Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

What if turned that small water heater upside down?? Use the cold inlet as your hot outlet and vice-versa.

Once disconnect and turned upside down, the water runs out and is considered drained. So the issue is more about how to make disconnect easy. I am also guessing the other issue is the weight of the mini tank with water in it. could be cumbersome especially if you have it buried in a cabinet. I might leave mine as exposed as possible for this reason.

Hmm... Well, with a gallon weighing 8.35lbs, the 3.9gallon model will have 32.5lbs of water, that's nothing. The 7 gallon version would have 58.5lbs of water. No problem if you mount it over the axle, and is it really worth worrying about for the gas you are going to use? I guess I don't do long hauls so for me it's not a concern, but it might be for some who are able to "tour".

I just think about summer and winter storage. I guess it is OK because it is a sealed system?

I meant heavy if filled with water and you had to wrestle the unit from within a cabinet to get it out to turn upside down to empty. Depending on the unit capacity one might be looking at say 70 lbs.

good questions I am in the need for an internal hot water source an the idea I had was to get a small traditional hotwater tank and get a 12volt heating element and use a solar panel
http://cgi.ebay.com/12v-Volt-1-WATER-HE ... 23025cbd7d
here is the kit I was thinking of
now would it work

droid_ca wrote:good questions I am in the need for an internal hot water source an the idea I had was to get a small traditional hotwater tank and get a 12volt heating element and use a solar panel
http://cgi.ebay.com/12v-Volt-1-WATER-HE ... 23025cbd7d
here is the kit I was thinking of
now would it work

I am by far no Engineer but I do know that appliances with heating element are huge electricity sucks. I am sure it would take a pretty large solar panel to heat up a tank of water. I think you are better off directly heating the water with the sun.

I was thinking of the all day charging capabilities as well as when it's connected to the tow vehicle it could be running

so arrive setup camp shower remove the city stench and relaxe

droid_ca wrote:I was thinking of the all day charging capabilities as well as when it's connected to the tow vehicle it could be running

so arrive setup camp shower remove the city stench and relaxe

Here is just such a coil.
http://mikeswindmillshop.com/watercoil.html

It is a 600 watt heating element. does this mean it needs 600 watts for it to heat up? I looked up solar panels and they are like $600 for a 200 watt panel. does this mean you need $1,800 worth of solar panels to power the heating element?

See I told you I was not an Engineer.

StandUpGuy wrote:I meant heavy if filled with water and you had to wrestle the unit from within a cabinet to get it out to turn upside down to empty. Depending on the unit capacity one might be looking at say 70 lbs.

Sounds like Droid needs a 12v water heater thread, I doubt that will work too well since we are talking about the big 110v power consumption.

To reply standup, that's a good point and could be engineered in to where you just unhook, and swivel it around and tilt over, so it would never be lifted. That brings the obvious point though... why would we be doing this? The only reason I have seen so far is to save weight.

2bits wrote:

StandUpGuy wrote:I meant heavy if filled with water and you had to wrestle the unit from within a cabinet to get it out to turn upside down to empty. Depending on the unit capacity one might be looking at say 70 lbs.

Sounds like Droid needs a 12v water heater thread, I doubt that will work too well since we are talking about the big 110v power consumption.

To reply standup, that's a good point and could be engineered in to where you just unhook, and swivel it around and tilt over, so it would never be lifted. That brings the obvious point though... why would we be doing this? The only reason I have seen so far is to save weight.

Well end of season in a cold climate where there will be a hard freeze. So it really does not need to be that easy to remove and drain I suppose.

I think that is a really good reason! I didn't think about that!

thats why I said the solar would work just need a little sunshine to keep your tank warm
the solar sites I've been on verifys that it'll work just takes a little more time to heat up the water but with a smaller tank that shouldn't be a problem for you

droid_ca wrote:thats why I said the solar would work just need a little sunshine to keep your tank warm
the solar sites I've been on verifys that it'll work just takes a little more time to heat up the water but with a smaller tank that shouldn't be a problem for you

Thanks but I am not interested in the solar angle myself

Thomas, The unit were using was about 100 bucks and it's been beat about and abused for going on 4 years with no problems. I don't even think we have changed the batteries in the ignition since we got the thing. I love taking LONG hot showers with it. But the fact we have up to 180 degree water temp at anytime for dishes is what it's used most for. It's only weakness is high winds. If the wind blows down the upper vent it can blow the flame out. I'm still happy with it and if it goes out tomorrow I'll be getting another.

install a shut off valve at the incoming water line, then install a valve stem (like a tire) the have them in the sprinkler section at any hardware store. then open a valve at the line, the air will purge system of water