Date: Wed, 10 Dec 1997 23:25:56 -0800
Reply-To: "Steven X. Schwenk" <sxs@CONCENTRIC.NET>
Sender: Vanagon mailing list <Vanagon@Gerry.SDSC.EDU>
From: "Steven X. Schwenk" <sxs@CONCENTRIC.NET>
Subject: Re: Hot Water and you
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
you can build your own hot water heater for about $5 in less that 1/2 hour. all
you need is about 12 feet of 1/4" copper tubing and some rubber hose (1/4" ID) and
an adapter you must build to slip over the end of the faucet.
wrap the tubing in a coil, which you will sit on the stove burner to create hot
water.. first, light your stove burner in order to gauge the size of the coil you
want. the idea, of course, is to have as much of the tubing exposed to the flame
and heat as possible. i found that a single-layered coil is not enough....so my
coil is more of a bundle of tubing with criss-crosses and a couple of lawyers so
that a lot of the tubing gets flame and heat. i have not yet perfected the joint
where you slip the hose over the faucet...a project i will save for the road as i
leave tomorrow..
when the coil is placed on the burner, and hooked up to the faucet, it generates
instant very warm water. you can even rig it so that it will recycle the water in
the water tank through the coil until the entire tank is filled with hot water (
which can then be used for a shower/bath).. i haven't tried this yet to see how
long it takes...and thus how long you have to run the pump.
the store-bought Zodi version of the coil costs $25 for the basic model. (the
shower/tank set up costs more.) i am not sure, however, that the zodi coil will
generate very hot water from the westy stove, which does not put out as much heat
as the stove Zodi sells with the coil as an option or extra. the zodi coil is a
single-layered coil and is not specifically designed to match the flame of the
westy stove. someone out there may have actually used one and could tell us wheter
it works very well. zodi may be able to vouch for how it works as well since they
view vw camper owners as part of their market.
BTW...although this coil set up is great for when the van is stationary....it does
not compare to the Dave Garth coolant coil in the water tank set up. I have now
fine tuned the system so that it delivers fully automatic and constant really nice
hot water for washing up, dishes, bathing, etc. it was worth the time and effort.
steve
'90 syncro westy
san francisco (heading for a week in the eastern sierra and the desert tomorrow!)
Larry Hamm wrote:
> D.Belick wrote:
> >
> > Hi Volks,
> >
> > Saw a catalog item from sportmans Guide (800) 888 3006 that many might enjoy:
> > Hotman 2 shower kit for the boonies. you place the copper coil in your
> > campfire or on the campstove to heat the cold water you've placed in the
> > included 3 gallon storage tank. In about 20 minutes, the water is heated
> > by convection. Hot water moves through the hose connections automatically.
> > hang the tank above your head, connect the 1 1/2" shower head and you're
> > ready to lather up. on-off tap. comes with handy stuff sack. Heated water
> > is not for drinking or cooking.
> > Was 60.00 Blow out 19.97.
> >
> > Call 'em if interested, I like my interior solar shower just fine. But If
> > I didn't have it, this would be tempting...and much easier than the water
> > tank conversion recently bantied about.
> >
> > Good clean fun to you,
> >
> > Dan
> > 84 Adventurewagon
> Friends,
> Hot water for showers, cleaning up, Westy or backpack? Check out Zodi
> at: http://www.zodi.com/products.html
> Larry
| 
