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Related Links: Toyota Section Roger's 4Runner Shower Install TownSend Bathroom Project Rock Runner Sponsors        |
R&M Specialty Products Camp Shower After a days hard work it's just natural to want a nice warm shower to wash off the dirt before settling down for the night. Few Jobs are as difficult and dirty as a day spent running hard core rock trails....rolling rocks and fixing trucks. Last year I had had an opportunity to use a shower on the trail and though at the time how nice it was to be able to take a nice hot shower on the trail. The shower was mounted on Roger Brown's Toyota 4Runner and it took the 40 degree creek water and heated it up to the point where it was very nice to wash with. What a luxury I thought. This month I detail how the shower works and what's involved in hooking it up as I install it into project Rock Runner. The complete kit includes a 12 volt water pump, heat exchanger, hoses, connectors, shower head and all the hardware you need for the installation. This kit is designed to be mounted in just about any vehicle so there are a lot of parts that come with it. The kit allows quite a bit of flexibility in mounting and installation. The heat exchanger is the hart of the shower. It converts engine heat into hot water. It has two paths for water to travel through for a total of four connections. Two of the connections pick up hot water from the engine. One connection is for the cold water pickup and the last is for the hot water output. I found I had room to mount it on top of my intake manifold. There is also room to mount it under the front fenders too. The water pump included in the kit is an RV model right from a class A motor home. It's rated for 1.6 GPH and supplies up to 30 psi of pressure. It's built-in switch shuts off water after it's maximum pressure is reached. From that point on it only turns on when needed to maintain pressure. This pump has more than enough volume and pressure to run the shower. The water pump can be mounted to the truck or just plugged in when needed with a set of clip leads to connect it to the battery. The kit comes in a basic form or with an optional remote kit. The remote kit includes a set of quick disconnects that allow for quick connection of the hoses. With the optional remote kit you can connect the hoses without even lifting the hood. In the basic kit you just attach the hoses directly to the pump and heat exchanger. The shower kit includes plenty of hose and a nice adjustable shower head. This is very similar to the "water saving" type of shower head you would find in a home. By adjusting the flow of water you also change the temperature of the water. The faster the water flows the colder the water is. For warmer water you just reduce the water flow. Just like at home it takes just a moment for the water temperature to stabilize. Then you have a constant flow of hot water. The kit also includes a high idle throttle kit to raise the engine RPM's and increase the amount heat exchanged but I found the kit provided plenty of hot water and it was not necessary to install this in my application. During one test I started with 50 degree water from a bucket. The output water was 105 degrees with good water volume and I could see the steem coming off the water. I used a 5 gallon bucket of water and found it to be just enough for a quick shower. With near freezing water it may be necessary to run the water through the unit twice to heat it up a little more or to use the high idle kit. The 5 gallon wash was good but if you drop a hose into a creek or other unlimited water source you can make as much hot water as you want. It seems to me that by digging a hole in the ground and lining it with plastic, it should be possible to make a small trail hot tub! I was very impressed with the quality of this kit and ease of installation. It took me about two hours to install the unit. The unit provides plenty of warm/hot water for bathing and washing dishes on the trail. Deckers Hot Camp Showers also sells the complete Zode line of camp stove & propane hot water heaters as well as shower enclosures. Retail price of hot water shower at time of publishing $259 |
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