Need help with shower install

sam1am

New member
Hello guys and gals. I recently picked up a Sprinter that had already been converted. The bathroom has a toilet and what appears to be a shower drain, and I can tell whoever did the conversion started to seal the walls for a shower, but it was never installed. I thought to myself "hey, that shouldn't be too hard to install a shower!" despite having zero experience doing such things (no time to learn like the present!)

Here is the bathroom:
http://i.imgur.com/nTXjhFT.jpg

Am I correct in thinking that a shower would work in this situation? In Europe some of the shower/bathroom combos work like this, where the water actually falls onto the toilet.

Before figuring out exactly what needed to be done I stupidly went ahead and bought one of these portable tankless water heaters. It's outdoor, but I thought I could get away with it if I cracked the back door when it was running. I don't know if this is a viable plan or not, and I also hadn't considered the gas tank. :thinking:

Here's where I'm at: http://i.imgur.com/DKph4xn.jpg. I've hung the heater on the back wall and was going to try to route some water and gas into it. The bathroom is on the other side of that wall.

Apparently you need to mount a 20lb tank to the outside and can't just put it in the back. Is that right? That's not going to work for my situation. And I'm guessing it's not smart or viable to use those little propane canisters you can buy at Walmart either.

After a few unsuccessful attempts at hooking up just the water portion of the heater I'm thinking maybe I should forgo the heater all together and just take cold man showers. The water pipes inside have 1/2" connections and slightly smaller tubing (3/8" maybe?) and after buying a bunch of adapters and trying to wire in through this connection here with a t-joint, I realized maybe I should hop online and ask some people who might actually know what they are doing.

Is there a better way to accomplish what I'm trying to do? Is tapping into my current sink water supply with a "t" adapter the right way to do this? If I forgo the heater and just install a shower head in the bathroom, is there a recommended type I should be looking at? Does anyone need a portable water heater? :)

Thanks!
 
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Graphite Dave

Dave Orton
My conversion has a similar shower setup. Search for "orton diy - toilet/shower/storage". Works well for a "Navy" shower.
The method I use to get shower water is shown in the "orton-diy-hot water tank" post. Having the water at one temperature simplifies the setup. It also saves water since you do not need to adjust for the correct temperature. I do have a second inverter powered by the Sprinter 12 volt system to get 120 volt AC power while driving. It takes 1 hour of driving to get 5 gallons of water to 90 degrees with a 600 watt inverter.
D. Bertko has a similar system that uses the same method but he heats hot water on the stove and mixes that in a tank with cold water to get correct shower water temperature.
 

sam1am

New member
I found that thread and looked through it, but I missed what heater you guys are using. Is it an electric one?
 

Graphite Dave

Dave Orton
Dan heats his water on a stove and mixes it with cold water. I use a 450 watt electric heating element designed to replace the drain plug on an RV propane water heater. Details are spelled out in post # 1 of the "orton DIY - portable hot water tank". I have a inverter powered by the Sprinter 12 volt system so I can get 120 volt power while driving without using the house battery/inverter.

We both use a 12 volt pump to pump the water through a hose to a garden spray nozzle.
 
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d_bertko

Active member
Here's my pertinent shower thread:

KISS

I have a trucker's 10' 12v extension cord for outdoor use---or get a small 12v battery for complete freedom of location.

Dan
 

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