mike n wendy Posted November 15, 2007 Share Posted November 15, 2007 Hi. We have a swift suntor 590rl based on the swift sundance , this years model. It has a 12 litre hot water tank which always runs cold half way through my shower! Is there any way that an extra hot water tank could be fitted to the system? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomo3090 Posted November 15, 2007 Share Posted November 15, 2007 I can't think of a way it would work. You would need separate heating elements and electricity/gas supply. Plus the cylinder would take up quite a bit of space. Just take quicker showers would be the cheapest and easiest option! I think all vans have the same sized water heaters in them anyway. 12 litres should be enough for a quick hair wash and douche of the important sweaty bits! We found turning off the water while you wash your hair, then soap your self then turn the water back on to rinse in one go did the job. Plus turning down the hot tap will make it last too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted November 15, 2007 Share Posted November 15, 2007 I believe the current Sundance has a Truma Ultrastore hot-water boiler. As far as I'm aware this comes in only two versions - 10 litres capacity or 14 litres - but most motorhomes have the significantly cheaper 10 litre model. So, if your motorhome has the smaller capacity Ultrastore, you could go for the 14 litre variant instead (assuming the extra room needed is available). This would be an expensive plan, however, as I'm near certain sure it's impossible to convert a 'U-10' into a 'U-14' and the retail price of a gas/electric 14 litre Ultrastore approaches £600. Truma do not advertise any means to upgrade the basic water capacity of of their boilers. If you propose to use your motorhome mainly on campsites where 230V hook-ups are available, you might consider Truma's "Electroboiler" as an add-on. This has 14 litres water capacity, demands around 4 Amps of 230V power, weighs 3kg (empty) and costs around £320. I would envisage it being installed in parallel with your present boiler, but how this could best be done would require careful thought. Actually adding extra hot water capacity isn't the problem, it's doing so in a way that doesn't produce a strange Heath Robinson arrangement that's impractical or hideously inconvenient to use. You would be much better off optimising your showering technique. Our motorhome has a Truma Combi heater with a capacity of 12 litres of water that can be heated to 60C. We manage to get two perfectly adequate successive showers out of this, so I would have anticipated you should be able to do the same, as your boiler, despite its (I'm assuming) smaller capacity, can heat its water to 70C. My wife (obviously!) showers first and I (naturally!!) go second. Having experienced in the past the delights of being mid-motorhome-shower, covered in soap and the water rapidly going frigid, I'm very careful nowadays to minimise the amount of warm water I use at the preparatory stage so that I can maximise what's left for rinsing off. First a good blob of shampoo on my hair; then a quick spray of water to wet my body; then a good body-soaping with shower gel; then wet hair and carry out shampooing; then rinse shampoo and soap off. Rinsing is initially performed speedily to ensure that all the soap's off before the water begins to cool. If it then becomes evident there's plenty of hot water remaining, one can confidently luxuriate in an extended rinsing phase. Treating motorhome showers like domestic or campsite ones - where unlimited hot water is available - invites an icy come-uppance. (Owners of motorhomes with external freshwater tanks need to be particularly wary in cold weather as, to obtain a comfortable water showering-temperature, the ratio of hot to cold water will need to be higher, plus the hot water in the boiler will be more rapidly cooled as the cold water enters it.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnP Posted November 15, 2007 Share Posted November 15, 2007 I agree with others. The showering technique should be changed, especially turning the shower off between each process. This is far easier to achieve than putting in extra heaters and tanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordThornber Posted November 15, 2007 Share Posted November 15, 2007 In our Nuevo with it's Truma goodness knows what model, Andrea usually (always) goes first for a scrub. Whilst she is at it, I turn the gas water heating on as well for a double blast. The gas element of heating the water + the electric does the trick for us. But of course this won't apply to the non hook up brigade amongst us. Which includes us occasionally... Martyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geordie01 Posted November 15, 2007 Share Posted November 15, 2007 what i do in the summer when not on hook up and it is a sunny day i have a black plastic 10 gallon water tank with a lid and a flexi 1/2 inch hose connection on the bottom of it. i fill the tank with water and place it on the roof of the van in the morning when i want a shower in the afternoon i run the hose off the tank into the slightly open washroom window and connect to the shower head usually we get a nice warm free shower after the sun has warmed up the water for us. sometimes it actually gets really hot and you can get a couple of tank fulls in a day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DEEANDEM Posted November 15, 2007 Share Posted November 15, 2007 Hi Mike N Wendy I find it best to heat the water to its highest point in doing so you do not use as much hot water. Derrick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted November 15, 2007 Share Posted November 15, 2007 Tomo3090's and John P's advice about turning the water off and on reminded me that I had forgotten to mention the shower-head. I think Swift use a single-tap arrangement for the shower, where the tap is used to adjust the water flow-rate and the water temperature (by mixing hot and cold water), but the shower-head is permanently 'open'. This set-up isn't too bad when it comes to controlling the amount of water one uses, but it's not as effective as a system where the shower-head itself can be turned on or off and be used to adjust the flow-rate. This arrangement allows much finer control of water usage and avoids needing to grope for the tap with your eyes shut and soapy water cascading down your face. And, once you've adjusted the water temperature via the tap, the temperature will remain (relatively) stable throughout the showering process - that's as long as you've got enough hot water of course! Trigger-operated shower-heads where the trigger can be 'locked open' are the most convenient type. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike n wendy Posted November 15, 2007 Author Share Posted November 15, 2007 Hi. Thankyou all very much for your replies. We do most of things you have suggested regarding showering techniques, i guess i'll just have to hurry up, as it doesn't sound as if a suitable solution or a cost effective one will be found. Thanks again Wendy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragonflyer Posted November 15, 2007 Share Posted November 15, 2007 Hi I have just got around to filing some of my pages torn out of magazines for later reference. On the reverse of one article is are hints by Tony Bradford in the Caravan Club Magazine regarding using the shower. He suggests that an efficient way to cope with showering when camping is to have a strip wash, then to rinse off under the shower. It seems a good solution for those folk who do not have a lever tap on the shower. He also warned "With a pressure system shutting the flow off at the rose (the round blob on the control [Whale]) will stop the pump; but be prepared for a blast of full hot when you turn it back on, if the maker of your caravan has not put a non-return valve in the system. (It's all to do with hot water back-feeding down the cold water line.)" I don't know if that applies to motorhomes, but forewarned! I have yet to attempt a shower in our washroom being a fan of site showers, but next year will be camping where it is hot and facilities are minimal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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