capacity of water boiler for onboard shower

Post by **wolfbus.uk** » 19 Oct 2016, 09:18

as per title I deciding which capacity boiler to buy from Elgena that runs via 200W DC and the engine water circuit.

Either;

a 10 litre which will sit nicely between seats on cab.

https://www.elgena.de/collections/boile ... 4365125315" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

a 15 litre which will have to take up some valuable space in living area

https://www.elgena.de/collections/boile ... utic-therm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

a 20 litre standing (S) version which will be taking up similar valuable space in living area.

https://www.elgena.de/collections/boile ... 4794202051" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I want a minimum of 3 minute shower at about 6 or 7L per minute flow and was about to go for the big 20L one and compromise on space.

But I am wondering that if I got the 10L one once the water is mixed with cold how much mixed water this would provide for one shower?

Would it actually be like having a 20L litre shower?

It states the water heats to about 80C in these boilers.

Any help much appreciated, never done any plumbing in my life!

Post by **Oldiebut goodie** » 19 Oct 2016, 10:02

If you are wild camping you are going to have to seriously think about your consumption of potable water. Are you going to use a filter like Nature Pure? That is what I have fitted - it will strip out all the nasties. You fill up from streams, rivers etc. Showering whilst wild camping is a case of wet oneself, turn shower off, soap and wash and then rinse off. Minimal water wastage. Why waste good water? (don't forget to take a water pump and hose for transferring the stream/etc. water to the van's tank) I always used to top up at first available source so that it was never low.
It seems like you are going to be towing a water bowser!

Of course the scenario is even worse if you are talking about 2 persons using the water.
I use a Carver Cascade gas water heater which has an 8 litre capacity but this is plumbed in before the filter which supplies a dedicated drinking water tap.

Post by **ninja.turtle007** » 19 Oct 2016, 11:21

We use less than 20l of water in total for showing two adults and 2 children. This includes my wife washing her hair. Showering the way Obg suggested.

Post by **Oldiebut goodie** » 19 Oct 2016, 11:49

The Carver manual states that the max. temperature is 70 deg.

Post by **ninja.turtle007** » 19 Oct 2016, 12:08

Oldiebut goodie wrote:The Carver manual states that the max. temperature is 70 deg.

I'm guessing that the water would need to be above 65c if it is being stored?

Post by **wolfbus.uk** » 19 Oct 2016, 12:13

thanks Tom, that makes me hopeful that the 10L boiler of 80 degree water once mixed will do nicely for one person. If two people then one morning, one evening I guess.
That would mean the smaller Elgena compact boiler at 230mm high should fit between drivers and combi seat which for one will save space and two that is where is currently sited the Finnish army matrix heater blower for the load area. So I can rip that out and use the existing plumbing to fit the elgena hopefully.

OBG I have a towbar so a bowser might be the thing haha. Travelling Northern Russia in wintertime would mean the places where you could fill up here would be frozen so I'd probably need the water supply onboard in the heated living compartment in those conditions and not give a monkeys about a shower at that point! But it is a good point and i will also be travelling much in warmer climes too, so filteration should be possible & preferable then to extend length of wild camping and reduce waste.

Perhaps a dual system is possible whereby onboard tank say 50L never has unclean water in it, and I have a seperate tank underslung that I can collect from rivers and feed that through a Nature Pure filter to the main onboard tank. (how i'd go about it goodness only knows but I suppose two pumps and aux hosing might work)

I wonder how much 50L onboard would last if you had to eek it out with man and dog on board? A good while I should imagine perhaps 7 days more or less.

Post by **wolfbus.uk** » 19 Oct 2016, 12:16

the Elgena quotes 30-80 degree cont adjustable

Post by **ninja.turtle007** » 19 Oct 2016, 12:30

We aim for a water temp of just over 35C so you should have plenty.

Post by **wolfbus.uk** » 19 Oct 2016, 12:38

Cheers Tom. Is it a rear mounted shower like on some of the conversions I've seen? I take it you are showering outside of vehicle although I remember seeing the t3 profi hitop having an on board one

Post by **ninja.turtle007** » 19 Oct 2016, 12:42

Yes, using a T3 cabin (tent) and a waffle board to stand on.

Post by **wolfbus.uk** » 19 Oct 2016, 12:55

ahh genius!

Looks like i'll have to have the shower coming out the side door and mount a box like this into the front bulkhead by the door.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Caravan-Exter ... rkt%3D1%26" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Alternatively I could run the shower cord 3 metres to back of van..

Do you have a bracket to hold the shower? Picture of the set up would be great.

Post by **ninja.turtle007** » 19 Oct 2016, 14:37

This is what we use for the shower.

http://www.worldofcamping.co.uk/kampa-g ... o_s=gplauk

We recirculate it into a Jerry can until the water reaches 35c. Takes about 10mins depending on the starting temp of water. By doing this the temp doesn't fluctuate when you turn the shower off and on.

Post by **wolfbus.uk** » 20 Oct 2016, 18:39

that's a nice bit o kit you have there!

Post by **clift_d** » 20 Oct 2016, 19:26

We have one the same. Great bit of kit and really easy to use. We run it off the BBQ point in our Westy gas tank, although it needs a secondary regulator in this case to drop the gas pressure from the Westy's 50mbar to the 38mbar required by the boiler.

Post by **ninja.turtle007** » 21 Oct 2016, 12:14

The Kampa Geyser is quite bulky.

I've been thinking about alternatives for a long time. My plan is to mount a 20L Scepter water tank over the rear nearside window. The water will be heated with a 12v 600w stat controlled immersion heater. I have roughly calculated that to heat 20L of 10C water to 35C will take about 60 minutes. This will require about 50A/H, although my battery bank is 288A/H, I would imagine that it's not a good idea to do this. The idea is to have a switch with two 30a relays in parallel in the cab so the heater can be turned on whilst driving and the power be taken from the alternator. But possibly, I would also install either an intelligent relay so the heater can only be activated whilst the engine is running. But maybe with an override switch to top the temp up if we don't shower straightaway.

I'm still thinking this through l, so any comments welcome.

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