Coleman brand hot water on demand device

Hi Graham,
Had ours around 4 years, used it twice, seems to be to much trouble setting it up and carrying the water for it. much prefer putting the billy on the fire (or stove in the summer) and mixing it with a bucket of cold.

Seemed like a good idea at the time, might be different if your staying put for a week near water

Ian

You don't need to worry about the water being too hot. The problem is the opposite (using cold water from a river anyway). I have found that I need to run the water through twice to get it hot. You need a big bucket (e.g. 20L) for a decent shower. You need to turn it off as soon as the water runs out.
Cheers,
Des

We have had ours for 3 years now. Probably travelled for 8 months in that time. Have used it numerous times, in all weather conditions, mainly for our showers and occasionally for washing up water. With two of us we only use a 9 litre bucket of water and find that is heaps. The only exception is when my wife needs to wash her hair, and then we use a few extra litres. It is true with using really cold water. On a recent trip in Tasmania we used very cold creek water a few times and it did take a little to get the water hot. We just let the shower cycle through the bucket for a few minutes so it was no real drama. We use the small Coleman gas bottles and find they last quite well. Always carry a spare! Wind does not affect the unit too much. Had to replace the battery a few weeks back, only $20 from a battery shop in Broome. Keep the battery charged up and it will lengthen its life. Only one annoying issue. If you have the unit plugged in to charge the battery, the unit will not work. Must be a safety thing? Also, sometimes the pump will not pump water due to an air lock. Just lift the bucket up, or take the pump out and shake the water out of the pump and line and start again. A fairly rare occurrence. You will know if the water is over-heating and when the water stops being pumped, the gas will automatically go out. (We have never had a problem with over-heating.) We do love our Coleman. Easy to put up and use for an instant hot shower.

We've had ours now for about 18 months. No problems have been experienced.
Ours definitely heats ok no matter what the temperature of the incoming water is like. Probably the only gripe I have with it is that if you shut off the flow when showering (while you are soaping up) to save water the heater will shut off too (a safety issue I guess). So you then need someone to restart it to rinse off.

Didnt any of you guys get a 20 litre Coleman collapsible water container ??????

Two can have a quick shower without turning off the water while showering...

I use the pump from the Coleman to fill up the other 20 litre container,throw the pump in the river,make sure its sucking clean water and bingo...

Thank you all for taking the time to reply.
Have read other threads held in the archives, seems a similar problem occurs when turning item off to soap up & having battery flat or near flat. Thanks again

This may be off the track a it but if you are looking at any others, I'll relate my experience with the COMPANION CUBE water heater. Brought from Syd caravan and camping show 2010. about a week later had a gas outage at home. Now worries out with the Cube. Two nice hot showers then no ignition. Companion (Now primus) arranged for me to get another brand new one. Tried it out two or three times then no ignition on that one. Rang again Primus arranged for me to post it back for repair. Got it back, not trusting it, used it about half a dozen times over a couple of days, all OK!! Packed up and left for 5 mths. on the road, first serious camp pulled the heater out for a shower. . . nothing. It stayed in the locker of my camper for the rest of the trip. It's now sitting on the back deck awaiting its fate,out of warranty so, either the tip or post it back to primus. Either would cost about the same. Cheers

I have a showering setup that works really well for us.

The gear;

Coleman HWOD
Coleman gas bottle - we find they last for ages in the HWOD
Shower tent, colapsable - so as to provide packing up entertainment
Water container, ours is 40L - we put our sleeping bags in it when travelling
Milk Crate - Holds camp ovens and such while travelling

Setup;

Tent - Up
Water container setup in corner closest to door opening
Milk crate sits right out side door
HWOD sits on milk crate

Use;

Hang the shower unit in the water container, so when you are rinsing off you dont have to turn off the water, you just recycle it in the water bucket.

Pull zippers on shower tent together so they are at the height of the HWOD water control knob. Leave the zippers open about 15cm so you can slip your hand through and adjust the temp if you need and turn it off when you are finished but not that far open that we can all see you!

It works for us, and we usually hang all the clothes and towel out the opening at the top. That way you only need one person to shower and everything is where you need it.