How to make my Zodi work

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mep1811

mep1811

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I have the Zodi water heater and and Cabelas shower enclosure. The Zodi ,of course, gets very hot and I need to figure out how to keep it in the enclosure without burning the nylon. I can't put it outside as the pump is not that strong. I guess I can just use it to heat water and use the bucket and cup method.

Has anyone encounted this problem as well? Thanks Mike
 
Which pump do you have? I have the 12v pump and don't have any problems with my zodi being outside the shower.
 
Zodi

I have the stock pump and made an extension hose to try to run it from outside. The pump will push the water but if you raise the hose to head level no water. The problem is the system is so top heavy it is hard to place it near anything that can melt or catch on fire with out contact.
 
Unless you have an unlimited water supply I, when I had a Zodi, heated a bucket of water to the right temp then pumped the water back out minus the Zodi. This allows, as you probably know, the ability to get wet, lather up and then rinse with intermittent flow of water. And no scalding risk either.

Although a little more complex a small Surflo/Aquajet type water pump will allow you to boost pressure, vertical pump and also configure a shower head for reduced volume (compared to the pump that came with the Zodi): High pressure/low volume.
 
A small bilge pump will work too. We have had several Zodis and and the same enclosure you have and never had the problem you are having. Best thing to do on the top heavy deal is make a little hanger to hang the unit from. Drive that in the ground close to the enclosure and hang it from the handle.

Don't you have an expedition style camp trailer? If so why don't you rig up a tankless water heater? We have used those at the Southern Cruiser Crawl and they work great! The CottonLand Cruisers just hapen to have 2 of them and I am sure we will sell one if you are interested. They have been used once.

Later,
 
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Zodi

You got me curious. How does the tankless water heater work ? What do they run?
After mentioning hanging the Zodi I came up with an idea but the tankless thing sounds interesting.
 
L5 is the one I'm using. Read about it here:
Eccotemp Tankless Water Heaters

Propane. Instant on/off per the flow of water so no more heating/double pumping the water into a bucket then pumping back out for a shower. Simply dial the temp you want in and go. Great for showers and kitchen duties too. I'm using an Aquatec pump that puts out 75psi; have it set up for high pressure/low flow.
 
mep1811 said:
You got me curious. How does the tankless water heater work ? What do they run?
After mentioning hanging the Zodi I came up with an idea but the tankless thing sounds interesting.
Click to expand...

Coleman also make one that you can accurately adjust the water temp. It runs on small can of propane or off a large tank.
The water can be from any source.
It has a rechargeable battery for the pump and for the gas igniter all built in
 
spressomon said:
L5 is the one I'm using. Read about it here:
Eccotemp Tankless Water Heaters

Propane. Instant on/off per the flow of water so no more heating/double pumping the water into a bucket then pumping back out for a shower. Simply dial the temp you want in and go. Great for showers and kitchen duties too. I'm using an Aquatec pump that puts out 75psi; have it set up for high pressure/low flow.
Click to expand...
That's a slick unit and the price is right too. $115 compared to $99 for the Zodi, not much to think about there.
 
roscoFJ73 said:
Coleman also make one that you can accurately adjust the water temp. It runs on small can of propane or off a large tank.
The water can be from any source.
It has a rechargeable battery for the pump and for the gas igniter all built in
Click to expand...


I tried the Coleman for awhile. My biggest gripe, and maybe they've changed/altered it, had to do with the 6V rechargeable battery: When the unit cuts out because of low battery voltage you have to wait until its charged to be able to use it; just being on the charger isn't enough to allow it to be used. 12V would have been slick.
 
spressomon said:
I tried the Coleman for awhile. My biggest gripe, and maybe they've changed/altered it, had to do with the 6V rechargeable battery: When the unit cuts out because of low battery voltage you have to wait until its charged to be able to use it; just being on the charger isn't enough to allow it to be used. 12V would have been slick.
Click to expand...

How much did you use it between recharges? Its the 1st Ive heard anyone complain about them and I havent had that problem.
 
roscoFJ73 said:
How much did you use it between recharges? Its the 1st Ive heard anyone complain about them and I havent had that problem.
Click to expand...

I used it until the charge light came on/wouldn't pump/turn itself off. Merely connecting the charger doesn't allow it to function; you have to wait until the battery has come charge on it again. IIRC it took about 1/2 hour or more to get back to the minimum charge level. I thought about trying to mod it to just work off my rig/trailer's 12V supply but in the end sold it for a good price and moved on. Maybe I had a bad one?
 
When I had my Coleman, I'd simply charge it during the drive to the camp spot. However, since I didn't use the on board pump, the battery usually lasted a lot longer. I agree though, a 6 volt system is kinda pain but the inability to charge and use the unit at the same time is a very poor design indeed. Still, it was a good unit for us and I sold it to get the same Econotemp L5 as above. Couple of guys did nice installs using the L5 unit in their 80 series.
 
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