Instant Hot Water for Camp??

[TJQ]

Normally I put our shower water over the fire to warm up, but Im thinking of getting one of these. I've had TWO of the Colemans, that just totally disappointed me... both of them . Has anyone used these or have another better breand.. these look pretty good.. They say 400 hot showers on a 20lb tank.

 

http://www.zodi.com/Consumer/zodihottaphpshower.html

 

 

Looks like its got some great reviews.....

 

http://www.amazon.com/ZODI-Outback-Gear-Extreme-Shower/product-reviews/B000RYWQP6

[irishfield]

I have the single tank / burner model TJ.

 

In the winter with 32F water straight from the frozen lake we let the bucket circulate through once and then shower. You get about 5 minutes to a 5 gallon bucket and if you use the small blue metal pail you get Corona in to save water while you're soaping even better.

 

I run mine off the marine booster pack and then recharge it before we leave camp.

 

In the summer.. with lake water already at 65F or so.. the thing almost burns you if you don't keep the burner right down.

 

Solopaddler had one... that he would have sold me before I bought mine if I had known... send him a PM

 

BTW.. the bilge pump is an option from them.. over the standard pump.

 

Edited February 26, 2013 by irishfield

[TJQ]

So.. for me and Monique.. do you think the smaller model will be fine?? Oh ya... where did ya buy it??

[irishfield]

Yah... I can't see any need for a second heater coil. Like I said, we used ours summer of 2011 for the few weeks we got to camp between Jen's chemo sessions and surgery instead of turning the water back on. It almost burns you unless we kept it turned right down low with no pre circulation, so water is plenty hot to shower. Two or three buckets is a PLENTY long shower... or you could feed it off your water tower and not need pump or batteries at all. Pretty sure I bought it direct from the company that makes them. Gotta get to Toronto... I'll dig and see if I can find where when I get back late tonight... or like I said Solo has/had one he was looking to part with.

 

Don't expect a pounding shower... but a simple nice slow steam of hot water that will get you clean.

 

EDIT: Glad I was at least talking to a man of experience and I didn't have to explain the little blue bucket.. LMAO

Edited February 26, 2013 by irishfield

[irishfield]

Weird that they're not offering the 12Volt pump option anymore. It's just a marine bilge pump (with cord / aligator clips) with an adapter fitting on it to mate with the small hose to the heater. If memory serves me right it's a 450 GPH pump... but if I can ever get to camp I'll check that for you for sure if you're going that route. If you use the water tower... they sell a simple hose adapter.. but be sure to put a valve on the hose from the water tower!

 

..and YES.. looking at their website I did order it DIRECT!

Edited February 26, 2013 by irishfield

[bare foot wader]

we purchased 2 of these units at a lodge/outfitter operation...very disappointed with them...the hoses split and cracked within a few weeks, we had to circulate the water 3 or 4 times, to notice any change in temperature, guests complained....they were installed in a "shower hut" so I couldn't imagine them working any better in an outdoor camping situation

 

the vendor refused to acknowledge our complaints, refused to call us back (we had to call back weekly), refused to discount the price at all or to send new hoses under warranty...about a month's worth of effort to call the vendor resulted in 5 mins of actual phone time....we were instructed to keep circulating the water...

 

the zodi's got tossed and I ordered a rinnai hot water on demand unit, that thing is worth it's weight in gold, works flawlessy, easy to install...cost more too and isn't portable, would be great for a cabin

 

the zodi i bought cost about 400, i'd keep boiling water for that price

[Roy]

If you had a vehicle nearby, you could do what the 4x4 guys do.

 

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[solopaddler]

Yes TJ I've used the double burner model for years and it's worked fantastically well with some modifications.

 

The pump that comes with it isn't strong enough so I swapped it out for a much more powerful bilge pump.

 

I also wired the pump so it can plugged in and used with a generator. That just made a lot more sense for my needs and it's worked great.

 

If the water isn't quite hot enough because it's circulating through the heater too fast, I simply drop the shower head into my water source containing the pump, turn it on and let it circulate for a couple minutes.

 

Nice and hot and TONS of water pressure.

 

I also added an adapter so I can attach it to a bulk propane tank, works great.

 

Can't say enough about the Zodi I've had mine for about 10 years now. It sees fairly regular use and has never let me down, I love it!

[Jds63]

I have had the Zodi for at least 5 yrs now and have had no issues with it, I believe i paid around $150.

We also used it for washing dishes when we went camping.

[nancur373]

back home in the cabin in the summer we had 2 plastic 45 gallon barrels on an elevated platform outside the cabin. one left white and the other painted flat black. we would actually have to turn on both taps to let some from the white barrell in as it would be blistering hot from just the black. mind now that we left the black tank full during the week also

[mcdougy]

Is this for at a camp? Or going camping? (fixed or portable use in mind)

[mcdougy]

If it is fixed and you have a water tower, I would say also spend the extra few bucks on the rinnai. They work really nice. I have never tried it this time of year. With super cold water.

[woodenboater]

Resurrecting this thread since I'm looking for something similar.

 

Saw this unit on the BPS website http://www.basspro.com/Base-Camp-Aquacube-Instant-Hot-Water/Portable-Shower/product/13012305512520/

 

Kinda spendy but youtube videos make it look easy and very adjustable. Wondering if anyone here has used this and can compare with the Zodi or other similar heaters.

 

 

tia

 

WB