Coleman Hot Water System

Submitted: Tuesday, May 10, 2005 at 20:20

ThreadID: 22865 Views:3408 Replies:4 FollowUps:4

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Tony Shaw

Hi there Guys,

I was just wondering if anyone out there has had much experience with extending the shower hose on the Coleman Hot Water Systems?
Do you lose much pressure?Has anyone extended the pump? I just think they are both a bit short.

Cheers, ToNy!

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Reply By: brett - Tuesday, May 10, 2005 at 21:21

Tuesday, May 10, 2005 at 21:21

Firstly ditch the coleman shower head, get another from a caravan or boating place. Got mine from BIAS boating, plastic shower head with about 1.5m or hose, cost about $20. I use mine in a shower tent with the head on a pole and the unit sitting at the front door so you can adjust it, needs nearly 3m of hose for all this, so joined another 1.5m of 3/8 plastic hose onto the existing shower hose. After various experiments the pressure doesn't change much at all with the longer hose, but the height difference between head and pump does. The higher the pump and unit are the more pressure you'll get. It's also better to not have much difference between unit and pump, the pump seems to push much better than pulling water up a height. So I'd advise against extending the pump as the further it needs to draw the less pressure. But with both bucket and unit on the ground and head about 1.8m off the ground the pressure is fine for a shower, unless you have unlimted water supply you don't want too much pressure or you will waste water.
I reckon the coleman is great, very easy to fire up and use, but I did have to get a new one after my first one packed it in after 5 months. Seems the flow sensor wasn't working and even though water was flowing it would shut the burner down straight away. Back to Kmart and took a brand new one home off the shelf. Hopefully no more problems but I do like the idea of their unlimited warranty

AnswerID: 110710

Follow Up By: Member - Poppy (QLD) - Tuesday, May 10, 2005 at 21:28

Tuesday, May 10, 2005 at 21:28

Totally agree.
I extended the shower hose to 2 metres and no drop in pressure
Great unit although a little on the bulky side
Cheers Poppy

FollowupID: 367147

Follow Up By: Grinch - Saturday, May 14, 2005 at 13:19

Saturday, May 14, 2005 at 13:19

Hi
I am looking at purchasing one of these and I have had some information about them. I have e-mailed Tony and he gave me some good advice.
I will be using it to wash up inside my caravan, also to shower using a shower tent outside my caravan. So I will probably have to extend the shower head.
Do you buy the shower head that has the 12v pump attached, so you are replacing the pump that comes with the unit or is the current pump part of the main Coleman unit and therefore cannot be upgraded? Have only seen one of these units for a short period so I can't remember.
Also how would I connect to the existing plastic water tank that comes with the van or is that not feasable.
Sorry if I sound niave, but am trying to use what I already have in place so I don't have to carry anything extra.

Also has anyone had any experience in adding an extra tank to the bottom of a van and connecting the 2 tanks together so I can still draw from one tank without having to put an extra tap in or water filler?

thanks
Anthony

FollowupID: 367641

Follow Up By: Member - JohnR (Vic) - Saturday, May 14, 2005 at 17:58

Saturday, May 14, 2005 at 17:58

Good info Brett, have a Coleman ourselves and it is a bit bulky at times as Poppy says.

Anthony;- I think some times just one of those cheaper pump and standing in a bowl arrangements may be easier as you won't really find it easy to connect on to your tank. I guess you can put your bucket under the tank outlet if you had heaps of water.

What you do find with the Coleman though is stability of temperature for little kids to shower, wives too for that matter. I don't have a little kid as he is 31 but the grandies have used it I believe. Just having to refill the tank is a good reminder that water is precious, but it will pump out of a bucket.

FollowupID: 367655

Follow Up By: brett - Saturday, May 14, 2005 at 22:06

Saturday, May 14, 2005 at 22:06

Anthony, All you need is a shower head and some hose, you need to buy the original coleman shower head though to get the fitting on the end that attaches to the unit. The pump is connected to the unit with the same sort of fitting. Have asked coleman if they are a spare part but apparently not, if the fitting breaks you have to buy a whole pump and hose assembly, seems ridiculous for a 50c fitting. If your van has a pressure pump already you can use this by using the optional mains water adapter, it allows you to connect the unit to a normal tap or any other high pressure pump. The unit is basically a solenoid to turn the water on and off and a regulator to reduce the flow. I have used this setup with a Shurflo 12V pressure pump on my camper.

FollowupID: 367666