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Kept me working

Hinty

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Got to report on my hot water set up -

still heating my barrels to 35 degrees, and not lost any time at all.

It is so nice not to have to worry about not being able to work due to freezing weather.

I can honestly say this was £200 well spent.

Looking at the other posts I can see how many are losing time because of the weather - really urge you to have a look at going hot.

Only warning - I had one house with an old single glazed conservatory which I started on and the glass made a creaking sound on the first pane - so decided to leave it till last when the water in my drum had dropped a few degrees - no problems.

Dave

 
I tried that last year but only heated the water to 20 degrees Max the car was like a sauna,only lost yesterday and today due to weather work all last week in the cold and just need a break from it :) got some other projects I want to get on with while I have an excuse to have a day or two off

 
i don't think i'm familiar with this. i assumed for 200 you had the fogwash or l5 but it does'nt sound like you're heating it as you go?

 
What are you using to heat the water?

£200 to keep me on the road is money well spent in my opinion, saves me catching up on work on my beloved weekends!
Copied this over from another post - got to keep up to date./emoticons/biggrin.png

Just finished my first month with hot water - on my trolley & backpack - what can I say, but I love it.

Hoses more flexible, faster cleans, better first cleans, and no more anxiety about freezing pipes etc.

Got hold of a Kampa Geyser water heater,

and made up a control box which lets me digitally set the temperature I want.

How it works for me is:

1) Fill 25L drum with pure water

2) Drop inline pump,with temperature probe, and return hose into the

neck of the drum to recirculate

3) Turn on pump

4) Adjust pump speed to lowest needed for burner to fire -Saves battery

5) come back in 7 or 8 mins & it is ready

This system was easily able to keep up with usage for 2 people - just heat first drum while loading up in the morning, and then we were away.

The controller has a Hysteresis setting, which means that you can set the heater to heat up to say 35 degrees, and then it will allow a drop of what you specify - say 2 degrees, and it will then come back on at 33 degrees. in essence keeping the water useable.

Also, it is possible to leave this in the van over***ht, and it could work as a frost protection - with the ambient heat of the air, and the water drum / tank being kept to what you specify. (this would depend on the gas system being used - don't want carbon monoxide poisoning - so well ventilate van before getting in)

Found that I have done 3 1/2 weeks off one 7kg butane bottle - costing me about £5 a week.

Finally got a video up - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgmKVt4HgM0

Not the best quality but you get the idea.

Parts list needed:

Item ........................... Supplier..........number...........Price......... P&P

Kampa Geyser.................Ebay.........290650343793...£118.00 £5.75

Gas Regulator/Hose..........Ebay.........150679616041....£6.95 ........£2.95

Rule IL200 pump..............Ebay..........220614405754....£8.00.........£2.10

Temperature controller.....Ebay...........180747018492...£10.99

Enclosure........................Maplin............N09HG............£7.79

Motor speed controller......Maplin............RN41.............£14.99

Panel mount fuse holder...Maplin........... DA59P............£1.59

20mm 3.15A fuse............Maplin........... GJ94C.............£1.99

Illuminated rocker switch..Maplin...........RD18U.............£2.19

Cable gland....................Maplin............UP89W.............£1.99

Power connector.............Maplin............L45AY..............£1.59

Velcro............................Local....................................£1.00

............................................................................£177.07.....£10.80

TOTAL £187.87

Plus some wire, and a bit of solder

Wiring Diagram

tempcontrol.png


Dave

 
Working on a new controller that is easier to operate - pre set pump speed, just a priming button to clear air locks,

and a thermal cut out instead of a fuse - resets itself after a couple of minutes.

Also looking at a few slight mods to be able to use it to keep the back of the van from freezing - will let you know how that goes.

dave

 
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