Rear shower upgrade/modification anyone?

[daveb]

Yes I always check the fittings Pat. This is probably a common issue(same as the sink fittings). They will rattle loose and it's something I have to keep up with. But as far as the working portion, it has been great so far with no problems. I always shake it after using it (the SMB shower wand) and other than the fittings coming loose I have yet to see a problem. But it would be nice to keep the doors closed while in use.

Buji, some of the problems might be that I overwelm them with upgrades trying to get it all done at once every time I visit. It looks like an easy install. They just don't have the stuff and it seems they resist installs that have foreign parts involved. I might be wrong. I would rather pay to have it done even though I could pull it off with no problem. I just wish the quality control was up to my personal standards, but then it might put them out of business. What I need is a tow vehicle and leave it for a few weeks. Jeese, no cruzin for a couple of weeks .
Dave Boyer

[JoeyNick]

I posted this on the SMB Yahoo Group over a year ago but I'll re-post it here:

My Porta-Shower wand / hose setup has leaked from the day I got it, both from the sink connection and from the wand itself.

Frustrated with giving the inside of SMB a shower at the same time as I was taking a shower, I set out to find a workable solution and created two options.

My first solution involved removing the SMB installed faucet quick connectors, which spray water all over the SMB. The sink adapter removes just like a standard aerator on your kitchen sink at home (same thread size.) The hose end was tough to remove, even with a strap wrench and an open end wrench but it finally came free.

On the sink, I installed a faucet to garden hose adapter that I picked up for about $2.00. It screws right in. Then, I installed a brass adapter onto the shower wand hose ($3.00). The brass adapter has a female garden hose end and a male thread the same size as the quick connector that I removed. I used Teflon Tape on the threads to prevent leaks. These parts I found in the plumbing section of Lowe's.

To make attaching the hose to the sink a little easier, I stopped by the garden section and picked up an E-Z-Twist angled hose adapter ($4.00) and connected it to the brass garden hose adapter using Teflon Tape.

End result, no more leak from the sink when taking a shower and the shower hose connects to the sink like a standard garden hose. See Pic #1.

Of course, the shower wand was still leaky when I used it to stop the flow of water and I wanted something that wouldn't leak. This lead me to solution two.

In the garden section of Lowe's, I found a garden hose sprayer that had multiple spray patterns (reminds me of my house shower) and it had an on-off switch. To this, I added a short 10 foot standard RV water hose, using Teflon Tape between the two. See Pic #2.

I wasn't sure the water pump in the SMB would have enough pressure to get a decent stream out of the garden hose but much to my delight, the pump has plenty of power and the setup works great with no leaks.

Pic #1


Pic #2

[truckee55]

Thanks all. Joeynick this is exactly what I was looking for! Your original shower wand looks just like mine, with the same issues. Great solution. Thanks.

[kzemach]

I have an interior shower (the temp one) with the shower wand from SMB. If anyone wants my original SMB wand, I'll give it to you for free if you pay shipping ($5?)...

Anyway, I tried JoeyNick's soln, the garden sprayer, and that was definitely an improvement. But still, using the flatplate (not a prob for you propane folks I'm told), I couldn't get consistent water temp (scald and freeze), so we switched to filling an MSR dromedary bag (10L?) and using their sunshower attachment. It's a nicer shower, and we literally use less than half the water we did before. Since we only have the 10gal tank (which turns out to be 8 gal), that was important to us.

Also, when connecting to the sink, we did what JoeyNick did with a faucet-to-garden hose adapter, and then put on a garden hose quick connect. See: http://sportsmobileforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=271

This has worked out well for connecting and disconnecting.

[charlie56]

For the scalding issue, anyone with a flatplate ever consider adding a small tempering valve at the shower location to limit the water temperature? They mix the hot and cold water together to a preset temperature.
Example:
http://www.drillspot.com/products/37548 ... xing_Valve

[BroncoHauler]

With all this talk about people with showers, you'll never want me along since I don't have one. I guess I prefer to participate in the natural "ambience". Stay upwind.


Herb

[tadg]

Originally Posted by charlie56

For the scalding issue, anyone with a flatplate ever consider adding a small tempering valve at the shower location to limit the water temperature? They mix the hot and cold water together to a preset temperature.

I plan on adding a tempering valve, having experienced the 180 degree sink water. I would install it at the hot plate heater so that you can limit the sink water as well.

I do need to get the flat plate heater replaced with the freeze-resistant one, but I am toying with replacing it with a marine heater to give me some small hot water storage. But I have an EB-50 and all the ones I have seen in the US are too large to be squeezed into the space where the flatplate is installed. All of these marine heaters do come with the tempering valve already installed.

I recently ran across this German brand of heaters that look like they would fit nicely, (site is in German, but the measurements are pretty straightfoward) http://www.elgena.de/nautic-junior.htm

Tad

--
2007 SMB EB-50[/quote]

[JoeyNick]

Hoiw does the tempering valve work? I'm guessing it adds cold water to the hot water line...?

Thanks!

[charlie56]

I’m not an engineer but I will give it a try. The valve I am thinking about is a small (3â€

[Angel]

Will the Powers 141-650 mixing valve work for my flat plate H20 heater I am getting on my gas SMB or is it only for the diesel engine preheater - flat plate heat exchange H20 heater. I have no idea if they are the same or different when it comes to heating H20 for my outside shower and at the sink. I do know I need to run the engine while I take a shower. (hope the gas fumes will not kill me)

Angel