i am trying out this new (to me) gizmo i picked up from camping world.
it is a tankless water heater for camping.
http://www.campingworld.com/shopping/item/...er-heater/37786
it works with propane and ignites with a couple of D cell batteries.
i have hooked it up in my yard to see if it does what they say it will, and low and behold for $125 bucks and 13 pounds there is a hot water heater that is as mobile as my trailer.
just thought i'd share with the masses.
if you already have one of these or something similar, what are your experiences?
is i get an opportunity to put this to the test, i'll post my findings. at the moment with my back-yard test it is doing what they say it would do.

Click to view attachment

I came very close to buying one of those tankless water heaters. I hear they work pretty well in most situations, with the exception of high wind that blows out the pilot light. I hope yours works well for you, please report back after you have had some long term usage. We still might end up with one of those later on down the road.

there is no pilot on this heater.
when water moves through it, the batteries ignite the heater. when water stops moving it goes out. i'll be using it in a couple of weeks in potentially high wind areas in the Lucerne Valley by Johnson Valley/29 Palms. i'll let you know how it hols up to the wind hot days and freezing nights.

I've seen that on the CampingWorld website, too. Alas, it is designed for outdoor use only. If it could be mounted inside I think Lynne and I would use it in the Surfside.

i see what you mean.
in my case, i have a small "changing tent" that will be the shower. so this will be mounted to the back of the boler/elmac or whatever this thing is and run from the outside.
one of the features i like most about it is the weight. i try to keep everything i put in my trailer light weight so it pulls nicely down the road.

i have another 6 gallon water heater i planned to use in a custom enclosure, but the weight difference is why i went with this one.
if things go erll i will likely be having the 6 gallon heater up for sale before long.

Peter,
They are no different than a regular water heater as far as combustion air and exhaust. As long as they are sealed from the inside of the trailer like a water heater or furnace they would be fine.

Bill K

Well, yes and no. Traditional propane RV heaters are designed to fit in a big honkin' hole in the shell. The heater slides in through the hole, and is built so that the combustion chamber opens outward and is sealed away from the trailer interior by the heater bulkhead, forcing all the combustion gasses to safely vent outside. I could certainly see modifying the Camping World by building an opening with a similar bulkhead into which the heater fits . . . which would basically create a sealed outer compartment with a vented door into which the heater fits. It would be a lot of work, and I'd have to buy or borrow some tools to make it happen, but it could be done.

Hi: All... I seem to be in "Hot Water" whether I'm in the trailer or not...Some one throw in the towel and a bar of soap !!! LoL.
Alf S. North shore of Lake Erie

Here is another crazy idea. LOL
Hang your heater on a lantern pole outside, run a propane hose to your propane tank and then a hot and a cold hose to your trailer. You would have to install a recessed laundry faucet permanently and hooked up to your hot and cold water lines.

Bill K

I was thinking along those lines too... it seems you could find a place out side to mount it (maybe near the tongue) and just run a line in for the hot water. We plan to build a tongue box around our propane/battery set up, so that would give us a place to hang it when in use. We are not quite ready for this step yet, but I am interested to see how it works out for those who have one.

well, there is no shower inside of my 13 foot boler, so my plan is to use one of these "pet" tents.
Click to view attachment

i plan to either mount the heater to the back of the trailer, or weld on a "receiver" of sorts to the existing bumper, and hang it from a pole attached to the receiver.
there is a 13 gallon water tank in the boler, and it will easily allow 3-5 showers.

so... i have cold water being pumped out the back of the trailer to a quick disconnect. from there to the heater. water comes out of the heater to a "tee" the tee goes both to the sink in the boler and the "pett" shower.

the heater turns itself on when water flows as does the pump. all is quiet until you open a valve, at which time the pump runs and the heater ignites until the water stops flowing. i have thia all connected and running now. i have tested it in the driveway and alll works well.
i'll see if i can get some pictures tomorrow.

for those of us with the small trailers and no shower with weight as a concern, this is an economical and light weight solution.

Hi all This hot water question seems to be getting too complicated. In our 2+ years rattling around in our Scamp 13, we have simply used a pot on the stove (inside or out) to heat as much water as we need for the task(s) at hand. When boondocking, we use a 'privacy room' similar to Erik's with a Coleman battery-operated shower head and a storage tub to keep our tootsies out of the mud (thanx, Gina, for this hint). We generally use the park showers if available (and acceptable!) Not too much extra weight or gadgets to pack around. Just our experience - as always, YMMV. Happy trails - L 'n D

Oh come on -- I've been holding off on my Garden Sprayer spiel

R.

How about considering the simple solar water heater? A 2.5 gal one is more than ample for one frugal shower. Get a 5 gal one if you require two or more showers or extra hot water for other tasks. It is just slightly more of a hassle but the cost outlay is minuscule in comparison ($25.99/5 gal & $15.99/2.5 gal) and only consumes free energy.

Five Gallon Model: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000J2Q0T4

2.5 gallon model: http://www.amazon.com/Advanced-Elements-Ga...ref=pd_sim_sg_4

I prefer this avenue

ME too, Me too....... ......just be careful cause sometimes those solar showers just TOO hot and one has to add a bit of cool water. Like the bags with the attached temp gauge on them.

Garden sprayer on solar steriods: Solar shower

And when do you take your showers in the middle of the day? Does not make sense to me to stop my routine in the middle of the day for a shower

to each his/her own.
i'll pass on the solar shower. i prefer to have a nice hot shower when i get back from playing in the desert.
the weather in the desert right now where i like to play is 50° day and 29° at night.
most often i come back to the trailer from my day of rolling around in the dirt just before dark where the temperatures are chilly.
a hot shower sure sounds nice.

if the bag-o-water works for you... more power to ya'. i prefer to have a HOT shower over a 50° shower.

Oh you can have one with a bag. We have used these a lot kayaking and here on the wet coast we often just added a bit of boiled water to get it up to a nice warm shower level when the sun failed us or we did not have time to wait for the sun.


Carol

We have to add cool water to our bag shower here in Arizona.
I don't think a stove can heat water as hot or a s fast as the Arizona sun can....

Eric, I really like this idea. With how some campground showers are, I like the tankless heater and shower tent MUCH better

Based on the good reviews, I bought one of these Eccotemp L5 units from Overstock.com, $120 no tax no shipping. Kind of an indulgence purchase... hot showers are what I miss most when camping, and the SunShower sometimes isn't ideal. As others said, this unit seems to do just what it is supposed to. The manual warns that it can reach 'scalding' temperatures when run at max gas/min water setting, but I tried it and it seems like a nice hot shower to me! Haven't camped with it yet, building a temp shower to go inside my Scamp 13 for when in cold weather/"no grey water on ground" campsites. Going to hang the heater outside on the side of the Scamp (a rope over the top!) and just run the shower wand through the cracked-open door. Seems like a versatile little unit, adapt it to the conditions you find. I expect I will eventually replace the bulky wand with a small metal $5 low-flow head with built-in on/off, like from Lowes.

John A

John,

Please let us know how it goes. I made a temporary shower for our 13' Scamp, using a plastic bin and fiberglass rods to hold a couple of shower curtains. The rods came from driveway reflectors (Lowes) and I attach them with suction cups from the bath/shower department of Lowes (of course). We heat water on the stove and pour into a garden sprayer ala Raya. It works fine, but it's a lot to mess with. We like camping in national parks, which typically do not have showers (sometimes pay showers) and consistently do not allow shower tents. All this is having us thinking more and more of a 16' Scamp with shower, but it's a lot of money to pay just to improve the shower situation!

Parker

I'm glad this topic popped back up.

ErikJ, did you have a chance to give this product an in the field testing?

Will do, but it'll be a few weeks til I get to really use it. Current plan, compatible with no-shower-tent areas/ no-grey-water-on-the-ground areas:

Shurflo pump hooked to my Scamp's freshwater drain, supplying 9 gallons, rigged to a cigarette lighter cord driven from Scamp or Subaru.

Outlet of pump running via garden hose to Eccotemp L5, hanging on side of scamp with a rope over the top to hold the unit.

Hot water line/hand wand snaked through door.

Shower enclosure consisting of PVC pipe shower curtain frame (not made yet), the curtain being a SunShower portable vinyl enclosure, 30" square.

Shower tub being the top half of a plastic cartop carrier, inverted. My measurements say it will fit and take up the whole floor... haven't tried it yet... otherwise, the bigger of the two Lowes square plastic washing-machine anti-leak pans ($30)

600 GPM bilge pump , with a switch in the cig lighter cord, to evacuate the tub to a 9 gallon spare Scamp-type tank on the ground ouside the door.

Yes, it is too complicated. Parts are all modular and many can be omitted when using in less restrictive areas. I had all this stuff (other than the enclosure) running on 12V in my kitchen this morning, troubleshooting, sans propane.

BTW up to now I just carried a SunShower and that enclosure, for nice weather it is fine.

Parker, I wouldn't worry about having a built-in shower in your camper, for me, I can't stand up except in the dead-middle of my Scamp anyway. The front-shower units would be difficult and I would lose the open-plan feeling which is so nice in a Scamp 13.

John A

John,
I think maybe you have your letters wrong.
I believe it should be 600 GPH

This is what the showers on my boat have.

Bill K

John,

Ooooh, you hit a soft spot with me. My wife and I both feel like our Scamp 13 is more open than many larger rigs. Maybe I'll continue with the garden sprayer for a while yet! I do want to check out your shower curtain source, though. I'm using two cheapo plastic curtains right now, and have thought of trying fabric shower curtain liners; something that doesn't want to cling to the person trapped inside!

Parker

Bill K, yes you are correct. Basically the smallest/cheapest one I could find locally. Preference would have been a 350 GPH Rule pump. I have it necked down to 3/8" line anyway. I noticed it cavitates if it is on before water is present, therefore the switch so you can toggle it if if it needs to be 'burped'.

Parker, not sure if Cascade Designs/SunShower still makes this hanging enclosure I have - it is handy though, and I am trying to make this system mostly with stuff I halready have around...

John A

I have to report in that it worked very well, using it inside the Scamp 13 with a rooftop carrier top inverted as the "tub" - we used the system I described earlier but just pumped the grey water out the power cord hole afterwards rather than pumping it into a grey tank. The shower hose on the Eccotemp unit (hanging on the outside of the Scamp, running in through the door) could be longer, but worked OK as-is. Two-foot longer ones are available in the stores. I am thinking next year of upgrading the pump to one of the quiet, expensive Shurflo electronic units mentioned elsewhere on the forum, and building the pump into the Scamp water system to minimize setup.

John