Date: Sat, 7 Jul 2007 10:42:18 -0400
Reply-To: Sam Conant <samcvt@COMCAST.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Sam Conant <samcvt@COMCAST.NET>
Subject: Re: Heat exchanger for hot showers
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1";
reply-type=response
Jake,
The Zodi was listed as a clearance by Campmor a month or so ago, and they
may still have some. I'd go to their www site, and search their archives
for the Zodi and see if they still have some in stock. The price was
reasonable. I bought one to augment my solar hot water bag systems for the
sailboat and Westy
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jake de Villiers" <crescentbeachguitar@GMAIL.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Saturday, July 07, 2007 12:38 AM
Subject: Re: Heat exchanger for hot showers
Darned expensive compared to the Zodi hot water system that goes on top of
your propane stove, seems to me.
And you'll have to start & run the engine for some time to create enough
heat for a shower.
The Zodi looks to be more economical to run as well as to buy but I don't
have one yet so I can't give you a review. Still working on the
house.......
On 7/6/07, Troy <colorworks@gci.net> wrote:
>
> > check the archives. no, really. ;)
> > there was a guy in the early days of the vanagon list (can't recall his
> > name right now) and he built a system under the rear seat of his camper.
> > used the rear seat heater to provide the coolant ... which flowed
> through
> > some copper coils inside a water tank. he had some sort of thermostat
> that
> > shut off the flow of coolant to the coils if the water got too hot. he
> > used it for the sink and had some sort of hookup to run a hose to the
> rear
> > hatch (which held the shower curtain when the hatch was up).
> >
> > seems like the guy's name was dave something or other. had pictures and
> > text on a web site.
> >
> > hope it helps. good luck!
> > joel
> >Thanks Joel:
>
> Here's that link your referring to: http://www.syncro.org/HotWater.shtml
>
> And then a response I sent to one other person who emailed me.
>
> <<Yes, I have the link for that particular set up. That would require
> using
> the onboard 13 gallon water, which is not something I was interested in
> doing. The link I provided appears to be an "on demand" system, that is to
> say as long as you have adequate water supply, (stream, lake, etc) you
> could have endless hot water on demand. That's a lot different than
> heating
> up the onboard water. The key is the type of heat exchanger. There are
> propane units available such as the one I have (Coleman) and I believe
> there
> is another company that puts out something called the zodiac, which works
> on
> a similar principle. The Coleman actually works quite well on a picnic
> table
> with a 5 gallon jug, but it is kind of large and bulky and takes up
> precious
> space. Anyway, as I said I'm intrigued by the challenge more than anything
> else. In my own experience, there seems to be plenty of places available
> along the way to get a hot shower for cheap, and the Coleman works great
> at
> picnic side for dishes, etc.>>
>
>
> Another drawback to heating the onboard water is it promotes bacterial
> growth. An "on demand" --heated as needed system--is what I was trying to
> accomplish. That particular heat exchanger I provided the link for
> (http://www.hotcampshowers.com/new51788.html) seems to do just that.
> Basically, the criteria for this would be to figure out volume of water
> needed (gallons per minute) versus the required rise in temperature.
> Generally the greater the increase in temperature, the lower the flow. For
> example heating water from 40° to 100° may only result in 1/2 gal. a
> minute
> (GPM) versus going from 70° to 100°, which may result in 1 gallon a
> minute
> or better. The Coleman I have is basically a 1 gallon per minute, but
> slows
> down quite a bit if you try to crank the water temperature to say 160
> degrees. I know just enough about this to get myself into trouble;) I was
> hoping someone else might be more knowledgeable about this than I am.
> Sounds
> like I will have to do a Google search and compare specs on the various
> heat
> exchangers available out there.
>
> If anyone else cares to chime in about this, I'm all ears.
>
> Troy
>
--
Jake
1984 Vanagon GL
1986 Westy Weekender "Dixie"
www.crescentbeachguitar.com
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