Trollhole
Head Jerk
I don't venture in here much as I never really thought of my self as an expedition guy. That was until my local club started talking about it. So I guess I've got a little bit of the bug in me. Anyway I made this shower setup a couple of years ago and thought I would post up how it's done.
It rocks as far as showers go.
I used a 3.5 GPM pump. It has a built in pressure switch so it cuts off when you cut the shower off. I plumbed it for both hot and cold I just carry a small hose with a sprayer on it to clean pots and pans.
The shower part is just made out of PVC. I took out the water saver in the shower head because with the way I use my system you have an endless supply of hot water. I usually know how much hose I need for the inlet. Usually it's just a 50 ft section of the stiffest cheapest water hose you can find. The stiffer the better because when your using 150 ft the pump can suck the hose closed. Ive never had this happen but I expect it could. I used a cheap lawn sprinkler with some fiberglass screen mesh wrapped around it as my suction filter. I'd just sit it on the bottom of a stream. If I used it near a pond I'd just attach it with some rope to a coke bottle and throw it out in the pond.
The heat exchanger I found online is really nice. I haven't seen anyone use this one. It's a brazed plate exchanger. And it has probably the best thermal transfer of any heat exchanger for it's size. This is the place that I bough mine from. http://www.buyheatexchangersonline.com/ . My unit is a 6 plate system which they don't sell anymore but that just means the 10 plate one will perform probably twice as good as mine. Best yet these things are bomb proof. Made of stainless steel and copper brazed. They will handle over 400 psi. and over 400 degrees. I've had my unit freeze on several occasions with no issues. I'm using my heater line as my heat source.
I've had a dozen or more people use it back to back. Just thew my rubber floor mats down on the ground and just left the vehicle running. The only issue which is true for any heat exchanger system is not to cut off the shower and then turn it back on while sitting underneath it. Nothing worse than getting boiling water coming out on you. That is the only issue I see.
These are the temp specs of the shower. I chose the coldest water because this thing needs to work in the winter as well as the summer and even in the summer most streams are still cold. Used a cooler full of ice water for the numbers below.
pump is 3.5 gpm
cooler water temp engine rpm output temp
60 800 85
60 1200 95
60 1800 110
40 800 65
40 1200 85
40 1800 100
All of thes #'s were with the hot all the way on (3gpm)
At about 2 gpm I could get 125. with the water 10 degrees warmer you could easily get 120 dergee water at 3.5 gpm. To empty the system you simply run ut without any water for 10 seconds or so.
Setup takes about 1 minute.
It rocks as far as showers go.
I used a 3.5 GPM pump. It has a built in pressure switch so it cuts off when you cut the shower off. I plumbed it for both hot and cold I just carry a small hose with a sprayer on it to clean pots and pans.
The shower part is just made out of PVC. I took out the water saver in the shower head because with the way I use my system you have an endless supply of hot water. I usually know how much hose I need for the inlet. Usually it's just a 50 ft section of the stiffest cheapest water hose you can find. The stiffer the better because when your using 150 ft the pump can suck the hose closed. Ive never had this happen but I expect it could. I used a cheap lawn sprinkler with some fiberglass screen mesh wrapped around it as my suction filter. I'd just sit it on the bottom of a stream. If I used it near a pond I'd just attach it with some rope to a coke bottle and throw it out in the pond.
The heat exchanger I found online is really nice. I haven't seen anyone use this one. It's a brazed plate exchanger. And it has probably the best thermal transfer of any heat exchanger for it's size. This is the place that I bough mine from. http://www.buyheatexchangersonline.com/ . My unit is a 6 plate system which they don't sell anymore but that just means the 10 plate one will perform probably twice as good as mine. Best yet these things are bomb proof. Made of stainless steel and copper brazed. They will handle over 400 psi. and over 400 degrees. I've had my unit freeze on several occasions with no issues. I'm using my heater line as my heat source.
I've had a dozen or more people use it back to back. Just thew my rubber floor mats down on the ground and just left the vehicle running. The only issue which is true for any heat exchanger system is not to cut off the shower and then turn it back on while sitting underneath it. Nothing worse than getting boiling water coming out on you. That is the only issue I see.
These are the temp specs of the shower. I chose the coldest water because this thing needs to work in the winter as well as the summer and even in the summer most streams are still cold. Used a cooler full of ice water for the numbers below.
pump is 3.5 gpm
cooler water temp engine rpm output temp
60 800 85
60 1200 95
60 1800 110
40 800 65
40 1200 85
40 1800 100
All of thes #'s were with the hot all the way on (3gpm)
At about 2 gpm I could get 125. with the water 10 degrees warmer you could easily get 120 dergee water at 3.5 gpm. To empty the system you simply run ut without any water for 10 seconds or so.
Setup takes about 1 minute.
