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 Topic: Carver water heater install in camper van
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25/10/2024 at 7:47am
Location: Turriff Aberdeenshi
Outfit: Romahome R30 Dimens
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I have not fitted one myself, but all my vans have water heater of one type or another. My first question would be whether you want a gas or gas/electric heater. If so, you need to follow the relevant rules for gas safety - ie. get a qualified fitter to install it.
In any case, I would change the microswitch taps and fit a pump with a pressure sensor , thus doing away with the wiring to the taps.
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Two drifters off to see the world.
I'm tired of reality, so I'm off to look for a good fantasy.
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26/10/2024 at 1:35pm
Location: London
Outfit: Lunar Cosmos 524
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Quote: Originally posted by Fiona W on 26/10/2024
We can’t heat our water on 12v, only EHU or gas. So I’ll be interested in the advice from people with the expertise.
A quick scan of the WWW showed a few 12v camper type water heaters, but typically they are low powered (circa 300W), because of the VERY high current drain (300W would draw 25A!) which would KILL a basic leisure battery in short time (probably before the water was truly hot!)! You'd need a much heavier duty battery set up than typical single 100Ah Lead Acid Leisure battery.
It would also take a very long time to heat water (my 240v 1800W Truma Combi unit takes 23 mins or so to heat to 60C), or would only achieve 'warm' rather than hot, and they seem to be smaller capacities (6L compared to my Truma's 10L), so probably not enough for a shower! My Truma 10 litre unit provides sufficient hot water for a single water efficient but decent 'Navy' shower, if you linger a little too long you'll notice the temp dropping into the tepid region as the stored hot water is depleted, at your leisure (as in domestic shower use) and you'll definitely be rinsing off in COLD water (until that tank runs out too!)!
No heating device running off 12v supply is really very viable! For practical hot water and/or heating then mains electric or gas, or maybe Diesel is required.
I believe the Carver water heaters are long obsolete (discontinued well over 20 years ago), spare parts are even becoming rare now. There's a near Chinese copy in the Propex Malaga Water heater. There are a number of modern water heaters from Truma, Whale and others, that run on 240v and/or Gas.
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26/10/2024 at 1:51pm
Location: Turriff Aberdeenshi
Outfit: Romahome R30 Dimens
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You can't realistically heat water on 12 Volts, but there are 240 Volt water heaters eg.Propex which have an 800 Watt element. If you want to be off grid, you will probably need gas.
I'm assuming you will have a fresh water tank, so I would suggest something like a SHURflo pump that has pressure sensing so you don't need any other wiring.
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Two drifters off to see the world.
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26/10/2024 at 5:50pm
Location: East Herts
Outfit: 1992 Elddis Wisp 450CT + X Trail
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I fitted a Propex electric water heater to my caravan a few years ago because my Carver Cascade heater failed quite catastrophically, spilling water everywhere. There is a rod that passes through the centre of these heaters holding them together and corrosion can cause it to snap without warning. Unfortunately there is no way of checking on the condition of the rod as trying to undo it will probably cause it to snap anyway.
The Propex heater cost about half what it would have cost to have the Carver repaired, and I always only use sites with EHU anyway, unless I am only staying overnight. My fridge only works on mains too.
Pressurised systems without micro-switches have their problems too. Even the most microscopic leak anywhere in the system can allow air in even if it doesn't allow water out. This can cause the pump to keep "cycling" in order to keep the pressure up, and that can be very annoying. I had such a system in a river-cruiser I had and I always had to remember to turn the pump off after every use as it drove me crazy! I couldn't find a leak anywhere, but it still did it. It may have been within the pump itself. The other problem with pressurised systems is that should a pipe come adrift or split while you are out, the pump will empty the tank into wherever the faulty pipe is. Micro-switched systems don't have these problems.
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Best Regards,
Colin
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26/10/2024 at 7:44pm
Location: West country
Outfit: Mondeo
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What sort of size will this camper van be. Is it a motorhome with kitchen & shower etc. or is it VW camper sort of size with a bed and small kitchenette.
Have you room to actually install a water heater.
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27/10/2024 at 12:47pm
Location: London
Outfit: Lunar Cosmos 524
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Well I'm certainly old enough to remember caravans without running water, then the 'luxury' of that rubber bulb on the floor that foot pumped COLD water to the kitchen sink (the one and only sink/basin in the van!). - I'm now revelling in all the comforts of home with my modern van! Walk a few feet from the bed to the onboard flush loo, then have a piping hot shower in the fully fitted bathroom, followed by a decent cooked breakfast on the full cooker ably assisted by the microwave, all in the general comfort of a well insulated centrally heater van! …. good memories of the old style vans, but wouldn't want to swap my modern van for the basics of days gone by, gone totally soft and spoilt over the years! If I want 'basics', I'll break out the tent!
Parkranger, if you are only looking for occasional hot water at the kitchen sink, then a kettle covers it! Many of us oldies lived happily like that for years of caravanning in Ye Olde Days! Multifueled, pumped hot water from a installed water heater tank is overkill at the extreme! Huge expense (those fitted water heaters aren't cheap!), lots of water and gas plumbing and wiring, including usually a remote control panel, added risk of leaks and failures etc. for such little gain/use! Their real purpose is multipoint outputs to kitchen sink, bathroom basin and shower.
As a compromise between kettle and full hot water tank system, are instant water heaters! A number on the market from domestic units to campervan units, BUT downside is they are high 240v power consumers, so NEEDING a 16A EHU in most cases! A few gas powered ones too, but they will consume your gas at quite a rate!
If your water needs are as simple as cold water to a kitchen sink, then even the complications of an electric water pump becomes questionable (Again, usually intended as a multipoint output to kitchen sink, bathroom basin and shower)! The old style floor mounted, foot operated, rubber bulb would suffice with simplicity of installation and reliability of operation.
Not implying you need to slum it in deprived conditions 'cos it's a DIY project (plenty of DIY projects better commercial offerings!), but very easy to follow the herd of what is done elsewhere without actually thinking through what satisfies YOUR needs. Overcomplicating things for no real gain has both cost implications and inherent reliability risks.
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27/10/2024 at 1:42pm
Location: Turriff Aberdeenshi
Outfit: Romahome R30 Dimens
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Like others, my first two vans - both bassliced breaded on the Bedford CF had only a foot operated pump for cold water. Without sounding like a sketch from Monty Python, many of us made do with fairly basic equipment.
Anyway, please let us know how you get on.
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Two drifters off to see the world.
I'm tired of reality, so I'm off to look for a good fantasy.
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27/10/2024 at 1:51pm
Location: East Herts
Outfit: 1992 Elddis Wisp 450CT + X Trail
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I'm not sure when caravans with "all facilities" were first introduced but it was obviously quite a while ago, as our current caravan at 32 years old has them, as did our previous 1988 model. It was a massive contrast with our previous one which had been an early 1960s model. There was quite a gap between our numbers 2 & 3 caravans though, when we didn't have one at all. A lot changed in those caravan-less years! The only snag I would say about our current caravan when compared with a new one is that our shower/toilet compartment was obviously made for people less than 5' tall and weighing under 6 stone, which isn't either of us! It is nigh impossible for either of us to shower in there without coming out covered in bruises.
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Best Regards,
Colin
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via mobile 24/10/2024 at 1:34pm
