|
Post by rod on Apr 18, 2014 16:17:59 GMT
The main problem we have with the van , is lack of shower hot water.Lots of opinions out there about this I know, but we like warmish showers! So , I dont want to go to the expense of a water heater, and I think I will try heating the water by putting bottles on the dash top to heat the water in them,to see how this goes.We tried heating kettles/saucepan of water and topping up the shower tank, but it wasnt warm enuf and quite funny hearing swmbo complaining while in the shower! The tanks are under the sink, so Ive fitted a filler pipe from the corner of the draining board into the shower tank.A funnel on the pipe will make it easy to top up the hot water...once its hot! Ive toying with the heat exchanger pipe round the exhaust type thing, or a exchanger round the eng water pipes.Any comments how it can be done?
|
|
|
Post by edina on Apr 18, 2014 16:39:19 GMT
The main problem we have with the van , is lack of shower hot water.Lots of opinions out there about this I know, but we like warmish showers! So , I dont want to go to the expense of a water heater, and I think I will try heating the water by putting bottles on the dash top to heat the water in them,to see how this goes.We tried heating kettles/saucepan of water and topping up the shower tank, but it wasnt warm enuf and quite funny hearing swmbo complaining while in the shower! The tanks are under the sink, so Ive fitted a filler pipe from the corner of the draining board into the shower tank.A funnel on the pipe will make it easy to top up the hot water...once its hot! Ive toying with the heat exchanger pipe round the exhaust type thing, or a exchanger round the eng water pipes.Any comments how it can be done? Obvious way to get hot water from the engine would be to tee off the heater hoses, but how you would run the pipes back to the tank and what sort of heat exchanger you could use in the tank is dependent on layout etc..
|
|
|
Post by Lee & Linda on Apr 18, 2014 16:41:38 GMT
The main problem we have with the van , is lack of shower hot water.Lots of opinions out there about this I know, but we like warmish showers! So , I dont want to go to the expense of a water heater, and I think I will try heating the water by putting bottles on the dash top to heat the water in them,to see how this goes.We tried heating kettles/saucepan of water and topping up the shower tank, but it wasnt warm enuf and quite funny hearing swmbo complaining while in the shower! The tanks are under the sink, so Ive fitted a filler pipe from the corner of the draining board into the shower tank.A funnel on the pipe will make it easy to top up the hot water...once its hot! Ive toying with the heat exchanger pipe round the exhaust type thing, or a exchanger round the eng water pipes.Any comments how it can be done? Have you considered a bucket of hot water and a jug in the shower compartment and then wet yourself all over shampoo and then rinse clean afterwards. This is the way we shower in our van.
|
|
|
Post by rod on Apr 18, 2014 17:17:42 GMT
Bucket of water way isnt for us tbh Easy to make a heat exchanger, but time consuming to fit, not sure if it would work after all that!
|
|
|
Post by n brown on Apr 18, 2014 18:08:59 GMT
i never went the heat exchanger route as it means you can only have a shower after a drive.if you're parked up for a few days or longer it's impractical.the method we use is make up some warm water ,in a container kept in the shower and drop a pump in it .switch above the shower head
|
|
|
Post by rod on Apr 18, 2014 19:00:37 GMT
Yeah, I have the shower head and submersible pump all fitted, with a switch in the cubicle.It pumps and sprays really well.We tested it out by running the complete set up on a 12v transformer with the shower head out of the kitchen window at home, cant remember how long it took to drain the 25L container, but we worked out that 2 showers could easily be got from the tank, with water to spare.I agree the heat exchanger would only allow a warm shower after driving, which isnt always convenient.Hence trying out the bottles on the dashboard set up.
|
|
|
Post by n brown on Apr 18, 2014 19:42:01 GMT
don't forget the coil of black irrigation pipe on the roof,also run from a sub pump. but careful it can get dangerously hot !
|
|
|
Post by rod on Apr 19, 2014 10:36:39 GMT
Experimenting today with a 2litre bottle of water wrapped in black gaffa tape,laying on the dash top...been there about 2 hours, and its already getting warm, despite only short periods of sun here, so this looks like it will work.Will check it later.
|
|
|
Post by rod on Apr 19, 2014 16:38:33 GMT
Correction it was a 4litre bottle! It was on the dash for around 7 hours.The water was really warm and very good temp for a shower.Assuming sun is roughly the same as today, then I reckon its problem solved.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Apr 19, 2014 22:20:32 GMT
Buy a couple of big flasks and fill them with the hot water about 3pm latest as it will start to cool then as the sun loses it's heat. I have 4 x 1 litre black water pouches (£1 each from Poundstretcher) and I fill them and leave them on the dash overnight, ideally facing south east and by mid morning on a fairly sunny day they are warm enough to wash in and by lunchtime they are hot enough for washing greasy pans. The trick is to try to keep moving either the water or the van as the sun moves round
|
|
|
Post by bessybongo2 on Jun 15, 2015 0:02:16 GMT
Why not use a Kelly Kettle unlimited hot water free, good fun!!to H
|
|
|
Post by Oldish Hippy on Jun 15, 2015 4:01:22 GMT
yep they work welland quick to boil and you can soon get enough hot water for shower
|
|
|
Post by Firefox on Jun 15, 2015 8:35:23 GMT
In warmer weather I'd definitely go with a black plastic 25 litre tank on the roof. With a tap and a gravity feed, you could even have an outdoor power shower (of sorts!)
|
|
|
Post by billi on Jun 15, 2015 12:00:04 GMT
+1 for the kelly kettle
|
|
|
Post by rod on Jun 29, 2015 18:45:02 GMT
Update..not teaching anyone to suck eggs... We have about 6 or 8 2l coke bottles wrapped in blaack gaffa now.works a treat in France/Spains climate.. fill bottles in morning b4 setting off from the aire,lay on dashboard and insulate from windscreen with bits of cardboard,rolled up and shoved in gap tween bottle and screen,cos im worried that they get so hot that screen may crack if touching glass.evening shower by pouring bottles into a container with submersible shower pump into water permanently plumbed to shower head in cubicle.water left over used to wash any dishes used during the day.job done.Next van will use same set up but more refined. Amazing the heat thats generated through that w/screen! Fun if approaching a tight hairpin bend ,and we play hold the bottles on the dash!
|
|