Date: Sun, 5 Feb 2023 18:29:18 -0800
Reply-To: Pete Sicilia <pete@COFFEEPOT.ORG>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Pete Sicilia <pete@COFFEEPOT.ORG>
Subject: Re: Vanagon Hot Shower on Demand
In-Reply-To: <1061031055.349252.1675648035250@mail.yahoo.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"
What do you all do with the grey water? Do you catch it and do something
with it... or just let it drain into the ground/mud?
On Sun, Feb 5, 2023 at 5:47 PM Richard Koerner <rjkinpb@sbcglobal.net>
wrote:
> For me, it was an evolution. It all started with me and my cousin doing
> Mountain Bike riding in the western Sierras in the early 90's. Sure, we
> got all sweaty. No fun getting into sleeping bag after all that. I
> figured....there has got to be a better way. I thought...all you need is a
> metal vessel....fill it with water...heat up on Coleman stove; and, add
> some kind of propulsion unit to aggressively force hot water through some
> plastic tubing and into a shower nozzle. And I exactly did that! It
> worked perfectly. Except, I chose a steel 5 gallon gas tank, which of
> course rusted like crazy. Also, I chose a 12VDC submersible pump from
> Grainger; problem with that....it was intended for intermittent use; it
> rusted and froze. I rethunk. So next attempt was an aluminum 20 quart
> stock pot from Costco, and a 12VDC Marine Bilge pump, I started with 800
> GPH unit, but have moved up to 1100 GPH pump. Oh my! All systems are go
> now! Then I got the crazy idea of using Vanagon to source hot water. I
> deleted Rear Heater long ago; I used the plumbing and fittings, including a
> 20 foot piece of 1/4" copper tubing, wrapped around a paint spray can to
> form a heat exchanger device inside of Aluminum stock pot. I used a simple
> Ball Valve to turn on/off flow to copper tubing; this involved a companion
> to run back and turn it off and on. I used a standard BBQ grill
> thermometer from Walmart to monitor temperature; I used old wiring from
> rear heater to make this happen. Readout on dash. Next, I lost my
> companion to run back and turn Ball Valve off and on. So, via Amazon, I
> got one of those motorized valves, and I found a switch (old Rear Window
> defogger switch) which fit the 3rd unused position on dashboard; yes, with
> a tip of switch, hot engine coolant goes into copper tubing, heating up
> water in Stock Pot, all monitored by BBQ Thermometer. Oh...you want to get
> even more crazy?!! Using 3D Solidworks, I came up with a delightful design
> of a Shower Curtain, like a giant funnel into a RubberMaid plastic bin. I
> know at this point, all you guys are collapsing in fatigue! I hear ya.
> If I were reading this thing, I would have given up by Sentence #2. Yes,
> it was a 30 year process. It was filled with errors. But now....I
> wouldn't leave home without it. Absolutely...there are easier solutions to
> the Hot Water Shower issue. But mine is the finest.
> And of course, I can do it the old school way...pot of water on Coleman
> stove...in the middle of nowhere....it's so fun to see your breath in the
> cold morning air....and you are as clean as a whistle!
>
>
>
>
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