One for Ladies-

[Gagakev]

Just a quick question asked by the OH,
as you may be aware we are picking up our newer van and staying in it at the weekend .
SWMBO wants to know of any tips about using the shower, how long will it last on hot water etc.
This will be her/our first experiance of using our own!

 

[Lord Braykewynde]

If you haven't got one you need a shower mat.
No problems with water as long as you have plenty in the Aquaroll to start with.
Wet yourself.
Soap yourself.
Rinse off.

 

[Gagakev]

Ah right shower mat, I'll let her go shopping for that tomorrow.

So are you saying that the hot water does'nt run out, surely it only has a certain amount in the heated tank?

I dont know ,I'm just asking on her behalf

 

[Wendy-Norfolk]

The hot water won't run out as long as you wet yourself first, turn water off, then soap up with shower gel (I usually use it on a sponge) and then rinse the whole lot off - use the same procedure for hair washing!

As we never use the site facilites, this method has been tried and tested!

 

[Gagakev]

Thanks Wendy, and of course L(ady) B.

Think we will manage to scrub down now.
Kev

 

[DeliDave_]

we use a spring loaded shower head cant find the link but someone kindly posted it on here.It saves you messing around and moving the temperature selector and makes the supply of water last longer.We put the gas and electric on together to reheat quicker and it seems to work well.HTH

http://www.practicalcaravan.com/forum/technical/calling-kath-at-swift
Link forwarded by request from the Technical section where Dave had inadvertently posted it.

Parksy (Moderator)

 

[Dustydog]

Kev
It'll probably have the 10 litre Truma Ultrastore water heater. The average temperature once fully hot is 70deg C. Far too hot for SWMBO but when mixed at the shower head with cold water you'll be amazed just how long the flow does last. My OH has long hair that needs shampoo then conditioner and that's before she does her body

.
LB describes the best method most succinctly..

 

[ValA.]

And make sure she never has a shower whilst you're not there to refill the aquaroll!
If the pump stops when you're all soaped up it can be a real problem! The one and only time I used the caravan shower (in eleven years) it ran out of water whilst my OH was out! Shower gel and shampoo takes a lot of rinsing off with just what's left in the kettle!

 

[Gagakev]

we use a spring loaded shower head cant find the link but someone kindly posted it on here.It saves you messing around and moving the temperature selector and makes the supply of water last longer.We put the gas and electric on together to reheat quicker and it seems to work well.HTH

http://www.practicalcaravan.com/forum/technical/calling-kath-at-swift

Hi Dave + Parksy, the link does'nt actually show anything, it only mentions a trigger style shower head.
Any other idea's? cheers chappies
Kev

Link forwarded by request from the Technical section where Dave had inadvertently posted it.

Parksy (Moderator)

 

[Gagakev]

And make sure she never has a shower whilst you're not there to refill the aquaroll!
If the pump stops when you're all soaped up it can be a real problem! The one and only time I used the caravan shower (in eleven years) it ran out of water whilst my OH was out! Shower gel and shampoo takes a lot of rinsing off with just what's left in the kettle!

Val, thats a long time to go without having a shower

Think after the novalty has worn off we will do the same as you and use the site facilities if they are availible.

 

[Oklahoma]

We have an aquarium heater in our internal tank which after being switched on overnight leaves the water tepid. We strictly only use the internal tank for showering and we fully empty it and refil with fresh water every day. It will last for 2 long showers. It is important never to drink from that tank though if you do that.

 

[Parksy]

Herself asked me to remind you to make sure that the washroom is nice and warm, end washrooms can become a bit cold which is no good if you've stepped out of a warm shower.
My tip would be that if the shower is unlined (e.g. just wallboard) use an expanding net curtain rail to hang a shower curtain which will protect the inside wall of the caravan from damp. Make sure that the bottom of the shower curtain hangs below the lip on the shower tray so that water goes straight into the tray.
Keep a new car wash sponge (from the £ shop) to wipe down the walls and rid the tray of excess water bbefore cleaning.

 

[LMH]

Hi

We use the shower all the time, some good tips so far.

One thing we do is (if you're on hookup) is when you've finished in the shower/bathroom, put a fan heater in the bathroom (on the floor) and close the door and let it run for about 10-15 minutes, you'd be amazed how it dries excess water off the cubicle/shower door etc. (We have an extension cable for this).

Lisa

 

[Lord Braykewynde]

One thing we do is (if you're on hookup) is when you've finished in the shower/bathroom, put a fan heater in the bathroom (on the floor) and close the door and let it run for about 10-15 minutes

Yes, and open the roof vent in the wash room so the condensation goes outside.

 

[LMH]

Surely that's common sense isn't it?

 

[OmOnWeelz]

We swapped the shower head for a small fine spray head that lets less water through it. With electric and gas on we can both shower easily, we have an internal tank that auto fills from two aquarolls when not on mains water hook up. Our bathroom has a blown air heating vent. close all the other vents, turn the heating on and the shower experience is always warm and with the heating on full you can air dry and save on towels

 

[DeliDave_]

we use a spring loaded shower head cant find the link but someone kindly posted it on here.It saves you messing around and moving the temperature selector and makes the supply of water last longer.We put the gas and electric on together to reheat quicker and it seems to work well.HTH

http://www.practicalcaravan.com/forum/technical/calling-kath-at-swift
Link forwarded by request from the Technical section where Dave had inadvertently posted it.

Parksy (Moderator)

Post #3 gives the email address that you might be able to source (blag) one from,or there is a Swift Forum that you might be able to find more as I understand they are standard on many Swift vans now.

Many thanks to Parksy for sorting out my messy posting

One forum member used to find many obscure items and post links he did find a much cheaper version but I cant find the post I'll keep looking though

 

[Gagakev]

Wow did'nt realise there was so much just to have a shower,
but thanks to all you good folks for all the tips

Dave thanks for looking but dont worry yourself over it, if as you say they are common on swifts I'm sure I can look in the dealers store tomorrow and find out what they are like, Presume they are a standard fit,but will check it out Thanks again,

On another note do you know where the "LINK MAN" went havent seen or heard from him in a long while?

 

[Lord Braykewynde]

Surely that's common sense isn't it?

Unfortunately not all are blessed with it although I'm sure Kev is but he isn't the only person who will read the thread

 

[Parksy]

........On another note do you know where the "LINK MAN" went havent seen or heard from him in a long while?

'Sprocket' used to be the guy who enjoyed posting links on the old forum.
He jumped ship when the forum revamp took place, hope that he's ok

 

[Dustydog]

We swapped the shower head for a small fine spray head that lets less water through it. With electric and gas on we can both shower easily, we have an internal tank that auto fills from two aquarolls when not on mains water hook up. Our bathroom has a blown air heating vent. close all the other vents, turn the heating on and the shower experience is always warm and with the heating on full you can air dry and save on towels

Om
I don't have that on the Wyoming.
How does it work?

 

[OmOnWeelz]

When running our inboard tank the pump would race when the water level dropped and the noise it made was the indication to switch to outboard aquaroll. This often happened when the shower was in use, the manual switch to change to outboard pump and tank is outside the bathroom.
It's not really a sensible set up

and not very practical if you're on a pitch far from the water supply as we found in France with a pitch ovelooking the beach and a hike from the nearest tap. Re-routed the water pipe from outboard aquarolls directly to the inboard tank. Added float switches that turn on the outboard pump when water level reaches the pump and switches pump off when the tank is full.

Pal did the electrics set up for me.
If the main tank ran low when using the sinks with radio or TV on, the inboard tank pump could run dry without being noticed with the origianl factory system.

 

[Mike_S]

Hi All I've found a trigger operated shower head in the C.A.K. Tanks (web site www.caktanks.co.uk )catalogue p29 stock code DLTTSHC priced at £9-82. Saw something similar, if not identical, in my local branch of Discover for over £30!!
Mike