Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Howdy everyone. I have spent many hours trying to absorb all the great information on this site. I have just purchased a used 8' x18' cargo trailer that I want to convert to a camper. One of the issue I am having is trying to figure out the best option of hot water heater. This seems to be popular topic. I had planned on using a Eccotemp L5 as a friend uses one in his outfitter tent, but after reading many post I have since had second thoughts due to co, water and low oxygen. It would be used very little so probably not that big of a deal. I also thought about putting a fan roof vent above the HW heater. I have seen several that use one with vents. The problem I am having is that I need (design wise) placing it on the driver side front slant wall. I do not want it outside. Some of the HW vents seem to need to exit out the side of the trailer. This just may be the only pictures I have seen. If I mount on the slanted wall this would be difficult. I assume I could vent through the roof but haven't seen how I would do that with the pics I have seen this site or web. What type of "boot" could I use to penetrate the wall with the vent pipe? I saw one that used a dog pan, which was clever. I am already scared to cut hole in the skin and roof. I have to install ac so I will eventually have to do it. Any help would be appreciated. Pictures would be extremely help.
Thanks,
Keith

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You can use a "Torpedo Boot" to vent through a sidewall. A standard size boot will fit the top of the Eccotemp with just a little crimping, I used pop rivets to attach and sealed with hi-temp duct tape. I made a triple wall flue to pass through the exterior wall with off the shelf components. The heater is mounted to stand off the adjoining walls and floor about 3 inches and those walls were skinned with metal. You can use a dryer vent on the exterior but you may want to make a cover to keep the vanes from being damaged or leaking while towing or you might be able to modify a metal register cover.

I did something similar but at the back of my van for outdoor showers, used it for a year and many showers with no issues.



I am hopefully going to be starting a trailer and think I will just have it mounted in shower with a regular 12x12 vent above it. when camping we only use it for 60-90 seconds so don't think it will be an issue.

Thanks for the pics and suggestions! That was helpful. Nice setups.

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pvangel wrote:I did something similar but at the back of my van for outdoor showers, used it for a year and many showers with no issues.



I am hopefully going to be starting a trailer and think I will just have it mounted in shower with a regular 12x12 vent above it. when camping we only use it for 60-90 seconds so don't think it will be an issue.

I was wondering if a roof vent would be enough. That was my first thought. Like you say showers or short because usually have limited water supply. I wouldn't think that would produce any more condensate or co2 than cooking dinner on the stove with 2 burners going. I do that all the time in my rv. Especially if I installed it under and and relatively high under a roof vent with a exhaust fan.

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AggKat, Howdy;

Said this many times on here, I live in an RV. Longest meal I've cooked
on the gas stove lasted longer then a Long shower, I got 6 gals. and
sometimes run out, any way, I keep an overhead vent cracked (even
in Winter), to keep the condensation to a min. Never set off a CO
alarm yet. (10 years now). Even an exhaust fan in an overhead vent
should do ya fine. But that's my opinion other should have theirs and
share as well.

hank

Those meals sometimes take 2 burners and the oven.

I remember seeing someone on here who mounted their water heater in the shower and had a vent fan above it. Supposedly worked great.
Glad you liked my dog dish. If you haven't looked at it, the Aquah Plus is a nice direct vent water heater. Water heater link A little pricier than some but I absolutely love that I can set my water temp and never even have to touch the cold valve. Constant 106 deg! Its awesome.

That Aqua Plus looks like a nice unit, only issue I would have with it is that it needs 110v to run. The ECOtemp needs no power at all except the 2 D batteries for igniter which works great when boondocking!

Iconfabul8 wrote:I remember seeing someone on here who mounted their water heater in the shower and had a vent fan above it. Supposedly worked great.
Glad you liked my dog dish. If you haven't looked at it, the Aquah Plus is a nice direct vent water heater. Water heater link A little pricier than some but I absolutely love that I can set my water temp and never even have to touch the cold valve. Constant 106 deg! Its awesome.

I have looked at the Aquah and like it. I think it must have been from you other post. I just cant figure out how to vent it through the wall with the heater being on the "slant wall". Looks like it has an flexible elbow leaving the heater which makes me think it can go through the roof. I also saw that the sell rain caps for them. I didnt see where they sell any kinda boot to use on the roof to penetrate it. I assumed from you ingenious use of the pet bowl that you couldnt find a store bought option either. The bowls works great on side wall but would catch water on the roof. If it wasnt for the v-nose I wouldn't have an issue.

I have been wanting to convert a cargo trailer for a while now. I have an RV. I do a lot of hunting, and while the RV is good for camping it is not so good to carry all my gear, ATV and stands. The trailer I bought was not what I was really wanted but got a good deal on it from a friend. I wanted 22'-24' flat nose. I am a degreed mechanical/piping/architecture designer and have also been designing houses on the side for 20 years. So I really like designing my own stuff and a cargo conversion seem like a great project. I usually 3D model everything first and get a good idea of what it looks like before I build it. Also, being a designer is somewhat of a curse, because I spend a lot of time on the small details that others figure out and make work as they go. That approach sometimes leads to creative thinking , like the pet bowl, and creates some really cool ideas. Anyway, I figure I will do this build find what I like and dont like and sale it and do another one. That appears to be a common theme! Lol. Thanks for your input and have enjoyed your other post on the forum. Great ideas.

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pvangel wrote:That Aqua Plus looks like a nice unit, only issue I would have with it is that it needs 110v to run. The ECOtemp needs no power at all except the 2 D batteries for igniter which works great when boondocking!

I was thinking same thing, but I always have a generator with me, but I think that problem could also be solved by connecting to a small inverter. I am assuming the power is only needed for ignition. If that is true, it would use very little battery power. D-size battery would be nice, but my luck is I would be in middle of nowhere with dead batteries. At least using the 12v battery inverter with solar charger I would eliminate that issue. On the other hand, I have seen where people or using the "fake batteries" to hook the Eccotemp to their 12v battery. That would solve both issues. I haven't seen how the fake battery option is wired. If someone has some information and pictures of how they hook that up I would be interested in seeing.

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Here's the post where Dave talks about using a Triton 5L wh with dummy D cells and a 12-3.3v converter.

http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=69421&p=1216958&hilit=dummy+d+cell#p1216931

Homebrewer25 wrote:Here's the post where Dave talks about using a Triton 5L wh with dummy D cells and a 12-3.3v converter.

http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=69421&p=1216958&hilit=dummy+d+cell#p1216931

Thanks! That information and a youtube video I now know how to bypass the batteries.

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I have an on demand (tankless) H2o heater in the shower mounted just below the vent fan. It has worked just fine for 4-5 years now. I take navy showers so it really doesn't run very long, maybe 45-60 seconds at a time? Total run time 2-3 min per shower I'd say. I just turn the fan on and the exhaust and steam are sucked right out. There is a trigger on the wand to control the water flow and the burner will only fire when water is flowing. Here are some pics.





Good Luck,

McDave

Thanks

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pvangel wrote:That Aqua Plus looks like a nice unit, only issue I would have with it is that it needs 110v to run. The ECOtemp needs no power at all except the 2 D batteries for igniter which works great when boondocking!

You are right, it definitely needs a little AC power to operate. Here is what I did: Inverter install