Helton On-board Shower for the 100-Series

[perrobravo]

Great install. What pump did you use?

Thanks.

I went with a SHURflo 4008-101-E65 3.0 Revolution, available on Amazon:

http://tinyurl.com/oc3672a

The pump is pretty small, quiet, self priming, and provides what seems like the right amount of pressure...plenty for a comfortable shower, but not so much that things leak or I run through water too quickly.

 

[FMKV]

What about the mounts for water in the wheel well, aren't you afraid of sticks,stones and other odds and ends knocking them around?

 

[perrobravo]

What about the mounts for water in the wheel well, aren't you afraid of sticks,stones and other odds and ends knocking them around?

I probably should be, but thought I'd try this out before getting more involved. Ideally, I think, Id have something sticking through the grill or maybe accessed near the license plate.

This location is convenient for plugging in, is out of sight, shouldn't interfere with the recovery points, and was easy to get at for installation. Worth a try. Am prepping for a family road/camping trip to Glacier National Park (from San Diego) in a few weeks. I'm sure I will learn then whether this location will work long term.

 

[OregonLC]

Great install. For some reason I like it better on the side like you have it. Need to do this sometime, until then maybe I can figure out how to have heated baby wipes.

 

[KlausVanWinkle]

I went with a SHURflo 4008-101-E65 3.0 Revolution, available on Amazon:

http://tinyurl.com/oc3672a

The pump is pretty small, quiet, self priming, and provides what seems like the right amount of pressure...plenty for a comfortable shower, but not so much that things leak or I run through water too quickly.

Awesome, that's the one I had in my OBShower Amazon wishlist. Glad to hear it works as intended. Are you using a mixing valve or just the heater control?

We left a scepter MWC out in the sun all day, then pumped it up to 20psi with the air compressor and attached a sink sprayer last time. It wasn't that hot. Probably around the hi 80s. But it worked to wash the grime off after 3 days at the beach and hiking. For it was a good $45 test of whether we should get a real hot water shower. A shower while camping seems to eliminate a lot of the cursing and yelling associated with setting up and taking down camp after 3 or more days in the rough with your significant other.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

Just installed a modified Helton Hot Water system following advice found here. A few changes are still in the plans, but the basic system is in and works well...

Sweet, that is a great looking install. I'll have to keep that in mind for exchanger mounting down the road

 

[cruiseroutfit]

Kurt

I'll second the motion of full install pics if you have them. I have been searching through the forum to find out the types of water supplies folks are using; many just use jerry cans and some have water bladders (soft and hard) installed inside the cruiser. I'd be more interested in finding some kind of food grade tank that can be mounted up under the cruiser, but not in a way that impedes departure angles. the front runner design is way too big and looks like it hangs down below the bumper.. no good.

Better late than never. A few more installed pics:
https://forum.ih8mud.com/showpost.php?p=8561918&postcount=93

 

[perrobravo]

Awesome, that's the one I had in my OBShower Amazon wishlist. Glad to hear it works as intended. Are you using a mixing valve or just the heater control?

We left a scepter MWC out in the sun all day, then pumped it up to 20psi with the air compressor and attached a sink sprayer last time. It wasn't that hot. Probably around the hi 80s. But it worked to wash the grime off after 3 days at the beach and hiking. For it was a good $45 test of whether we should get a real hot water shower. A shower while camping seems to eliminate a lot of the cursing and yelling associated with setting up and taking down camp after 3 or more days in the rough with your significant other.

So true...

I bought, but haven't yet installed a mixing valve. The heater controls seem to do a decent job controlling temperature, although I'd prefer to be able to change the temperature closer to the shower itself. Still need to figure that out. I also wanted to avoid potential scalding people have mentioned when turning the water on and off and so the mixing valve seems like a good idea.

In the mean time, since I'm using a jerry can as a water source, rather than turning off the water mid-shower, or while scrubbing dishes, I put the shower head into the can and recirculate the water. This helps avoid the high temperature spikes and since I don't have a shower head with a true on/off switch, this saves water at the same time. Doing this I can get through a decent shower with half a can of water, a couple gallons or so.

 

[marius]

Thats the head I use

 

[Brian Waag]

PB, just bought the Helton from Cruiser Outfitters and didn't realize that the coolant and water hoses didn't come with it (stupid me!). Anyhow, are you ever up in the LA area? Would love to see more detail in your install to assist me with doing the same. I live in El Segundo, right next to LAX.

Thanks in advance!

 

[spressomon]

^ If you're ever near Monterey, though, you can take a look at mine...

 

[Brian Waag]

spressomon - I'm usually flying over Monterrey on my way to Oakland (Corp HQ is in San Ramon)! My older brother (and fellow backpacker and adventurer) lives in SLO, which is usually as far as I'm driving. However, I'll be heading up to Sonoma over Thanksgiving so may take you up on your offer to swing over and check out your setup. BTW - Just got back from West Marine and purchased their Water System Pump. It puts 2 gpm and draws 5 amps. Cost about $100, plus another $13 for unlimited 5 yr warranty.

Was checking out a post by a guy named Josh on the Expedition Portal who did an awesome custom setup in his Forerunner. Complete with a tank and Sure flow pump mounted where the spare tire goes (used to). He also has a LCD temp readout next to the switch to turn the pump on/off in the back end. He has a second pump for circulation to/from the tank and when it reaches the ideal temp, he turns that one off and kicks on the shower switch. Pretty bad ass but more skill than I possess unfortunately.

 

[perrobravo]

PB, just bought the Helton from Cruiser Outfitters and didn't realize that the coolant and water hoses didn't come with it (stupid me!). Anyhow, are you ever up in the LA area? Would love to see more detail in your install to assist me with doing the same. I live in El Segundo, right next to LAX.

Thanks in advance!

Ha! This install took me a couple trips to the store to complete as well. I bought something like 10 feet of heater hose since it was relatively cheap and I didn't want to go out again. Ended up using more than I thought and tossed the remainder into the back of the truck as a spare of sorts. I bought all the water hose the local hardware store had, then went back for more later when I decided I might want an optional longer cold water hose to reach more distant water sources.

I don't get up to the LAX area with my truck often, but if I do, I'll send you a note. Of course San Diego is always nice this time of year...or if you're interested, a group of us is planning a trip to Joshua Tree in a few weeks (drop me a PM if you're interested).

 

[cboyd]

Ha! This install took me a couple trips to the store to complete as well...

I am in the middle of doing the planning on this as well. Was going to tackle it yesterday but some other work got priority. Trying not make it like every other home plumbing project I've done: 6 trips to Lowes.

 

[OregonLC]

So do you guys with the heat exchanger find it a hassle to have to start up the rig and get it up to temp? I've always admired the built-in shower setups, but it seems like a lot of effort - both on the install and use - compared to something portable like this: http://www.amazon.com/Basecamp-Heater-Aquacube-Digital-Shower/dp/B007PAP4WM/ref=sr_1_40?ie=UTF8&qid=1381849692&sr=8-40&keywords=camp+shower

I'm sure with the rig you have a much better heat source with run time limited only by water supply.

 

[spressomon]

^ No not at all. At the end of most trail days I just shower right after getting to a campspot...while the engine is still hot. But even with a cold/near cold engine it doesn't take very long to get a couple gallons to hot shower ready.

I have/have used several different shower set-ups: Solar, L5, Zodi, Coleman, hot water heated on the stove...and the Helton, for me, is the best overall option when all factors are considered.

 

[perrobravo]

I also find by the time I need a shower, my 2nd battery can use a bit of a charge as well...so running the engine serves a couple purposes.

 

[OregonLC]

I also find by the time I need a shower, my 2nd battery can use a bit of a charge as well...so running the engine serves a couple purposes.

Good point! IIRC, we burn 0.5 GPH idling so even if it's a full hour it's only a $1.75 plus a few fumes in camp.

 

[KlausVanWinkle]

^ No not at all. At the end of most trail days I just shower right after getting to a campspot...while the engine is still hot. But even with a cold/near cold engine it doesn't take very long to get a couple gallons to hot shower ready.

I have/have used several different shower set-ups: Solar, L5, Zodi, Coleman, hot water heated on the stove...and the Helton, for me, is the best overall option when all factors are considered.

Which Zodi did you use? I'd all but abandoned the helton idea once I found out about Zodi Extreme. Why do you like the helton better?

 

[spressomon]

I used the Hot Tab single propane unit; circa 2006. You need to keep water flowing through the hot unit at all times. If the water supply gets interrupted for any reason the unit will self-destruct/melt down. And its just another box of stuff to take up precious space inside my LC.

And at the end of the day, for just a couple campers, you could almost as easily heat water enough for a lux shower atop the camp stove that most of us carry anyway... in lieu of another water heating device. But for some of our forays there can be quite a few showering up...so the Helton has served me well for many years.