Coleman Hot Water On Demand Unit

[marcthelegend]

hey guys,

Bought one of the Coleman Hot Water On Demand Unit from Ranger Outdoors last week.
$350, included gas hose and shower attachment .

Straight out of the box I was impressed with the look of the unit, it's made of durable plastic and is very easy to use and set up. Charged it using the included 240v adapter (comes with 12v too) for around 8 hours (what the manual said) and after that, i filled up the 19l foldable water container and tried it out. I ran mine off a 9kg gas cylinder using the optional gas hose attachment (normally it uses the coleman gas cartridges which claim to work for up to 150l of hot water).
It started first time and water was hot withing a few seconds, only problem is that it uses the 19l of water up VERY QUICKLY (emptied it in just over 5 minutes) but water remained hot the whole time, it ranges from coldish water to very hot water (71 degrees).

Took it camping on the weekend and had to try it out, first shower we used the 19l water container which didnt last very long, so the second shower, i filled a 60l esky up to the top and took a shower, it was under 10 degrees outside and the water coming out was truly amazing, perfect water pressure and temperature, can say its just as good as the shower at home.

Would strongly recommend it to anyone as its alot better than those hanging solar showers (can be used whenever you want) only downside is that it uses ridiculous amounts of water and when using the esky it took a while for the pump to suck up any water (not too sure why??).

Any questions I would be more than happy to answer

Regards

Marc

[Rusty]

Hi Marc
Good buy. We have had one for a while now and very happy with it.
Yes at times you will have some manipulation to get the pump to start if it is bone dry. We find you have to put the pump and water container on the same level until it starts then no worries, or sort of prime it by filling the foot valve, hold pipe above pump so water hits the pump thern drop hose back into the container while simultaneously starting the pump.
We (2 of us) can shower comfortably with about 8 litres of water. Wet down, soap up, rinse off.
I now have our Coleman set up in the shed as a hot water unit over the sink so it gets regular use as, like lots of stuff, if it doesn't get used you don't know it isn't working until you really need it.

[john_char]

We have one also.

Better than boiling the billy especially for 3 girls!!!! By the time it was my turn I was totally over it, so it's more of a pressie for me.

Took a while to get the temperature right, but it's fine now.

We usually go through 5 litres each, and each person who showers has to fill up a bucket for the next one, easy done.

John.

[jawk]

We also have one - love it.

Others in our variou camp groups have had the blue (primus I think) ones and the gun metal grey box type ones (? gasmate) have been very jealous of the ease of use of ours and how quick it works.

Our pump leaked where it joined the collapsable container - phoned coleman and rather than just sending me a new o-ring they sent a new pump no charge - keep the old one they said !!

Took a bit of practice to get the temp' right. have never used the lpg gas cyclinder fitting the little green ones are too easy to use to mess around with the big cylinders!

All good - no issues.

Gary

[MickSA]

Yep, we have been using one for a few years now - A tip when wanting very hot water for washing dishes is to recycle the water through the sytem until you can't hold your hand in the bucket anymore. That is have the pump suck from the bucket the warm to hot water is going into. When showering we stand in a half full 40 litre container. Put hot water in (hot enough to stand in) and run a 12 volt shower off a 12 volt supply (Car cig lighter) we dont use the coleman for this other than heating the water initially. By the time i get to the shower #4 the water is nice and soapy (adding a little more hot water of course allowing for spillage.)

[brett]

For showers ditch the coleman shower head and get one from a boat or camping shop with smaller holes. Uses less water and gives a better spray.

[apsilon]

I'm planning on buying one of these this weekend and one tip I saw when researching was to not stand under it with it constanly running like a normal shower but rather use a bucket instead of the bag thing that comes with it. Soak yourself and then dump the shower head into the bucket so the water is just recirculating while you lather yourself then rinse. Uses a lot less water though I understand it wouldn't be as nice during winter. Have to watch that the water doesn't heat too much this way as well.

Going to try it out on the dog after I pick it up. I'm sure she'll like it more than the cold hose.

[brett]

I use the mains pressure hose adapter on mine and connect that to a 11L/Min Shurflo pump I have on my camper, this works very well, far better than the coleman pump in a bucket also has the advantage of using a lot less power so the coleman battery lasts heaps longer before a charge. You don't want a flat battery mid shower as there is no way to run the unit on external power, this is the only shortfalll with the unit. To get around this I have a fully charged spare on standby.
With the different shower head I can have a good shower with around 10L of water.

[mrorejap]

hey guys,

Bought one of the Coleman Hot Water On Demand Unit from Ranger Outdoors last week.
$350, included gas hose and shower attachment .

Straight out of the box I was impressed with the look of the unit, it's made of durable plastic and is very easy to use and set up. Charged it using the included 240v adapter (comes with 12v too) for around 8 hours (what the manual said) and after that, i filled up the 19l foldable water container and tried it out. I ran mine off a 9kg gas cylinder using the optional gas hose attachment (normally it uses the coleman gas cartridges which claim to work for up to 150l of hot water).
It started first time and water was hot withing a few seconds, only problem is that it uses the 19l of water up VERY QUICKLY (emptied it in just over 5 minutes) but water remained hot the whole time, it ranges from coldish water to very hot water (71 degrees).

Took it camping on the weekend and had to try it out, first shower we used the 19l water container which didnt last very long, so the second shower, i filled a 60l esky up to the top and took a shower, it was under 10 degrees outside and the water coming out was truly amazing, perfect water pressure and temperature, can say its just as good as the shower at home.

Would strongly recommend it to anyone as its alot better than those hanging solar showers (can be used whenever you want) only downside is that it uses ridiculous amounts of water and when using the esky it took a while for the pump to suck up any water (not too sure why??).

Any questions I would be more than happy to answer

Regards

Marc

We have one too & a trick with them is DO NOT follow the directions in the book about charging the battery for 12 hrs the Technician at Coleman (after we experienced difficulties) said to charge battery for 24 hrs before use. We bought a second battery through Dick Smith and when the 1st goes flat then we just change over. We were not happy with the poor flow of water from the shower head so we pump cold walter through the Coleman into a 12 ltr bucket when it is hot enough to shower with we use a $20 shower which sell on E Bay & Super Cheap which has a on off switch & much better water flow through the nozzle. Just arrived back home from shopping spree & K Mart had Coleman for $535 during "their sale" we bought the same thing last year for $239 on special!!! guess where....K Mart same store. The Coleman is a good item & most importantly "she who must be obeyed" loves it and is happy.