well the pump works awsome, But the heat exchanger is leaving something to be desired with 2* water in a cooler packed with ice I can not get above say 25* single pass not exactly hot I would like to see more the outside of the heat exchanger still is hot to the touch though wondering if a coiled 3/8 copper line around the outside would help this or what kinda price are we getting on those other ones.
Mine was free. Tony gave it to me as a thank-you for finding and helping him import his 1981 BJ60.
I just picked it up from him yesterday.
That said, these are manufactured by Seakamp Engineering out of Bellingham. www.seakamp.com. They will manufacture different sized inlets and outlets and overall capacities. Looking at their website, I'm not sure if they would sell direct but you could always ask. I'm through Bellingham a couple of times a month, so I can easily pick some up if there is interest in them. I would recommend to wait until I've installed mine to be sure the size I have is adequate.
The one I have has 5/8 input (for the heater hose) with 3/4 NPT threaded fittings for the fresh water.
Tony said these sell in Seakamp's catalog for $80US. I'm not sure what he paid as Seakamp sold it to North Harbor Diesel that he works for and for us to buy from North Harbor, we would incur a significant markup.
Looking at the picture, then
-- so the coolant flow is straight through at 5/8" ( no fittings?)
-- freshwater 3/4" NPT at right angles, need to reduce to maybe 3/8".
-- what is the outlet at 45 degrees there?
Although marine (oil coolers) heat exchanagers are reasoably low cost, their crossflow design means they will use a lot of space under the hood, maybe more suitable for non-turbo engines). The 74's are pretty tight under the hood.
I am still looking into the helical water condenser idea, since they are more compact, and are already 5/8" OD coolant and 3/8" OD freshwater (no fittings), and I can tuck it into a corner. I am looking for a US supplier, they are $150 in high cost Canada land.
Yes, they do take up space, it will be a tight fit under my non-turbo 42 also. The coolant will attach with a hose-clamp I'm guessing on each end. The 3/4 NPT at right angles will need a special fitting as well although I should be able to come up with a solution there.
The 45 degree outlet from what I can tell is a 'drain', likely useful for me to drain any water out of it in the winter to avoid freezing. It could also be a bleeder, but since this will not be at the highest point in the system (the shower head will be), I don't see it as a bleeder in that regard.
Those are the same design principle as mine, you should be able to place them anywhere, as long as it isn't too low for the coolant flow, but inside fenders, under the batteries, etc. and just have the outlets in an accesible spot. The 45 degree outlet is a drain for the fluid that is heated up by the main flow chamber, for the most part that might not be needed if you do a set up where that chamber is left open at the outlet to let the water evaporate after use when the engine is running. That's what I've been doing on mine, after every use, I leave one of the shower plug ins open and after a day of driving I close them off, that way whatever water was in there will evaporate and will not cause a pressurized chamber. In my case I mounted the unit with the outlets facing at about 80 degrees up so the water heats up better and then the drain is not 100% facing down so you will never get all the water out of it that way.
One tip on having a shower with Mat's system: don't be number 3 in the lineup. His oats bag goes dry and you're standing there shivering and the mossies are biting your ass!
One tip on having a shower with Mat's system: don't be number 3 in the lineup. His oats bag goes dry and you're standing there shivering and the mossies are biting your ass!
OK, next time I'll show up with my bucket.
I also have a back up sytem: heat water on the stove and pour it into portable shower bag. Not as sophisticated, but is better than nothing.
OK, next time I'll show up with my bucket.
I also have a back up sytem: heat water on the stove and pour it into portable shower bag. Not as sophisticated, but is better than nothing.
I've done the 5 gal bucket system for showers many times in my travels. Probably most of the world gets their shower this way. A plastic coffee cup will make sure that bucket can shower at least two people.
Well the shower project installed. The heat exchanger is installed in the front engine bay vertically (the only feasible position in a BJ74) running a coolant tap from the rear of the block that feeds the rear heater and returning to the rear and front heater return. The new heater hose runs are about 4.5 feet from the rear of the engine to the front left corner and back. The pump is a Shurflow 2.5 US gallon/minute, which pumps a large volume of water like the shower in your house.
Problem is the water is only warm 85-90F. I then put a valve on the freshwater outlet to slow down the flow of freshwater and increase the residency time of the freshwater in the heat exchanger, but that did not really help. Now the pump is working to pump water through a narrow restriction, which is hard on the pump. Most Internet write-ups recommend a 2.5 US gallon, pump, but from what I can determine that is too much water to heat in a single pass and is about 50% more than you need.
The next step is to divert all the rear heater water through the heat exchanger , or put in a bypass to recirculate 50% of the outlet water back through the heat exchanger.
Nice setup and clean install Glenn, I still think that you are running too much water through there. Or your engine just runs cooler then mine (which I doubt). At normal operating temps after a run (so around 70-80C I have to add cold water to mine because it burns. The feeds we are using should be the same so the only other thing is the flow of the water. Mine is not as powerful but very hot. Don't worry about the stress on the pump, as long as they are wet then they won't overheat and it will work fine.
Today I removed the 'T fitting' tap from the rear heater hose line and directed all the rear heater water through the heat exchanger and put in a recirculation line. The outlet water temps have gone from 85-90F to 95 to 105F, which is a big improvement. The brass fittings on the top of the heat exchanger are too hot to touch.
The water temp incoming is 65F so its really only a summer shower, as the ambient water temperature declines the heat exchanger is good only for a 35 F increase. In a pinch I could pre-heat the incoming water to get to the desired 105F. The helicol chiller coil would transfer more heat, but its too big for a 74.
. Tony gave it to me as a thank-you for finding and helping him import his 1981 BJ60.
