Portable washdown/shower

C

C-WEED

New member
I saw a small add in a magazine about these portable pumps under the "Rule" brand. They say they are good for salt/fresh water and even diesel fuel transfer. For washing down the deck or to shower with. Can be dropped over the side to pump whatever water your floating in. With aligator clips it runs off 12 volt battery.

This link has several versions:

http://www.rule-industries.com/products ... /index.htm

Seems like it would work good for dropping in a warm container of water without trying to attach a sun shower at the highest point for gravity feed.

Has anyone tried one?
 
If you want simple and inexpensive for a shower/wash down, we used a garden sprayer on our trimaran. Paint the one gallon tank black, fill it with water, put it in the sun, and in very little time you have warm/hot water. Pump the pressure up, and use the wand with a push bottom. One gallon doesn't sound like much, but with the pressure, it was plenty for a shower and hair washing. Total investment: less than $20. Also worked good for washing the deck.

We also used a Zodi portable propane water heater/pump for evening showers... a little more set up than the bug sprayer: pour water into the container, turn on the battery operated pump, fire up the propane heater... let the water recirculate into the container and in a few minutes you have hot water. The pump uses a couple D batteries and the propane is the small camp canisters. Around $100.

http://www.zodi.com/web-content/Consume ... hower.html

I haven't tried the Rule shown in your post, but these are some alternatives that work and are easy, self-contained, and compact.

Best wishes,
Jim B.
 
C-WEED":bcznb8k6 said:
I saw a small add in a magazine about these portable pumps under the "Rule" brand. They say they are good for salt/fresh water and even diesel fuel transfer. For washing down the deck or to shower with. Can be dropped over the side to pump whatever water your floating in. With aligator clips it runs off 12 volt battery.

This link has several versions:

http://www.rule-industries.com/products ... /index.htm

Seems like it would work good for dropping in a warm container of water without trying to attach a sun shower at the highest point for gravity feed.

Has anyone tried one?
Click to expand...
I like it, attach to the batteries in the Laz and through the pump overboard. Still sitting on the fence with regards to drilling another hole in my boat, this may be just the ticket for fish cleaning and cockpit rinse down; like the shower idea also.

Thanks for the link,
 
Breausaw
How about matching the plug for the electric downrigger and plugging the
overboard pump in there.
Roger
That portable from Cabelas has all kinds of benefits. No drain on boat water tank, refillable fresh water instead of salt water, extra water if the boat water tank runs short, I like it.
 
GOYO":2012hypa said:
Breausaw
How about matching the plug for the electric downrigger and plugging the
overboard pump in there.
Click to expand...

That would work if I had an electric downrigger, don't even have a hand cranker model.. Could plug into my battery tender quick connecter though. :idea

Jay
 
C-WEED":2mx3qhkk said:
I saw a small add in a magazine about these portable pumps under the "Rule" brand. They say they are good for salt/fresh water and even diesel fuel transfer. For washing down the deck or to shower with. Can be dropped over the side to pump whatever water your floating in. With aligator clips it runs off 12 volt battery.

This link has several versions:

http://www.rule-industries.com/products ... /index.htm

Seems like it would work good for dropping in a warm container of water without trying to attach a sun shower at the highest point for gravity feed.



Has anyone tried one?
Click to expand...


West Marine has the Whole Kit on sale at 79.99. My Anchorage store has them in stock so I’m going to buy one tonight and check it out.
Plan on tossing the pump in a bucket of water to see how she works.
If the results are favorable it could save me from drilling another hole in the boat for a wash down.
Figure on extended weekends we could toss it in a bucket of worm water and take a shower.
Could change out the spray nozzle with one that adjusts to shower spray.
Just a thought..
 
Jim B,

Do you mean one of those 'pump up and down to get pressure' tanks that people use to put liquid fertilizers or bug spray in?

It sure would be nice to have something on board to get that scratchy salt water off my body after diving in.
 
C-Pelican":26qwatvg said:
Jim B,

Do you mean one of those 'pump up and down to get pressure' tanks that people use to put liquid fertilizers or bug spray in?

It sure would be nice to have something on board to get that scratchy salt water off my body after diving in.
Click to expand...

Yep. The venerable bug/garden sprayer. The one gallon variety. The ultimate in KISS technology. It worked great for taking a shower in the cockpit or out on the nets (when we wanted to scare the neighbors) of our trimaran. You get a lot more pressure than the typical solar shower. I could get a couple hair washings/showers out of a gallon, due to the pressure. Then, you could easily carry it around the boat to wash off grub/bird droppings. Pump it a few times and spray. Paint it black and it will get plenty warm sitting out in the sun.

These days, I really like the enclosed head on Wild Blue with the handy cabintop that holds a 5 gallon solar shower. Or the onboard water heater when it's cloudy or at night. The neighbors are happier, too. :wink:
 
Thanks Jim, that sounds like a GREAT idea and I already have one of those to spray the trailer wheels off with after ocean launches. But I use to leave it in the truck. Funny how solutions are often hitting you straight in the face and you cant see them....

It shall soon be painted black and stored aboard the C Pelican !

KISS is good.
 
C-Pelican":3thjwxdv said:
Thanks Jim, that sounds like a GREAT idea and I already have one of those to spray the trailer wheels off with after ocean launches. But I use to leave it in the truck. Funny how solutions are often hitting you straight in the face and you cant see them....

It shall soon be painted black and stored aboard the C Pelican !

KISS is good.
Click to expand...

What a great idea; another innovation achieved by necessity from a fellow C-brat.
My garden pump sprayer has a new purpose in life, thank you.
 
We have used both a sunshower and a 2 gallon garden sprayer setup for a while. A downside to the Sunshower is that the water cools quickly so you have to use it before it becomes a cold-water-in-a-bag shower.

We have tried hard to follow the KISS principle and especially not have anything that runs on non-12V (or better yet no batteries). I also looked at the Zodi, a nice unit, but held on to KISS. The Big Kahuna looks good to me because you can plug it in to any cig light socket and it holds a lot of water.
I attached a 7 foot hose to the garden sprayer and affixed a clip so that the sprayer / trigger unit can be quickly attached to the bimini cross brace over head. You can use the trigger for continuous or intermittent water delivery. We heat up water on the Wallas and add to the sprayer tank in cooler weather. We have privacy panels for the camperback and sometimes snap a shower curtain diagonally across the cockpit for more privacy and lots of room. The dri dek floor lets the shower water run to a bilge pump.
For boat washdown, fish cleaning and coffee pot cleaning duties, I added a washdown pump that can take water from the fresh water tank or from the water outside. I often wash the boat on the trailer from the fresh water tank while the grunge on the boat is moist and comes off easily. The bride likes to wash her hair from the washdown sprayer or the garden sprayer. Jury is still out on the best setup. Even a "Navy shower" using hot water from the Wallas is good.
:roll: :roll:
 
Zodi also has a stainless steel "bug spayer" unit that heats up with a propane burner. This is the ultimate KISS system. The burner unit can also be used as a fish fryer or shrimp boiler.
 
I've got the Zodi "bug spayer" and it's the best of all that I've tried. I use a short length of rubber hose to fill it off the sink spigot(3 gallons). Then I erect the burner and heat the water(on the cockpit floor). About 10-15 minutes for 120 degrees. Once heated I shower on the swimstep. A single 16.4 oz. propane bottle is good for three showers.
 
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