Primus portable hot shower

This has been done a few times and a search should show a number of threads.

Personally , I think the Coleman is a better hotwater system.

I know a few people that had reliability issues with the Primus. Nothing with the Coleman.

I use a vehicle based system myself , but I'm looking at a Coleman unit for a CT based hotwater system (not really the shower).

Had the primus one for about 2 years now not a problem. Looked at the coleman didn't have as good shower rose as the primus. Down fall with the primus have to have gas bottle with it, where as the coleman you can run off a butane bottle, also you can have a coffee/tea direct from the coleman where as you can't with the primus, but I chose the primus as I always have the gas bottles any way and it has less electronic stuff than the coleman so less to go wrong. Coleman's a bit higher but is not as wide as the primus. No doubt which ever one you use both will do the job required. Just personal choice. Most of my other stuff, cooktop, etc is primus which is about ten years old now and no problems no blocked jets etc. You can get them on special every now and then. Kmart even sell the coleman one now as well. Regards Vitara

We had a look at both before buying. A friend of ours has the Primus and he hasn't had great luck with it. As a shower...well... it's a shower. It's no good for anything else.

We went with the Coleman Hot Water on Demand system. We replaced the shower head with a proper on designed for water saving - it works very well - much better than the one that it came with. We also have the 9kg bottle hose, so that we can run EITHER the 1kg screw-in bottle or a big tank for prolonged stays. We also have the tap-pressure adapter which allows you to plug the unit straight in to a tap at whatever pressure it is, and temper that pressure to 4psi out of the unit. This, along with the 9kg hose lets you run it all day if you want.

Top it all off with the fact that the Coleman is great for washing up and making a coffee of twenty - all day long. We love it..... :)

I originally bought a Primus, found it to be very fiddly to operate, now have the Coleman & love it, don't need a gas bottle, (can if you like though) & don't need to plug it into the vehicle, as it is fully self contained. (rechargeable)
We get around 10 - 12 showers per cylinder as well as general hot water.

Just to add to the debate. We have the Coleman - very happy. Great bit of gear.

Peter

Just to add some more food for thought, I camped with a gentleman (i'm sure he'll post later) at the weekend who has been searching for a while for a hot water unit. I suggested a while back that he look for domestic constant hot water service that is gas only. He turned up on the weekend with a unit that is about the same size as the primus unit fitted to his camper trailer and running off a 9kg bottle. 300 literes an hour if you want it, and constant tempature, cant ask for more than that.

mick

Not sure but i'll ask him later and let you know.
Mick

Well here's our 2 cents worth.... A couple of friends went away camping with a group of their friends and rellies and when set up our mates produced their Coleman water heater/shower...2 others in the group both pulled out their Primus jobbies and told him how much money they had saved.

2 days later, both the Primus rigs had chucked it in and our mates Coleman proceeded to do all the 17 showers every night from then on for the next 10 days.

So...how much money did they save??? Irrelevant methinks....

Get a Coleman
Happy Camping.
Rick & Julie
P.S. Only one week to go before we pick up our new Kimberley Kamper...Yip Yah..

give me a Cruiser over a Patrol any day. hehehe

Hi David Mc

The other thing no one has mentioned is that the Coleman has a 10yr warranty..definately worth paying the extra. Our camping store used to sell both units. They gave primus the flick due to the high return rate.

Peter

being a plumber over the years of camping from rubbish bins with coils that lay in a fire to hot water bags that you lay in the sun to 4 wdrive under bonnet .i have seen the primus hws and had a chat to other plumbers and campers if you like it well each to his own but most of us rate out of ten 3 . the coleman seems to be a bit more popular with campers who are looking for a cheap means of hot water personaly i use and old valliant instantanious gas hws, rihan and there are a few other brands out there bosh is another one and camec also stocks a few different brands. the water supply in is with a flow jet 12 volt flowjet pump most these hws only need approx 22 litres per minute some less when beach camping we use a spear to pull up the water as we just purchased a camper trailer i will put a hws in it with a flow jet pump that will pull the water out of the storage tank or run it of mains pressure or off the spear. every one has different needs and budgets put if you serious about camping and go for long holidays as we do its the only way to go . so i sugest you go down to the local and make friends with a plumber or someone who is handy dags

Hi David,

This is slightly off the point, but have you given consideration as to where and how often you will use the shower.

If you intend to draw water from creeks or lakes in say, 20-25litre water containers, be aware that your shower may need to be very short. Most good showers have adjustable delivery. However, they will empty a 25litre container very quickly.

The other alternative of course is to place a hose in the river/lake. Couple of issues here.

1. the ability of the unit to pump water to your shower location (length and height) from the river.

2. Have a think about where you have set up camp over the last couple of years and ask yourself if the unit could pump the water that distance and height. If you choose this method, then you will need to fit a non return valve to the hose and a good filter.

I have a Glind unit fitted in the engine bay of my 4WD and am very happy with it. However, finding suitable camping locations to use it where I travel can be problematic due to the bank depth of rivers.

As I previously mentioned. If you have a family of say, three kids, it will certainley test your water carrying capabilities if you rely on containers.

Hope this helps

Regards

Kim