Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Has anyone used something like this in their campers? It will run 5 hours on 3 "D" batteries. If it runs for 5 hours continuous, it would have pumped alot of water. Would this be better than draining the big batteries with the normal electric pump? If you think abut it, I doubt many of us would run our pumps 5 hours in a year. Just wanted to see what you guys thought, and maybe it would work for some of you.

Here is the address for it:

http://www.buzzillions.com/dz_163102_at ... mp_reviews

I don't know of too many campers that need their bilges pumped out

Leon wrote:I don't know of too many campers that need their bilges pumped out

I kinda like the ides of using it for a shower.....Heck of a lot cheaper than a Zodi.....

Leon, thanks for the reply. I remember once upon a time or two I could have used a bilge pump in our tent! Now you know why we want a teardrop. Actually, what I find interesting about you answering this is the fact that your trailer is very close to what I want to build. Woody with a black vinyl top. I love aluminum too, but I really want a woody.

That's why we built the teardrop, too. The motorhome is too expensive and a pain to drive, tent camping is hard on the back. The teardrop has a comfortable bed off the ground (and looks good too!)

I have one of those pumps, have used it for many projects over the last 4 years. Still has the original batteries in it.
Only problem I would see in a TD is (like stated above) it is a bilg pump and to sit in the water. With the switch on top of the pump you would have to have an OPEN water tank.


Jay

I have a faucet/pump combo from JC Whitney and I do not even notice the draw of power from my battery. I really is not significant. I have used it over a 3-day camping period, going through 7.5 gals of water and it doesn't bother my battery at all.

Well, that really shows the rookie Tear Drop camper wannabee that I really am! Kerry, the J.C.Whitney Faucet/Pump does look good. I did not realize this pump thatI found was submerged. I would not want to take a chance of a bad battery leaking in my water!

I'm always promoting the virtues of the Coleman portable shower unit. It's a drop-in 12V, battery-powered pump that goes in a bucket or tank that leads to a shower head. The whole system can easily be reconfigured for a sink and the total cost is about $30. I've had mine for four years with no problems. It will shoot water out of the sink. It's supposed to use 4 D batteries, which equals 12V. I put an arcade Pac-Man style button on my counter to power it instead of knobs. It saves water in my opinion. Be careful, the JCW unit may not be self-priming. I've yet to find a cheap self-priming pump.

Be careful, the JCW unit may not be self-priming. I've yet to find a cheap self-priming pump.

Just mount it inline with the bottom of the water tank. That also allows you to have a drain there too.

RICHARD FURROW wrote:...Would this be better than draining the big batteries with the normal electric pump?

Not to me. It's the same amount of energy, no matter what battery is used. If it runs for a long time on a few little batteries, it will run for a long time without making much difference to the charge left in your big battery. I wouldn't want the hassle of another set of batteries.

I bought an on demand pump on Ebay for around the same price, it runs off my 12 volt battery and uses very little power. Its really nice to just turn the faucet and have the water flow. For the same money I would go with an on demand pump, mine is self priming, quite and the water pressure is variable, it will go from a trickle to full pressure just like at home.

Rich- Good timing on your question. I just slapped together my sink for my TD and got to test the components over a 3-day boondock weekend in the high desert of Oregon, so I can speak from experience now. I originally purchased the Reliance On-Tap Powered Sink (http://www.rei.com/product/752731) in order to simply sit on a table extended off the galley, but once I got it decided to lose the actual sink and keep the faucet and pump. I then installed a steel enamel sink from an old trailer into the table that extended off the galley. The sink simply drains into a Jerry can and the pump draws from a Reliance 8-gallon roller tote.







The pump plugs directly into a 12v receptacle that I added into the galley counter and runs off the deep cycle battery. It also has a battery pack that holds 8 D batteries and the pump simply plugs into a 12v receptacle in the battery pack (if you want to run off D batteries). The pump on current models is rated at 1 GPM I believe (I called to ask) and they are going to move to a higher (1.5-2.0) pump shortly as they introduce a Zodi-type water heater. Anyhoo... the pump puts out enough H2O to effectively do dishes. Tied into my Zodi heater (which had a 0.8 GPM pump) makes the chore easier for greasy pans, or when its cold and the fingers are freezing. It does take some diligence to keep water usage down even with the small pump, but it is possible due to the fact that there is a on/off valve at the faucet head which kills the flow of water, but the pump can continue to run without damage. So you don't have to turn the pump on and off to conserve water. I was surprised that on the first day I went through 5-gallons just doing a couple sets of dishes, before becoming more diligent about consrving water. I would say 3-4 gallons a day is enough to handle dishes for the day if you are moderately careful maybe 2-3 if you are really efficient about water usage. That's just my experience from one weekend. In terms of power usage, We ran the Fantastic fan on the 10% setting (can't say enough about the Fantastic upgrade kit which allows micro adjustment of the fan speed) all night for 2 nights and lights a couple hours and the DVD player about 30 minutes. My cheap battery meter went from 12.8V to 12.4V (80% charge) over the 2 days the trailer was set up and used. So I was happy with overall power consumption.

You can buy just the Reliance pump/battery pack and a shower head for about $30 and if you contact them directly- http://tinyurl.com/5vf3n5
I bet they would send you a faucet attachment as well (they are nice folks up there). I also like the water tote on wheels (though I did crack the lid/spigot by tightening down too hard on it, so I need to get another) and will get a 2nd one to replace the 5-gallon Jerry can for the gray water from the sink- that way they match up in size.

All the best!

fornesto wrote:I'm always promoting the virtues of the Coleman portable shower unit. It's a drop-in 12V, battery-powered pump that goes in a bucket or tank that leads to a shower head. The whole system can easily be reconfigured for a sink and the total cost is about $30. I've had mine for four years with no problems. It will shoot water out of the sink. It's supposed to use 4 D batteries, which equals 12V. I put an arcade Pac-Man style button on my counter to power it instead of knobs. It saves water in my opinion. Be careful, the JCW unit may not be self-priming. I've yet to find a cheap self-priming pump.

I think I know why the water pressure is so good !!! 4 ~ 1.5 volt "d" batteries is 6 volt not 12. You got that little 6 volt pump motor "ENERGIZED"

greasywheats wrote:(can't say enough about the Fantastic upgrade kit which allows micro adjustment of the fan speed)

Where did you get it? I find my 3 speed fan is still a little too fast and noisy on slow. Would like to slow it down even more........