Portable hot shower system help! (1 Viewer)

[The Jade Bean]

Ok everybody we need your help making a easily portable hot shower system. I've looked all through the net (well maybe not all of it) and haven't turned up what I'm looking for. What I'd like is a hot water shower system that is:
1. Easily portable between trailer, rig or to shower site away from camp.
2. It can't be dependent on the cars engine/radiator, etc.
3. It can only be dependent on electricity.
4. It needs to be able to be broken down into sections for clean-up and or easy repair.

My original thought was to use a water container and have an RV pump draw the water from the container and then have it pass through a heat exchanger and then through a shower head...voila! However I'm not sure that a heat exchanger will heat the water fast enough for that to work. So that's probably a bust!

My second thought is in Central America you often see in a shower what's called a "Widow Maker". It is a shower head with essentially a element that as the water passes over it, it is heated instantly through 110 that is hooked up to the shower head. They call it the Widow Maker cause if you touch it while taking a shower you will....you get the idea. So the same idea as the first one but no element cause you have the Widow Maker.

Please help me make this happen!!! No, no hot showers are not an option as I (the man) love a hot shower.

Thank you in advance!
-Daniel

For you fellow picture people...





Our trailer I'm building.




Our rig I'm building.




Our water jug I was thinking we would use.




The pump I was thinking we would use.

Thanks again Mudders!

 

[Foreigner]

I use a Lorenzetti 220v widow maker (nearly) every day. Never had a problem with it, other than an occasional mild buzzing sensation. As long as it's grounded per the instructions, you should be fine.

My other thought would be LP. If you are using it for anything else, you should pick up an instant hot water heater.

 

[Foreigner]

A friend of mine in the jungle, with no plumbing, has this setup. Obviously a little more time-consuming:

 

[The Jade Bean]

I use a Lorenzetti 220v widow maker (nearly) every day. Never had a problem with it, other than an occasional mild buzzing sensation. As long as it's grounded, you should be fine.

My other thought would be LP. If you are using it for anything else, you should pick up an instant hot water heater.

First off ,thank you! I'm going back for 3 weeks pretty soon to HN and I was going to pick up a few Widow Makers to play with. I've used them but never bought one before so I'll have to see what I can find. It would be nice to have the hot water for other things but the shower is the priority as of right now.

I did think about a simple setup like your friends, but when the heated waters out that's it. Also you have to shower before dark cause the water cools fast! I was thinking if we went hat route it would be a good idea to paint the container black so it absorbs heat better/faster?

If we did LP, say something as simple as heating water in a pan and then pumping it into a shower head? Or are you thinking a LP water heater?


Thanks!

-Daniel

 

[Foreigner]

LP on-demand water heater (calefón), also very popular here. Definitely bigger and bulkier than the Lorenzetti, but better heat and potential for higher pressure. The widow makers need fairly low pressure to heat properly, but you can pump a lot through a calefón.

 

[The Jade Bean]

Ok I'll look that up when I get back down there. Thanks!

-Daniel

 

[The Jade Bean]

Anybody used one of these?




Thoughts?

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000TXOJQ4

-Daniel

 

[alia176]

Anybody used one of these?


View attachment 677451

Thoughts?

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000TXOJQ4

-Daniel

Daniel,

That's the unit we use in our camper. Very easy to use, self igniting with water flow and any pump will do. Generally what I do is to heat up a 10g tank in recirc mode for about five minutes on "high". The water tank is insulated and the warm water is great for a family shower (three people). I don't like using the heater as an instant on option due to the scalding issue and not to mention the wasted water (as the temp go from scalding to warm you tend to waste the water).

The unit is not made with high quality parts so keep that in mind as you handle it. Mine is still in good shape but it doesn't move very much or very far from its nest in the tongue box. I don't disconnect the LP or the water hose at its base unless I need to do some PM. The one D size battery usually last two camping seasons, which surprises me a tad.

You're not interested in an engine dependent heating solution but that's what I got in the 80. A helton heat exchanger and a very simple shower head with a built in pump. This works a treat. Again, I simply heat up a five gal jug of water (Scepter) in recirc mode as soon as we arrive at the camp. While the engine is cooling down and we're getting the shower tent ready, she's good to go. Turn off the engine and then use the shower head for showering and tossing it into the container (when not in use) so that it keeps recircing and extracting every little bit of heat from the coolant. Just another data point.

HTH.

 

[The Jade Bean]

Daniel,

That's the unit we use in our camper. Very easy to use, self igniting with water flow and any pump will do. Generally what I do is to heat up a 10g tank in recirc mode for about five minutes on "high". The water tank is insulated and the warm water is great for a family shower (three people). I don't like using the heater as an instant on option due to the scalding issue and not to mention the wasted water (as the temp go from scalding to warm you tend to waste the water).

The unit is not made with high quality parts so keep that in mind as you handle it. Mine is still in good shape but it doesn't move very much or very far from its nest in the tongue box. I don't disconnect the LP or the water hose at its base unless I need to do some PM. The one D size battery usually last two camping seasons, which surprises me a tad.

You're not interested in an engine dependent heating solution but that's what I got in the 80. A helton heat exchanger and a very simple shower head with a built in pump. This works a treat. Again, I simply heat up a five gal jug of water (Scepter) in recirc mode as soon as we arrive at the camp. While the engine is cooling down and we're getting the shower tent ready, she's good to go. Turn off the engine and then use the shower head for showering and tossing it into the container (when not in use) so that it keeps recircing and extracting every little bit of heat from the coolant. Just another data point.

HTH.

That's good to know its not super durable. I'm interested in having Helton heat exchanger as a back up or even as the main and the other as the back up. I've seen lots of threads on the Helton, but I've never been able to clearly understand the install...does it require you to tap into your coolant system? Can you or anyone recommend a build thread that's super detailed for slow folks like myself? Thanks all!

-Daniel

 

[The Jade Bean]

Ok so I found a good/basic article online about the Helton hot water system here: http://blog.campingshowerworld.com/?p=3

And here's a kit for sale: http://www.campingshowerworld.com/helton-hot-water-kit.html





I'm still not sure where to hook it up on our rig, but I'll take a peak under our hood. Should I buy a kit or just the heater core and build the rest up from there? I ask cause I'm wondering if the supplied pump will be strong enough to use for other things like transferring water between things or I'm wondering how far the pump could pump the water (say I wanted the shower 10-20' from the camp site). Also wondering cause i might like to pick out my own shower head. Thanks everyone!

-Daniel

 

[Pearly]

I have that shower unit! It works well! It's hot here in Malaysia, so I have a 5 gallon water bottle in the back which is heated by ambient temps. Plug the shower into the lighter socket and away we go! It is not exactly hot water, but close to body temp and very refreshing!

 

[alia176]

I found couple of pics in this thread: https://forum.ih8mud.com/camping-outdoor-gear/543930-my-hot-water-project.html starting on post #35.

I have that same 12v shower head/pump combo as pictured above and have no complaints. To me, it's all about water conservation so a penny with a small hole is used as a restrictor in the shower head. It should work with a 25' hose I suspect. It's a very simple system and works in other situations as well (water transfer).

Should you buy the kit? Yes. It's easier to have everything at once and be done with it. Kurt also sells them http://www.cruiseroutfitters.com/helton.html

I really like the Tee fittings that are made for this kit vs buying/making your own Tee, but that's just me.

 

[spressomon]

AC: I also have an L5 water heater. It works great for larger groups or maybe a base camp set-up. A couple years ago I was on a straw-bale building project and the L5 supplied 30-showers each day without a problem. We had an unlimited water source (well) so just turn it on, dial in the water temp desired and shower. If we have an unlimited water source we just turn the L5 on, dial in the water temp desired and let the shower water flow until each shower is done.

Otherwise for typical back-country camping where we're limited on water we just heat the appropriate amount of water in a Scepter water container or 5-gallon collapsible coated nylon bucket for maximum water conservation. Works great this way too...heats 5-gallons of water up very quickly. Then we just pump our shower water directly out of the water container.

I have a deluxe hand held shower head configured with my L5 system along with a Flowjet/Surflo 12v high pressure, auto-sensing, pump. I've gotten the flow down to .75gpm (drilled hole in the penny trick) at about 35-40psi. Its darn near like being at home

OTOH I also have the Helton Hot Water heat exchanger you have pictured above mounted to my 100-Series. I had the blue colored Helton Shower water heater prior to that but Ali wanted it so I sold it to him . The Helton gets used on every trip that is more than a couple days in length. It works great for smaller groups...2-3 folks is perfect. It will heat 5-gallons of water, enough hot water for 4 water conserving style showers, in about 10-minutes depending upon the water's ambient temp of course...sometimes shorter time and sometimes longer .

I also use a kitchen sink style sprayer for easy and quick water conservation apart of the Helton set-up along with a self coiling hose, Flojet/Sureflo 12v pump with water sensing flow shut off. The whole system is compact, quick to deploy and easy to use. And the non-Helton pieces fit into a laptop case.

 

[The Jade Bean]

Thank you guys so much for all this awesome info!!! I think I'm convinced to install a Helton in the rig and build my set-up (pump, hose, head, etc.) then also pick up the mobile LP system for larger groups and/or a backup. Now I need to just wrap up the trailer and take the family out! I'll post up once I get our system together.

-Daniel

 

[tag3]

Anybody used one of these?


View attachment 677451

Thoughts?

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000TXOJQ4

-Daniel

Been using one for about three years, daily. Works well, the Sureflow water pump for on the truck use makes the heater a little finicky, off the garden hose at home works great.

 

[alia176]

Thank you guys so much for all this awesome info!!! I think I'm convinced to install a Helton in the rig and build my set-up (pump, hose, head, etc.) then also pick up the mobile LP system for larger groups and/or a backup. Now I need to just wrap up the trailer and take the family out! I'll post up once I get our system together.

-Daniel

Daniel,

are you doing all this in Honduras or in California?

 

[The Jade Bean]

Daniel,

are you doing all this in Honduras or in California?

We are doing all this here stateside (DFW, Texas). We go down to HN on business trips to do whatever our partner there can't handle. The next trip is pretty soon for 3 weeks and hopefully the last before the final move. We should be there permanently around Aug. of next year but no later than Jan. 2014. So I'm building everything up I can here so as to make it "easier".

-Daniel

 

[The Jade Bean]

Been using one for about three years, daily. Works well, the Sureflow water pump for on the truck use makes the heater a little finicky, off the garden hose at home works great.

Well that's good to know it can get used that much. Thanks!

-Daniel

 

[twoyotas]

variety of camp showers from this outfit: http://www.hotcampshowers.com/home

 

[jonharis]

The Helton is also available from our Friend Kurt at Cruiser Outfitters. This is where I would recommend purchasing. he'll give you great assistance in the install after you purchase.

http://cruiseroutfitters.com/helton.html