Neat little fresh water in an ABS pipe idea

dodge guy wrote:
Don’t forget guys. A 4” pipe is the outside diameter!

I would say around 3 gallons?

I seldom venture south of the border, but up here in God's country, the nominal size of pipe refers to the inside diameter.
https://pvcfittingsdirect.com/pvc-pipe-sizes-chart/

I’m surprised none of the PC grumpy-pants in the crowd here have mentioned that the van is illegally parked.

:B

Don’t forget guys. A 4” pipe is the outside diameter!

I would say around 3 gallons?

Phil, the over-the-cab part of the VW looks like it has a starboard list. Either DW or DH needs to go on a diet!

A gallon of water at standard temp and pressure is 231 cubic inches. Just figure the diameter in square inches and multiply by the length in inches and divide by 231 will give the volume in gallons

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wopachop wrote:
Saw this down in sunny San Diego. There is a hose bib on the right side. My buddy said its common for the surfer guys to do this. Water gets warmed a bit in the black pipe.

If its 4", and roughly 60" long, it holds around 3.25 gallons.

If the steering wheel and coach door were on the other side (and the engine was supercharged), I'd rather have this VW instead ... it probably comes with a built-in water tank and water heater ;) :

I use the 4 to 5 gallon showerbag modified with a ~3/4 inch diameter wood dowell across the top, as the plastic tube provided will bend and promote ripping of the bag edges when hanging it. It is also modified with a much longer hose which is pretty much mandatory after using one with, and then without.

When parked facing some degree of south, I can put it on my black dashboard and this will keep other surfers from using it when I am still in the ocean, and it warms quicker than on my white roof.

When there is little chance of sunlight heating the water, I use a 12v heating pad on top of several layers of reflectix and the bag under many layers of towels or jackets, whatever is insulative and handy. One 12v heating pad is a seat heater using a carbon grid and about 30 watts, the other uses regular heating wires and is about 45 watts. Actual wattage consumed depends on the voltage they receive.

Both use about 32 AH to heat 65f water to 101.5f, and take 12+ hours to climb that much. Obviously, but perhaps not to some, the amount of electricity consumed depends on the insulation and ambient temperature.
114.5f is ideal for me as a Steamy hot rinse off after a surf. Any hotter is too hot. The bimetal switches inside the 45 watt pad keep that one from going over 101.5f and it cycles on and off the whole climb upto 101.5f, but this is still refreshing after a cold surf. The smaller 30 watt pad would go upto 140+ if left on long enough and does not cycle on and off.
Even if I forget to preheat the bag pre surf, the pads can add enough heat over ambient, so exiting 59f water for a 68f rinse is a heck of a lot better than a 60f rinse.

One of my cheapo carbon grid heating pads is now drawing less than the 30 watts it drew when new. They come in a pair and if I really need hot water faster I can put one below and one atop, and if that is still too slow, I can use the stove and a funnel.

I've spoken with other surfers who use the ABS pipe thing and they often complain that it does not get warm at all and is only useful in warm sunny climates when the vehicle is not moving, and the parking lot orientation its location can become useless. The wind over the unit at highway speeds keeps the water from getting much hotter than ambient.
I don't think the added weight of a filled ABS pipe up that high is a good thing and it seems too limited in heating function.

I have run my 45 watt heating pad directly off of a 100 watt solar panel, no battery in between. Voltage goes to about 17 and it consumes about 72 watts. The heating wires not in direct contact with the bag fried. I removed the burnt portions and then it consumed 63 watts at 12.8v. It did not seem to heat the bag any faster afterwards but did consume more amp hours to do so. Then the bimetal switch fried and the bag got upto 175f+ and actually stretched out from 4 to 5 gallons capacity.

These bags can tear up near the handle. Thin/ light weight fiberglass cloth saturated with amazing goop can stop the tearing, and amazing goop should also be used to hold the hose to the outlet on the bag and add some stress relief. The Summer shower, and Stearns brands, with the screw on caps are the best available, in my opinion. Bags without screw on caps are a waste of time money plastic and landfill space. I had one with teh screw on cap, a semi clone of the summershower, also be a miserable POS as the threaded plastic cap receptacle would deform if slightly overtightened.

Some slide-in camper guys use that way to carry more water. The long pipes go under the camper outside the truck rails.

Another variation on that theme that I use is a 3.5 gal black plastic lawn or weed killer spray bottle that you pump up with air pressure. I camp once a year at a beach for a week where there is no FW, so swimming, snorkeling, clamming and and rinsing sand off your feet before entering the MH several times a day can use a lot of FW just to rinse off. The pressurized spray uses very little water, I just leave it in the sun and it keeps it warm all day.