Heat Exchange Shower. What do you do?

[Shann Low]

Mate a mines dad was one f the first to fish those islands (They are 54 miles off the coast). He used to work on whaling ships (sail powered square riggers back in the day in Norway).

So when fishing crays in Geraldton, he heard about these islands off the coast from Pilots at the air strip. So he sailed his 16 ft clinker built timber dinghy out there & camped out there a few weeks living off fish and the odd turtle and seal... whatever he could get!

Caught a boat full of crays and sailed back to Gero... these are the days before GPS - he had a compass was all!

Built a hut eventually out of stuff he took out from town a few bits at a time!.

I stayed in that original hut mostly after he passed away. One night in a gale it almost blew off the Island with me in it!.

I guess I am saying - we really don't need all this technology - its nice to have, I like a cold beer at the end of the day out of the engel fridge freezer as much as the next guy - but this country was established without any of that stuff- just the very basics.

I trapped fauna once with Hary Butler... & he did all his early work out of one of the first Land rovers, broken axles and all.

No portable fridges and heat exchanger showers in those days.

Heck what about the guys who conquered the gold fields with wheelbarrows and shovels?

Maybe we are all just becoming 'soft cock's' at the end of the day....

Had a mate once - wouldn't go camping with us coz there was no where to plug his hair dryer in! (We nick named him "pretty boy Floyde").

I reckon people shouldn't put off seeing this great country coz they haven't got $3 -4 hundred Kay's worth of "all the latest gear"...

I remember up in the Pilbara we once had a couple camped near us once (yeah the ones who drained all our diesel from the long range tank into jerrys in the middle of the night & put it all into their 4wd & shot thru at ridiculous O'Clock the same morning before we woke up) - who traveled on the smell of an oily rag!.

Reported it to the local plods... turned out - they had been after them for weeks... apparently they rented a 4wd from some hire place in Perth for 2 days - took off and never came back with it.. stole a caravan to hook on the back, and were stealing food & fuel from other campers, doing servo drive offs etc.. I think they made it to Qld before the law finally caught up with them from memory - but heck they were seeing Oz on a shoestring budget!

[daveyboyjunior]

Cheers Pete, I am keen to have a shower facility for our nights in the woods.
Will have a look at the Glind setups, as I need to know the best points to come of the vehicle system with a flow and return to the exchanger. Actually Viking, have you a pic from under the bonnet?

[the-viking]

I do mate. Does this help?

[daveyboyjunior]

That's great, thanks!

[the-viking]

I guess I am saying - we really don't need all this technology - its nice to have, I like a cold beer at the end of the day out of the engel fridge freezer as much as the next guy - but this country was established without any of that stuff- just the very basics.

No portable fridges and heat exchanger showers in those days.

Maybe we are all just becoming 'soft cock's' at the end of the day....

Had a mate once - wouldn't go camping with us coz there was no where to plug his hair dryer in! (We nick named him "pretty boy Floyde").

I reckon people shouldn't put off seeing this great country coz they haven't got $3 -4 hundred Kay's worth of "all the latest gear"...

Mate I'm sure there are those that do take off with the bare essentials but remember it is 2015…. I wouldn't take less than what I have now because I want to enjoy the trip. I don't have anything more to prove to myself in regards to 'doing it rough'. Six years in a Field Force unit in the Army helped me out there as well. Done my 'doing it rough' stint. Im not going to stand there at the end of the day and swing an axe either. My Husky is going to do the work for me. I don't think its a matter of becoming soft cocks, I think there is generally an evolution to a persons camping life. I would bet most if not all the members on here started out camping like everyone else. I do agree that there is way overboard to some peoples camping equipment, I've seen some doozies.
Actually! My next camping trip will be with a CPAP machine for the first time!!!! lol Currently I have to drag my swag well away from the main camp if my wife wants a decent nights sleep. I don't get to be under the tarp with my swag all opened up if there is bad weather. I have to close everything up. Hate it.
Getting back to a Heat Exchanger Shower for a moment, the biggest advantage they have is that you don't require a fire to boil water (National Fire Bans atm) nor do you need the sun, as for those solar showers, which is what we used before the Glind. Rain Hail or Shine, we can have that hot/warm shower. Nothing like a hot shower, outdoors, in the rain. Something about it.
Cheers.

[Shann Low]

You make a very good point about the fire bans.
Of course at the Abrolhos we heat the water with the gas on the LPG stove.
Who wants to be out camping in a heat wave?...
I hear you about the comforts of home. I am all for them coz I am old.
I just think the young ones on here, shouldn't be made to feel they can't venture out with just an axe for firewood and a few buckets and a bit of hose for a shower.
If we all waited until we were old and decrepit to be abler to go with all the mod cons then we might miss a LOT that this country has to offer.
I guess it's something to aim for.
Crazy thing is few people keep their vehicles long term these days. They do tend to "trade up" so if you start adding up the costs of "everything" that needs doing to a 4wd in roo bars, spot lights, fridges, sliders, steps, winches etc etc etc (shower) you can easily spend the cost of the vehicle again on top of the price of the vehicle.
If you change vehicles every 4 years lets say - you could spend $10K a year to get to that point & when you turn around to sell it to upgrade again, no one gives you even 1c MORE for your vehicle because its fully decked out!
No its just a whatever year XYZ 4 x 4 and the red book is this much and thats what the car yards offer as a trade!
Trying to sell private sale all tricked out everyone just assumes its been flogged to bits...over every rough trail and deep mud hole by some tyro wannabe & steers well clear of it.
When looking for a 2nd hand 4wd we ALL want that one that's been log book serviced, garaged its whole life, low km's, soccer mum cart that has never been off the bitumen...then WE set about turning it into something fully tricked out!
Its a big mugs game financially, fully tricking out a 4by.
Its brilliant for comfort when away camping for sure - i am not knocking the idea/practice.
Just trying to encourage the younger ones to not wait until they have spent the better part of a decent house deposit on their 4wd before getting out to see this great land!
Heck my first trip round oz I never even had a 4wd & I still managed to see the kimberly's, gibb river road, Wolf creek, the rock etc!
If you believed the forums and advertising you shouldn't even leave the city unless you have a fully trucked out $100K 4wd.
I reckon a lot will miss much of what the country has to offer, if they don't just make the most of what they have and get out there and enjoy it while they can.

[the-viking]

What I see is young folk that leave school, become comfortable with a job and build up their 4x4 pretty quickly, and theres the ones that leave school have the passion but not the coin. I don't see them sitting back though waiting for that build before they hit the tracks. They get out there with what they've got. Kids today do have this 'want it now' nature and so if they can afford the gizmo's straight up then why not? They just won't have the fire place conversations that go. "When I first started to go camping all I had was…….." and so forth. lol
I don't care if my camping neighbour (on the rare occasions we have one) is sitting on a milk crate with a snag on a stick or set up similar to me. So long as they're enjoying the bush respectfully. I do frown and shake my head at the overkills like TV's, satellite dishes, Play Stations and so on. Also music players. Chuck some ear phones in for Christ's sake!! It's all about the tranquillity of the bush for us.

Hey daveyboyjunior.
Just fyi. My system was installed for me by the good lads at the Wyoming Recreational Car Accessories 4x4 shop on the Central Coast NSW. When I mentioned that I'd like the hoses to come to the bull bar they loved the idea and took this as a personal challenge and actually did it for free for me. That's the extending it part not the entire installation. They were that happy with the results they took a few photos and now have it down as an extra for other installs. This is like I've been saying. Simplicity is the aim for all my gear. The hoses extended to the bullbar saves me having to pop the bonnet and grab the hoses to plug in. If you go down this path make sure they or you use a quality marine grade toggle switch.

Also, after about two trips fighting the coil end of the shower water intake hose I came up with the idea of a piece of PVC pipe to sleeve over the hose end (pictured) to get rid of the coil. What a bloody difference this made! You can find the lowest point of the water container your using and place the end of the hose right there to take up every last drop. The PVC is the length of a jerry can.

The thermometer? This is a recent idea. Man! Love it. Previously I'd have to keep pulling the outlet hose out of the water supply and feel the temp. Now it alarms at 45°c. We can be just fiddling away prepping our change of cloths, getting a fire on or whatever. When the alarm goes off I switch the car off and attach the shower head. The thermometer has magnets on the back and just attaches to the tent pole I use as a shower pole. You'll notice in the photos I'm using a spike thermometer like those in coffee shops. This worked fine but you had to stop periodically to check the temp.

Like I said the Pop-Up rarely goes up because we don't usually have anyone around.

I have to tell this. One time we had a camping neighbour (the only neighbour) come over to chat. While he was there the shower alarm went off. I excused myself and went over and prepped the shower. He was intrigued and took a closer look at the set up. He asked if he could call his wife over to take a look. Next thing he was taking photos of the set up. We ended up exchanging emails and I asked him to keep me up to date with his progress. Only 3 weeks later he sent some photos. Other than he had a Toyota it was like looking at my car. He took on board every idea and was a happy camper.
Like us they agree that the two biggest game changes for modern day camping for them has been a fridge and a good shower.
Cheers.

[Tony F8]

Viking, I use a good quality air hose, well 3 in fact for the intake side, just varying lengths and can join with nitto fittings, no memory so no tangles. You probably already do this but just in case, when pumping from a distance, I use a simple one way valve, the type with a marble in them and always an inline filter, simply becaude it doesn't take much to block a diaphragm pump.
Cheers.

[the-viking]

Hi TonyFB.

Because I keep my hoses coiled up in a flat bag along with the shower head and thermometer for convenient packing it does retain a coil, but the only section that was a pain was the end that went into the jerry or solar shower. Other than that the rest is fine. The section of PVC allows me to place the intake hose exactly into the lowest point of the water supply taking up every last drop. When I use a Solar shower I'll hang it on the bullbar so it has a deliberate angle to one corner.
Appreciate the tip though. Cheers mate..

[Johnnojack]

Viking, love your setup. Have you ever filled the jerrry and hung it off the bullbar for the last few ks into camp? arriving with the water already heated. (would need a smooth road I guess). I have spend some time thinking about how to heat water on the road, like having a small tank somewhere at the front (no I don't know where yet), in the meantime you have got it well sorted.

[the-viking]

Hi Johnnojack.
Well you've mentioned something that has tickled my tinkering sensors for some time now, or use to, so yes, I have thought of a way to do that. However, the way I look at it is this:
1.By pulling into camp and heating the water then, I can put my preset thermometer on. I wouldn't be able to do that on the move and also the water would be a scalding temperature by the time we hit camp. So no real control on the water temp.
2. I don't as yet have a turbo timer installed so I look at the water heating period at camp as a good turbo cooling period for the car.
3. Finally, I still have the wood to cut and stack, the last dirty chore for the day, and more often than not the time it takes me to do that is close to the time it takes to heat the water. Yes very routine I guess but it works for us.

The other alternative I came up with but have not done is to place a solar shower up on the roof cage (if you have one) to be heating up over the course of the day. Of course this is effected by the season and the weather so not always a choice.

Cheers and thanks for the comment.

[Chinski]

Viking, just wanted to say a big thankyou for sharing your setup & tips, you've got some great ideas that really helped me when i unashamdely copied you haha !!
When i got my 76 it already had a glind heat exchanger plumbed in under bonnet & all the other hoses, shower head, pump & alligator clamps for 12v power were in a box that had to be setup each time, going off your info i mounted the pump under bonnet permanently & wired it in with a waterproof switch & then fitted 2x hose fittings tucked away inside bullbar. now for hot water all i need to do is :
-open my case that contains shower head, suction line & small return line to water tank for heating
-connect suction line from 20 litres to suction fitting in bullbar
-connect return from outlet back into water container
-start car & flick water pump on
-tie a broom handle to bullbar & tie shower head to it
-watch oven thermometer in water & shut down car at 45*
-connect shower head to discharge line, thats it ! hot showers are now happening & attempting to wash away last nights hangover..

easy done !! i prefer showers in the morning to wake me up & thats where i have an issue , starting in the morning with a cold engine it takes 16 minutes of running the 76 series V8 at fast idle of 1250 RPM to get my 20 litres to 45*, its oh so worth it when you have a hot shower though !!!

now i have a little plan & want to see if anyone has tried this, i want to set up for shower exactly as mentioned above BUT, instead of starting engine & circulating water through heat exchanger to heat water, i want to try sitting a metal 20 litre jerry on a gas burner , once water at 45*, turn of gas, turn pump on & same deal as above but not 16 minutes of V8 action to heat 20 litres water ?

pictures below of current set up & also of the cast iron bbq base i want to try sitting the 20l metal jerry on.

cheers !!

[the-viking]

Hi Chinski.
Mate thats excellent…! Glad to have helped and your set up looks tops.
If you want to make it even that little bit more posh, grab one of those thermometers Iv mentioned that you can pre set a temperature and it will alarm when reached. My mate laughed when he saw mine….guess who's got one now?!
Now as far as morning showers go, we usually don't. We do evening showers because it suits our routine, but we have in the past had morning showers. All I did was boil a large billy, ours is about 5ltrs I think, and added that to 5 ltrs of cold water in our dedicated plastic shower jerry, totalling 10ltrs. 5ltrs per person is enough for a shower. Get wet, turn it off, soap up, turn it back on and rinse off. Get use to pushing the 'On' /'Off' pin on your shower rose just enough to get a reasonable flow. The wife use to push it all the way to full flow at first until I showed her how to get the most out of her 5ltrs. Btw you'll use a stack of gas trying to boil 20ltrs of cold jerry water. or are you just using the metal jerry to boil the required amount? If so what I do is If you have a decent evening fire and you sit up late enjoying it, just before I go to bed I sit the full Billy on the smouldering ambers. If nothing else the water will be warm in the morning to the point it won't take as long to get to desired temp. Put more water than you need though to allow for evaporation. Short of that method I'll put the billy on a small fresh morning wood fire. So yes morning showers need a different approach with the Glind exchanger system, that why we work around evening showers taking advantage of a hot engine.

Heres a bonus tip for ya for that morning cuppa. lol. To save cooker fuel/gas. I take a good Stanley Thermos camping. I'll fill the Thermos, then pore that into the kettle then add about a cuppa amount of water to the kettle as well. Boil that for the night time cuppa. Then pore the left over water into the Thermos which by rights should be a full Thermos. For the morning cuppa I just poor that Thermos water (which on occasions has still been quite hot) back into the kettle to re-boil. Really takes way less time to boil and way less fuel. Cheers. lol.