People will probably correct me if I'm wrong, but I expect that you can get
some idea of the condition of your charcoal cannister by just removing it
and shaking it. If it feels and sounds like the contents are one solid
charcoal briquette, then you would want to probably replace the thing (Or
drill it, empty it and refill it with activated charcoal). But if it still
seems to have a granulated charcoal filling, see if you can vacuum air
through it with a hand pump. If it still passes air it's probably in okay
shape.
Any one got a good plan for drying one out? I'd like to try to dry my
cabriolet's charcoal canister out, perhaps just sitting it on a warm intake
manifold upside-down with the inlet port being sucked on directly by a hose
to the throttle body and the bottom open to atmosphere.
Does the charcoal not give up it's trapped vapours as readily as it absorbs
them?
Which leads me onto another train of thought, how do they get glogged in
the first place? Is it a hiccup of liquid gasoline that gets in there? Is
it other crud managing to circulate through the vacuum lines, like dirt and
dust?
Any list vendors sell charcoal canisters for many types of VWs? (Busdepot
has one for the 70s buses)
I haven't seen any replies to the thought of re-filling one with activated
charcoal from an aquarium store, does anyone know a good reason not to?