DIY Heated Shower Idea

I do have the factory inverter but it doesn't put out the juice for this unfortunately.

Definitely a cool idea but looking for something self-contained, very similar to evdog's post. The heat exchanger might be something for the future though.

 

Years ago I made a shower from a stainless steel yard sprayer. Carefully bent the sprayer tube into a "U" shape and put it on top of a big propane cooker ( not a Coleman stove ) and pumped it up as I needed more pressure. Picked up a small pallet from H Depot and some conduit pipes and wrapped a trap around it to keep heat in while showering.

 

What about some insulation around the water tank? Maybe something as simple as a reflective sunshade wrapped around it?

 

Hey all, I finished building and testing out my shower idea and it came out awesome so wanted to report back.

I did end up going with the Waterport Go Spout 2.0 for the container and I'm really happy with it. It's really burly and will be able to to take some abuse without any issues.

For the heating element, I started off with the Rinsekit heating rod but I ended up buying a more powerful rod and using it with the wiring/timer from the Rinsekit rod.

To add the heating element, I drilled one undersized hole in the Gospout, and force threaded this bulkhead in from Amazon:

$13 Beduan 1" FPT Bulkhead Water Tank Connector Stainless Steel Thru-bulk Fitting

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07X41NXN3?smid=A2Q5DK7IXTJEDM

I didn't use the nut part of the bulkhead, I just screwed the bulkhead in directly using a pair of channel locks. It was tough to get it in but it got plenty tight and seals with pressure. The plastic in the GoSpout is nearly a half inch thick so it worked well.

Here's the heating element I ended up using:

$23 DERNORD 12V 150W Immersion Heater Submersible Water Heater Element Stainless Steel Heating Element with 1" NPSM Flange

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0761L2Q8M?smid=

It hasn't been available on Amazon for a while, so I ordered directly from Dernord in China ($19+$15 shipping) and it arrived in 5 days! It's 150W compared to 108W for the Rinsekit rod. I did test the Rinsekit rod first and it got the water plenty warm enough for a shower, but since I put the time/$ into the project, I may as well use the better rod. If your outlets only support 10A then the Rinsekit rod would be the way to go. You'll need 15A for the Dernord.

I have a 27F X2 Power battery in my truck, and using the 90 minute timer setting on the Rinsekit plug with the Dernord rod, my battery dropped from 12.6V to 12.18V. Not bad and the water was hot! Not steaming hot, but about identical to what I would shower with at home. This was starting off with cold sink water and ambient temps at 45F. A partial fill on the container or camping in warmer temps would probably get it steaming.

The coiled hose and shower head that comes with the Go Spout is nice and works well, but I bought a separate quick disconnect and made a short hose so I can use it with gravity. I can set the container on my truck cap and with the pump cap on the Go Spout slightly loose, it flows perfectly, no pressure needed. I rigged up a cord so I can hang it from a tree as well. Pressurizing the container works really well so you don't have to use gravity, but the advantage is that I'll have both hands free while I'm showering.

I'm more than happy with how it came out. It hit on everything I was looking for:

-works with pressure or gravity
-self contained/portable so I can take it away from camp (can go shower in nearby trees)
-convenient heating, with a shut off timer so I can go hike and come back to a hot shower, plus it fits on the dash and is black so will have additional heating from the sun on hot days

Total cost, $254:

Waterport Go Spout: $120 shipped (on sale)
Rinsekit heating rod with timer: $70 shipped (on sale)
Dernord heating rod: $34 shipped
Bulkhead fitting: $10
Misc other fittings for the gravity setup: $20

A little more than I would have liked to spend but I'll get a lot of use out of it and will be totally worth it.