In case you haven't noticed, we've been doing a little work on the CrowsWing. We're at the 3 1/2 year mark before we are able to depart on our nomadic-like lifestyle trip. Theyears since it's been "completed" has given us time to really try out the trailer life and see what we can improve upon.
One of those is our shower system. The system itself - the Triton water heater - works wonderfully, especially if you remember to take the heater inside in the winter so the water left in the lines doesn't freeze and crack - causing a huge leak for your first shower in the spring. Fun times, but not irreparable.
The original setup, as used in the Tundra, was a portable Triton stored in a box which doubled as a shower floor.
This was cool looking and great for the truck camping. We used the same setup in the teardrop at first. The water heater conveniently hangs on the propane locker in use. Storing the unit was the issue. Boxed up into it's floor/box we stashed the whole setup in the basement. Bouncing the trailer down the road caused the water left in the the heater to flow out and dampen our camp chairs, shoes, awnings, etc and just generally make a little soggy mess every time we packed up camp and moved. It wasn't devastating just irritating. Enough so that we started carrying the shower kit in the truck bed and not the trailer.
Fast forward a year or two and serendipity falls in your lap. One of our friends, Bill Micks of the Virginia Outdoor Center was cleaning out his closet so to speak, and came across this camera case a friend of his had given him. He told us he had this Pelican case he didn't use and if we could find a use for it we could have it. Of course we said, "sure" because you can never have too many Pelican cases, right? Turns out it was a big! case. We remembered reading on ExPo that someone had used a Pelican case for a shower unit. A quick internet search confirmed our aging memory banks were infallible (in this case - lol ) and that bobwohlers had posted about just such a case in his
Trailer Hot Water Shower Box thread.
Sure enough the case we were given is a Pelican 1550, just about the perfect size for a Triton water heater
We spent some time gathering the necessary hardware. We decided the propane lines and water connections at the heater itself should be quick connects. The Propane Warehouse and Amazon hooked us up for those pieces. The fun began after that....
There was measuring to be done of course, always with the measuring, always multiple times. The basic layout started out like this..
We started with hanging the box on the trailer. It's easy when your walls are about an inch thick giving lots of bite for screws and bolts.
The box itself is very sturdy - and sturdily attached to the trailer wall. Though 1550 is a big case, it still isn't any wider than the fender or the propane locker. It's not exactly sleek, but the box I was planning on building for this project wasn't going to be sleek either, and this one gives new life to an older piece of kit.
Then we hung the Triton in the lid
We installed the heater even before our fittings came in. Then we had to install the fittings. Luckily the heater is easily removable from the Pelican lid. We got to hook all our lines and test our fittings for leeks......no, I mean leaks......of course we had some, but they were water leaks - much better than the more explosive like propane leaks. After a little tool time with teflon tape those leaks were fixed.
You know it's a good day when you can end up in hot water
