Hot water shower

I have fitted one of these to my Defender and have used it on several trips! Its great to have an instant hot water shower! My kids even preferred it to some of the campsite facilities, as the water was hotter from the Kampa system!
I did away with the pump supplied and fitted it directly to my internal water tank with the sureflow inline pump, that you can get at any camp store for about 20 GBP.
Just plug in ya gas, wire it to the 12V and hey presto...... A nice shower!
It does not boil water, so I still use my gas cooker for coffee, soup etc, but I use the Kampa system for shower, cleaning the dishes and also giving the dog a wash..!!

http://www.kampa.co.uk/products/gas-appliances-accessories/water-heaters/geyser-hot-water-system/

Not bad for the price..!!



http://global-adventures.webs.com/

I wish I had room for something like that.

Jed

Just jump in the river and stop being wimps.

Jed@CampervanCulture.com wrote:

I wish I had room for something like that.

Jed

Don't need it mate. The VW Syncro is a nice size, built that way for a purpose. Agree with Mr AssAssIn, find a natural bath.

Besides, when brushing it's fascinating to see toothpase explode as it hits the water - can't do that with a shower!

Hot (or at least warm) shower at the end of a dusty, grimy day can feel pretty amazing. I always just carry a collapsible bucket with a shower head and on/off valve sealed into the bottom. Sling a rope over a tree branch or make a tall tripod and away you go. I suppose a powered pump shower would be great but I would always be worried about using too much water....especially if the wife gets under it. I find the bucket system helps 'ration' the water consumption while showering.

I have a good set up for the warmer places and I will post a link to it when I have got through my first 7 days so I can post links. Our shower set up is one of those 12volt jobbies that I have put a slightly higher pressure pump on and we have a canvas room that used to belong to a roof tent I had on my double cab Syncro that now fixes to the rear tailgate of the camper giving us a shower room on the back that has a nice back window/roof light when set up.
Basically we fill one of the black plastic army jerry cans up with water and anywhere over 28*C ambient temperature outside in the sun gets the container comfortable enough to have a decent shower. The trick is to set the stop watch on your phone because the jerry can lasts 7 minutes.... Wet yourself down, turn off, soap up, turn on, rinse off, turn off. There is only usually my Mrs, my son who is now 6 and myself and we can all use the one jerry can full with the last person having the luxury of an extra long selfish rinse off.
We do trips in warm places loads and when you spend lots of your time in lakes, rivers, sea etc you dont really need a shower. But on trips we have done in colder places or places high up you just cant jump in the rivers and stuff as it feels like you are being stabbed in the legs and usually in front of hikers too

My mate bought a heat exchanger unit that plumbs into your coolant system from Australia that gives you hot water if you tap into an external tank (or onboard tank in our case) but the downside is the engine has to be hot. A unit like the one by the OP would be good but nearly all the available internal space of the Syncro is accounted for.

Jed

scott.l. wrote:

I have fitted one of these to my Defender and have used it on several trips! Its great to have an instant hot water shower!

http://www.kampa.co.uk/products/gas-appliances-accessories/water-heaters/geyser-hot-water-system/

Not bad for the price..!!



http://global-adventures.webs.com/

Anyone know how long they take to heat the water enough for a shower ??------how much water has to run through the system to waste ??
Nigel & Pamala

OP put this on some time ago------is it still working OK ??

Hi Nigel and Pamela,
Its instant..!!! Pilot light fires up and ignites the gas to heat the water as soon as you flick the switch....

:o 

Alternatively you could fit a tank under the bonnet on most vehicles, run a coil of pipe through it and plumb it into the vehicle cooling system on the return side, run the engine and it heats the water, no additional drinking water is used, it can be filled from a river or stream with clean water, and after a day off roading you have a tank of water.

Assassin wrote:

Alternatively you could fit a tank under the bonnet on most vehicles, run a coil of pipe through it and plumb it into the vehicle cooling system on the return side, run the engine and it heats the water, no additional drinking water is used, it can be filled from a river or stream with clean water, and after a day off roading you have a tank of water.

Hi
Thanks------but I am not going to disturb the truck's cooling system:)-------plus we want the system to work without running the engine 
Nigel

scott.l. wrote:

Hi Nigel and Pamela,
Its instant..!!! Pilot light fires up and ignites the gas to heat the water as soon as you flick the switch....

:o 

Thanks for the quick reply:cheers: -------is there any way to regulate the water temp. ??----when showering, and you turn off the shower switch, I presume the flame goes out ?---is there a 'scalding/freezing moment' where you have to avoid the water until it settles down again ???
It sounds too good to be true---------would it work installed in a camper-(We are looking at replacing our leaking HWS with one of these)

Nigel & Pamala

Yes there is a temperature control on the top of the unit. Yes as soon as you turn off the switch the pilot light goes out but also so does the water pump as they are linked on the one switch.
It can be a bit of a pain to try and reach the switch on the unit when you are naked and wet after finishing your shower. So I added a pressure switch, so as soon as I shut off the shower rose the pump stops too.
Its worth noting that this unit is intended for camping and its advised its used in a well ventilated area. When I shower I always ensure the back door is open of the Land Rover, as the unit does give off a small amount off emissions when heating the water. Therefore Im not sure if it would be a proper replacement for your camper. There is a VERY short burst of very hot water on start up, but settles down in seconds.

FYI - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgWrdJrKC_c

Hi
That's the trouble with instantaneous heaters---hot/cold ------I did think that's how it would be-------IF I fitted one, it would be where our present one is---vented through the grill on the side of camper--------------Still undecided------about £150 against about £500 to replace ours with a new one the same-------but our one that's leaking is only 3 years old:( :o :shock: ------But we replaced it in US where it was MUCH cheaper-------------------------the tank is lined with a coating so it can't be welded--------I had thought about trying to seal it-----but it is leaking where the flame goes in----I don't think Araldite would stand the heat  
Nigel & Pamala

Well as long as you have good ventilation then I don't see a problem. I looked long and hard at water systems, and I am very happy with the Kampa. Mine is plumbed directly into my water tank under the rear wing. The kit does come with a pump which is designed to be dropped into a water source, but I changed this for an inline pump.
My kids sometimes prefer to use the Land Rover shower than campsite shower facilities as its warmer...  

Hey guys I tried out the Road Shower and I also like to make videos so I did a gear review video on it. Here is the link. A little different than the previous ideas but it's pretty nice to have!

I prefere these solutions who use the engine heat to produce hot water, using an heat exchanger.

There are severall such solutions around:

http://www.4x4tripping.com/2013/11/warmwasser-auf-der-reise-warmetauscher.html

We use have one of these devicses built in (Helton)

Surfy