Trevor R (QLD) replied:

Alan,

I talked to a bloke in my travels who had one setup to a water tank under the vehicle. The glind would heat this water all the time with a temp sensor cutting off the power when the water got to 40c. This way he could use another pump to run his shower from the water tank and know he would not be scalded without the car running at all. No doubt if you left it too long after you turn the car off the water would be cold again so this would have to be taken into account.
No doubt other good ideas will come from the many varied people on here which may work out to be simpler than this.

Cheers Trevor.

geocacher (djcache) replied:

Hi Alan,

I'm not sure where the Twine guy was coming from. The system relies on water from the cooling system flowing through the jacket of the heat exchanger to heat the water the DC pump is pushing through the coil that runs inside the jacket.

If you run it without the engine running the water pump (vehicle one) isn't pushing coolant around. The cold water from the bucket/river cools the water sitting in the jacket and shortly after you have a cold shower.

You've given me another good reason for Davis Craig managed electric pump cooling systems - then you could circulate the coolant through the warm block without the engine running but that's a pretty expensive way to get a quiet warm shower.

As for the other question I run my inlet and outlet hoses out to the front corner of the vehicle on quick connect fittings (garden hose style). They just hang below the corner of the bull bar. When you want a shower you just plug in the inlet hose with the filter in it and the shower hose and turn the pump on. I've wired the pump control to a switch on the bull bar above my air compressor outlet so it's easy to access and the shower hangs off the awning support that mounts on my bull bar. It can be used with or without the shower tent.

I'll try and find a pic.

Dave

Member - Ian H (NSW) replied:

Hi Alan,
I installed a Twine shower because the Glind heat exchanger was made of plastic and if it fails while driving your coolant is gone from the engine cooling system. The twine is copper and silver soldered and much much stronger.
If you have tohe outlet at the back the water will cool a bit before you get wet and usually the "kitchen" is at the back of the car and you may get wet feet doing the cooking (or just getting a beer). I put mine at the front with the on/off switch behind the upright of the bull bar to protect it from damage and used one with a built in "on light" so you can find it in the dark.
If you use these things just as they come out of the pack there is a risk of scalding when the water in the heat exchanger comes out the rose. Each time you stop the flow to soap up etc there is a fresh charge of water in the H/E and another chance of a scalding.
Here is my answer. Put a "Y" fitting in the output from the shower pump and a "T" fitting in the line to the rose so that you can bypass the H/E
Put the pickup suction pipe in your 20 ltr container which is full of cold water and the hand shower rose also feeding back in the container and run the car engine and the shower pump, with the valves on the "Y" fitting sending the water throgh the H/E, until the water is warm enough which with mine is about 7 - 8 minutes. Then turn the "Y" fitting valves so that the water bypasses the H/E and goes directly to the rose. This way you CAN NOT get scalded as the water does not enter the H/E while you are showering. A simple trick to avoid a problem. If you need or want pix of my installation just email me at "eye el hock@bigpond.net.au

Michael ( Moss Vale NSW) replied:

Hi Alan, Dont expect miracles as far as output temp goes, especially on a diesel. They are mostly agricultural, a simple coil. Also dependant on incoming water temp. You generally only get about 20 to 25 deg above input fresh water temperature. So if you put in 20deg water, you get about 40deg C . Petrol engined vehicles do better as they operate 10 degs hotter than diesel engines. Michael

Member - Troll 81 (QLD) replied:

Hi Alan

I have Twine system and you control the temp by using the temp control in the car and you need the engine to run for the coolant to pump through works well for us

here is the link to their setup page Site Link

Gu_Patrol replied:

Ever thought of buying a Coleman demand hot water system?
Cheap, Easy, Quick

madcow replied:

there are a few ideas here

Site Link

My installation is there for both a 2000 4.2 and 03 4.2 tdi

I do like the Twine unit due to the construction of the heat exchanger. But they all do a good job at the end of the day. I believe ownership of the Twine shower has recently changed hands as well due to it's popularity!

cheers Dave

brian replied:

there is space in front of the radiator to fit the pump in the patrol and the heat exchanger fits lengthways on drivers side on top of fuses

Tim_N replied:

The Glind heat exchanger is not plastic but Ny-glass which is the same material used to make the top and bottom radiator tanks in most modern vehicles. I don't think plastic would last 2 minutes under a bonnet.
As to getting a shower without the engine running is not right, you must have coolant flow to heat and if you don't have the engine running, the water will go cold quickly.
If you want fittings on the bullbar or somewhere external, try screw on type fittings as opposed to garden snap types. The snap on's tend to leak air and make the pump splutter and reduces its ability to draw water.
Also take a look on the Glind web site and you can see a lot of things even a comparo between vehicle mounted systems. www.glind.com.au
I have tries a gas system and it only takes up more space and while it worked ok, even the smallest Glind will pump twice as much water and do it from much further away.

Gu_Patrol replied:

Another good thig about the Coleman is your motor doesn't have to be running, also you can carry the Coleman anywhere, next to the water supply, in your mates better looking shower tent, into the srcub, a long as you carry your water aswell.
The battery inside the coleman should last you nearly an hour with continuous use I think, and it has it's own 12v cig light charger.
I've never had the twine or glind style before and I can't comment on how good them showers are, if they came with that chick in their advertising pic I'll be the first one to buy it. :-)

Member - Alan (WA) replied:

Thank you to everyone for the info. Armed with my newly acquired knoweledge and ideas, I went to ARB yesterday - they reckon that they are going to have a real hard time getting a Glind installed on my car anyway (GU Patrol 3l TD - standard under bonnet other than ARB dual battery and ABS). Even if they could, the cost of the actual install was going to make me think again.

So looks like I am back to square one at this stage - unless a Twine or similar are any different.

Looks like a Coleman may be the go now.

Anyway - thanks for all the responses.

Alan

Jimbo replied:

Get a Coleman.

I base that statement on the observation that my mate Glenn has an under bonnet job and has now gone to the Coleman.

geocacher (djcache) replied:

They are not hard to fit yourself if you want to have a crack at it. Plenty of advice here from people who have done it.

Once fitted you don't have to carry extra stuff. The Coleman unit I saw at a camp in November had a lousy flow rate.

If you want to shower with the engine off do what we do with the kids. Preheat your water by running the shower head back into a bucket that you are drawing from. The water just cycles through getting warmer and warmer. (The engine is running obviously.)

Once warmed enough turn the motor off and use the pump & shower to pump the warmed water - it still goes via the HE but doesn't get much warmer as the coolant is no longer flowing. The shower water cools the coolant in the HE if anything.

Pretty much solves the hot burst you get initially too which is why we do it for the kids.

I've run the truck at a big group camp for 5 mins and then generated the washing up water 20 litres for the whole group in about that long, using the same method. It just gets hotter and hotter until you decide to stop.

No gas to run out of either.

Dave

Tim_N replied:

My father in law got a Glind fitted to a Nissan 3l GU and went to Glind and got a bracket for the vehicle. It took him about 1 and a half hours to do it and it is out of the way of everything. If I knew how to send a piccy I would.

flappa replied:

I have a heat exchanger fitted to my 4.5 Patrol . . . like the 4.8 . . THATS a challenge to fit.

I was having trouble getting the temp right on mine (being a Ti with climate control), so I added a Mixer style system with Taps. Works like your shower at home. No more friggin around with Heater slides to get your shower right . . . its all down in the shower , just like at home. Great for the Missus and Kids.

These vehicle showers are SUBSTANTIALLY better then the Coleman showers , mainly because of the pump. The Colemans do have a place in camping , and they may be more convenient for some people for showers , but , they aren't nearly as good as the vehicle systems.

Member - Pesty (SA) replied:

Hi Alan
We use a heat exchanger system, and 20 L of cold water with a cold deisel engine takes about 10-12 minutes to heat to shower temp. we just circulate it from bucket through exchanger and back to bucket until it reaches right temp and then swith car off so it doesnt get any hotter, and 20L easy enough for 2 showers and leftovers to do dishes, also battery gets a bit of a top up while engine running.
If i went to coleman i would still use pump and shower system, just heat water with coleman heater, but wont be doing it for the moment, very happy with current setup.

Cheers Pesty