portable tankless hot water shower heater?

[gasman]

does anybuddy know if the ecco temp comes with a 12 volt pump or is it extra.. all the literature i see does not answer this question .. and all the demo's show it hooked up to a garden hose with pressure already i assume there at home for the demo's 120 bucks plus tax plus a pump, plus a battery.. ?

 

[Hafwit]

gasman,
I didn't mean to offend with my comments, and I apologize if I did. If you have that large a group needing to do lengthy showers, your situation calls for a unique set up. If you have to carry all that water with you, you must have a huge tank. Alternatively if you can pump it from a lake or stream, you can manage this fairly easily in a remote area from your campsite. I don't always camp near a water source, so having a tank is necessary--it is too heavy to set up a shower away from my trailer, and I can manage the drainage with a stand-off base and/or a shallow ditch if needed.

 

[timber]

I have been using one for a couple years and have had no problems with this unit. However I find that instead of using it as a instant hot water source IE sucking cold water out of a 5 gallon can and trying to conserve water with a on off button at the shower head, its better to just recirculate the water back into the can until its at the temp you want. It only takes 4 or 5 minutes to get a 5 gallon can to a very hot shower temp. this way you don't have the wild temp variations from turning off and on while showering. If you have the pickup hose in a stream or a faucet just run it continuously. I bolted a small 12 v diaphragm pump right to the front of the heater and have a 20' pickup hose and a 9 or 10 foot hose to a low flow shower head that has a on off thumb button. Here is a picture of the heater as I use it. Never had a problem with it in any way. I carry it and a pett toilet in a plastic storage box in the back of my truck. For the price if it lasts for a couple seasons which it has, I'm plenty happy! Once I'm set up everyone brings there own water can over for a nice hot pressurized shower rather than hassle sun showers or heating on the stove. I have a 20ah amg battery in a pelican box that I run the pump and other 12volt things with.

anyone have any experience with this hot water shower heater that runs off propane? was thinking of buying for my CDN M101 camping trailer. $129.00 and heats hot to 150F if anyone could stand that, and heats 1 gallon per minute. Heck my on board hot water sh with no problems.ower heat system I bought to run off my coolant lines was almost 3 times that much $$$. Any comments? Pros, cons? measures 15" x 12" x 4.5"

Thanks
Rob

 

[gasman]

gasman,
I didn't mean to offend with my comments, and I apologize if I did. If you have that large a group needing to do lengthy showers, your situation calls for a unique set up. If you have to carry all that water with you, you must have a huge tank. Alternatively if you can pump it from a lake or stream, you can manage this fairly easily in a remote area from your campsite. I don't always camp near a water source, so having a tank is necessary--it is too heavy to set up a shower away from my trailer, and I can manage the drainage with a stand-off base and/or a shallow ditch if needed.

hey no problem it was late and i was tired and prolly a little cranky .. my fault.. i really like this site cuz there aint no **************.. and everybody here is pretty knowlageable and more than willing to share their know how.. ..

yeah i would say half the time im camping i have at least 2 or 3 of the girls with me sometimes more and then the rest its just me and the guys fishing or wheeling .. i almost always am camped at a lake so fresh water is not an issuue .. i carry no more than 10 gals of drinkin water it gets to heavy..

so on to the topic at hand ...
does the ecco temp come with a pump or is it extra? i cant seem to find that info .. if not were looking at 120 bucks U.S. plus a pump ,plus a battery, plus taxes.. so were at a couple of hundred bucks.. plus the weight factor

i have been looking over the coleman unit.. 299 bucks but they were on sale at canadian tire for 145 last fall ..(shoulda bought one then) this unit is complete pump and rechargable battery good for 40 mins it just looks easier to me. but that is why were here .. i would like some first hand knowlage this is the one im talkin bout.. thanx gasman

check out the video
http://www.colemancanada.ca/Catalog/APPLIANCES.en.products

http://www.colemancanada.ca/pdfs/en/2300-711C.pdf

 

[Hafwit]

The portable tankless heaters do not come with a pump as most are intended to be used with a garden hose where the water is already under pressure. When such a hose isn't available, you will need to have a pump. I like the idea of having it set up to recirculate so that the water temp is kept more constant. I think that would be easier with a larger trailer-mounted tank than using 5 gal water cans.

Here is my idea: If I were to plumb a recirculating system that warms the whole holding water tank, I suppose I would just need to have a T-valve to re-direct the flow out the showerhead when it is put to actual use. The rest of the time it would go in circles through the heater and storage tank until the desired temperature is reached. A thermometer on the tank would alert me when the desired temp was reached, then I could switch off the heater and use the whole tank of water (if needed) for the shower(s). Anybody have any comments or suggestions?

Cheers,
Greg

 

[gasman]

The portable tankless heaters do not come with a pump as most are intended to be used with a garden hose where the water is already under pressure. When such a hose isn't available, you will need to have a pump. I like the idea of having it set up to recirculate so that the water temp is kept more constant. I think that would be easier with a larger trailer-mounted tank than using 5 gal water cans.

Here is my idea: If I were to plumb a recirculating system that warms the whole holding water tank, I suppose I would just need to have a T-valve to re-direct the flow out the showerhead when it is put to actual use. The rest of the time it would go in circles through the heater and storage tank until the desired temperature is reached. A thermometer on the tank would alert me when the desired temp was reached, then I could switch off the heater and use the whole tank of water (if needed) for the shower(s). Anybody have any comments or suggestions?

Cheers,
Greg

and take that one step further run the hoses underneath your matress in the tent .. then you got a nice warm bed when its cold out.. just like in floor heating

 

[adrenaline503]

Has anyone tried sucking water from a river or lake for a unit like this? Throw in an inline filter and go? I would hate to carry all that water just to "waste" it on a shower. Maybe just dedicate a 5 gallon water can to "dirty" water.

 

[Hafwit]

I have pumped water from a lake and stream many times, though I have not passed it through one of these heaters. The principles should be the same. Careful placement of the intake and use of a filter should keep you out of trouble in most cases--it depends a great deal on the water source & quality. You need to also watch out for suspended debris and animal/plant life that can be sucked into your intake.

Cheers,
Greg

 

[gasman]

Has anyone tried sucking water from a river or lake for a unit like this? Throw in an inline filter and go? I would hate to carry all that water just to "waste" it on a shower. Maybe just dedicate a 5 gallon water can to "dirty" water.

this is the way i will be doing it . threre is no way im carrying that much water on the trailor or jeep when there is a lake full of water right beside me.. im sure a filter would be very easy to rig up..

 

[crusader]

I was checking into this very setup a while back and I was thinking of an economical way to pump the water that didn't take elecricity. I don't think there's enough "head" to just gravity feed from a water container on the roof rack and get any satisfaction from the shower.

I did come up with two as-yet untested methods, though:

1) Using a Scepter water can, fashion a schrader valve onto the vent port so that you can pressurize the water can using your onboard air tank, forcing the water out through the drain port or

2) Using a Scepter water can, fashion a barbed fitting onto the vent port so that you can attach one of those insect sprayer tanks (the ones that you pressurize with the built-in hand pump). Then pump it up, pressurizing the system as desired, forcing the water out through the drain port.

Of course, in either system, you should have a pickup tube going from the drain port to the bottom of the water tank in order to use the system upright.

I was thinking up these shower-related things to make extended minimalist vehicle-type camping/exploring seem a little more appealing to my wife, though I suspect it's a lost cause. Give me a moistened face cloth and a full stick of deodorant and I'm good for weeks.

BTW gasman---5 women?? I think I know what your expedition trailer looks like:

 

[off-roader]

Has anyone tried sucking water from a river or lake for a unit like this? Throw in an inline filter and go? I would hate to carry all that water just to "waste" it on a shower. Maybe just dedicate a 5 gallon water can to "dirty" water.

Not for this specific unit but we (my buddy's in car heat exchange unit) did on the con the last time we went. Just dropped the line into the lake and we were all (4 rigs, 8 people) able to take a nice long shower if we so desired.

 

[adrenaline503]

They make floats and filters for potable water pumps that would work well for this application. I suppose you would need 2 pumps if you wanted a potable water system too.

 

[OverlandZJ]

What pump gpm rating are you guys using with the Eccotemp?

 

[nebep]

I have NO pictures, but, just thought of this while reading this thread:

(You may have to REALLY use your imagination - I'll be trying to articulate this through text....should be interesting..)

Imagine a floating ring with a cone shaped "filter" on the bottom of it, that your intake hose attaches to the bottom of. The idea here is that the water would "fall" into your intake, and, since the intake hose is below the surface of the water pointing up, it wouldn't suck up things on the bottom of wherever you're getting your water from.

Last but not least - anyone taken a look at ZODI's extreme shower?

Manual pressurizing - the thing looks like an old fashioned bug sprayer, stashes nicely, has a propane burner stand it sits on, and is very easy to use.

 

[18seeds]

TTT anybody else have any experience with this.