Using the Shower (1 Viewer)

RayandLinda

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We are new to motorhoming and bought our Autotrail Tracker last July. We are hoping to stay at a site at the end of July where they say they won't be opening the showers and toilets, so we have to use the one in our motorhome. (We live in Wales and the site is also in Wales, so just hoping we will be allowed to travel more than 5 miles by then). WE have never used the shower and are wondering is it complicated to use? We will have to get our manual out, but not sure how to get hot water etc. Sorry if I sound stupid, but we are learning all the time. Linda
 

Compactliner

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Buy a shower timer.....

Certainly relevant if you have teenage daughters who can drain an entire campsite when rinsing their hair:oops:
as well as being confined to our van on our drive (long story) we also have to be away on two mornings by 7:45....so I tried the Combi CP Plus timer system for the first time a few weeks back and its brill....wake up (woken by pesky alarm) to a tankful of piping hot water. saves us 20 odd mins...
 
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pappajohn

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If you shower as you do at home you're soon going to run out of hot water, and use water faster than normal.
When you get the heating sorted.... Get in the shower and get wet, water off and get soapy, water on and rinse. Do the same to wash hair.
Leaving water running will use 10ltrs of hot in no time.
 
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kevenh

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I just put the switch on and then had hot water. We didn't use electric, just the gas. Couldn't see electric symbol on the control panel so assume the hot water only runs off gas? Could be wrong. We need to go to a rally where I could ask people in person but impossible with social distancing lol
When you're on EHU the switch you found in the cupboard is likely to be the on/off switch for using mains power to heat water in the Truma
Ours has no indication it’s on mains. The water gets hot and the temperature dial is no longer used.

If we want to use gas, the mains switch stays off and then the control panel dials are back in use.

Your Truma Ultrastore looks exactly the same as ours but maybe it has a different model #
So it’s mains &/or gas that can power it.
12v is just for controls.
 
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SuperMike

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If you shower as you do at home you're soon going to run out of hot water, and use water faster than normal.
When you get the heating sorted.... Get in the shower and get wet, water off and get soapy, water on and rinse. Do the same to wash hair.
Leaving water running will use 10ltrs of hot in no time.

10Ltrs Uncle PPJ, Management can drop our 11g hot tank heater easily in one shower. Indeed I'm lucky if the 85g cold water tank lasts more than two days. On my own I can last at least a couple of weeks, and most of that is making tea.:rofl: :clap2::gum:

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RonnieA

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No, the pump is left on as this also pumps to the kitchen sink and bathroom sink. we have the usual mixer tap on the shower that controls the temperature of the shower water. We took off the existing shower head and replaced it with the trigger one. We open the shower mixers and use the trigger head to shower with. When finished we just turn off the shower at the mixer tap. The main pump is left on as it only operates when you open a tap. (y)ps
Like AXO66 above we put smalls in the shower as well and give them a good treading whilst showering ,does the job. 😍

"pump....only operates when you open a tap". The main mixer shower control IS a tap is it not? I'm confused. I was told not to use a trigger shower head as when I switch on the shower the pump starts.

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Sep 3, 2012
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Looks like a trigger shower head may not work on a microswitched system like most hymers have. per the comments below
all my vans have had a standard pump , which is switched on all the time and operates when a tap is opened so can use the trigger head similarly.


"pump....only operates when you open a tap". The main mixer shower control IS a tap is it not? I'm confused. I was told not to use a trigger shower head as when I switch on the shower the pump starts.

These shower heads are ok if you have a pressure activated pump but if the taps are on micro switch it's going to keep pumping when you switch your shower head off.

we bought a trigger head then realised they are no good if you have a microswitched pump ,weve gone back to soap rather than gel saving probably a dozen plastic bottles going to land fill evey year and its easier to wash off in the MH
 
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Jan 28, 2008
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we found that leaving the shower valve open and shut at the trigger caused the water from the boiler to get pushed into the main tank and also the pump is pumping against a closed head so not good

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m1ke1p

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As others have already mentioned, you will be using your water supply for the shower. Don't forget though, that your waste water from the shower will be filling up your grey tank.
 
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Sep 23, 2013
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There seems to be a lot of confusion in this thread about how motorhome water systems work. :unsure:

There are two different ways to turn the pump on & off & then there are pumps with different ways of working.

Pressure sensing.
There is only one switch in the system. It is a pressure sensing switch, which turns to pump on whenever the water pressure in the pipes drops. You open a tap, the pressure drops, the pump starts, then you close the tap, the pressure rises, the pump stops.

Advantage - less wiring, only one switch.
Disadvantage - if you get a leak anywhere, the pump will come on & empty the tank. Depending where the leak is, you now have a lot of water where you really don't want it. Prone to coming on expectantly for a few seconds in the middle of the night to maintain the pressure & waking you up.

Micro-switch controlled.
Normally, there is no pressure in the pipes. There is a switch on every tap that closes when you open the tap. That starts the pump.

Advantage - less problems if a leak occurs. No 'hunting' issues as the system tries to maintain pressure.
Disadvantage - more switches, more wiring, more points of failure.

Pumps.
I don't know much about pumps, especially positive displacement pumps, so some of this is conjecture. Let's start with the easy ones. These are submerged turbine or centrifugal pumps. Effectively just a fan blade that pushes the water down the pipe as it spins. Usually used with the micro-switched systems. The fan/turbine blades are not a tight fit in the housing, so if they are running but there is nowhere for the water to go, they just spin in the housing & the water swirls back around the blades. A waste of power & adds to the run time of the pump, so wears it out faster, but not a major problem. Should be ok to use with a shower head trigger that doesn't have a micro-switch to turn the pump off, so long as you don't leave it running for hours. This is how my van was supplied from new. 6 years on it's still all working fine.

I assume most pressure sensing systems use a diaphragm pump. These have an inlet & an outlet valve & a diaphragm that moves back & forth to suck water in one valve & push it out through the other. These will be less tolerant of the water having nowhere to go, but in a pressure sensing system, the rise in pressure would have turned the pump off. I imagine these pumps are designed with a pressure relief bypass or sufficient 'give' in the diaphragm to withstand a short time of pumping into a closed pipe, but I doubt it is a recommended way of running them.

So it would appear that the only situation where a shower head trigger is not recommended would be a micro-switch controlled system fitted with a positive-displacement (diaphragm) pump with no pressure relief bypass. I don't suppose there are many of those, but I'll bet there are some.

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Jan 5, 2020
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How long do you heat the water for before you can use it for a shower.?
Do you leave it on overnight or just turn it on in the morning.?
 
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Sep 3, 2012
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We just turn ours on as and when we need it, well a half hour before if we are on gas and overnight on ehu.
To reduce gas consumption we use the kettle for washing up etc, clothes and hand and face washing. Only use the boiler for showers. Depends on gas availability, LPG. (y)
 
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Compactliner

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a Truma Combi E heats a full 10 ltr tanks in about 25 mins when using EL 2 (1800w) power.....obviously far longer (50 mins) for EL 1 (900w).
using gas (the gas burner uses the 2kw setting by default) its a fraction quicker than EL 2.....as there is a tad more power....so, say, 20 mins.
10 ltrs of 60 deg hot mixed with some cold to bring down to a usable temp will give about 15 ltr of avalable shower water...
from our experienve id say i use about 6 ltr for the first shower leaving OH about 9 ltrs in which to luxuriate....shes never run out of hot water, so two hot showers from one tank is certainly possible

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Mar 23, 2012
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Just one thing about what product to use in the shower ... some shower gels can be a b*gger to rinse off and take ages using loads of water in the process, so it might be worth doing some 'testing' at home first to see which is the quickest one for the MH.
We always squegee after each use and spray with daily shower cleaner works really well.
 
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Mar 23, 2012
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Any tips for a plastic trigger shower head some of the one's recommended here are brass I can just see us forgetting to take it off when traveling and cracking the tray.
 
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Langtoftlad

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I always seem to run out of hot water :( even with a trigger shower head...

...perhaps because there's quite a lot of me to wet... and then rinse :unsure:

I shall revisit my Truma CP to see if I actually do have it on optimum settings.

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There seems to be a lot of confusion in this thread about how motorhome water systems work. :unsure:

There are two different ways to turn the pump on & off & then there are pumps with different ways of working.

Pressure sensing.
There is only one switch in the system. It is a pressure sensing switch, which turns to pump on whenever the water pressure in the pipes drops. You open a tap, the pressure drops, the pump starts, then you close the tap, the pressure rises, the pump stops.

Advantage - less wiring, only one switch.
Disadvantage - if you get a leak anywhere, the pump will come on & empty the tank. Depending where the leak is, you now have a lot of water where you really don't want it. Prone to coming on expectantly for a few seconds in the middle of the night to maintain the pressure & waking you up.

Micro-switch controlled.
Normally, there is no pressure in the pipes. There is a switch on every tap that closes when you open the tap. That starts the pump.

Advantage - less problems if a leak occurs. No 'hunting' issues as the system tries to maintain pressure.
Disadvantage - more switches, more wiring, more points of failure.

Pumps.
I don't know much about pumps, especially positive displacement pumps, so some of this is conjecture. Let's start with the easy ones. These are submerged turbine or centrifugal pumps. Effectively just a fan blade that pushes the water down the pipe as it spins. Usually used with the micro-switched systems. The fan/turbine blades are not a tight fit in the housing, so if they are running but there is nowhere for the water to go, they just spin in the housing & the water swirls back around the blades. A waste of power & adds to the run time of the pump, so wears it out faster, but not a major problem. Should be ok to use with a shower head trigger that doesn't have a micro-switch to turn the pump off, so long as you don't leave it running for hours. This is how my van was supplied from new. 6 years on it's still all working fine.

I assume most pressure sensing systems use a diaphragm pump. These have an inlet & an outlet valve & a diaphragm that moves back & forth to suck water in one valve & push it out through the other. These will be less tolerant of the water having nowhere to go, but in a pressure sensing system, the rise in pressure would have turned the pump off. I imagine these pumps are designed with a pressure relief bypass or sufficient 'give' in the diaphragm to withstand a short time of pumping into a closed pipe, but I doubt it is a recommended way of running them.

So it would appear that the only situation where a shower head trigger is not recommended would be a micro-switch controlled system fitted with a positive-displacement (diaphragm) pump with no pressure relief bypass. I don't suppose there are many of those, but I'll bet there are some.
Two points to add: the only time impeller pumps shouldn't be run continuously is if they are "dry" (tank empty or pump out of the water). They are cooled by being immersed and their bearings are water-lubricated so continual wet running does little harm. Impeller submersible pumps operate perfectly successfully with a pressure-switched system. The only extra is a one-way valve on the pump outlet. Some Hymers (maybe all Hymers) use this system. Converting to a pressure system is incredibly simple and cheap in terms of both plumbing and wiring.
 
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Minxy

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We always squegee after each use and spray with daily shower cleaner works really well.
I was talking about getting the gel off your own body so I hope you aren't doing this on yourself! :oops:
 
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Sep 3, 2012
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Any tips for a plastic trigger shower head some of the one's recommended here are brass I can just see us forgetting to take it off when traveling and cracking the tray.
Ours is plastic but I still secure it with a good rubber band, cheap and replaceable.
I wouldn't want a brass one as it may be too heavy for the head support. (y)
 
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May 26, 2016
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I bet no-one else has thought of this.....i removed the sprinkler from the shower head and put a dab of evo stick over alternate holes. reduce water use by 50%. I hardly noticed the difference in cleaning power. You can then shower at a more relaxed pace. Way more water left in the tank after the shower too.

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Compactliner

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we replaced our std Carthago one (small head) with a larger headed 'Camel' one which sucks in aire and seems to hive a very healthy pressure yet is frugal with water....hence Camel?
 
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RayandLinda

RayandLinda

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When you're on EHU the switch you found in the cupboard is likely to be the on/off switch for using mains power to heat water in the Truma
Ours has no indication it’s on mains. The water gets hot and the temperature dial is no longer used.

If we want to use gas, the mains switch stays off and then the control panel dials are back in use.

Your Truma Ultrastore looks exactly the same as ours but maybe it has a different model #
So it’s mains &/or gas that can power it.
12v is just for controls.
Thank you. Had a practice again today and the water didn't get hot 😒so going to try again tomorrow when we fill it back up again with water 👍
 
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I think they should be called 'trauma' controlers, those sodding symbols on the dials all look like gas but are electric???? no wonder people get confused. If you don't know, you don't know. I know I didn't know, but now I know I didn't know, I know I'm bloody glad that I now know that I know.
We were caravanners for 40 odd years and been motorhomers for last 7 and still get confused with those symbols.

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