Monday, Feb 08, 2010 at 22:25
To answer your questions:
a) It is quite a stable unit with 3 fold out legs that have large pads on them.
Mine gets treated pretty rough and it has never come close to falling over
b) I use
mine inside a shower tent and it is a very efficient heat exchange unit with all of the heat going into the
water. The gas temp is controlled by the burner which really only heats the
water to about 20 degrees above the temp of the
water going in. That means that even if the
water in is at 25 degrees, the shower will be at 45 degrees which is about as hot a shower as you can have without burning. Because it can't get too hot it is quite safe for children.
c) The surface temperatures of the unit do not get hot and the is no flame outside of the pipe. As with all gas appliances I imagine they would have gone through all manner of testing before being given an approval number.
d) The Aussie
Camp Shower is about the same as lighting a gas stove which you would normally not allow a child under about 12 to do. I have found some women not comfortable with lighting the gas and have asked for me to light it for them.
I agree that the coleman units are more simple to operate especially by a younger child. They can be arduous to set up though.
I have the battery, pump, hoses and gas pipe all packed in a small plastic fishing box. I set up the base and clip in the shower rose section. The gas hose has a small 90 degree burner which is an off the shelf fitting from most gas appliance shops. The burner is screwed into the bottom of the unit with the other end connected to the gas bottle. I then connect the hose with inline pump to the
water source and hang the inline switch on the base of the shower rose fitting which is about waiste height.
This sounds fiddly but generally takes me about 1 minute from standing the base on the ground to being able to start the shower.
To operate all I do is turn the gas tap on at the base of the unit and light the burner, stand up and flick the switch and there is instant hot
water at a rate of about 3-4 litres per minute. The temperature is varied by turning the gas burner up or down.
If camped near a
creek I fill a 20 litre
water container and sit it on a milk crate as the
water supply. When conserving
water we usually get 3 x 2.5 minute showers out of one drum or 2 x 3.5 minute showers.
The main advantage in my mind of this unit is that it is not only robust for years of outback travel and abuse, but the only part that could wear out is a standard gas hose and fitting that can be purchased anywhere. I will never be in the position where I am sending it away to someone and it costs me a fortune in repairs.
It also gives many easy options for both electricity and
water suppies. By this I mean I can pump out of tanks or creeks, or even gravity feed the
water and I can hook up to a veriety of small battery and car battery options.
I hope this helps.
BW
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