Date:         Sat, 7 Jul 2007 02:25:56 -0400
Reply-To:     Troy Delnicki <colorworks@GCI.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Troy Delnicki <colorworks@GCI.NET>
Subject:      Re: Hot showers/vans.
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

Hi Mike:

>We used to do the solar shower thing, and I've also been known to use
>public or fee showers on the road. For in-camp showering I've got a nice
>little rig that I'm using these days. I have a Zodi Hot Tap shower
>heater which sits atop your normal 1lb bottle of propane. It has a
>submersible pump and a battery pack. The pump sits in the water
>reservoir. With the pump started, the heater lit, and the nozzle in the
>reservoir, hot water recirculates through the heater and it warms up
>quickly. Can easily get too hot for me.

Yes, I am familiar with these little contraptions, and they work almost
identically to the Coleman hot water on demand. The Coleman has a battery
that can be charged either via a 120 volt or a 12 volt plug-in (I also
have a spare battery, but it's good for up to 40 gallons) within about
five seconds (no kidding) the water is at 100°. It will actually put out
160° water, but at a much lower flow rate. The one drawback to this system

is the rise or temperature increase differential the unit is capable of. I
like to camp close to rivers here in Alaska, and the water is COLD, like
40°, maybe 50° if you're lucky. Combine that with a long hose, and the
flow rate goes way way down. It appears the Zodi has a dual burner/bottle
system that may overcome this. see:
http://www.hotcampshowers.com/products51784.html
Not sure of the range in terms of hose length and pressure. I guess this
is not a problem if you stick with a 5 gallon reservoir bag.  The Coleman
delivery tends to get kind of sporadic sucking up/delivering the last
gallon, as it uses a collapsible bag, although I guess this could easily
be remedied by going to a bucket. More stuff to carry <sigh>

These are a couple of reasons I was looking at a vehicle mounted system,
not to mention the space they take up. The Zodi does appear to be smaller
than the Coleman. Do you happen to have any dimensions?


>The idea is to pick up the nozzle to wet yourself, then return it to the
>reservoir when soaping, then pick it back up and rinse off. This
>conserves water, but I don't like showering one-handed so I mount the
>nozzle on one of Zodi's Shower Poles, which lets a fellow use both hands
>for soaping and scrubbing and rinsing, and I put a 3-way valve in the
>line feeding the nozzle so that when water from the nozzle is not needed
>the water is diverted back into the reservoir.

If you divert the water, I'm assuming that's heated water, and would think
it would get too hot if it recirculates? I guess you could turn the
temperature down, but can you turn it down enough? When I tried doing this
with my Coleman, the water simply got too hot.
>
>For privacy we use one of these:
>
>http://www.campausa.com/shower_enclosure.htm
>
>and the heater sits outside for safety. There is an opening in one wall
>near the floor for the hoses. It sets up and breaks down quickly. If
>there is wind it has tie points for guy lines. It has stood up to some
>strong wind gusts w/o damage. It has a snap-in floor but I dislike
>standing in the muddy soapy puddle (just fussy, I guess) so a Cabela's
>Shower Deck
>
>http://tinyurl.com/34c8b4
>
>provides a nice floor and a handy carrying case for shower items.
>
>The whole thing breaks down into three small packages: the hardshell
>water reservoir carries the heater, pump, hoses, and battery pack. Its
>lid snaps off and becomes a base for the propane bottle. The shower pole
>goes into the enclosure's storage bag, and the little shower deck closes
>up fairly small.
>
>--
>Mike "Rocket J Squirrel" Elliott
>71 Type 2: the Wonderbus
>84 Westfalia: Mellow Yellow ("The Electrical Banana")
>74 Utility Trailer. Ladybug Trailer, Inc., San Juan Capistrano
>KG6RCR