Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×
 


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
 
Old 11-17-2010, 10:14 AM   #21
Senior Member
 
Ford_6L_E350's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Washington - Ridgefield
Posts: 4,728
Re: Anyone using a tankless water heater?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Roonie
Here is the one I will probably install. It is a tankless on demand hot water heater and the same one Jimapal is using. I saw his in action and it is a small little box that takes up no space under the sink. No outlet and no other fuel source. Wires into electrical panel easy enough. Made for a boat or RV. I was really impressed by it.


http://www.eemax.com/EX2412M

I have an EEMAX installed at home. It takes alot of power. It will pull over 200A from your batteries (through your 3000W inverter) while running, unless you are plugged into shore power.

Mike

__________________
Alaska to Key West, Labrador and more
Prostate cancer survivor. See Thread Prostate cancer and Sportsmobiles
2015 VW GTI 2020 Fiat 124 Spider
2012 E250 Hitop camper
Ford_6L_E350 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-17-2010, 10:16 AM   #22
Senior Member
 
windguy's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: SoCal
Posts: 249
Re: Anyone using a tankless water heater?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Roonie
Here is the one I will probably install. It is a tankless on demand hot water heater and the same one Jimapal is using. I saw his in action and it is a small little box that takes up no space under the sink. No outlet and no other fuel source. Wires into electrical panel easy enough. Made for a boat or RV. I was really impressed by it.


http://www.eemax.com/EX2412M
interesting option. thanks for sharing.
I guess I should add a 5th option to my list, tankless that runs on electricity, no propane.
this company has a few models, the more temperature boost, the more amperage.
Is a 33deg temp boost adequate?
Can you supply enough power from your inverter/house battery to run this and for how long?
I guess you can compare that to a microwave for power usage.
windguy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-17-2010, 11:40 AM   #23
Site Team
 
WVvan's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2009
Posts: 1,293
Re: Anyone using a tankless water heater?

Quote:
what are the major issues you have with the off-the-shelf systems you've researched?
I started this thread looking for a way to have hot water with the small cylinders instead of a full propane system. As I quickly found out, that idea won't work. Since I'm not going to have a propane system that already precludes most of the tankless options. I am thinking of installing the small tankless system that Roonie and Ford_6L_E350 wrote about. It uses a lot of electric power so it would only be suitable for hand washing and dishes.
That still leaves what will be my biggest hot water usage which is showers. I tend to use the van as a kind of base camp. I park it somewhere in the woods then spend the day biking or hiking.
Here's my one day hiking profile from a few weekends ago. Due to a slight miscalculation on my part, shorter daylight, the last mile was done in the dark.



When I get back at the end of the day I can be not only dirty but down right crusty. Heating a wet washcloth in the microwave won't cut it. I need a shower. I've used the Coleman black vinyl shower bag up till now and they do work as long as you have enough sense to set them out before you leave camp. A simple test I manage to fail with remarkable rapidity. Another problem is that in heavy woods the water won't get much above ambient temperature which if you've used straight-from-the-well-water to shower with is still a vast improvement. (Nads, What nads?)

There are the portable hot water showers systems but that's just something else to haul around that takes up space in the van and has to be setup/torn down. So that's why I'm going to try building the van-contained "Doc Brown Shower System". "Now with 30% less Plutonium!"
__________________
Open the pod bay doors Hal.

Once I exit Hal, this is what I do.
https://larry.wvnet.edu/~van/pics/lic...late-small.jpg
WWW.WVBIKE.ORG
WVvan is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-17-2010, 01:41 PM   #24
Senior Member
 
Roonie's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: PNW WA
Posts: 618
Re: Anyone using a tankless water heater?

My 2 cents and what I am going to do.

I have an SMB built RB50 and they put in the 16.5 gallon water tank and outside shower. I have used the shower to take a shower with no problem out the back of my SMB. I have been doing this without any water heater what so ever and yes it is a little cold but worth it. I am planning on installing the on demand electric water heater and I don't need scolding hot water just warm water which this will give me. I can use it for washing hands, dishes, and occasional showers. I have seen the eemax in the link I provided in person on Jimapal's SMB and I was very impressed with the install, space, and usability of it. I believe this will do fine for me or at least I am hoping it will. If you want a constant scolding hot water source to take multiple showers then probably look elsewhere as mentioned it eats up electricity.
Roonie is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-17-2010, 07:35 PM   #25
rnj
Member
 
rnj's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Denver, Colorado
Posts: 84
Re: Anyone using a tankless water heater?

Dave,

What about getting a small portable generator to plug 110V water heater into to heat up the water?You would only need to run it as long as it took to heat up the water.

Randy
__________________
1995 E250 2x SMB White Contempo Top Custom SMB Interior 5.8L (351) 69K miles
Added Propane Tank & Propex HS2800/20 Gal Fresh inside/20 gal gray underneath behind axle
2.8K Onan/Porti Potti Shower Area/110V Digital Oil filled Electric Radiator Heater/Dynaglo for backup
Hankook Dynapro ATs 225/75-16 LRE
New to me 10/2008 - 2nd owner
rnj is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-18-2010, 12:01 AM   #26
Senior Member
 
windguy's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: SoCal
Posts: 249
Re: Anyone using a tankless water heater?

Dave, looks like you hiked Mt. Everest there. right on

I wonder if there's any merit to a hybrid system, using both a flat plate and an on-demand water heater, electric or propane. The flat plate would help raise the base temp of the water tank when driving. If you don't want to turn the van engine on when camping or the water temp has cooled you can use the on-demand system, but it won't have to work as hard if the starting water temp is higher so at times you can perhaps save some energy and give you a higher water temp if needed. Just a thought.

Side question, do folks drink water out of the fresh water tank or is it just for washing up? I realize the water is potable but not sure how clean you can maintain the tank.
windguy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-18-2010, 09:17 AM   #27
Senior Member
 
Roonie's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: PNW WA
Posts: 618
Re: Anyone using a tankless water heater?

I drink out of mine and have had no problems. I follow the SMB manual procedures for the water tank which is clean it with bleach before every trip. I do this and usually let the bleach/water solution sit in it for awhile.
Roonie is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-18-2010, 09:31 AM   #28
Senior Member
 
windguy's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: SoCal
Posts: 249
Re: Anyone using a tankless water heater?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Roonie
I drink out of mine and have had no problems. I follow the SMB manual procedures for the water tank which is clean it with bleach before every trip. I do this and usually let the bleach/water solution sit in it for awhile.
Thanks Roonie. Good to know.
windguy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-18-2010, 12:00 PM   #29
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Posts: 752
Re: Anyone using a tankless water heater?

Quote:
Originally Posted by WVvan
I started this thread looking for a way to have hot water with the small cylinders instead of a full propane system. As I quickly found out, that idea won't work. Since I'm not going to have a propane system that already precludes most of the tankless options.

Those little bottles can be problematic. Have you considered the Manchester 1.2 gal/4.25 lb. approved refillable tanks that are just over a foot tall? DaveB has a picture here:

gallery/image_page.php?album_id=108&image_id=3047



You can get them at Amazon, Cabella's, Camping World, all over the web. They refill like any of the larger portable tanks at any approved propane fueling station and won't leak like after refilling the disposables. The initial purchase price of the bottle is expensive, but much cheaper from there on out contrasted with buying new disposables. The same places carry any and all adapters. That pic that DaveB has shows a little 1 burner stove designed to couple to a disposable tank. He has the necessary adapters to downsize the connection from the standard output valve of the Manchester tank.
TomH is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-18-2010, 01:34 PM   #30
Site Team
 
WVvan's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2009
Posts: 1,293
Re: Anyone using a tankless water heater?

Hey TomH,
I'm not an expert but this is what I picked up on the internet. The amount of BTUs that a propane tank can release/hr is directly related to the "wetted" surface of the propane, along with a bunch of other stuff (pressure, humidity, temperature). Think of it as the cross section area of the tank where the gaseous propane meets the liquid propane. This cross sectional area has to be large enough to satisfy the BTU requirements of the appliance.
That's why they make these funny looking fat and squat tanks, to increase the cross section - "wetted" surface area.


A small propane tankless heater (like this one) needs between 30,735 to 74,900 BTU's.

The smaller sized tanks with the limited wetted surface just won't cut it.
Can't find my figures but I did some calculations and you'd need a tank almost as big as your average BBQ tank to run the tankless heater. I don't want to be hauling a tank that size around inside the van. NOTE: Everything I've just written may be totally wrong.


Hey Randy,
I'd given a lot of thought to a generator but it seems only worth the trouble if you need air conditioning. I know from reading other peoples threads that in some places it a necessity. Around here that's not that big a deal. So I'm passing on the generator.

Hey Windguy,
It's not Mt. Everest but it would have been nice to have a sherpa to carry my pack for me.
The hike was to Flat Rock Plains which is part of the Allegheny Front.



This part of West Virginia was never really populated. Because of the extreme tree cover it was considered nearly impassable.



That all changed in the late 1800's- early 1900's. That's when the railroads and loggers arrived and started clear cutting everything in sight. They left a 100 years ago but you can still see some of their handiwork in the form of raised right-of-ways and stone abutments along the sides of the mountains



Several trails make use of the old right-of-ways.



Dave
__________________
Open the pod bay doors Hal.

Once I exit Hal, this is what I do.
https://larry.wvnet.edu/~van/pics/lic...late-small.jpg
WWW.WVBIKE.ORG
WVvan is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off

» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v3.2.3
Disclaimer:

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by Sportsmobile SIP or any of its affiliates. This is an independent, unofficial site.


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 04:16 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.