration. Now add half again more, because the return line will likely still have atomized oil film that passed through the chore boys and didn't settle out. On shut down, those vapors lining that hose will also condense, gravity drain overnight and land in the bottom of your "Crack Case Vent" canister.

The road draft tube guys have no idea how much oil vapor they are releasing, so the drips they find at the end of their tubes are likely just this very same gravity drain condensate settling out of the hose walls. Their real blow by is in the atmosphere, on the asphalt, and asphyxiating their lungs. It's not in the can.

 

Good point, I thought about going back and putting a level reader on it so I could tell how much oil was in there. I suspect it should hold 12oz or so before it hits the inlet tube. I will check it every 30 days for a bit and see how it goes.

 

How likely is it that the amount in the catch can will exceed the amount that has dropped on the dipstick? While condensate can add to the liquid volume, it's unlikely that you will collect much more than disappears on the stick.

If you didn't previously "burn" much oil, I suspect you're not going to be collecting much in the can.

Pop

 

Doesn't the dipstick have two characteristics that distinguish it from the OP's breather hoses?

1. The dipstick self drains directly down into the oil pan, recapturing all condensate into the sump and losing zero oil (vapor condensate that didn't make it back to the sump might still be on the stick! )

2. More significantly, the dipstick tube does not have a big turbo charger pulling oil vapors through it. The dipstick is a dead end. The CCV tubing is a major ventilation / suction pass through.


One of the advantages of the stock CCV is that it drains back directly into the motor from it's perch on top of the valve cover. It just "sucks" at filtering out the transient oil in the vapors.

One way to increase the filtration without having to monitor the amount of, or independently drain, any condensate collected in a separate container is to mount an improved CCV filter back on top of the valve cover where the original one was, so it drains directly back into the sump. (This is the route I chose, and it has worked even better than I expected.)

Another way is to position the CCV filter at a height high enough above the engine block oil jacket drain typically used for bypass oil filtration systems, and plumb a drain from the bottom of the can to Tee into the bypass filtration system, or a 45 degree elbow in to the block plug. The length of this drain tube must be a certain number of inches high (as must be the filter can) and space is tight in that area, but it has been worked out in various creative ways over the years.

Having an independent catch can at or below the bottom of the engine pan affords no way to plumb what is collected back into the sump, so it seems prudent to monitor the rate of condensate retention until some sort of fill rate pattern is established. It's hard to guess at what the rate might be, since it can be different for each motor, depending on modifications, wear, and driving demands.

 

My 2 cents.

I've had my mod for about 5 years now. It looks just like the OP's photos. My CCV catch can sits by the frame below the driver's door - vents to atmosphere. I use the same copper scrubbers (about 3 of them) and no fuzzy leftovers. Every six months or so, I drain it and get about a tablespoon of oil.

Thanks for the education on crack as well.