Hot shower

[mools]

Hi,

after a few weeks away camping I almost forgot how good a nice warm shower was. So now I'm thinking of getting shower capability built in to my '06 Td5 defender - but I have no real clue how to do it.

I see two options 1) do it myself or 2) some type of manufactured aftermarket add on.

So my questions are;

i) Does anyone currently run either custom or aftermarket system? How are they set up (Pics?) tank location, capacity, type of pump used. Merits (or otherwise) from experience would be good info. The type of cost involved would be very helpful.

But more specifically....

ii) Having removed the EGR I now have some very useful looking pipes available that would allow a closed loop heat exchange with the cooling system. Anyone done this? If so how did you configure it? And would / does it lower the engine temp too much and cause other problems (e.g. over fuel?). Again and pics, merits (or otherwise) from experience would be good info.

Would massively appreciate anyones input on this, or if I've missed some useful threads elsewhere (I did look) direction to them if possible.

Cheers and a happy new year to all.

Ian.

[Blknight.aus]

yep, the EGR once cleaned out makes for a nice convection feed water heater.

[mools]

That's what I'm thinking Dave but it's how to do it (neat and solid). I've ratted the idea around on a few disparate threads in the past but have yet to find anyone who has done it or details of how best to do it - thats the purpose of this thred to try and get some details, compare with an aftermarket solution and see which avenue to go down. As you have mentioned previously tank under the front wing would make sense.

So if you have and details / experience to share.....

[Blknight.aus]

with the EGR cooler still mounted to the block (so the OEM coolant hoses can be used) and the EGR blanking kit in place

make up a second set of EGR blanking plates, tap them to take a 1/2 inch barb. fit them to the EGR cooler. From the bottom of a tank fitted under the guard remove the OEM washer tank) run a 1/2 inch hose along the existing cooling system hoses and take it up to the location that the EGR valving (or pypass) is in and then connect it to the low side 1/2 inch barb.

From the other side of the EGR cooler attach more 1/2 inch hose and head it back towards the original EGR exhaust supply but duck it out behind the water pump and back into the middle of the water tank (you need to avoid running this hose lower than the high side of the EGR or it may develop an air lock and not allow convection flow).

the water outlet is a simple pipe fitting that connects to the top of the tank and the inlet plumbs to the bottom.

Done.

[alittlebitconcerned]

Dave, you are a freak; and I mean that in the nicest possible way. Brilliant.

How efficient would this be? From cold start would you have to wait longer for it to work than say for a gline exchange for example?
And would you get a continual flow of hot water? or would the smaller surface area of the EGR 'exchange' not keep up with heating water as well as something like the gline.


Probably stupid questions as I really don't know what I'm talking about, but in my head this is how it might go.

[Blknight.aus]

I got as far as dummy running the required hoses and mocking up positions on big red before Circumstance required she be sold.

Im also looking at making a small MEN oil burning heater with an EGR cooler in the flue and using the cooling system side as the heat exchanger.

Ive also looked at fitting the EGR cooler adjacent to the dump pipe and plumbing it in and doing the same.

[mools]

Dave your a legend - brilliant! Almost sounds too easy. Have you (or anyone else) actually ever done it? If so we all know the rules about pictures...

Now then, anyone any thoughts on a suitable submersible pump to use for a shower? I'm thinking though that water will be pretty warm (around 80 deg C)

Or....

I have an ARB compressor on board perhaps pressurise the system to lift the water to a header on the roof rack (that'd should only take about 150 kPa) with shower attachment fitted to that ?

Or....

Maybe I just put a tap on the tank and use it as a hot water source and use a tub with some holes in it hung up in a tree (the cave man approach).

I still wonder if adding an extra 20 or so liters fluid capacity, albeit on an inefficient cooling circuit, will play with the engine a bit though. Longer time to warm up and therefore fuelling higher for longer.

[Graeme]

The coolant hose diameter for the EGR cooler is quite small so might not produce much heat, as well as having coolant flow designed to cool rather than heat. Redirecting the pipe that runs along the left side of the head (on the D2 TD5 at least) to the cabin heater through a heat exchanger before returning to the cabin heater was going to be my choice as it always has flow of the hottest coolant, providing the heat exchanger doesn't restrict flow to such an extent that the cabin heater no longer works well enough.

[slug_burner]

If you not going to plumb something into the vehicle you can get a showerhead and pump and heat the water on the fire or use a black plasticied bag to capture the solar rays. All bit should be available from youor local camping shop. I have used the pump and showerhead and once you get up into the northern parts the water doesn't have to be that hot. You can stand in a tub of water drop the pump intot he tub and have a long shower although with recycled water. I draw the line at using someone elses water

Down Under Camping*::*SHOWERS*::*12 Volt & Solar Shower Setup*::*Coleman-23L PVC Camp Shower [807A706T]

Down Under Camping*::*SHOWERS*::*12 Volt & Solar Shower Setup*::*Primus-12V Camp Shower Set []

[cjc_td5]

Mools,
If you are going to use one of the submersible pump shower units as your shower anyway, to use the engine to heat the water only seems like a lot of work.

For our bush showers, we heat a saucepan (or billy) of water to fairly hot and pour it into a bucket. Then fill the bucket to full with cold water, which will bring the water temperature down to about the correct temperature. If we are careful, we can get two showers from one bucket of water.

Unless you are heating your water at the end of your daily running when the engine is still hot, I would imagine that you would have to run your engine for several minutes to get it hot enough to use as a heat exchanger? Surely it would be more efficient to use some gas from the stove or a campfire for the same purpose?

That said, I have been guilty many times of tackling a project just for the challenge! Experiment away!

Cheers,
Chris