Hot Water donkey
Submitted: Sunday, Aug 13, 2006 at 13:14
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Barty
hi all
Iam trying to find out how to make a hot water donkey ???
Even a simple hand drawing would be good or a Link .Iam not after a large one as I was thinking of something small just to heat enough to about 4 shower one I could just throw on the back of ute with the rest of our stufff or in the trailer
so any help would be good. I tried google but no luck as of yet
someone once told me about using a small beer keg
Thx barty
Reply By: Member No 1- Sunday, Aug 13, 2006 at 13:39
Sunday, Aug 13, 2006 at 13:39
from google
On pastorical stations they use what is called a "donkey" for heating water. This consists of a 44 gallon oil drum suspended on three walls so the fire can be lit underneath it. Out of the drum comes an inflow pipe, outflow pipe and expansion pipe. The water is heated in the drum. There is a header tank, so when you open the tap, hot water flows. It would be someone's job to light the donkey late afternoon, so when the workers came
home at about sundown there would be hot water available for showers, to wash off layers of mud, grim and blood.
biggest problem is the header tank
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188770
Follow Up By: Member No 1- Sunday, Aug 13, 2006 at 14:04
Sunday, Aug 13, 2006 at 14:04
forgot to add...become a member and you can download the pdf file from members page which depicts a simple donkey
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Follow Up By: Gramps (NSW) - Sunday, Aug 13, 2006 at 14:05
Sunday, Aug 13, 2006 at 14:05
Here ya go Nudie
Not something you could throw in the back of the ute though hahahahahaha
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Follow Up By: Member No 1- Monday, Aug 14, 2006 at 07:37
Monday, Aug 14, 2006 at 07:37
Thats it
fit ....depends on how big the ute is....but it certainly wont fit on/in my 4wd...might if swmbo aint with me...:))))
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Reply By: Shaker - Sunday, Aug 13, 2006 at 14:00
Sunday, Aug 13, 2006 at 14:00
Simple, make sure the filler pipe goes to the bottom & the outlet at the top, couldn't be easier!
AnswerID:
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Follow Up By: Shaker - Sunday, Aug 13, 2006 at 15:24
Sunday, Aug 13, 2006 at 15:24
Aussie Disposals sell 20 litre galvanised ones for $50.00, not worth the trouble of making one.
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Follow Up By: Zapper - Monday, Aug 14, 2006 at 15:35
Monday, Aug 14, 2006 at 15:35
Hi Shaker
I had a look on the Aussie Disposals site but couldnt find it, do you have a link?
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Follow Up By: Shaker - Tuesday, Aug 15, 2006 at 09:31
Tuesday, Aug 15, 2006 at 09:31
Sorry, I don't. I think you will find that most of their stores will have them.
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Reply By: Barty - Sunday, Aug 13, 2006 at 14:06
Sunday, Aug 13, 2006 at 14:06
I just found this uqconnect.net/~zzpclach/cooker.html
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Reply By: Tim HJ61 (WA) - Sunday, Aug 13, 2006 at 14:58
Sunday, Aug 13, 2006 at 14:58
I've seen these on sale at Off Road Equipment Osborne Park WA.
They used a 20l cooking oil drum, the ones with the bendy tags on the lid. The pipes were in the lid, meaning if the drum gets burnt out, you replace the drum not the lid with the fittings. Pour cold water in the top and that pipe goes to the bottom of the tank, hot water comes out the other pipe.
My scout group has made some up with a coil of steel or copper pipe that goes into the fire, then a few metres of car heater hose feeding back to a drum that holds the water.
Tim
AnswerID:
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Reply By: Member - Ivan (ACT) - Sunday, Aug 13, 2006 at 18:54
Sunday, Aug 13, 2006 at 18:54
I've made one out of one of those gas bottles that go (horizontally) on the back of a forklift - not sure how many litres it is, but it has supported 17 families on a trip once (for showers and dishwashing).
As mentioned above, have a copper pipe which goes to just short of the bottom and with a funnel on the top,
Then screw in a spout.
Any gas bottle (so long as it is empty!!), that has two threads (one for inlet, and one for outlet) would work. The beauty of this method, is there is a gas bottle size to suit all needs.
We just sit it in the fire at shower and meal times, and the rest of the time, just lift it off. Works great!
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Reply By: Hairy - Sunday, Aug 13, 2006 at 19:14
Reply By: Member - Blue (VIC) - Sunday, Aug 13, 2006 at 20:36
Sunday, Aug 13, 2006 at 20:36
I made one out of a beer keg... Took the ball out of the top, leaving the tube which goes to the bottom of the keg. Used a hole-saw to put a 1" hole at the top of the side and welded on a pre-fab 1" 90° bend. Fill with water, heat on the fire, place bucket under the outlet(top of side), pour cold water in the top which enters at the bottom of the keg, pushing hot water out of the outlet... Being stainledd, it'll never rust out. I also welded on a 4" to 2" stainledd reducer to the top to aid in the filling process...
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Follow Up By: V8 Troopie - Sunday, Aug 13, 2006 at 23:36
Sunday, Aug 13, 2006 at 23:36
Just make sure the water in it never can get to boiling point and create steam pressure. I do remember a donkey boiler blowing up some years ago and seriously hurting a country town football team.
It may be simple but it also could be dangerous if you get steam in the keg or whatever tank is used.
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Follow Up By: Barty - Monday, Aug 14, 2006 at 06:56
Monday, Aug 14, 2006 at 06:56
Hi Blue
Thanks for the info sounds like a goer how heavey all up would it be ?? and how much water would it hold.
You should add a picture in your profile would be good to see ?? :)
Thx Barty
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Follow Up By: Member - Blue (VIC) - Monday, Aug 14, 2006 at 08:02
Monday, Aug 14, 2006 at 08:02
Hi Barty... I have it at our bush block, heading up there next week and will take a
pic then... Can't remember how much it holds, I think it's about 30L. We have had it boiling and have never had issue with it (per V8 Troopie's comment), which isn't to say it can't happen... Wouldn't be hard to fit a pressure relief system if you're worried about that. If you're in the
Melbourne area, I can get the extra stainless bits for you.
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Reply By: Member - Blue (VIC) - Monday, Aug 14, 2006 at 00:03
Monday, Aug 14, 2006 at 00:03
May be worth fitting a pressure relief valve then, sure I can scrounge one up at work...
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Follow Up By: Hairy - Monday, Aug 14, 2006 at 12:41
Monday, Aug 14, 2006 at 12:41
The chip heaters or donkeys you buy do have a pressure relief valve on them.
I used to make heaps of them.
Dont even consider making one without one!
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Follow Up By: Member - Blue (VIC) - Monday, Aug 14, 2006 at 13:42
Monday, Aug 14, 2006 at 13:42
Hairy, the ones I saw at Wandin, which prompted me to build
mine certainly didn't have a pressure relief valve, I took a photo(long since deleted) to work off... They were a 10L paint tin with a
well sealed press fit lid(like a 4L paint tin). Thinking of installing a 1" non-return valve to the top of
mine anyhow, the weight of the valve would keep it sealed but in the event of pressure build up, would IMO be enough to bleed it off.
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Follow Up By: Hairy - Monday, Aug 14, 2006 at 20:33
Monday, Aug 14, 2006 at 20:33
whats imo?
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Follow Up By: Member - Blue (VIC) - Monday, Aug 14, 2006 at 20:39
Monday, Aug 14, 2006 at 20:39
Hairy, In My Opinion(IMO)
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Follow Up By: Hairy - Monday, Aug 14, 2006 at 21:07
Monday, Aug 14, 2006 at 21:07
It all comes down to weather its a pressure vessel or not.
If it can hold pressure you need a pressure relief because there is no way a paint drum will hold steam. Without going into too much detail the flash point of steam is an incredible amount of energy and if you try to contain it in something like that people will get seriously burnt when it goes up.
You can certainly use a paint drum but you have to let the steam escape.
Letting the steam escape will dramatically reduce the efficiency of the water heater.
You really need to look at what you want to make, what skills you have and materials available to you.
Their is a serious amount of difference between hot water and a steam pressure vessel!
Sorry to make such a long winded exercise out of this but a little wrong advice in what everyone is talking of could really result in in a big accident.
Cheers
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Follow Up By: Member - Blue (VIC) - Monday, Aug 14, 2006 at 22:00
Monday, Aug 14, 2006 at 22:00
The water level will always be below the bottom of the outlet so theoretically it can't hold pressure, steam or otherwise...
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Follow Up By: Hairy - Tuesday, Aug 15, 2006 at 12:53
Tuesday, Aug 15, 2006 at 12:53
Yeh your right, but there is a lot of different ways of making them and if he tries combining different ideas he could get into a lot of trouble.
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Reply By: Truckster (Vic) - Monday, Aug 14, 2006 at 14:03
Monday, Aug 14, 2006 at 14:03
Got one at the club property, works
well.
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