Shower Water heater recommendations

[MOAK]

About 5 years ago we took the plunge and bought an inline camp life ( brand?) water heater. My mounted pump sucks water from a dedicated shower tank, pumps it to the heater, then hot water for the shower, using propane from a regular 2.5 gallon propane tank. The heater would be fine, cept for a couple of major problems. It simply does not hold up to the rigors of off highway travel and is literally shaken apart. Because we carry it flat up on the roof rack in a pelican case, encased in foam, there is simply not enough time to drain every bit of water from it. Even hanging overnite the water will not completely drain from it- so, guess what? Can I mention how many times I’ve had to solder it because of freezing & bursting? It didn’t even drain out completely after hanging in my heated carriage house all winter. I’m looking at the Mr Heater units. I’d like to mount it, in a box up on the racks, hook up to the propane, drop a line into our tank of water, drop shower head and shower. When done, open a cock valve, and drain water from the heater- completely. Here is our set up. Water tank in rig and propane tank up top. Is there a company besides Mr Heater that makes such a devise? The Mr Heater looks good, but is it adaptable to our desired system? All thoughts are welcome, & thanks

 

[Akicita]

Our Joolca Hottap system has worked and held up very well over the last two years and thousands of on-road and off-road miles.

 

[MOAK]

Our Joolca Hottap system has worked and held up very well over the last two years and thousands of on-road and off-road miles.

So, I guess I should be happy with 5 years, call it done and replace with the same. After a lot of research that’s what I’ve done. As all of the upright models are manufactured the same way there is no variance in quality. . Hang it, quick connect the water lines, spin on the propane line- get a shower. Replace in 5 years or less. I was hoping for better, ( better being more robust, stronger, heavy duty) , but such a heater doesn’t seem to exist.

 

[smritte]

What I've noticed with the on demand heaters is there's really only two diffrent designs. Internally it seems their the same. Mine is about 8 years old. I have to pull the batteries when I store it because there's no on/off switch. Off is literally pulling the batteries by design. I'm waiting for it to quit working so I can update it. Unless I go to an upscale, the ones made today look exactly like mine. When I do replace it, I'll modify it to run on 12 volts so I don't have to make sure I have batteries.

 

[El-Dracho]

Thanks for sharing your experience with this shower system. Doesn't sound that reliableto me? So simple solutions are important to me when traveling. We simply use a black water bag with a hose and shower head to heatup the shower water. in the sun. I just put it on the hood and fasten it with straps. This way the sun heats the water (beware, it can even get very very hot). For showering I just hang it up and gravity takes care of the water flow.
In particularly robust form, there are these bags here in Europe from stocks of the Swiss Army. Maybe you can find something similar in North America? It's simple, reliable and good. In cold weather, I just boil water in a kettle and mix it with the cold water until the desired water temperature is reached. Also a simple solution that always works.

 

[MOAK]

Thanks for sharing your experience with this shower system. Doesn't sound that reliableto me? So simple solutions are important to me when traveling. We simply use a black water bag with a hose and shower head to heatup the shower water. in the sun. I just put it on the hood and fasten it with straps. This way the sun heats the water (beware, it can even get very very hot). For showering I just hang it up and gravity takes care of the water flow.
In particularly robust form, there are these bags here in Europe from stocks of the Swiss Army. Maybe you can find something similar in North America? It's simple, reliable and good. In cold weather, I just boil water in a kettle and mix it with the cold water until the desired water temperature is reached. Also a simple solution that always works.

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We used water bags in the past. Well, sort of used them. Since we often find ourselves camped out in cold weather they never really warmed up, so we were very rarely able to use it. It’s up in my barn now. Hanging from a post, looking all innocent, harmless, and somewhat useless in temps any lower than 50 f.

 

[Landy-Lee83]

Thanks for sharing your experience with this shower system. Doesn't sound that reliableto me? So simple solutions are important to me when traveling. We simply use a black water bag with a hose and shower head to heatup the shower water. in the sun. I just put it on the hood and fasten it with straps. This way the sun heats the water (beware, it can even get very very hot). For showering I just hang it up and gravity takes care of the water flow.
In particularly robust form, there are these bags here in Europe from stocks of the Swiss Army. Maybe you can find something similar in North America? It's simple, reliable and good. In cold weather, I just boil water in a kettle and mix it with the cold water until the desired water temperature is reached. Also a simple solution that always works.

View attachment 256192

We have just the same!

 

[MuckSavage]

I have a Nemo Helios. It can warm water on a sunny day but as someone else said, I often boil water in a kettle & add it to the Helios.
I've heard some good things about the Geyser shower system.