hot water heater for camping

[neparose]

Does anyone have a Zodi campfire coil water heater? I stumbled across an ad for one and like the idea. Was hoping someone here might be knowledgable about their quality. For 45 bucks it seems ideal for serious campers.
rose

[sewserious]

I don't personally have one but on some of the pop-up camper boards I go to, folks swear by them

[NCLee]

I hate to sound like sour grapes this morning, but that isn't something I'd buy for camping or otherwise.

Looked it up.
http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_-1_10001_10212997_325005007_325000000_325005000_325-5-7
http://www.amazon.com/ZODI-Outback-Gear-Water-Heater/dp/B003EEEST8
http://www.zodi.com/web-content/Dealer/zodidealermedia7002.html

The first reason is that the top jug won't hold up, if it's like the ones I've used in the past. To give them the benefit of the doubt, I may have not used the same brand (manufacturer). Tried them twice. After a fairly short period of time (year or so) the plastic cracked along the fold lines.

Even thought the concept does produce "unlimited" amounts of water, it appears there is an unavoidable limitation in the design, as best as I can tell from the pictures. Periodically, the top jug has to be disconnected and refilled. IMHO, a better design (again qualified by what I can see) would have been an attachment point at the top of the top jug for a water hose. Or, a cap/cover to allow easy refilling. For hose refilling a valve would be needed to keep from pushing the water through the system to quickly.

Personally, I'd rather have a stock pot and an old fashioned water dipper. Wouldn't take up any more space. (Maybe less.) Can do dual duty. And, as long as I keep refilling the pot, it's "unlimited", too. :)

Just my 2 cents, as I haven't seen one of these in person. So take my thoughts with a grain of salt.

Lee

[neparose]

Lee- I know what you mean about those seams splitting on the cheap plastic. Lost 2 gal. homemade peach wine that way. I was going to do some bastarding on the original design to eliminate the cheap collaspable jug. Was more concerned about the quality of the coil to withstand repeated heatings and cooling down, and the flow return valve beefiness. Although, theres alot to be said for the old pot and dipper!lol!

sewserious- I never thought to check out a camping forum. Thanks for the idea. Maybe someone there can give some hands on input.
rose

[DavidOH]

I have this but have never used it:

http://i50.tinypic.com/2r5xj6v.jpg http://i45.tinypic.com/2j14lsn.jpg http://i45.tinypic.com/kbtavp.jpg http://i48.tinypic.com/jfwy82.jpg

It looks like something that you could make.
A good quality water jug. some good tubing, and a copper coil.
A good sealant on the connections and you are done.

I found it on sale, so I picked it up for less than half of what the zodis are selling for.

[Prairie]

My dad lent me his Hot Water On Demand. It's pricy at $250. I only used it once so far, and I am very impressed. It comes with it's own water bag and 6v rechargable battery and pump. It uses propane. I submerged the pump in a 5 gallon water jug and cranked it on and immediatly had nice hot water to shower in. It's great for washing the dust off you after a long day if you don't have hot or running water.

http://www.coleman.com/coleman/colemancom/detail.asp?product_id=2300B700

The coil in the fire set-up looks easy enough, and with enough water, enough flexible copper tubing, and enough fire, it could probably be made to be on-demand if you set the flow right.

[fancy1]

We have, or I should say HAD, a Hot Water on Demand unit. It worked great for the first "camp season". By the second year it was done for. The unit was great, while it worked though. Perhaps we just got a "lemon"...