Right.

The Zodi I had was this towering contraption that sat on top of a propane
bottle in your tent. It always looked in danger of falling over in your
shower. You would turn on the propane then start clicking the starter which
would wait until there was enough propane in the air surrounding the unit to
create a flame cloud. Then, as Troy says, if you left the flame on and did
run the water it would scald the water in the pipes so the first batch of
water was steam then spurting scalding water. You then had to take a quick
shower as the pump would dump about 1/2 gal a minute of water on you.

Actually I could somewhat deal with it but my wife could not and when my
daughter was born I got rid of it. I got the Coleman hot water on demand and
have not looked back.

Thanks,
Bryan

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
Troy
Sent: Friday, July 25, 2008 3:21 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Another portable hot water on demand system

Zodi used to make a unit that would work on top of the Westy stove. You may
be able to find one used on eBay. Zodi has since come out with a new unit
that requires a pretty good-sized stove to power it, IOW, not suitable for
the Westy. I recall a number of people saying that they used them (the old
model) with success. I suspect a lot depends on your expectation. One of the
drawbacks to the Zodi units is when you turn the water off the heat does not
shut off. So, when you go to turn the water back on it comes out scalding
hot or you end up melting the hoses in absence of water. I suspect if you
are just using this device for heating up some water for dishes it would be
fine, but for regulated shower use I think this thing would be a source of
frustration. 

The Coleman, despite its size, is still one of the best units I tried and
can actually be used with 40� water from a stream or river for showers or
dishes, without having to recirculate water to get it up to temp. 

Troy