Hot water?

[Ultrasport12]

HappyCamper,

We have used our Coleman with both Reliance Aquatainer blue water jugs (not the soft sided one it comes with) and with the optioanal hose adapter for both our vans onboard water system and a regular hose spigot. We like you never eat or cook in the van so the Coleman works great as a type of sink on the table with both hot and cool water always available. Personally I feel the pump is fussy when used in the soft tank and like many pumps they dont like to run dry.The pump seems to be fine in the blue jug (it will not fit into some jugs) with the soft bag the pump has to be a cetain way or it can fail. I am certain that high resistance from the pump could mess up the unit somehow.

Greggd ,

For us truthfully this is the first and only portable hot water heater we have ever owned so we have nothing to compare it to but for us it has been great. It is heavy and somewhat large but I dont (again not knowing any better) think its too hard to set up as a shower. I built a by pass valve and a seperate hose kit just for our shower kit. We use a Bass Pro shop private pop up enclosure and with the hose kit we can be taking a hot shower including the set up time in less than five minutes. We just pop open the enclosure stake it down if windy, bring out the Coleman hook up the hose kit and we are ready to go. The Zodis are nice ans small and I could see how they could be great for a shower but we use the sink faucet feature so much we would always have to have something like it from now on. I know lots of the Coleman stuff is junk, the newer stoves for example are garbage but at least for us the hot water on demand has been good, touch wood.

Oh one thing I can say is buy the carrying bag if you buy a Coleman. Its super nice and very high quality (not green either so maybe not made by Coleman) and comes with a nice cover for the unit when its out on the table. Some camping friends of ours also have one (also zero problems so far) and theirs is really faded from being out in the sun.

...Jamie

[GreyDawg]

Originally Posted by HappyCamper

I learned on my first trip in our SMB that I prefer to cook outside. We have a chuck box that SMB built a special cabinet to hold. It can be used inside the van or outside. Once in camp, we set it up on the table, ...

Like BroncoHauler says...

At the risk of hijacking the thread (again ) can you describe the chuckbox (homemade, or commercial?), and even perhaps share a photo or two?

Thanks!

[KTMRIDER]

While I haven't used mine a ton the times I have used the Coleman it has worked great. It is bulky, no doubt about it but I find the shower simple and also use the blue reliance containers for drawing water from with the pump.

Good review here:
http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/t ... +on+demand

Eric

[HappyCamper]

Originally Posted by BroncoHauler

Come on, you can't tease us like that and then not post any pictures.

I looked online and couldn't find this unit for sale. Here is a link to a similar unit but the product is 'no longer available': http://www.outdoorbasics.com/outdoor...=2006_f30cb2af.

The box was still being made about 4 years ago when I bought one for my son from Sportsman's Warehouse. Unfortunately, they changed the top and the new design won't work in our cabinet. The top hinges on the sides (2 overlapping pieces). It would not be possible to open the box while mounted in the van.

Sadly I didn't have any photos out camping but did have the unit inside for a full clean out after a 2+ week trip. Just like camp food, it's not quite as good at home. But I took a few photos to give you the idea.

We usually put the chuck box on a bench seat on the picnic table but you can also position it on a picnic table or even on the ground. Setting up the kitchen including connecting the stove to a 7 lb propane tank, filling the water cube, spreading the tablecloth, etc., takes one person less than 5 minutes.

Remember, this is an 18 year old van ... not a shiny new one.

To bring this back on topic, wouldn't a working hot water faucet be the perfect addition! I love the Coleman's spigot design. Now, to figure out how to make one with a more reliable system ....

[GreyDawg]

Thanks, HappyCamper!

A metal chuck-box is exactly the sort of thing I have in mind -- so much lighter than the plywood chuck-box I built for my Ford Explorer about 10 years ago, and soooooooooooo much lighter than the huge plywood kitchen box my parents built ~1965 from a plan in Sunset magazine to haul in the ol' full size Chevy station wagon.

[haywoodphotomaccom]

I saw a heat exchanger device about the size of a coffee can on one of the off road retailer websites some months ago. I believe it was overseas somewhere? I thought I had bookmarked the website months ago on the computer and I can't seem to find it. It was not Sure Marine. I think it was in the $600.00 range and black.

Any ideas on the company name or location?

[Greggd]

Brent ,
You may have seen the under hood heat exchanger on the Decker web site that Dave posted here earlier , we have never used this one but have a couple of friends that have installed this unit in their
Rover/Jeep type vehicles . I was told that if you had a decent water supply that they worked quite nicely . The system was small and unobtrusive so mounting on both of these vehicles was pretty straightforward !
Greggd

[haywoodphotomaccom]

found what I saw awhile back on Adventure Trailers website just now. Anyone have or used one to comment on?

[ridintall]

Been reading up on this thread as I'm adding some type of hot water system to my new SMB (to be ordered soon after my current one sells). Not sure I want to give up the space for a tank so a heat exchanger sounds like a good idea. Not sure I would have SMB install their flat plate b/c they'll only put it outside the van risking burst water pipes in the winter. But since heat exchangers came up I thought I'd mention my experience with one in particular.

Back in 2001 (pre SMB), I outfitted by Nissan Pathfinder for a 9 month road trip and one of the best things I did, besides the ARB Fridge and dual battery setup, was install an R&M Specialty products hot water shower system. I plumbed it inline with the heater core under the hood and it came with a SureFlow pump, hoses and quick connects. I could take a great shower from a 5 gallon jug and there were several times I was camped next to a stream or lake in AK that I had unlimited hot water showers...it was awesome. One great thing also was that I could dial in the temperature from the dash board via the trucks heater adjustment. I still have this system, just never got around to installing it in my current SMB. It's a bit larger than the flat plate unit and since I winter camp and want hot water w/out pipes freezing, getting it to fit inside the van may be challenging. But it worked really well which is why I'm seriously considering it for my next SMB.

[BroncoHauler]

If anyone is looking at a stand-alone, outdoor shower, Costco is showing a few of the Zodi hot water shower kits. Not sure if they're available in the stores, or just onlilne.

http://www.costco.com/CatalogSearch?sto ... yword=zodi


Herb