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Date:         Wed, 13 Jan 2010 15:53:13 -0800
Reply-To:     Richard Koerner <rjkinpb@SBCGLOBAL.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Richard Koerner <rjkinpb@SBCGLOBAL.NET>
Subject:      Hot Water Shower Contraption for Vanagons
In-Reply-To:  <6E5C5C27728441988914BD419C99DFDE@Guenther>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1

The recent post about hot water got me inspired to comment....

Easy to do...I've got it in my homemade camper conversion Vanagon.  I don't need a rear heater here in San Diego, but I do need hot water for my showers (I still owe you guys photos and writeup on that one).  I removed the rear heater, but I suppose you could just as well "T" into the lines.  I used brass reducing barbs for the 1/2" heater hose to the rear heater to get it down to 1/4"  inside diameter hose, which is then clamped onto a 15 foot length of 1/4" OD copper tubing, which I of course coiled into a cylindrical shape (by using a spray paint can as a form).  The copper coil drops down in my tank, in my case a 5 gallon aluminum stock pot (like for making spaghetti or something).  I also have a stopcock in line to turn the coolant flow on and off.  To finish the masterpiece, I got a digital meat thermometer from WalMart; the probe goes in the tank, the digital readout/alarm goes up in front so I can watch it while I drive.  (I utilized the unused wiring for the rear heater fan for my wiring for the "extension" between the probe and the digital display.)   So 5 gallons of water in the aluminum pot (could be plastic, could be smaller or larger, could be rectangular, but mine is aluminum so I can also heat up the water for my shower on the coleman stove outside the van.  But 5 gallons of water goes from about 60 degrees F to 110 degrees F in about 10-12 minutes of driving down the freeway; so I usually open the stopcock to start heating my water about a half-hour before I reach the campground.  The digital readout on the meat thermometer beeps when I hit 110 degrees, that's where I like to set it.  If I overshoot a little that's OK, have had it as high as 120 degrees F.  Depending on van interior temps, it SLOWLY cools off, but since it's under the rear seat, it holds it's temperature for quite a while, at least an hour or so.

By the way, to complete the "shower" part of it, I have a 12VDC 800GPM Rule Bildge Pump, like for boats.  Got electric power, fuse, indicator light, and switch connected to the pump.  The pump is semi-permanently mounted inside the aluminum pot, and can easily withstand shower-temp water, wouldn't want to go too high on that though.   On the output side of the bildge pump is a reducer for a 6 foot length of 3/8" Tygon plastic tubing, and a cheap plastic showerhead, with appropriate number of holes plugged with epoxy so that I get strong flow but not too much; definitely WAY more than a gravity fed solar shower, great for thoroughly rinsing out shampoo.  I get about 4.2 minutes of continuous flow with shower nozzle held at shoulder height, enough for showers for two if you turn it on and off in cycles.

And to take showers INSIDE the Vanagon, I made a giant rectangular "funnel" out of blue plastic Walmart tarp, (cut and glued with contact cement) suspended on the interior of the Vanagon with bungee cords.  You actually sit inside the "funnel" or shower curtain or whatever you want to call it, and the water splashes down into a Rubbermaid tub.  I have a remote switch for the pump to turn it on and off at will.  Since I don't have a pop-top, I take showers sitting down, works just fine.  Of course, I do have curtains all around 360 degrees, and a roof vent to let the steam out.  But I've taken hot showers at McDonalds, WalMart, rest stops, what have you...total stealth and total bliss.  Oh, the gray water gets dumped out at the next suitable location, and the shower curtain "funnel" with bungees stores in the Rubbermaid tub (in the back of the van when driving and on the floor where the ice chest sits at night, the ice chest goes on top of the tub so no lost interior floor space).

Yeah, some of the above technical description might be a little challenge to imagine, but believe me, it all works great, have taken hundreds of showers outside the van and at least 25 or more inside the van.  Free hot water!  Endless supply!

I think you guys would get a kick out of rigging up your own system, the above description should give you ideas, and I'll have to figure out how to post pictures and a writeup.  Useful for only hot water or with the shower "option".

Rich 85 Vanagon with a clean guy inside San Diego

--- On Wed, 1/13/10, Arkady Mirvis <arkadymirvis@GMAIL.COM> wrote:

From: Arkady Mirvis <arkadymirvis@GMAIL.COM> Subject: hot water in Westy To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM Date: Wednesday, January 13, 2010, 2:53 PM

Here is something interesting!

The past summer, traveling thru Alentejo province (Portugal) I took a look at ruins of Roman villa at Beja. On my way back I ( it was late evening) spotted 2 Westies parked in the woods. I approached them and witness a guy taking a shower. The real lid was up and the shower head was attached to the lower edge of it. Both campers were from France. That was a disappointment, because most French purely speak English, and  Deutsch. I saw once in USA a Westy with a black rubber tank placed in a roof tray. In that case the water in the tank was heated by the sun and used for showering in similar fashion as by French. Their French Westies, had plastic tanks in the roof tray, but the water was heated by a heatexcanger - a small and yet very efficient one made by Laval (Sweden). I asked questions and was shown the set-up. The heat exchanger was familiar to me: I used it in USA - about 30,000 BTU capacity. Located next to rear heater under the rear seat it took very little space. The engine was running and I understood that the coolant was heating the water from the roof tank. In my estimate, except the tank, the system was about $100.

I wonder if the list ever discussed hot water issue.

Ark.


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