The DIY westy water heater has me thinking.....

How about a small pump that circulates the water into the engine bay where
it is heated by the thermal engery given off by the exhaust system or engine
block?

High temp lines could be routed near the heat source with precaution or a
"cold plate" mounted to the block or muffler.  (traditional cold plates are
used to cool beverages,  basically an aluminum slab which the warm tastey
beverage flows through while it is submerged in an ice bath.....god
bless'um)

It would be very important to know the max temps.  Otherwise you could end
up making steam, pressurizing the system, and blowing up your van....kinda
scary.  Does anyone know of a hot location in the engine bay that never ever
surpasses the boiling point of water (212F/100C)?  There has to be an
obvious answer to that.   If not it sounds like a job for the IR
thermometer.

Thermostat control is another topic.

I personally would avoid splicing into the coolant system of my van.  The
system has enough challenges as it is.   Plus, I don't like blue, phosphate
free showers.

John

'85 Silver Sunroof
'91 GTi 2.0 8v
'76 BMW 2002

'85 Silver Sunroof
'91 GTi 2.0 8v
'76 BMW 2002

>From: John Runberg <jrunberg@MAC.COM>
>Reply-To: John Runberg <jrunberg@MAC.COM>
>To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
>Subject: Re: [vanagon] Hot Water for a Westy
>Date: Mon, 12 Apr 2004 16:48:13 -0400
>
>How warm do you want to get the water?
>
>Silly thought, but what about using one of the larger electric aquarium
>heaters (plugging into the aux bat through a converter)? Not the most
>elegant solution, but if one can keep a 50gal tank @ 85 degrees I'm sure
>it'd work in a westy. The big problem would be if the water level went
>below the heater. BOOM.
>
>Propane would be more efficient, however...
>
>john

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