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Forum Index : Other Stuff : Car Radiator Gas Shower
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Jaffasoft Senior Member  Joined: 03/11/2010 Location: AustraliaPosts: 102 |
I am seeking any instructions or any project links that someone might have built to make a simple shower from heating water in through a car heater radiator or something similar. I seen one in operation on a tourists bus which was simple yet ingenious. It had a common gas bottle and a burner fitted to the top (just like the $20 one you can buy from any camp shop), like that which you would put a kettle on to heat it or a pan to cook sausages. Then it had a square radiator thing that the flames heat would rise up. A 12volt inline pump attached to water source. In short you simply light the flame and adjust it so the water temperature flowing direct to the shower head is right to shower and away you go and turn the 12Volt pump on. Don't need a cold water tap. This guy also had an adjustable shower head to change the pressure and was a very fine spray. He used it to shower his whole family all year long and been living in a bus for 8 years. They were pretty happy campers. The components are: Heat Exchanger (Old Car Radiator) Gas bottle & Gas Burner 12Volt Inline Pump Pipes to Showerhead Just curious for some feedback and tip tricks on putting together a simple system such as this. Maybe what type of car to pull one of these out from and or maybe from some other source? |
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| Jaffasoft Senior Member Joined: 03/11/2010 Location: AustraliaPosts: 102 |
Excuse my drawing but i found this took online and did a quick drawing on the rough idea! http://sketchtoy.com/63824748 |
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Tinker Guru  Joined: 07/11/2007 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1904 |
link: Klaus |
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norcold Guru Joined: 06/02/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 670 |
A simple one was the old wood chip shower heater used way back it evolved to using liquid fuels, chiefly metho than onto putting a small gas burner. To make one you need a vertical chimney pipe of approx 3 inch diameter inserted into a 3.5 inch diameter sealed top and bottom giving you a water jacket the length of the 3 inch pipe than about 3 foot long. This jacket had a cold water conx at bottom and a hot water outlet at top. Ensure outlet has no valve or boom!!!! Insert the gas burner in base and as the heat goes up the chimney it heats the water. They used to be made of galvanised sheet 24 gauge and soft soldered by local plumbers all round OZ, although commercial ones were available. Made a whooshing noise once running efficiently. Have also seen more modern ones made with copper pipe, but that`d be dear now. Using gas believe with a bit of experimenting consider you could do same with a little less length and diameter using Say 2 inch diameter and 2.5 inch and maybe 2 foot length, thus more portable. Regulate heat by flow of gas and remember DO NOT have a valve on hot water outlet. Does not take long to boil the water in which case if flow stopped you have a bomb. Thus be very careful. Lay a bet Bob could fill you in on these.  We come from the land downunder. Vic |
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| Jaffasoft Senior Member Joined: 03/11/2010 Location: AustraliaPosts: 102 |
Something like that'd work norcold. Anything that can sit over a gas flame because i take that camping anyway and most ppl have a gas burner too. Something just like this random image i found online could do it too 12x12inches: 
I've got an old E2000 Mazda Van that's been retired as a chicken coope down the back i might have a look at it today and get the angle grinder onto the front of it and see what type of heater it has inside it?! |
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| Jaffasoft Senior Member Joined: 03/11/2010 Location: AustraliaPosts: 102 |
There was a good one in the Van and i cut 1 inch in to close and ruined it! |
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