Abitibi
Explorer
Hey guys,
I just started building/designing my water system on AmbuLand and instead of fully high jacking skinny's thread (sorry mate) I thought to start a new one here...
I'm planning to have 3 systems supplied by an Espar hydronic.
1) engine block
2) hot water (sink/shower/outside tap)
3) bus heater
This is what I'm going to locate under the floor:
Espar Hydronic D10W
Homemade intake and exhaust manifolds (with 3 intakes and outputs to direct coolant flow to all 3 systems)
Simple through floor drain or Gray water tank
Valves for intake manifold
Inside the camper I plan to use the following:
Poly water tank (20 gallons)
Homemade insulated aluminum hot water tank (3-4 gallons)
Water pump
Sediment filter
Expansion tank (1/4 gallon)
FPHE (heat exchanger)
Seagull IV filter
3-way valve (to bypass Seagull IV for non-drinking water and save filter life)
Two 30" flex line to cut down water pump noise
Mixing valve
Sink faucet
Shower faucet (or use same as sink) and shower head
Outside tap/shower
Propane tankless water heater (optional but I already have one)
Hot water tank:
I'm thinking to build one so that I always have a reserve of hot water ready on demand. It would be small (3-4 gallons) in aluminum and insulated by 2" rigid foam inside a plywood box. I may integrate a 12V 300W water heater and/or a coiled copper tube (heat exchanger) inside the tank so that I can keep the water hot even when not driving around. Another option might be to have a small water pump to continuously circulate the water between the tank and the heat exchanger?
Espar manifolds:
Basically, heated coolant exiting the Espar enters the intake manifold. Each manifold arm would have a valve to bypass a system. That way I can bypass the bus heater in the summer or the full engine loop if I'm camping for a while and want to maximize my hot water efficiency.
Install considerations:
If I mount a bypass valve at the intake manifold for the engine system I guess there's a risk to forget it closed while driving with catastrophic effect! (Could be solved with a 12v valve activated by ignition?)
Should I bother with a secondary hot water tank or simply go with the FPHE?
If I'm using a secondary hot water tank, how do I avoid getting cold water once it cooled down from non-use? (Built-in heat exchanger, 12v heater, small circulating pump?)
I need to allow for easy disconnect of any parts without impacting the vehicle drivability.
I still have to buy or build the heat exchanger. If I buy one it would probably be a FPHE. What I'm not sure is how many plates would be ideal. Aside from this there will be the hot water tank & manifolds to build and get a sediment filter along with some valves. For the remaining parts I've slowly managed over the past year to find most of them either new or used from fellow forum members or on sale which saved me a bundle!
I drew a basic plan of how I intend to do it (I did say basic!, lol)
I'd really appreciate everyone's input into this. I'd doubt its as straight forward as I understand it!
Cheers,
Mr. D
I just started building/designing my water system on AmbuLand and instead of fully high jacking skinny's thread (sorry mate) I thought to start a new one here...
I'm planning to have 3 systems supplied by an Espar hydronic.
1) engine block
2) hot water (sink/shower/outside tap)
3) bus heater
This is what I'm going to locate under the floor:
Espar Hydronic D10W
Homemade intake and exhaust manifolds (with 3 intakes and outputs to direct coolant flow to all 3 systems)
Simple through floor drain or Gray water tank
Valves for intake manifold
Inside the camper I plan to use the following:
Poly water tank (20 gallons)
Homemade insulated aluminum hot water tank (3-4 gallons)
Water pump
Sediment filter
Expansion tank (1/4 gallon)
FPHE (heat exchanger)
Seagull IV filter
3-way valve (to bypass Seagull IV for non-drinking water and save filter life)
Two 30" flex line to cut down water pump noise
Mixing valve
Sink faucet
Shower faucet (or use same as sink) and shower head
Outside tap/shower
Propane tankless water heater (optional but I already have one)
Hot water tank:
I'm thinking to build one so that I always have a reserve of hot water ready on demand. It would be small (3-4 gallons) in aluminum and insulated by 2" rigid foam inside a plywood box. I may integrate a 12V 300W water heater and/or a coiled copper tube (heat exchanger) inside the tank so that I can keep the water hot even when not driving around. Another option might be to have a small water pump to continuously circulate the water between the tank and the heat exchanger?
Espar manifolds:
Basically, heated coolant exiting the Espar enters the intake manifold. Each manifold arm would have a valve to bypass a system. That way I can bypass the bus heater in the summer or the full engine loop if I'm camping for a while and want to maximize my hot water efficiency.
Install considerations:
If I mount a bypass valve at the intake manifold for the engine system I guess there's a risk to forget it closed while driving with catastrophic effect! (Could be solved with a 12v valve activated by ignition?)
Should I bother with a secondary hot water tank or simply go with the FPHE?
If I'm using a secondary hot water tank, how do I avoid getting cold water once it cooled down from non-use? (Built-in heat exchanger, 12v heater, small circulating pump?)
I need to allow for easy disconnect of any parts without impacting the vehicle drivability.
I still have to buy or build the heat exchanger. If I buy one it would probably be a FPHE. What I'm not sure is how many plates would be ideal. Aside from this there will be the hot water tank & manifolds to build and get a sediment filter along with some valves. For the remaining parts I've slowly managed over the past year to find most of them either new or used from fellow forum members or on sale which saved me a bundle!
I drew a basic plan of how I intend to do it (I did say basic!, lol)
I'd really appreciate everyone's input into this. I'd doubt its as straight forward as I understand it!
Cheers,
Mr. D
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