Upgrade outside shower

[Sofaman]

We are putting a slide out  kitchen on the side of our Sprinter Van along with two water tanks over the wheel wells and 11 cubic ft refrigerator.

We are installing a awning on the Sprinter and will have awning to awning facing with the outdoor kitchen in the middle when space allows.

I would like to replace the plastic fixtures and eliminate the shower handle. Replace with higher quality and quick connect for doing dishes.

Also eliminate the opening the shower handle goes in and out.

[John E Davies]

First of all, are you talking about modifying the Ollie or the Sprinter? I don’t think you will find a non-plastic RV valve unit. There are plastic QC ones in white or black:

 

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Empire-Faucets-RV-Outside-Shower-Valve-4-Quick-Connect-Valve-Faucet-Black/370166665

Is that what you had in mind for the Ollie? You would have to store the hose somewhere. You could make a plastic piece to cover the hole going into the hull, and epoxy it in place. I am a little unclear how you would get the hose to the outdoor kitchen, I suppose it could lie on the ground and the end could clip to a leg. Does the other kitchen have its own faucet and sink? Are you trying to connect the Ollie water supply directly to that? I think you need to post some pictures to better show what exactly you want to do… because I am confused.😬

John Davies

Spokane WA

[Sofaman]

Yes, alter the Oliver shower to provide hot water to wash the dishes on a portable table a few feet away from the slide out that is coming from the Sprinter. I found a blog with a van owner using the Aquaor Hydrant. Shut offs and valves could be in the compartment with just the Hydrant appearing behind the Fontana door. The Aquaor is all metal and all shutoffs and connections would be brass. I would have to come up with portable sink and faucet with quick connects.

[John E Davies]

Interesting, that is completely new to me.

https://www.aquorwatersystems.com/products/hydrant-v1-plus

So would you have one water hose running from Ollie to the portable table kitchen? It will waste a fair amount of hot water waiting for the temperature to get hot at the outlet. Where will the grey water go?

Do you mind explaining the reason for this project? It sounds cool, but I am not understanding the purpose. Large gatherings? Lots of dishes?

Is this going to be a problem?

It appears that the plastic coupler is a potential failure point, since there is always full flow available when it is inserted. The comment about irrigation use is odd, I wonder what their reasoning is…. It does have both a mechanical and a vacuum break.

John Davies

Spokane WA

[Mountainman198]

I like your idea of the van-based outdoor kitchen. I had a Eccotemp propane on-demand water heater like this one, housed in a big pelican case, mounted to the exterior of my expedition trailer. I would think something like this would work for your situation, perhaps better than the Ollie shower port. It would also give you redundant systems as well as allow you to heat the water from the van tanks when not parked next to the Ollie.

https://www.eccotemp.com/eccotemp-l5-portable-outdoor-tankless-water-heater/

Please keep us informed of your progress. This project sounds cool. 

[dewdev]

8 hours ago, Sofaman said:

We are putting a slide out  kitchen on the side of our Sprinter Van along with two water tanks over the wheel wells and 11 cubic ft refrigerator.

We are installing a awning on the Sprinter and will have awning to awning facing with the outdoor kitchen in the middle when space allows.

I would like to replace the plastic fixtures and eliminate the shower handle. Replace with higher quality and quick connect for doing dishes.

Also eliminate the opening the shower handle goes in and out.

If interested, I have this brand new exterior shower faucet for sale. Still in original box. I bought it for a previous camper but did not install it as I sold it and bought by Ollie.  PM me and we can discuss selling and shipping.

[SeaDawg]

+1 on the eccotemp L5. We've had one for 14 years, for outdoor springwater showers at our camping property.  I've also used it for washing dishes, etc.

We replaced the original showerhead and hose with a longer stainless wrap hose and a better shower head. We've replaced 2 small parts over the years. (We forgot and left the batteries in one year over the winter, and messed up the battery box.) Eccotemp live USA customer and technical support are excellent.

I bought one for my cousin in Alaska, who has a dry cabin, but has a well. We helped her set it up the first year.  She loves it, too. 

We sometimes have a bunch of tent campers here with us. The Ollie freshwater tank doesn't last long with 8 to 10 folks. The Ecco temp is one of our best purchases, ever. 

[SeaDawg]

Well, I  guess I "gumped" myself with that comment.

Our Eccotemp has given up the ghost, we think. Fortunately,  as we have a small group coming and need the outdoor, spring fed shower this weekend, Asheville Camping world had the Eccotemp L5 on sale, and in stock! Ordered online, and picked up a few hours later.

We'll try to repair the old soldier as a backup, but, honestly,  it doesn't owe us a dime, if we can't fix it again.  With the hundreds of great showers it has provided, and years of service, I wouldn't even look for another brand.

 

 

[MAX Burner]

12 hours ago, SeaDawg said:

With the hundreds of great showers it has provided, and years of service, I wouldn't even look for another brand.

 

Concur w/@SeaDawg: we've been using the Ecotemp at our dry cabin in CO near Mogote since 2008 - our's runs on a pack of D-cell batts, you definitely need to remove them as a part of your winterizing checklist.  We built a vented plywood box and mounted it on the cabin for outside showers - 100's of showers, indeed!  Good product for sure.