Overlanding a VW Bus Around The World?!

[1970fun]

Why not use i simpel copper pipe that you bend 2 or 3 times and mount it on the rack of a 2 burner Coleman dual fuel stove, a separate water container with a 12 volts pump a few meters of gardenhose and a shower head et voila!
To hot to cold just crank up or lower the flames on the Coleman, 1 fuel system for all over the world for cooking and a hot shower

[williamM]

Boy can this get complicated quickly- One water storage- capable of hot water storage "OK Leah - it's hot water day"-- on that day all your storage water would be heated and insulated- you would use your 5 gallon potable water- if you needed cold water.- I would also go with the solar shower tube as the sole water storage.

To heat it- a dedicated exhaust tap would re-direct hot gases thru -either an external cooper pipe wrap and insulated - or an internal loop and exhausted out the side of the tank.

Thinking the weakest link would be the exhaust tap and valve- wouldn't need to cut any holes as it would feed thru the air intake.

a simple water cooled engine style temp gauge could be mounted anywhere

Just a thought-

any word on Boomerang?.
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some days I get up and just sit and think. Some days I just sit.

opinion untempered by fact is ignorance.

Don't step in any!

[OrangeZA]

Hey Ben,

I agree with William. Have you heard of Arthur Barraclough’s Type 2? He traveled to 57 different countries with his Kombi, covering 250,000 miles. He bought it brand new in 1970 and modified it extensively over the next 25 years, adding a factory high-top, 2 litre engine and a hot water system. There’s not much about his travels online, but he featured in some VW and Camper magazines in the UK during the ‘90s.

Nigel Skeet wrote about him here: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=196043

[Manfred58sc]

After living and travelling out of my 69 for many years and hundreds of thousands of miles I came to a number of conclusions:

1- clutter is a buzzkill. Minimal clothing ( no seasonal gear, if not in use it goes, if you need it buy it )

2- Weight kills engines ( very light everything and no riders )

3- Keep all water and cooking outside the Bus ( no mess,no rodents ). Easy up for shade and portable propane set up for hot water, cooking, filling a solar shower bag ). I did keep my adventure wagon stove for heating hot water to make tea ( I'm not a Barbarian!) and the ice box ( block ice ) .
4- Go north and high up in summer, south and low in winter
I stayed clean, comfortable and had great times.

Simple is good

It will be interesting to see how you like going through hard core countries like Iran and Afghanistan.Western women generally don't like the experience....
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Fat chick owner/operator

[richparker]

I’m with Manfred, K.I.S.S
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[Abscate]

Stay out of those aforementioned countries. They will chew you up,and spit you out like floss. I’ve been in both.
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.ssS!

[HastaAlaska]

[vwwestyman]

Hmm, sounds like the exhaust thing could/would work like a thermal siphon.

You'd have your hot water heater loop (through the muffler) pull from and empty into the same container, with both ends under water.

As the water heats in the muffler, it will boil and push out of one end of the pipe. And as it does that, it will suck more water into the loop! And will continue to keep recirculating.

I've done it with copper pipe in a camp fire, but I suppose the heat from a muffler would do the same thing.
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Dave Cook

President, Wild Westerner Club

1978 Champagne Edition Westy, repowered to '97 Jetta TDI
1973 Wild Westerner
My Thing

[Xevin]

[HastaAlaska]

[Spike0180]

Yes, the convection will get your hot water to the top of a 7ft shower. Radiator heat in old houses go up 3 floors without an issue. You just have to build up enough hot water, which may surprise you how little that is.
_________________
Brutis Patches Izabich: 1970 VW Transporter - 1776cc DP
Current State: Projects never truly end...
Location: Grosse Pointe, Michigan
Other cars: 2003 F150, 2003 Jetta GLI vr6-6sp

Sambastic: adj; the quality of being nit picky, elitist, expecting everyone to do things the way they believe is best with no regard to situation, "sambastic"

[TDCTDI]

[Spike0180]

[williamM]

I see that the "wrap round the muffler" system plus the shower for storage would let you use a bunch of common plumbing for valves and fittings - rather that trying to find a bullet proof exhaust gas shut off and piping-

Think we have a winner-
_________________
some days I get up and just sit and think. Some days I just sit.

opinion untempered by fact is ignorance.

Don't step in any!

[HastaAlaska]

Great to know it will make the 7ft, I was concerned about that.

A little concerned that it would end up boiling off all our water too. Exhausts get hot hot. Perhaps a auto-shut-off mixer valve of some description inline would prevent that problem. Wish there more info for a tried and tested system.

[Tcash]

https://www.google.com/search?q=overland+hot+water...ent=safari

[williamM]

You might be able to get a tank (small one- ah la heat exchanger) welded round an exhaust pipe- with fittings at both ends. Then a simple brass shut off valve coming out of the wall- to control when and if you needed hot water that day.

All of it (except the return line) wrapped in an insulation.

The day you wanted hot water - you turn on the valve and drive. Might be nice to have a pop off valve up high- should you encounter expansion.

When the valve was shut- no heat would get to the storage.

Again the water cooled heat gauge would keep you informed of the temp in the solar shower, or what ever storage you finish with.

Think your getting closer to what will be the simplistic system -- would shoot for the fewest moving parts.
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some days I get up and just sit and think. Some days I just sit.

opinion untempered by fact is ignorance.

Don't step in any!

[vwwestyman]

Hmm, thinking about this more--How often are you going to plan to shower? Seems like you'd also need to time them a little bit to coincide with when you shut down the motor. If you're stopped somewhere for a few days for whatever reason, are you going to just idle the motor long enough to produce hot water? What if the reason you're sitting is because the motor isn't running?

I think maybe this really is a KISS thing-Keep It Simple, Stupid. So maybe one of the many little propane-fired heaters would be a good idea.

Or (maybe it was discussed earlier in the thread, I don't remember) a gas-fired water heater could be installed. Look at Espar Hydronic heaters. They are intended to warm motors but I can't think of any reason one couldn't be plumbed for heating shower water instead.

Or just grab some copper pipe, heater hose, a jug, and build your own thermo-syphon heater.

[richparker]

^Thats sweet Dave! I do agree that a black “shower bag” mounted on the roof. Or a big 8” black PVC with mounted to the roof, or in this case off the drivers side would be more KISS. On the downside those systems don’t work when it’s cold out.
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’71 Westy build
Adventure thread
’65 Deluxe Build
’63 Deluxe Build

[OrangeZA]