# a shower enquiry from a new fella



## tef (Dec 4, 2008)

perhaps you can help ,anyone,
last year i invested quite heavily in kontiki 679,
a year later i have yet to "enjoy" taking a shower in the damn thing because apparently all motorhomes run out of hot water after approximately 1 minute and apparently this is normal and all part of motorhoming , is this true ?
i'm having difficulty reconciling the price tag of the 679 with this fact ,is it just me ?
the dealer i purchased from gave that explanation and i have to admit to being more than a little bemused as before the 679 i owned a giest phantom which had a doosy of a shower made by the same shower type people .
today i e mailed swift asking them about it , but having read some of the posts on here i think i may have more joy asking you lot .
while im at it ,and ranting happily away ,can anyone please explain why ,on electric hookup the heater/water heater is so monumentally pathetic as to warrant giving up on it and using gas instead
many thanks in antcipation


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## jam35007 (Aug 8, 2009)

Hi,

I have an Autotrail and my water stays hot for longer than that, i can't tell you why, just that I have enjoyed many showers and so have the kids after me??

I will say though that I wet then soap then rinse - but i do stay under it when rinsing longer than I did for wetting down. 

KR's

Sara


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## CLS (Jul 25, 2005)

The Truma combi unit fitted holds 12 litre of water , to use that in one minute through a shower head :roll: :roll: You do the maths  

On electric only they are not that efficient on a van of your size , its only a 230 volt element thats used and heat blown around the van. On both gas and electric a whacking 6kw is available

Mark


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## Tezmcd (Aug 3, 2009)

I cant comment on your Kon Tiki - but my starter autoquest MH give me the choice of one fast shower or washing up water for a weekend

The idea that you can even consider 5 people having a shower and having any water left if laughable 

But that is down to the size of my water tank, not the heater. Besides I like communal showers on site in a weird kind of way    

As for the heater I think i could set it anywhere upto surface of the sun temperature it seems - I swear I could make a cuppa right out of the hot tap


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## Tezmcd (Aug 3, 2009)

http://www.motorhomefacts.com/ftopic-74617.html

2 user names? - cheeky!

come on pay your tenner and break the 5 post rule


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## tef (Dec 4, 2008)

blimey they were quick replies,
the more i think about the shower and heating issues the more irritated and aggravated i get, ive tried not thinking about it but i live in the damn thing so its an issue that i need to sort one way or another , on gas the heater is great ,the water temperature is great there just isnt enough of it or so it seems ? perhaps the size of the heated water tank is the issue, but i have to ask ,why ?
i have no idea why the electric hookup heating should be so pathetic either ,its just not logical is it ?
thanks for the replies


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## rayc (Jun 3, 2008)

I think the dealer is saying that with a 13L hot water cylinder and a pump flow rate of 13L/m + that you will empty the tank in 1 minute or so.

This is not what happens though. I can set the boiler stat temperature to 60 degrees which of course is too hot to bear so it has to be mixed with cold water. If the mixing is 50/50 then the hot water will last 2 minutes.
Most people use the shower to get wet then switch it off and soap up and then rinse off. I would guess that this takes no more than a minute of water running time.

If you have a big family then perhaps the most important thing is the re-heat time. I can select either a 1Kw or 2Kw element. It will take a fair time to heat up to 60 degrees at only 1 Kw so assuming that the site supply will take it I use the 2Kw setting which gets up to temperature in 20 minutes or so.

What make / model of boiler is fitted?


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## safariboy (May 1, 2005)

A trigger head (from CAK tanks about £5) help to keep down consumption. Two of us can shower on a tank full of hot water. (12 l I think).

Remember that if it is at about 60 deg. and you will be diluting it quite a bit.


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## time-traveller (Apr 23, 2007)

Tezmcd said:


> http://www.motorhomefacts.com/ftopic-74617.html
> 
> 2 user names? - cheeky!
> 
> come on pay your tenner and break the 5 post rule


Oh! So _that's_ what it's about. I had wondered if I was seeing double .. 8O


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## rugbyken (Jan 16, 2006)

i have a truma water heater, as a plumber did not rate the water flow so fitted a mixer/blender shower head with seperate pumps for h/c,this gives a fantastic shower, a good couple of minutes to wet down then 4/5 minute rinse for both of us consecutive is no problem, and out of a 100ltr tank can get normal usage and showers for 2 days.
sound's as though you could have an issue with air in the top of your boiler poss after it has been drained , you can slacken the top connector to vent this, but make sure the electrics to the taps are off .


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## drcotts (Feb 23, 2006)

i doubt if the flow rate through the shower head is 13 lpm as this would mean you can fill a bucket and a third with it in a minute. me and the wife get seperate showerf from our heater and we run the water for approx 2-3 mins each.
phill


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## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

Our old 2000 Hobby seemed to give continuous hot showers either on gas or electric. Never gave it a thought about running out of hot.
Thats until the microswitch failed... :roll: 

Ray.


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## erneboy (Feb 8, 2007)

According to others you should have 12lt of hot water, heat a tank of water and run it off into a measured container to check. If you have 12lt of hot then change your showering technique, if not there is a fault. 

We have had five vans and not encountered that problem although we do wet, soap up and scrub, then rinse but two of us can do that one after another. 

The electrical water heating is slow due to a low powered element,. 

Some dealers will say anything to get customers to go away, Alan.


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## JeanLuc (Jan 13, 2007)

Our Hymer has a Truma C6002 with a tank capacity of 12 litres. It does not have the electric heating option, but we hardly ever hook-up anyway so that's no problem. I think one has to recognise that the Truma is principally a gas heater and the electric option, where fitted, adds a boost rather than being the main source of power.

We can quite easily get two showers in succession from one tankful. As others have said, it is best to turn off whilst soaping. Unless the weather is very warm and you want a tepid shower, it is best to set the Truma control to 60˚ C and mix in cold water. The Reich twin-barrelled pump fitted to a Hymer has an output of up to 19 litres / minute, but the shower does not draw anything like that amount. Having said that, the shower flow is quite sufficient - but don't expect to get a 'power-shower' in a motorhome (unless you have some quite exotic gear fitted as an option).

Philip


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## Jezport (Jun 19, 2008)

Our last van had the 10ltr Truma and we had no issues with showering. Our latest van has the 12ltr combi and again is fine but takes longer to heat up.


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## Telbell (May 1, 2005)

> http://www.motorhomefacts.com/ftopic-74617.html
> 
> 2 user names? - cheeky!
> 
> come on pay your tenner and break the 5 post rule Very Happy Very Happy Very Happy


Post is deleted now. :roll: 
What's he up to???


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## tef (Dec 4, 2008)

thanks everyone for the replies,
i dont expect a home shower experience in the van, but i definitely dont want a cold one either 
i have been experimenting with shower styles and it doesnt seem to matter how i do it ....it goes cold too damn quick.
according to the staff at dealers its part of the motorhome experienceand there is nothingwrong with the system,
presumbly the designer who chose the shower system then is the same idiot who invented 5-6 berth vans with only 4 seat belts as that seems to be part of the motorhome experience too.
anyway i probably sound like a whinging git , i keep finding things that need modification and at the prices that are paid for vans i dont think i should find anything wrong at all- unrealistic i know but hey ho
my newest idea for the shower is a wet suit,i wont feel the cold so bad then


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## safariboy (May 1, 2005)

tef said:


> thanks everyone for the replies,
> i dont expect a home shower experience in the van, but i definitely dont want a cold one either
> i have been experimenting with shower styles and it doesnt seem to matter how i do it ....it goes cold too damn quick.
> according to the staff at dealers its part of the motorhome experienceand there is nothingwrong with the system,
> ...


Sounds like a fault. I would get the water hot and see how much you can get out of the taps before it runs cold with the taps on 100%hot.
you will get something like twice this on showering to allow for dilution.


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## erneboy (Feb 8, 2007)

Tef, have you measured how much hot water you get after you have allowed the water in your hot tank to heat up fully. Leave it on for an hour or so and run only the hot into a measured container and see how much you get before it runs cold. If less than 12 lt then there is a fault and you can go back to the dealer and tell him so. If he does not believe you then demonstrate it for him. He should fix it under warranty.

No one on here thinks you are wingeing, you are entitled to have your shower working properly. I do wonder though why you have seem not to have done this test when it is the only way to find out. The same shower system as yours works perfectly for other members, so it is not a design fault.

We all offer help willingly when asked to do so, your side of that bargain is to make use of the advice given, Alan.


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## tef (Dec 4, 2008)

the main excuse for my not knowing how to go about testing things like water capacity etc. is my youth ,im only a baby and therefore not yet capable of reading instruction manuals etc 
plus i work about 12 hours a day everyday and its usually about midnight when i return to the van, on my next day off which will be christmas i think i will definitely be looking more thoroughly into this as it is a real issue for me , i do get the impression though ,from the dealers that they really will say anything to make people go away , sad really but that appears to be part of the motorhome experience too .
i really appreciate all the replies though it was well worth my ten quid


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## erneboy (Feb 8, 2007)

Tef, I have now explained exactly how to do the test twice. Please read my posts, Alan.


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## tef (Dec 4, 2008)

thanks alan, i did read your post and as i explained my running the test you suggest isnt going to make me very popular at midnight or 5 am so i guess i will just have to put up and shut up untill my next day off


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