Tip for Coleman shower owners.
Submitted: Monday, Sep 18, 2006 at 18:11
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Member - uncle
Evenning all,
just got back from a 3 dayer towing the CT from
Moruya to
Bendethera, then up over the range thru
dampier, minuma and then coming out on currambene ck ft. Great weather, pulled up at
Bendethera and set up
camp, went to use the shower again after fitting the new nozzle and problem occurs again.
The unit kept shutting down and the too hot temp light was coming on. After changing gas cylinders, fiddling with the heat control knob, still no luck, by this time I'm halfway through the shower and getting ready to put it under the front wheel.Anyway Mrs Unc, suggests is it in the new shower head? Maybe a small blockage etc? So I takes the head off and inside is a very fine steel filter, so out that came then, also I notice that this is a
water saving head designed for mains pressure so took out the small pink plug that was also in there.Put it all back together and presto!! What was happening is the hot
water was backing up the line as it wasn't able to escape quick enough, causing it to temporarily shut down.The result now is even more pressure, and great temp control.Now I'm a happy camper.!
Reply By: Jimbo - Monday, Sep 18, 2006 at 18:37
Monday, Sep 18, 2006 at 18:37
Great tip Uncle.
What type of shower head did you fit? I've looked at Bunnings and couldn't find anything suitable. The brand and model, and any adaptations to make it fit would be very welcome.
ATB,
Jim.
AnswerID:
195128
Follow Up By: Member - uncle - Monday, Sep 18, 2006 at 18:44
Monday, Sep 18, 2006 at 18:44
Hi Jimbo, brand is "interbath" Got it from K mart for $20, I'll post a pic on my profile page for you shortly it has a fine or coarse spray setting. Man am I happy we sorted this little hiccup out!! You can also hold the shower head at a higher point or even hook it up on something to give 2 free hands and still pumps the juice thru.
FollowupID:
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Reply By: Member - uncle - Monday, Sep 18, 2006 at 18:46
Monday, Sep 18, 2006 at 18:46
Forgot to mention the fittings I got to adapt it are available from irrigation or plumbing shops.
AnswerID:
195131
Reply By: Wizard1 - Tuesday, Sep 19, 2006 at 11:33
Tuesday, Sep 19, 2006 at 11:33
How much difference did the aftermarket shower head make? how did you rig it up? Do you have any pictures
I priced them and they seemed quite expensive for the
water saver type. I did fit a longer hose and the shower head off our 12volt Dick Smith shower as it has a cut out on the shower head.
Do you also use the attachement for mains
water? I am thinking of using one as a means of using the
water out off our van
tank gravity fed via a hose from the drain outlet to the coleman, rather than muck around wit that collapsable container or a bucket.
Wizard
AnswerID:
195288
Follow Up By: Member - uncle - Tuesday, Sep 19, 2006 at 11:48
Tuesday, Sep 19, 2006 at 11:48
Hi there Wizard, the after market head has made the shower the best its been ever! We never use the shower for mains pressure
water as we are only using the shower when in remote areas. Personally I would not go for the
water saver type, I only bought this by accident and ripped out the pink plug on the inside that restricts the main flow, other wise hot
water builds up through the shower head hose and shuts down the shower unit as a safety precauiton. Ive just adapted it to the standard coleman hose , 10 mins in the hardware store and they should have you sorted out for adapting bits.
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: Wizard1 - Tuesday, Sep 19, 2006 at 11:58
Tuesday, Sep 19, 2006 at 11:58
Uncle,
the use of the mains attachement is a means to get
water from our caravan storage tanks when we have no mains, as you do, in remote areas as most of our
camping is the free type. Want a quick painless solution rather than have to fill a bucket from the
tank.
I see you have a CT, perhaps if this works, you could also get
water from your storage
tank. I'll let you know if it works. I'll keep the receipt in case it doesn't.
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: Member - uncle - Tuesday, Sep 19, 2006 at 12:53
Tuesday, Sep 19, 2006 at 12:53
I cant see why that system wouln't work wizard, the only problem for us was the shower head now it's fixed yee ha.
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: brett - Thursday, Oct 12, 2006 at 22:58
Thursday, Oct 12, 2006 at 22:58
Wizard, if I understand you correctly what you want to do won't work.
The mains adapter is a solenoid valve and a pressure regulator to reduce high mains pressure down to a suitable level for the unit. You can't gravity feed into it, it will only work if connected to a mains pressure tap or a pump. I run one of a 10L per min shureflo pump and it works very
well.
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Reply By: Cuppa500 - Thursday, Oct 12, 2006 at 21:07
Thursday, Oct 12, 2006 at 21:07
Hi, I'm trying to decide whether to buy a Coleman or a Primus gas shower. I've seen the Coleman at what seems a reasonable price with all attachments included (bag, gas adaptor,
water hose adaptor & shower hose) $399.
My concern about the Coleman is twofold, based upon what I've read, but I'd appreciate some first hand comments. 1.I read that the unit was suitable for 'light' showers - does this mean not much
water flow? 2. At 'warm' setting specs say it will heat
water a max of 55deg.F above ambient. This is less than 13 deg.C. Does this mean generally lukewarm showers, or do you need to heat the
water twice?
Regards
Cuppa
AnswerID:
198919
Follow Up By: Jimbo - Thursday, Oct 12, 2006 at 21:48
Thursday, Oct 12, 2006 at 21:48
It will get as hot as you like, within reason.
I've used icy cold
water out of a river and it can still get too hot to shower under if you turn the thermostat up too high.
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Follow Up By: Shaker - Thursday, Oct 12, 2006 at 22:41
Thursday, Oct 12, 2006 at 22:41
Take advice from one who has owned both .... buy the Coleman!
We couldn't be happier, I have just bought an adaptor for refilling the 'disposable' bottles from a 9kg cylinder.
As Jimbo said, even with icy river
water, the unit only needs to operated at a medium setting.
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Follow Up By: brett - Thursday, Oct 12, 2006 at 22:53
Thursday, Oct 12, 2006 at 22:53
Don't worry about the
water not being hot enough, it will heat it far hotter than what you can stand under, even with icy
water
I run a 3 meter hose from the unit up to a shower head in a shower tent and it's always hot. I generally use the mains adapter connected to a shureflo pump on my camper, I've tweaked the mains adapter so it doesn't reduce the pressure as much so I get a good flow rate, I find with the high flow rate it's easier to adjust the temperature. I used the coleman pump on the weekend and found the flow about half of what I get from my camper pump and also had a bit of trouble with the temp, even on the lowest warm setting due to the slow flow it was nearly too hot to stay under.
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Follow Up By: Cuppa500 - Thursday, Oct 12, 2006 at 23:10
Thursday, Oct 12, 2006 at 23:10
Thanks fellas,
Seems like the Coleman is the go.
Seeings I've got you here, another point raised is that the unit is 'bulky'. Could one of you give me it's packed up approx dimensions? (In the bag) .Also how 'durable' do you find it to be, will it last the distance? We plan to use it in addition to our Twine heat exchanger/on-board hot
water tank (45 litres) for periods when we are camped/not driving during our planned 16 months on the road. We'll use it via the onboard shurflo pump
regards
Cuppa
cuppa500.spymac.com/blog/
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: brett - Friday, Oct 13, 2006 at 00:00
Friday, Oct 13, 2006 at 00:00
The main part of the bag is about 500mm long, 300mm wide and 450mm high, then at each end there are 2 zip up compartmants that can hold 2 coleman gas bottles. The bag seems fairly durable, no problems with it so far
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Follow Up By: Shaker - Friday, Oct 13, 2006 at 08:26
Friday, Oct 13, 2006 at 08:26
To be quite honest, the size of the bag was the only disappointment to me.
I would have preferred a smaller 'protective cover' & then just stored the bottles seperately.
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Follow Up By: Member - Alan (WA) - Friday, Oct 13, 2006 at 14:38
Friday, Oct 13, 2006 at 14:38
Hi
I have a Coleman HWS - and am very happy with it so far. I have seen the Mains Adaptor mentioned a few times - can someone please explain to me what this it is - we have a CT with buitl in
water tank, and Engel
water tank in car - could this be used to directly link Coleman to these - or am I missing the point.
Cheers
Alan
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