Camp Shower Showdown

[Rando]

Would a pot on your stove heated to boiling and dumped in a container of water be a more efficient means of heating water? certainly less bulk and redundancy. And BTW, does dumping 1L of 100C water into 3L of 50C water produce 4L of 62.5C water?

Yup, as long as all your water has the same specific heat capacity .

 

[boxcar1]

Heat exchainger system is an interesting idea. I do foresee prolonged wait times on cold mornings when the rig has set all night and needs to warm up before producing hot water.
Plus, having to cold start a rig every time I want hot water doesn't sound appealing. The whole high idle thing in camp...
I have used a Colman Hot water on demand for years. Instant hot water, adjustable temp control, reliable, nearly no set up and versatile .
I have had to replace the pump 1 time in 8 years.

 

[Chris Boyd]

Heat exchainger system is an interesting idea. I do foresee prolonged wait times on cold mornings when the rig has set all night and needs to warm up before producing hot water.
Plus, having to cold start a rig every time I want hot water doesn't sound appealing. The whole high idle thing in camp...
I have used a Colman Hot water on demand for years. Instant hot water, adjustable temp control, reliable, nearly no set up and versatile .
I have had to replace the pump 1 time in 8 years.

For me, it's only about 5 mins for the engine to heat up enough that it would be heating the first circulation round pretty well. if it's that cold, then i'm going for 2 recirculations anyway! Usually, I need to charge batteries from the provisous night's fridge and lighting drain, so it's a win-win. No hi-idle required to really do this (though it would help on the charging side).

I actually need to test everything this weekend, so I'll measure from a cold start what it takes.

 

[Chris Boyd]

Just a follow up on the cold start comments. With my Helton Sunday morning:

45 degree ambient. 62 degree initial engine coolant temp, by the time I got the shower kit out and hooked up (8 mins or so) engine coolant temp was at 150 degrees. Fetched some water from the hose, 52 degrees.

First pass water rise was to around 75 degrees, took about 5 mins to get the whole 5gals through (my pump is one gpm), second recirc was at almost 100 degrees as the engine coolant was now around 175 degrees. So total of about 15 mins and had a nice hot, 100 degree shower from a completely cold engine. With topped up batteries!

 

[Redman333]

Why would someone choose that over say an Eccotemp L5? And it looks huge. Maybe cuz I come from activities where one has to make do with much less weight I just can't wrap my head around the hassle and compromises involved in some of these shower rigs, having seen the thread rise zombielike from the past.

Would a pot on your stove heated to boiling and dumped in a container of water be a more efficient means of heating water? certainly less bulk and redundancy. And BTW, does dumping 1L of 100C water into 3L of 50C water produce 4L of 62.5C water?

Do the Ecco temp L5 models have to be recirculated in order to have hot water or are they hot enough to just run once. What's the temp rise from ambient on these units.


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[Woods]

It does not need to be recirculated. I'm not sure on the temp rise, but I've used mine in freezing temps and it puts out nice steaming hot water.

Do the Ecco temp L5 models have to be recirculated in order to have hot water or are they hot enough to just run once. What's the temp rise from ambient on these units.


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[Redman333]

It does not need to be recirculated. I'm not sure on the temp rise, but I've used mine in freezing temps and it puts out nice steaming hot water.

Good to know. I may just go ahead and order one of these then. If I do I'll be selling my zodi hot shower setup. If anyone is interested. VERY CHEAP.


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[Skennedy]

I just recently received a Glind hot water system from Australia......great unit....I had a couple of them in Australia when I lived there.
I will do a write up on the unit when I get my Jeep back and get it installed, but for now here is a link.

http://www.glind.com.au/

 

[Nd4SpdSe]

I have a Matin on-demand propane hot water heater. I can't seem t find it anywhere else, but seems to only be found in Canada. It works great, but the problem I have is that I'm jealous of the EcoTemp L5 users who can put it in a Pelican case outside of their trailers. I`d like to be able to mount it and keep it setup on the trailer like they do and easily made ready to go when I need it. Pelican cases that are that size don`t really exist, or their much larger and don't fit well where I install and use it. If we`re going easy, we can take 2 showers with a 20L water jug. I equipped the trailer with a 60L tank plus holders for 2x 20L jerry cans.

 

[cactusjk]

Still looking for feedback on the Mr Heater Boss shower systems.

 

[Fireman78]

I have several types of showers. I must say the Zodi Hotman Extreme is the most trouble free by far. Simple and reliable. The Basecamp unit is nice too but can be finicky at times.


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[Corey]

Still looking for feedback on the Mr Heater Boss shower systems.

That is the one like the Basecamp right?
If so, I have one, been using it for a few years now for showering and to do the dishes.
I think the newer Boss ones are just an updated version of the one I have like in the video below.

 

[cactusjk]

Yes - it is the updated one. Hard to find any user feedback on the new one.


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[Corey]

I read some reviews of the new one on Amazon, and some where having some problems with them.
I was reading up on them in the summer.
Have not had one problem with mine.
I bought mine after coming across Todd's video.

He has some great vids, I bought a new grill/BBQ after seeing him demo one, I think it is made by Blackstone.

 

[cactusjk]

I am still leaning towards the Boss for our teardrop.


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