Shower Revisited

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73fj55

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I have been looking at the other shower threads, mainly about making my own heater exchange. It is very workable to run an exchange off of the engine coolant and pump the hot water out to the shower.

An idea that I had is if you are camping on a trail you probably have a fire going anyway, why not use some coals of that fire to heat up the exchange instead? Or use some charcoal briquets around the coiled copper? You wouldn't want to get the little coals burning too hot, but I would think that would be hot enought to heat the water without having to jump into the car to turn it on and connecting some hoses.......

just some thoughts.......
 
73fj55 said:
I have been looking at the other shower threads, mainly about making my own heater exchange. It is very workable to run an exchange off of the engine coolant and pump the hot water out to the shower.

An idea that I had is if you are camping on a trail you probably have a fire going anyway, why not use some coals of that fire to heat up the exchange instead? Or use some charcoal briquets around the coiled copper? You wouldn't want to get the little coals burning too hot, but I would think that would be hot enought to heat the water without having to jump into the car to turn it on and connecting some hoses.......

just some thoughts.......
Click to expand...


I guess if I was going to design a system using an external heat source other than the engine I would use propane as my choice of fuel...hotter, cleaner, portable, instant heat and controllable compared to wood or charcoal...JMO. If you are concerned with the time it takes to bring the engine temp up to hot shower temps then bringing a pile of wood/charcoal to workable temp isn't going to be any quicker...and probably a whole lot slower.

FYI: I was going to make my own heat exchanger...but by the time I figured out what the copper was going to cost it was virtually the same as getting the complete kit from Kurt without all the hassle/tiime of making one...actually the Helton was LESS expensive than buying the copper pieces. Obviously if you have the copper then...
 
Keep in mind that it doesn't take too long for your engine to come up to temp... what 5 mins at an idle?

I start my rig in the morning, pull it over to where I am going to shower and by the time I get the shower plugged in (a couple of minutes at the most)... the water is plenty warm.

Last weekend we (Utah 4WD Assoc.) hosted a service project in a local canyon, I was assigned to haul fence material (21' 6" logs) up to the site (about 2 miles over a true 4WD road). By the end of 3 trips we were all hot and dirty. I didn't plan on showering, but a couple of jokers from the Forest Service wanted to see the thing in action. With my cruiser at running temps, I put my pick-up unit in my cooler (FULL OF ICE/WATER) and still had ~100* water flowing steady... Everyone enjoyed a quick face wash and clean hands :D

I don't care how you do it.. but everyone needs a shower :D
 
I made a simple heat exchanger a while ago........

Heizschlange-o-schlauch.jpg


and another one a long while ago.........

heiztopf-sadtler-7.jpg


It could be used with any kind of camping stove but gasoline works best.
 
rusty_tlc said:
Zodi propane hot water heater, $150. You could probably build it a little cheaper. BTW Walmart sells these for $99 IIRC.
(The Hot Vent looks like a nice product too.)
Click to expand...


I accidently burned one of the Zodi's up last fall. The darn thing, as the instructions plainly state (but it is IMO an unfriendly design), must need to have water flowing past the burner at ALL times...including before lighting the burner. Well...showering away I was and I pumped all the water out of the bucket...that's when I learned the damn thing will actually MELT (seriously!!!). So once you get the Zodi shower going make sure it NEVER runs out of water!!! One of the nice things about the Helton, et al of this design, you can slow the rate of water flow...thus conserving water...if you want/need to.
 
spressomon said:
I accidently burned one of the Zodi's up last fall. The darn thing, as the instructions plainly state (but it is IMO an unfriendly design), must need to have water flowing past the burner at ALL times...including before lighting the burner. Well...showering away I was and I pumped all the water out of the bucket...that's when I learned the damn thing will actually MELT (seriously!!!). So once you get the Zodi shower going make sure it NEVER runs out of water!!! One of the nice things about the Helton, et al of this design, you can slow the rate of water flow...thus conserving water...if you want/need to.
Click to expand...
Good to know, I am considering buying one.
 
please dont do it

Over the years of being in the hot shower industry I have heard of many examples of people being seriously burned by using coils in a fire, the temprature is uncontrolable and the risk of boiling the water in the tube is high.
a short burst of steam will put you in hospital.
If you must use a fire put a 5 gal drum of water on the fire and put your coil in that, better still get a helton unit from kurt its there where ever you are just turn it on

Cheers to all
Tony
Helton heat exchangers
 
kevinmrowland said:
Kurt, your website doesn't have any installed photos.
More photos please. (of the shower, not the wife):cheers:
Click to expand...

I'll get on it Kevin... ;)
 
Live to Ski said:
I want more photos of the wifey, forget the shower!
Click to expand...

Hahaha... she'll say no ;)



HELTON UNITS... I'll have more installed unit pics ASAP :cool:
 
Here's a pic of the HHE shower version in my 100. FYI: I wrapped the HHE with a piece of radiator hose...and mounted it to the fender with a bracket I made.
Helton, Engine Bay pic.webp
 
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