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Roof Solar Shower with PVC pipes


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Hi everyone!

I did some digging on the forum but I couldn't find anything about a roof solar shower. I'm planning on making one this week/weekend and I will post all my pictures here.

Does anyone have one of these on his Sunrader? I have a Shorty and would like to get some information on how big I want to make it and where to place/or attach it to on my roof.

Planning on using this explanation on how to make it:

http://wheresmyofficenow.com/solar-heated-pressurized-shower/

Thx!

Stijn

 

shower.jpg

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Where do you plan on using it. Most places frown upon dumping water on the ground.

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I'm planning on using it in the desert mainly. Not in US campsites. And also to clean off beach related stuff, sandy legs, wetsuits, etc.

Going to Baja in 2 months for two weeks. And the ultimate goal is to leave for a trip down to Patagonia in about a year/year and a half.

 

 

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Sticking all that weight on my roof is something I wouldn't consider. I can climb my ladder and put one of those black bag things up there if I want to have a warm shower. Or just a hose out the window. If the ambient temp is 75 that's the temp of the water in your fresh water tank. Warm enough for me

Linda S

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Hosing out of the window is a good solution. I might try that out for now. 

I think the PVC Solar tube shower would be great if you are out in the dessert during a week or more. With no way to refill your onboard water. 

So you have an extra source of fresh, warm water. 

Would the extra weight on top of your roof be problematic? 

Thx Linda.

S

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Adapter to fit hose to your faucet available at almost any hardware store and I used to have an outdoor shower with poles that hooked together and an on and off switch at the shower. Haven't been able to find it. Think I left it at a campground somewhere. Bring extra water in 2 1/2 or 5 gallon jugs inside. I like the ones that collapse down to nothing when they aren't full.

Your near me. You know how tippy these rigs already are in the wind or rough terrain. More weight up high just exaggerates that. Lower center of gravity=better handling. Think sports car

Linda S

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I have more than a few half baked ideas I've been working on.  Among them is a solar water heater.  On the back of my Itasca, I extended the bumper and added a cargo tray.  My thought is to use a pool water heater up on the roof with a water tank off the back bumper.  35 gallon tank would add slightly over 300lb.  My Itasca is 19 ft and weighs less than some of the larger Toyo motorhomes.  I had it weighed and have margin but might need to brace up the back a bit more.  Many of the beach places I camp at requires you be fully self contained and the existing water tank is limited.  You fill up the waste tanks and run out of water, you're off the beach.

Circulation would be via a dual speed pump.  The idea with the pump is two fold.  The lower speed allows me to reduce flow to maximize the time water remains in the heater.  There is also a secondary benefit in efficiency.  I did the same thing with my old pool system.  I used a DE filter with a dual speed pool pump.  In addition to slowing the water down, the pump is able to flow half the water for a tenth of the current. (Lift height will effect efficiency)  The power to flow curve is anything but linear and the higher rate of flow comes at a cost of power consumption.  With my pool, I could run the filter twice as long for a quarter of the power consumption and circulate the volume I needed.  Also the reduced flow through the solar panels allowed the water more time to warm up while the sun was effective. Extended my pool season by months this way. Keep in mind I had way bigger panels than the one I linked to but I was heating nearly 10000 gallons of water.  

The DC pump would circulate the water up through the heater and back into the tank.  A type K thermocouple and controller and perhaps a solar panel if you want to get crazy.  Again, this idea is half baked but I camp exclusively at the beach and want to be able to just rinse off as well so I get what you're going for.  Completely untested idea.  Your mileage may of course vary. 

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Yeah, not a great idea and indeed half baked. The water will all rush forward when braking and backward when accelerating plus of course moving around during turns. Those types of sudden brain stormed but not well engineered water systems tend to tear themselves apart from the force of that water movement as well as having the ability to put a lot of stress on the roof and rip out the fasteners that go into it. Internal baffles help to some extent but you would have to put in a lot of them throughout the length of the tube plus install some very strong mounts onto the roof that wrap all the way around the tube for a hold down. You can't rely just on little brackets glued to the tube or roof to secure it.

The second issue with this home brew water heater scheme is you actually have very little surface area on a single large tube for solar gain. A well engineered solar water heater system is always done with a lot of small tubes so that the volume of water in the tube to surface area is in a proper ratio for effective heat gain. When you have a large volume tube only the water close to the surface of the top of the tube on the side where the sun hits it is directly heated. Which means a very small percentage of heat gain for the volume of the water contained in the tube versus the solar gain possible in a small tube system.

My recommendation is to go with a properly engineered roof top solar heater system made for RVs. They do have a pump that comes with them. That pump comes with its own roof top solar power panel. There are fittings in the kit for plumbing it into your regular water heater tank. These water heater solar panels are flat and they don't create as much drag and do not have the issue of a large volume of water rushing backwards and forwards as happens in a single large tube system. On cloudy days and at night you will still have the option of heating the water with propane.

Water weighs a lot. If you are going to carry a large additional volume of it you want it near the axle and not out back hanging off the bumper or up on your roof. You would be better off bringing along Jerry cans of it that you can set inside near the axle and then fill from them into your main water tank as needed. You could get black ones or paint them and set out into the sun if you are going to be spending a lot of time at the beach. A small pump into the opening of the can will create your outdoor shower. They do sell small battery operated pumps exactly for this purpose of drawing liquid from Jerry cans for a shower. You can use a solar charger and rechargeable batteries to power the pump. A benefit of the can system is you can fill them up at  a spigot when you can't get close to it with your rig. Carry a funnel with a tube and you can fill from a sink in a restroom if need be.

 

Edited by snail powered
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No comment about usability, but to baffle a tube is easy. Softball sized whiffle balls are perfect. Smaller tubes hardball sized or even golf ball sized ones. 

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1 hour ago, WME said:

No comment about usability, but to baffle a tube is easy. Softball sized whiffle balls are perfect. Smaller tubes hardball sized or even golf ball sized ones. 

Wiffle sounds like a potential low cost and easy labor solution for the slosh problem. One could mock up a long section and take it for a test drive say inside of a van to see how the slosh force behaves.

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7 hours ago, snail powered said:

Water weighs a lot. If you are going to carry a large additional volume of it you want it near the axle and not out back hanging off the bumper or up on your roof. You would be better off bringing along Jerry cans of it that you can set inside near the axle and then fill from them into your main water tank as needed. You could get black ones or paint them and set out into the sun if you are going to be spending a lot of time at the beach. A small pump into the opening of the can will create your outdoor shower. They do sell small battery operated pumps exactly for this purpose of drawing liquid from Jerry cans for a shower. You can use a solar charger and rechargeable batteries to power the pump. A benefit of the can system is you can fill them up at  a spigot when you can't get close to it with your rig. Carry a funnel with a tube and you can fill from a sink in a restroom if need be.

 

I've considered a number of options including the jerry cans.  I don't really need the solar but do need the extra water.  I'll likely go with the outside shower option under the sink window and just tie it in.  I've looked at a couple of pump options to transfer the water to the main tank and it pretty much involves a bit of tubing and a relay.  The back extension of the bumper is pretty solid but I would beef up the secure points for the parcel tray just to be sure.  As that is my travel storage and I've already carried the same weight with my large cooler and other stuff, why would water there vs somewhere else be an issue? I have to secure it no matter where I put it.  In my use case, most of the beach sites have access to water at the ranger stations so I don't always have to drive with the tank full.  The other option is a aux water tank where the unused gen compartment is.

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EBay has tons of rv water tanks with transfer pumps, easy hook up. Push a switch and refill your main tank.

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  • 1 month later...

so I got thinking about this last night.  sunshowers (either bag or black jug) work well, but 1) they take a long time to heat up and 2) they cool down fast at dusk, so you need to shower before it gets late....not always practical.  what about building a sort of modified solar oven, mounted on roof of rig and made low profile to keep additional frontal area down, that would hold a sunshower bag?  with some insulation, it should keep the bag warm, and it should heat the water a lot faster.  just dreaming here thus far, but....

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You can buy commercial RV rooftop solar water heater flat panel systems. They come with their own solar powered pump. It then gets hooked up so  that it recirculates the heated water into your on-board hot water tank for storage. When there is not enough solar power to heat the water then the water that did get heated earlier in the day is stored in that insulated tank for later use. Seems like it would be a nice thing to have when camping in reliably sunny climates.

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I think we're talking apples and oranges here.  what I envision could be built from scrap for $20 if you already have a sunshower bag.  those systems you're describing no doubt work well but cost hundreds (thousands?) and involve a hell of a lot more installation and complexity, and bigger holes in your roof.  maybe more appropriate for that $100K sprinter conversion than for a 30 yr old toyhome that I paid $2800 for?

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9 hours ago, payaso del mar said:

I think we're talking apples and oranges here.  what I envision could be built from scrap for $20 if you already have a sunshower bag.  those systems you're describing no doubt work well but cost hundreds (thousands?) and involve a hell of a lot more installation and complexity, and bigger holes in your roof.  maybe more appropriate for that $100K sprinter conversion than for a 30 yr old toyhome that I paid $2800 for?

No it is not apples and oranges and it does not cost a thousand dollars. They are not complex, it is a panel, a pump which does need a small solar electric panel and some pex tubing. Yes you will need a hole in the roof for the tubing or  you might also adapt an option for somehow running the tubes down inside the vent pipes for the grey water tank then break it out of that pipe and rout it through a cabinet on over to the water heater. 

If you are happy with a $20.00 solution and can make it work that is terrific. Sunshower bags do work. But if you wanted insulated storage for solar heated water then there are viable commercial options.  Here is the link to one company's offering. There are more, you just have to do a bit of keyword searching on the subject to find them.

http://www.amazon.com/SW-38-Solar-Water-Heater-Panels/dp/B0041VM58E

 

Edited by snail powered
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just theorizing here and not trying to dump on your suggestion.  that's good to know.  I hadn't seen those little panels before.  and I like your idea for routing the pipe.  BUT might not work in the Bandit since it doesn't have hot water heater or greywater tank, tho, or room for them*.  not like one of those "giant" dolphins etc.   ;)  but I might look into those for the now-stationary travel trailer at our place in the mountains.

and yeah, any time I can make a $20 solution work and not have it look too ghetto, i'm very happy with that.  that attitude is why I bought one of these and not the Sprinter conversion.......my wife calls me an Honorary Mexican because i do things like making hatch lid supports from PEX slit lengthwise (i have better uses for the $50 than replacing gas struts)

*cue the Bandit theme music:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OgjB6y70ew

Edited by payaso del mar
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