I wanted to fit a hot water shower in Matilda, my discovery.
First problem was space!
Matilda has air con, triple charge, charging systems etc, etc..
I overcome this by fabricating a bracket to mount the heat exchanger on the inner wing, as close to the heater pipes as poss, as this is where I plumbed it in to the vehicle...
Once I had the heat exchanger mounted in position, I cut in to the heater flow and return pipes. This would provide hot water through the heat exchanger, whilst the engine was running!
I then installed the nessasery pipe work, using flexi hoses around the engine bay, to alow for movement, and 15mm rigid from front to rear of the vehicle.
COLD
Heat exchanger to a tee, going to back of vehicle ( on board water tank) and to one side of an anti scortch valve ( this valve ensures you don’t get burnt when the water is first turned on ) I also tee’d off to go to a quick release fitting which I mounted on the frount bumper ( enabling me to draw water from another source, bucket, lake ?? and not my holding tank.
I also installed a one way valve in the system, ensuring that lake water??? Could not contaminate my tank.
HOT
Heat exchanger through anti scorch Valve, Teeing off to give me hot water at the taps in the rear of the vehicle. Out the anti scorch valve to a quick release fitting next to the cold one on the bumper.. ( this is where the shower head plugs in..
Extras
15Mtr stretch hose with a shower head attached.
Plugs for bumper mounted quick release valves, so dirt doesn’t get in and block them up.
A pop up shower tent, and job
complete!
Turn on shower, causes a pressure drop, pump cuts in and pumps water from tank to heat exchanger, this in turn warms up the water, sends it to anti scorch valve, where it mixes with cold, and comes out of shower head at desired set temperature...
I am now working on a circulation system, so I can fill water deposit and hold hot water, circulating it through the heat exchanger to keep it hot.. so I won’t have to have the engine running whilst showering.. I’ll let you know how I get on with this.

hi

if i may say as an ex heating engineer in what a cracking job you’ve done there

wonder if a very small hot water cylinder would be any good with a built in coil, pre insulated or even some of the twin coil ones, ie solar, bronze pump

suppose only thing is if u have to drain it in the winter time ??

Thank you.
That may be worth a look. ?
It would have to be 12v as my plan is to fill cylinder / holding tank and heat the water whilst driving.. just before I camp for the night..

Kat67 said:

Thank you.
That may be worth a look. ?
It would have to be 12v as my plan is to fill cylinder / holding tank and heat the water whilst driving.. just before I camp for the night..

Click to expand...

adore doing things like this in sitting down , working things out, coming up with solutions etc and nice following something different for a change

that’s what i was thinking , small hot water cylinder , pump through the coil as ur driving along , bronze pump maybe so u don’t have to worry then about oxygen ruining an ordinary heating pump,

just thinking , wonder if something like an oil or water transfer 12v pump would work better

Definitely worth investing. I was thinking of a small holding tank, and circulating the water through the heat exchanger I have already fitted. I could fit a thermostat so it turns on and off when required, via a switch in the cab of course.??

Kat67 said:

Definitely worth investing. I was thinking of a small holding tank, and circulating the water through the heat exchanger I have already fitted. I could fit a thermostat so it turns on and off when required, via a switch in the cab of course.??

Click to expand...

true , just thinking how much heat transfer u would get from the flat plate , if ur use a holding tank maybe some baffles built in to stop the water sloshing around , cylinder thermostat on the side maybe ??? ,, pressure relief valve , by temperature or pressure

drain off for winter time , or even some of the cheap FBH , with a remote , but know when u start with mods it can get expensive and indeed trying to keep mods reliable and cheap as poss

lastly , hope none of my replies come across rude in any way , as that would be the last thing i wish to do

so jealous ref the expedition, is there a group of u travelling , etc

also a disco owner, first one and must admit do like the room and comfort

Not rude at all, love the comments and suggestions. Keep them coming. It gets me thinking
And two minds are definitely better than one. You sound far more exsperianced in this field than I am...
Mods can be very exspencive, but I love my Disco, and use it a lot. So don’t mind doing them, plus I really enjoy working on mine.
A good nights sleep, and a hot shower is definitely tops of my list when on the road.
I mainly travel alone. I live in Spain ( very close to Morocco) so always going over! Whenever I can. I have been overland to Timbuktu (Mali) through morrocco, Western Sahara, Mauritania, senigal, and finally Timbuktu. Unfortunately it wasn’t in a Land Rover ( I did it on a quad)
Matilda is my first Disco, but I’ve had about 9-10 landrovers, mainly range rovers.

gstuart said:

true , just thinking how much heat transfer u would get from the flat plate , if ur use a holding tank maybe some baffles built in to stop the water sloshing around , cylinder thermostat on the side maybe ??? ,, pressure relief valve , by temperature or pressure

drain off for winter time , or even some of the cheap FBH , with a remote , but know when u start with mods it can get expensive and indeed trying to keep mods reliable and cheap as poss

lastly , hope none of my replies come across rude in any way , as that would be the last thing i wish to do

so jealous ref the expedition, is there a group of u travelling , etc

also a disco owner, first one and must admit do like the room and comfort

Click to expand...

Omg I’ve just seen that you live in Swanley Kent.. I lived in New Ash Green, near Brands Hatch before moving to Spain 19 years ago. What a small world

Kat67 said:

Not rude at all, love the comments and suggestions. Keep them coming. It gets me thinking
And two minds are definitely better than one. You sound far more exsperianced in this field than I am...
Mods can be very exspencive, but I love my Disco, and use it a lot. So don’t mind doing them, plus I really enjoy working on mine.
A good nights sleep, and a hot shower is definitely tops of my list when on the road.
I mainly travel alone. I live in Spain ( very close to Morocco) so always going over! Whenever I can. I have been overland to Timbuktu (Mali) through morrocco, Western Sahara, Mauritania, senigal, and finally Timbuktu. Unfortunately it wasn’t in a Land Rover ( I did it on a quad)
Matilda is my first Disco, but I’ve had about 9-10 landrovers, mainly range rovers.

Click to expand...

many thks, spent 25 x years as a heating and plumbing engineer and when i see mods like this that aren’t the run of the mill i just find it fascinating and really enjoy working things out, yeh i know need to get out more

hats off to u, always dreamed of driving across europe but wouldn’t like to do it in my own , the adventures you’ve had sound awesome and soooooooooo jealous , lol

very true , beats jumping in freezing cold water , sod that

have u got any piccies of ur adventures plse , loooooove piccies , lol

Keep the ideas for hot water coming... I'm plumbing in the water in a horse lorry next week.


Oh & fitting a night heater hate cold nights. Run on seperate battery so I can still start in the morning.

Kat67 said:

Omg I’ve just seen that you live in Swanley Kent.. I lived in New Ash Green, near Brands Hatch before moving to Spain 19 years ago. What a small world

Click to expand...

oh wow , indeed a small world , only ever been to alicante , in august no less and blimey felt like i was trapped in a glass jar with the heat , people were awesome and really liked spain

few ideas am thinking about are

, maybe an ultraviolet light , legionnaires , but over 60c will kill it ,
magnaclean , , / filter , trying to keep junk out of the flat plate , but of course scale will build up over time

frost stat to protect system , coming on automatically , unless not using when weather gets to cold

insulation

pressure relief valve , either by temperature or pressure

plus don’t forget u will need an on call plumber , to ensure everything is working correctly throughout the trip , lmao

I have loads of pics, just tried posting a few, but for some reason I can only post one pic at a time? Very slow ! And then tells me file is too big to proceed??
I’ll try again later for you.
I don’t always travel alone.. I used to take groups in and around morroco, still do occasionally, but more friends and family now days. Have you ever been?
Europe is nice too, but Africa is more exciting and interesting..
I drove from uk to Spain a few months back, via Belgium France Luxembourg Germany Black Forrest, Switzerland And Andorra . That was good .

Now you really have me thinking
Think I may need a plumber to come and install it all.. lol

Hicap phill said:

Keep the ideas for hot water coming... I'm plumbing in the water in a horse lorry next week.


Oh & fitting a night heater hate cold nights. Run on seperate battery so I can still start in the morning.

Click to expand...

I have been looking at night heaters.. some run on diesal, either from your tank, or there own separate one.

Kat67 said:

Now you really have me thinking
Think I may need a plumber to come and install it all.. lol

Click to expand...

now ur talking , lol, can even make the tea,

The quad I rode to Timbuktu

Kat67 said:

The quad I rode to Timbuktu

Click to expand...

now that’s what u call well packed

gstuart said:

now that’s what u call well packed

Click to expand...

That’s what you call over packed.. lol
Was a hell of a trip! Apart from the very sore Arse! I loved it..
so many stories to tell from that one!
From Land mines in the Western Sahara, to second hand teeth you can buy in most of these countries ( have a pic, but it says the file is too big) ??
Could you imagine trying on someone else’s teeth! Would be worse than a cheap suit . Lol

Kat67 said:

I have loads of pics, just tried posting a few, but for some reason I can only post one pic at a time? Very slow ! And then tells me file is too big to proceed??
I’ll try again later for you.
I don’t always travel alone.. I used to take groups in and around morroco, still do occasionally, but more friends and family now days. Have you ever been?
Europe is nice too, but Africa is more exciting and interesting..
I drove from uk to Spain a few months back, via Belgium France Luxembourg Germany Black Forrest, Switzerland And Andorra . That was good .

Click to expand...

bless u for the pics , looks awesome and totally envious , alas no i haven’t been , would adore to go , one day when the piggy bank is in better condition , lol,

only had the disco a year and at least i would have plenty of room and is a capable motor of doing that kind of trip , with a few mods of course , ( any excuse, lol ) indeed great going in a group , so at least if u get into trouble there are others to help inc someone to chat with or ride shotgun for company , especially in the evenings when sitting down for something to eat and being able to chat with everyone of the days events

gstuart said:

bless u for the pics , looks awesome and totally envious , alas no i haven’t been , would adore to go , one day when the piggy bank is in better condition , lol,

only had the disco a year and at least i would have plenty of room and is a capable motor of doing that kind of trip , with a few mods of course , ( any excuse, lol ) indeed great going in a group , so at least if u get into trouble there are others to help inc someone to chat with or ride shotgun for company , especially in the evenings when sitting down for something to eat and being able to chat with everyone of the days events

Click to expand...

I totally agree, groups are great, especially if everyone gets on. And like you said, always help at hand.
I’m hoping to go further afield next year, would really like to do overland India.. the problem is getting there, Pakistan? Iran??
There’s no good route at the minute. Mind you that could all change by then.
Have you done any overland? Is this your first disco, or first Land Rover?