Dave Bennett
Adventurist
Nice! :coffeedrink:
My New (and improved!) Zodi Extreme Camp Shower (lots of pics)
- Thread starter StumpXJ
- Start date
gpwpat
Adventurer
I love the soap dish. I have been planning a valvestem in my home made unit. but I have been overthinking it. you used the simplest off the shelf part there is. Brilliant.
I have been using the same garden "showerhead" but mine came with an on off valve. I love how you incorperated all teh parts to be free standing.
Mind if I copy your work?
I have been using the same garden "showerhead" but mine came with an on off valve. I love how you incorperated all teh parts to be free standing.
Mind if I copy your work?
cruiseroutfit
Well-known member
Excellent build 
StumpXJ
SE Expedition Society
Thanks guys! I havent had a chance to try it out officially in the bush yet, but I have trip coming up, and will get to use it.
The original sprayer came with an on/off valve on the end of the pole, but I cut it off as it interfered with my other plans. I use the ball valve that comes on the tank to control the flow, and also the "dial" that selects the spray pattern now has an off position. I plugged one of the patterns (Mist, I think) so all I have to do is rotate the dial a few degrees and its off.
By all means, copy away! If someone needs a part or two made, let me know. :jumping:
~James
The original sprayer came with an on/off valve on the end of the pole, but I cut it off as it interfered with my other plans. I use the ball valve that comes on the tank to control the flow, and also the "dial" that selects the spray pattern now has an off position. I plugged one of the patterns (Mist, I think) so all I have to do is rotate the dial a few degrees and its off.
By all means, copy away! If someone needs a part or two made, let me know. :jumping:
~James
Streakerfreak
Jan-Kee
stumptaco said:
Very cool, I might have to pick up one of those showers since I have been looking for a decent option and of course I will shoot you a line about those small parts. Very sweet.
MaddBaggins
Explorer
Nice job! I wish I had a lathe. I haven't used one in 20 years, but always enjoyed working with them and milling machines.
StumpXJ
SE Expedition Society
Yeah, I "organized" my photobucket stuff only to find out it changed all of my pictures. Should have left it as a jumbled mess. I will fix them this afternoon and repost.
On a side note, I used my Zodi and new shower system this past weekend in Sweden for four nights, and it worked amazingly well. More on that later.
~James
On a side note, I used my Zodi and new shower system this past weekend in Sweden for four nights, and it worked amazingly well. More on that later.
~James
Corey
OverCamping Specialist
Thanks for the update on the pics James.
Yeah, I am getting excited, mine will arrive Friday.
Got a discount coupon from Cabelas, then I sprang for faster shipping.
Will play around with the shower this weekend.
I am mainly interested in swapping out the stock showerhead that comes with it.
Sweden, that had to have been fun.
Yeah, I am getting excited, mine will arrive Friday.
Got a discount coupon from Cabelas, then I sprang for faster shipping.
Will play around with the shower this weekend.
I am mainly interested in swapping out the stock showerhead that comes with it.
Sweden, that had to have been fun.
StumpXJ
SE Expedition Society
Ok Corey, I think I have it all straightened out now, although you may have to refresh your browser once or twice to get the images to show up. Let me know if you have any questions about it or what I did, id be glad to help in anyway I can. Four things I learned from my recent trip about the shower:
First, the compressor hook-up is totally unneccesary, and is actually better to use the normal hand pump. I used the compressor the first night, and while it performed as it was intended, the shower was VERY short, as the water came out too quickly to make good use of it. The last three nights I used the hand pump (luckily the addition of the valve stem didnt affect the use of the hand pump) and I enjoyed surprisingly long showers. Its easier, as there is virtually nothing to "set-up" with the air hoses and such, and the water is not wasted. My shower consisted of: turning on the water long enough to get wet, turning it offf, then lathering myself up as usual. I then spent about 1 gallon of water rinsing, which is more than sufficient, even with my larger than average "surface area". The remaining 2 or so gallons was spent enjoying a nice hot shower to relax, just as I do at home. There was PLENTY of water for a perfectly normal shower, and if a water source was an issue, I have no doubt that two fairly quick showers could be done with one fill of the tank. The hand pump is quite effecient, and it works flawlessly. I think I normally had to pump it 3-4 sessions during the shower, with anywhere between 5-20 pumps, depending on how much water is left in the tank.
The second thing I learned is the shower rod needs some sort of clamping device. Albeit a small problem, that should be easily fixed, it was annoying nonetheless to have the shower head rotate to a spot where you didnt want it, and it wouldnt stay where I did want it. This was mostly caused by the natural bend of the tubing supplying water to the shower head. I will address this problem eventually, but it should be an easy fix once I figure it out. (but thats usually how it works huh?)
The third thing is the amount of time it takes to heat the tank. If you fill this tank with 3.5 gallons of cold water (water from the tap in Sweden right after winter is DAMN cold) it takes a LONG time to heat to an acceptable level (about 100-104 degrees for me) of shower ready temperature. This happened the first night of the stay, and it took well over 30 minutes of heating with a new propane bottle set as high as the burner would go. To aleviate this, I filled the tank in the morning the next day, and set the can in the sun with (of which there happened to be plenty of during my stay) and let mother nature do its work. The next three nights of doing this netted me a shower ready temperature in 5-8 minutes of high heating with the burner. Much more acceptable than 30+ minutes. I highly recommend doing this if it is possible.
The fourth and last thing I realized about the Zodi is the burner that comes with it makes for one heck of a nice cooking burner. It holds the weight of a large frying pan or pot full of food with ease, and the amount of heat it puts out is substantial. I used this burner many times during the weekend, and it is a very useful tool in the way of food preparation.
Here are a few shots from my weekend:
Accident on the way to Denmark, nice little 3 hour traffic jam.
Sunset on an 18km long bridge around Copenhagen, Denmark
Me trying to look as if I am not aware of myself, taking a picture of myself, while reading the worlds best publication.
View of the lake from under my awning, not a bad way to wake up each morning.
Shots of the camping set-up.
Pic of the shower system inside the enclosure.
~James
First, the compressor hook-up is totally unneccesary, and is actually better to use the normal hand pump. I used the compressor the first night, and while it performed as it was intended, the shower was VERY short, as the water came out too quickly to make good use of it. The last three nights I used the hand pump (luckily the addition of the valve stem didnt affect the use of the hand pump) and I enjoyed surprisingly long showers. Its easier, as there is virtually nothing to "set-up" with the air hoses and such, and the water is not wasted. My shower consisted of: turning on the water long enough to get wet, turning it offf, then lathering myself up as usual. I then spent about 1 gallon of water rinsing, which is more than sufficient, even with my larger than average "surface area". The remaining 2 or so gallons was spent enjoying a nice hot shower to relax, just as I do at home. There was PLENTY of water for a perfectly normal shower, and if a water source was an issue, I have no doubt that two fairly quick showers could be done with one fill of the tank. The hand pump is quite effecient, and it works flawlessly. I think I normally had to pump it 3-4 sessions during the shower, with anywhere between 5-20 pumps, depending on how much water is left in the tank.
The second thing I learned is the shower rod needs some sort of clamping device. Albeit a small problem, that should be easily fixed, it was annoying nonetheless to have the shower head rotate to a spot where you didnt want it, and it wouldnt stay where I did want it. This was mostly caused by the natural bend of the tubing supplying water to the shower head. I will address this problem eventually, but it should be an easy fix once I figure it out. (but thats usually how it works huh?)
The third thing is the amount of time it takes to heat the tank. If you fill this tank with 3.5 gallons of cold water (water from the tap in Sweden right after winter is DAMN cold) it takes a LONG time to heat to an acceptable level (about 100-104 degrees for me) of shower ready temperature. This happened the first night of the stay, and it took well over 30 minutes of heating with a new propane bottle set as high as the burner would go. To aleviate this, I filled the tank in the morning the next day, and set the can in the sun with (of which there happened to be plenty of during my stay) and let mother nature do its work. The next three nights of doing this netted me a shower ready temperature in 5-8 minutes of high heating with the burner. Much more acceptable than 30+ minutes. I highly recommend doing this if it is possible.
The fourth and last thing I realized about the Zodi is the burner that comes with it makes for one heck of a nice cooking burner. It holds the weight of a large frying pan or pot full of food with ease, and the amount of heat it puts out is substantial. I used this burner many times during the weekend, and it is a very useful tool in the way of food preparation.
Here are a few shots from my weekend:
Accident on the way to Denmark, nice little 3 hour traffic jam.
Sunset on an 18km long bridge around Copenhagen, Denmark
Me trying to look as if I am not aware of myself, taking a picture of myself, while reading the worlds best publication.
View of the lake from under my awning, not a bad way to wake up each morning.
Shots of the camping set-up.
Pic of the shower system inside the enclosure.
~James
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The compressor idea is good but you need to reduce the pressure a bit. If you put in a truck wheel air nozzel, they lock on a bit better as they have gaskets and a nut. Also if you had a small air tank and say put only 25-35 psi in it to keep the pressure up without dropping all the water quickly,, could even make a small low pressure tank from pvc? I really like the whole shower stand and soap dish too..
Good work!!
Good work!!
StumpXJ
SE Expedition Society
As I mentioned, I tried it with a regulator on the air line, down to 20 psi, and it still uses the water too fast. In all honesty, it makes a very simple piece of equipment, way too complicated. The rubber shrader valve works well, but I was going to replace it with a motorcycle style "bolt-in" valve. However, after using the system, its not worth the effort. The hand pump is perfectly fine when using the shower, in my opinion.
Thanks! ~James
Thanks! ~James