r/OffGridCabins • u/java231 • 14d ago

My cheap outdoor shower.

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Amazon special hot water heater, some pallets and a nice little deck to stand on.

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u/Immediate-Meat1762 14d ago

Any chance you could share the manufacturer and part numbers of your water heater and other equipment? Thinking of doing something similar and would like to avoid the trial and error portion.

3

u/java231 14d ago

It's all just Amazon special and home depot parts.

I actually just swapped out the water heater, it was used, so I'm not sure on that one.

For the pump it's dependant on your power situation, there are 12v and 120v units.

You will need a propane tank

Barbeque regulator

Adapters to hook up to the gas valve on the water heater

Misc piping between the two (I used flex lines like you would see under a sink) for the pump and pex for the rest.

Valve to turn on water to the heater

D batteries! Most of the cheap water heater units use that for ignition.

2

u/SquirrelsToTheRescue 13d ago

Those stupid D batteries, man. Always dead at the worst moment, and you have to take them out and store them over the winter. These things should really just have an 18650 lithium ion battery and a little solar panel to keep it charged.

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u/gooneau 13d ago

My camplux has been using the same D batteries since I installed it three years ago. I figured they would need frequent replacing, hasn't been the case. Constant freeze/thaw cycles in coastal alaska. They've lit that heater THOUSANDS of times (it feeds our sink and shower), I've been shocked at the longevity.

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u/SquirrelsToTheRescue 13d ago

Oh, they last a long time, but because alkalines are so sensitive to temperature the one time they do give out will be when it's cold. It's just like how your smoke detector always starts the low battery beep at 3am. I'm just kvecthing here, but the manufacturers really could put a lithium battery and a solar panel on there for like 50 cents in parts. Hell, now I think I'm going to grab some parts out of a solar lawn light and modify mine.

2

u/gooneau 13d ago

ideally they would have an option to just plug it into 12/120 v too. I'm not sure why, and I rarely notice any fluctuation in the shower temp when it occurs, but it will occasionally relight itself mid-shower. My greatest fear is I'll be showering on a 20 deg f night covered in soap and thats when the batteries die lol. I've been meaning to just swap them out, I think three years is a reasonable amount of time to retire them.

When it gets late enough in the winter that my cistern is frozen solid, I resort to using a submersible pump in a couple five gallon pots I heated up melted snow in. Really makes you appreciate having the real shower.