Darned expensive compared to the Zodi hot water system that goes on top of
your propane stove, seems to me.
And you'll have to start & run the engine for some time to create enough
heat for a shower.

The Zodi looks to be more economical to run as well as to buy but I don't
have one yet so I can't give you a review.  Still working on the
house.......

On 7/6/07, Troy <colorworks@gci.net> wrote:
>
> > check the archives. no, really. ;)
> > there was a guy in the early days of the vanagon list (can't recall his
> > name right now) and he built a system under the rear seat of his camper.
> > used the rear seat heater to provide the coolant ... which flowed
> through
> > some copper coils inside a water tank. he had some sort of thermostat
> that
> > shut off the flow of coolant to the coils if the water got too hot. he
> > used it for the sink and had some sort of hookup to run a hose to the
> rear
> > hatch (which held the shower curtain when the hatch was up).
> >
> > seems like the guy's name was dave something or other. had pictures and
> > text on a web site.
> >
> > hope it helps. good luck!
> > joel
> >Thanks Joel:
>
> Here's that link your referring to: http://www.syncro.org/HotWater.shtml
>
> And then a response I sent to one other person who emailed me.
>
> <<Yes, I have the link for that particular set up. That would require
> using
> the onboard 13 gallon water, which is not something I was interested in
> doing. The link I provided appears to be an "on demand" system, that is to
> say as long as you have adequate water supply, (stream, lake, etc)  you
> could have endless hot water on demand. That's a lot different than
> heating
> up the onboard water. The key is the type of heat exchanger. There are
> propane units available such as the one I have (Coleman) and I believe
> there
> is another company that puts out something called the zodiac, which works
> on
> a similar principle. The Coleman actually works quite well on a picnic
> table
> with a 5 gallon jug, but it is kind of large and bulky and takes up
> precious
> space. Anyway, as I said I'm intrigued by the challenge more than anything
> else. In my own experience, there seems to be plenty of places available
> along the way to get a hot shower for cheap, and the Coleman works great
> at
> picnic side for dishes, etc.>>
>
>
> Another drawback to heating the onboard water is it promotes bacterial
> growth. An "on demand" --heated as needed system--is what I was trying to
> accomplish. That particular heat exchanger I provided the link for
> (http://www.hotcampshowers.com/new51788.html) seems to do just that.
> Basically, the criteria for this would be to figure out volume of water
> needed (gallons per minute) versus the required rise in temperature.
> Generally the greater the increase in temperature, the lower the flow. For
> example heating water from 40� to 100� may only result in 1/2 gal. a
> minute
> (GPM) versus  going from 70� to 100�, which may result in 1 gallon a
> minute
> or better. The Coleman I have is basically a 1 gallon per minute, but
> slows
> down quite a bit if you try to crank the water temperature to say 160
> degrees. I know just enough about this to get myself into trouble;) I was
> hoping someone else might be more knowledgeable about this than I am.
> Sounds
> like I will have to do a Google search and compare specs on the various
> heat
> exchangers available out there.
>
> If anyone else cares to chime in about this, I'm all ears.
>
> Troy
>

-- 
Jake
1984 Vanagon GL
1986 Westy Weekender "Dixie"
www.crescentbeachguitar.com