vehicle mounted heat exchanger for shower.

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ebarrere

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Contributor III

154
Denver
Quick update on my setup — I went with a 10 plate heat exchanger from Amazon and I've been amazed by how well it works! Heats water to scalding in a single pass — the thermostat is needed to keep things comfortable. I usually use it after getting back to camp when the engine is still warm, but it only takes about 5 minutes from cold.

Took a little while to install everything in the engine bay, but it's been well worth it on my couple trips to Moab this year.
 

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tjbeatty

Rank 0

Contributor I

60
Santa Barbara, CA, USA
First Name
Timothy
Last Name
Beatty
Quick update on my setup — I went with a 10 plate heat exchanger from Amazon and I've been amazed by how well it works! Heats water to scalding in a single pass — the thermostat is needed to keep things comfortable. I usually use it after getting back to camp when the engine is still warm, but it only takes about 5 minutes from cold.

Took a little while to install everything in the engine bay, but it's been well worth it on my couple trips to Moab this year.
What specific heat exchanger on Amazon?

I am looking at these two:
- -
I will probably go with the first one because it is cheaper and is a 1/2" barbed connection (not 3/4" NPT), so it should be slightly less annoying to make work with all the other components.
 

ebarrere

Rank I

Contributor III

154
Denver
YES, you're smart to consider that! I got the 3/4" not thinking — it was cheaper at the time — it was a total PIA to find all the right fittings and probably doubled the cost of the project...

That first one looks great, in hindsight that's definitely what I'd use.
 
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