Cold Shower!!
We are completely new to caravaning and have just had our very first trip out. We went to North Ledaig at Oban and absolutely loved it!!
However, we had real problems with our shower. The water would run hot with plenty of pressure, but after a few minutes its frezing cold.....any tips???
We have a Sterling Eccles Sport 442.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!!
Comments
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What is a few minutes? You only have 8 to 10 litres of hot water, sufficient for about 4 mins of hot showering. If you got less than this, perhaps the tank was not fully hot. Usually takes about 30 mins for our Alde from cold on 2kw. No idea of gas times I am afraid, as we only use it on electric. Separate water heaters are I think only about a 1kw, so may take a bit longer. What sort of water heater do you have?
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The wife and I shower one after the other (me last as I have to wipe it down) with no loss of hot water from the 8 litre boiler. I can even have a shave straight after. The procedure we use is:
shower on-get wet
shower off-soap up
shower on-rinse
shower off-dry off
It works for us and a lot of other folk too, we even do this at home although we do linger a bit longer. Also, remember, the more hot water you use the more moisture you are putting into the van.0 -
I think if the water heater is set on electric at maximum temperature before we start we could get through all 80 litres. I dont know because we have always stopped showering before it ran out. If it doesn't when I try it next time out, I'll just turn on
gas as well.Fortunately our 'van has a roof vent in the shower cubicle and closing doors, so steamy stuff goes straight outside.
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I think if the water heater is set on electric at maximum temperature before we start we could get through all 80 litres. I dont know because we have always stopped showering before it ran out. If it doesn't when I try it next time out, I'll just turn on
gas as well.Fortunately our 'van has a roof vent in the shower cubicle and closing doors, so steamy stuff goes straight outside.
...You have a big water heater
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Don't forget that at this time of year the cold water in the aquaroll will be
cold so will take more of your supply of hot water to raise the temperature ready for use. For this reason you can have a much longer shower in the height of summer.0 -
North Ledaig has very good showering facilities. I'd have used them but each to their own.
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Not all that big i would think JVB but it seems to be able to heat the incoming supply sufficiently.
Water from inboard tank will be close to room temperature to start with.
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The wife and I shower one after the other (me last as I have to wipe it down) with no loss of hot water from the 8 litre boiler. I can even have a shave straight after. The procedure we use is:
shower on-get wet
shower off-soap up
shower on-rinse
shower off-dry off
It works for us and a lot of other folk too, we even do this at home although we do linger a bit longer. Also, remember, the more hot water you use the more moisture you are putting into the van.This is the way you need to do it.
I would suggest that you leave about 20 minutes between showers to allow them water to reheat. You can use both gas and electricity at the same time for faster heating.
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I like a 'proper' shower and I think I have used the shower in our caravan only a couple of times. The first time, like you, I thought it ran out after only a few minutes, the second time I performed the 'caravan shower' ritual of
shower on-get wet,
shower off-soap up,
shower on-rinse,
shower off-dry off.However, the post describng a caravan shower didn't complete the ritual which should continue:
Got dry
cleaned and dried the shower cubicle
Went outside and disconnected the waste
Walked to the sanitary block and emptied the waste
Rinsed the waste
Walked back to the caravan
Refitted the waste
Turned off the water pump and opened a tap
Disconnected the aquaroll from the caravan
Walked back to the sanitary block or nearest tap
Refilled the Aquaroll
Walked back to the caravan
Refitted the aquaroll pump
Went inside and turned on the pumpThen my OH repeated the procedure in its entirety.
Next time we wanted a shower we cut out most of that.
We walked to the sanitary block, had a shower, got dry, squeegeed the floor and walked back again!
We haven't used our caravan shower since.
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I only disagreed with the word "twice". After 50 years it's a "never" for us.
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If you are on a service pitch you can of course also dispense with most of Vals list. Also if you have a separate shower cubicle, I am not sure why you need to clean and dry it every use. Open shower, open bathroom window, get rid of worst of water off shower floor and it mainly drys while your having breakfast.
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It will also to some extent depend on what sort of shower head you have fitted. The eco camel ones, tend to make the water go a bit further as they bulk out the water droplets with air.
How much hot water does the system produce?
The Alde Compact boilers uses a store of 8.4 litres of hot water at >50 °C. When mixed at the fixture to a usable 38 °C, this amounts to ˜12 litres of heated water every 30 mins. Cold water <10 °C will take longer to heat.
The Hot Water Boost function—the tap icon on the digital control panel—cuts out the central heating for 30 mins while another 8.4 litres of hot water is heated to >65 °C. This amounts to ˜15 litres of heated water, mixed. Assuming an average flow rate of
3 litres per minute, this gives ˜5 minutes of continuous heated water for showers.This can also be used to kill Legionella bacteria if the system has been standing unused for a spell. (Legionella bacteria dies within 2 mins at 65 °C.)
The boiler can be coupled with the Sigmar Dual-Coil Marine Calorifier for pratically unlimited hot water.
As a point of reference, a typical instantaneous water heater will draw ˜40 A on 230 V mains, and that's without providing central heating.
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. . . or 120 litres if I can be bothered with the change-over valve.
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We actually have a fantastic shower area in our bathroom, huge (compared to most) walk in shower, plus we have an Omnivent in the shower room to extract any steam.
We love it, and it is ideal for OH, the main reason we bought our current caravan.
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If you are on a service pitch you can of course also dispense with most of Vals list. Also if you have a separate shower cubicle, I am not sure why you need to clean and dry it every use. Open shower, open bathroom window, get rid of worst
of water off shower floor and it mainly drys while your having breakfast.....or supplement it with some that was omitted...
get out of bed
put on onesie and crocs
put on overcoat if really cold
jog to shower as too cold to walk
take of ridiculous 'showering outfit'
shower, get dry etc
put back on ridiculous showering outfit
run gauntlet of watching curtain twitchers
arrive at van
take off ridiculous showering outfit
put on proper clothes....
whats wrong with...
fall out of bed (no onesies, twosies, whatever) into lovely hot shower, dress once on proper clothes, save considerable amount of time and faffing about....
no water to top up or things to empty because you had the foresight to by a vehicle with its own large water tanks.....
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Well put BB.
I always dry the shower after use 'cos I don't want all that moisture in the van and we only have a roof vent, no window to open. I always dry the shower at home too where I use a Karcher Window Vac then a quick wipe. I might start taking the Karcher in the
van. If I leave the shower to dry it leaves water marks and then requires a more thorough clean with cleaning agents.0 -
....of course, only having a bit of a leg pull, but it just shows how easy it is (or not) to 'sell' your own way of doing a task...
personally, im not a onesie/crocs sort of guy
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If you are on a service pitch you can of course also dispense with most of Vals list. Also if you have a separate shower cubicle, I am not sure why you need to clean and dry it every use. Open shower, open bathroom window, get rid of worst
of water off shower floor and it mainly drys while your having breakfast.....or supplement it with some that was omitted...
get out of bed
put on light dressing gown
walk in sunshine to shower block
take off light dressing gown
(shower, and dry)
(Put on normal clothes)
Stroll back in sunshine with no one twitching curtains..
As yes, BB, but you forget we holiday in France, where it never rains,
the sun always shines,
and so I've amended your post to meet our realities!!!0 -
Touche Val
wjen we are over there, ots just a pair of sports shorts and my towel, we are actually advocates of both processes, it just depaends on location and conditions.....
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Actually, we do both too, but we don't use full facility sites that often.
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It sounds as if you haven't allowed long enough for the boiler to heat all the water. The water in the top of the boiler is hot and then you get the water that is not yet up to temperature.We have a shower symbol on our contols. If the symbol is still flashing,
then it's not ready. Using both gas and electric speeds everything up and gives a longer time before the hot water runs out. My wife always uses shampoo and conditioner combined to cut down the amount of time she needs. She likes to shower in the van and I
really enjoy topping up the water and emptying the waste. (not!)0 -
OH showers every morning in our van, having had the water heater boost on for full 30 mins, (while I take Fltye for his first walk). Leave it switched on boost while showering and doesn't have any problem with water running out provided I've remembered to
ensure that the auqaroll is filled beforehand. I wipe out the shower on return to the van. for myself I prefer a shower after we've been out for the day so don't have to wait for mine in the morning. I do use the shower on site if there's one there, but again
I go in the afternoon so don't have the problem of hanging around a toilet block waiting for a shower cubicle becoming available during the morning rush.0 -
What is this obsession with cleanliness?
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