Camp Shower Showdown

[homemade]

Whats quirky about it? One could plumb it to cycle water while driving thus wasting absolutely zero fuel be it gasoline, diesel or propane. Its ideal for the 'set it and forget it' type that don't want to have to pack one more thing and plan to use them heavily. Even while using at a standstill I can heat 5 gallons for pennies worth of gasoline, something you can't do with the rising cost of throw-away propane cylinders that are not intended to be refilled. To compare the longevity of a engine heat exchanger with some of the others is nearly impossible, under normal (off-road use included) circumstances the heat exchanger will never wear out. Hence why they are used in the marine and industrial applications regularly. Its by not means the 'one size fits all' answer but to call it quirky is naive at best.

There is a reason a handful of Aussie companies make engine based heat exchangers for use all over the Outbacks of the world, they work

You are selling something, I'm not. But from some government web site

"For every two minutes a car is idling, it uses about the same amount of fuel it takes to go about one mile"

I think you said 10 minutes to heat water, maybe 10 minutes for couple people to shower? Vehicle gets maybe 15mpg - ~$2.50 for shower(s). Even if the #'s aren't exact, you get the picture. Can of propane $2.50 but you can attach the Coleman to a large refillable propane cylinder if you want. You get many showers and a lot of other use from the $2.50 disposable cylinder. Plus you can turn it on and off easily during use if you want to save fuel during shower or between people using it.

Pollution difference or "carbon footprint" - easy to guess the difference but I'm sure if someone was concerned they could look it up.


To each his own but "naive at best", hmm maybe "quirky", at best but there is no need to be contentious.

 

[Errant]

I use the the Zodi hot tap. Picked it up for $20 at a garage sale, sill new in box. Didn't have high hopes, after reading threads like these. Turns out, it works great. Gets very hot, very fast. Pump puts out plenty of water to wash and condition my long hair, without being overly wasteful.

 

[homemade]

Not true. Last visit to the Grand Canyon, we left our 'solar bag' on the picnic table in the sunlight to heat up. When we got back to the campsite from a little hike, the damn crows had pecked through it! :Wow1: We had no other food items or garbage out other than the shower. Couldn't believe it, but we had no 'shower' the rest of the trip out. I tried patching it up, but it still leaked. I think the brand was Seattle Sports 5 gallon.

So, don't leave your solar shower unattended.

Funny, same sort of think happened to a Coleman collapsible water container. If you have never seen one of these containers, they are pretty tough, but a crow at the Grand Canyon pecked right through one. Powerful crows, I've never punctured one otherwise.

 

[Honu]

You are selling something, I'm not. But from some government web site

"For every two minutes a car is idling, it uses about the same amount of fuel it takes to go about one mile"

huh ? that seems awful high my computer shows about .3 GPH at idle if I remember but it was close when I was thinking of using one of these heaters most others I know are along this line ? a guy with a FZJ80 was using about .6 GPH


those gov numbers are way off IMHO
the fact they are trying to relate MPG to idle shows how stupid the gov is once again !
for fun do the math of a car that gets 15 MPG what the gov says it burns in a hour at idle !
now figure out that same 15MPG car going 15 MPH and what it burns in a hour

 

[ddog45]

I also use the hot zodi hot tap. For years I have hated the the pump and the need for D batteries. So after years of complaining I stopped at harbour freight and purches an off brand bilge pump for seventeen bucks now my zodi weak tap rips. I can even have a water fight now if I want to. I think I may give all my friends that have hot taps bilge pumps for a nice spring gift.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

You are selling something, I'm not.

And long before I was selling something, I was looking for something to use personally. I own a propane powered water heater and while it worked OK it left me looking for other options. My experience and preference has far less to do with what I sell rather what I sell is based on my experience

But from some government web site... "For every two minutes a car is idling, it uses about the same amount of fuel it takes to go about one mile"

You know what they say about statistics. One can easily find many other 'statistics' on the web that say more like 1 gallon per hour or even 1 gallon for 2 hours. Even the gas guzzling FZJ80 burns just .6 gallons per hour. According to the computer on my Tacoma I burn ~.5 gallons/hour at a warm idle. Lets continue on with these 'statistics'. For that 10 minutes to heat water (~15 gallons) for ~10 people your looking at a .25 cents, figuring gas at $3.00/gallon. That equates to ~1.7 cents per gallon of hot water. On the other hand the Zodi requires a $3 bottle of propane to heat ~50 gallons of water, or ~6 cents per gallon not including batteries. Sure you can use rechargeable batteries and larger propane cylinders but that doesn't work for my application so it seems quirkier for my needs to pack around a propane cylinder for a shower.

Its all beside the point, the water can heat while you drive or warm up the vehicle for the day thus using zero additional fuel, many choose to plumb their systems in this matter.

Even if the #'s aren't exact, you get the picture.

Right back at you

Plus you can turn it on and off easily during use if you want to save fuel during shower or between people using it.

On or off you say? Kinda like a vehicle's engine or the pump in my tank of preheated water eh? With the Zodi you HAVE to turn it off in between water or uses or it will meltdown along with the obvious savings of fuel and water.

To each his own but "naive at best", hmm maybe "quirky", at best but there is no need to be contentious.

Not being contentious, just disputing your lack of concept on the process of an engine based heat exchanger. I have and will repeat that there isn't a single hot water system that fits the needs of all, but again just because you can't make an engine based system work while many others can and do doesn't make it quirky.

 

[NuggetHoarder]

I'm currently building my own shower system. I won't finish it for another month or so, but I'll share what I have so far.

The inspiration came from the Zodi Fire Coil. I like the concept but found it was a single purpose item and I wanted to make one that is more flexible.

First, my criteria is that most items in my rig MUST have multiple uses. A dedicated shower system just doesn't fit the bill for that. I want components of a system that will also help me pull water out of a creek, or containers that double for other purposes or hoses that can be used in other places. I have also dropped all propane items from my gear so I am not dependent on propane. With that in mind, here are the parts:

• Rule Charge N' Flow RP280KR westmarine 100
• evergreen outdoors outback porta-privy amazon $66
• Gilmour Flat Hose 1/2"x50' FDA garden hose amazon $25 Need 2
• homemade copper coil with hose fittings and storage bag
• two 5 gallon buckets

This system may cost a few dollars more than a Zodi fire coil, but it has many more uses.

Basically, the system is this. You fill one 5 gallon bucket with water. Raise it about 4 feet off the ground. Run the garden hose to the copper coil. Throw the copper coil onto a campfire (or gasoline stove if there's a fire ban). Coming out of the copper coil is the second garden hose which runs to a second 5 gallon bucket that is empty and is on the ground.

Gravity will push the water from the high bucket, through the hot copper coils, and into the lower bucket. Put the Rule Charge N' Flow pump into the second bucket with the hot water and use that to take a shower.

It goes something like this...

Any feedback would be great since I haven't actually built one yet.

 

[ETAV8R]

I like the fire coil idea. Looks like a great alternative/addition to having a solar shower bag.

 

[cico7]

I built my shower from a sunshower shower head, some fittings and tubing, and a reliance water can. It works great and I can use it for dishes too.

Pics of this??

 

[Honu]

one of my scepter water cans is black which I leave out so it can get warm its nice to have and generally gets pretty warm with some sun

I have also used it along with just a basic 12 v drop in pump that came with my camper to use for hosing off the kids or feet or ?

also I have gave serious thought to using this setup for showers ? just turn the coleman water on and circulate it till its warm enough and put a trigger switch that is water proof for the pump on the nozzle handle

 

[cruiseroutfit]

[*]Rule Charge N' Flow RP280KR westmarine 100

I'm always on the lookout for accessories and upgrades we can offer with the heat exchangers I offer, that is a pump I had never seen before, pretty impressive volume. I'm interested to know if the stats are correct though, everywhere I look I see it moving 280 GPH or 4.67 GPM, that is a ton of water like waaaaaaay too much for a shower. It wouldn't have much time to heat and even if it did it would make a mess of the ground and your fresh water supply. Looks like it has 3 power options but I can't see the GPH ratings on the others. At the 280 GPM mark it only lasts for roughly 20 minutes on a charge and then takes 10-12 hours to recharge. Again the lower ratings may very well work better? If you find some numbers on the lower two power settings I would be most interested.

For comparison the 12V shower we use with our kits moves just under 2 gallons per minute at that is perfect for a shower. If the RP280KR has a lower setting in this range it could be something I look into.

 

[TangoBlue]

Who are you kidding? Like you ever take showers!

You don't think I wash my truck with cold water do you?

 

[bob91yj]

I've got the Coleman on demand. The pump on mine gave up, haven't been able to find a replacement, Coleman was out of stock last I checked. I saw another poster had replaced his.

Overall I was very happy with it's operation, it needs a valve at the end of the optional shower head. Battery pack has decent life without recharge, and it's relatively frugal on propane use. I keep thinking it didn't work while charging either which could be annoying.

 

[slus]

Zodi Extreme here. Would have built my own but none of the big box stores near me had a 2+ gallon Stainless Steel bug sprayer to do it with when I needed it, so I just got the zodi.

Works great, even with the kind of lame shower head that comes with it. I'll be replacing it with a sink sprayer before the next trip. I've never tried the burner that came with it, I don't use propane for anything else so I just heat it on my coleman stove. One tank at 110 degrees or so works for both of us, the girl likes hot showers so she goes first, I use it when it has cooled down a bit. Usually enough for two navy showers with enough left to spray out the shower shelter.

 

[bob91yj]

Just checked the Coleman site, found the part I needed and got it ordered. New pump, and I got a new battery while I was there for $42.