Show your slick solar showers

[melodiousdirge]

The last 3 years I've used a cheap solar shower I bought at the hardware store for like $10 or less. It consists of a pvc bag that's black on one side and clear on the other, presumably so the sun can enter and be absorbed by the side exposed to the water. It has a little hose with a pinch clip to start and stop the water flow. To be honest, it's been perfectly adequate - it's done the job it's supposed to do without any major problems. It's kind of wrecked now though and before I just replace it I thought maybe I could do something a little nicer. The bag is sloppy and messy and inconvenient. It works but it's not exactly nice to use. I thought maybe of putting a black rubbermaid on the roof of my trailer or something with a better hose, but I thought I'd ask here what's worked for people.

Something I did last year when it was both my gf and I using the water was to paint one of my fresh water jugs black and sit it in the sun as well so I'd have warm water to fill the bag back up with, and that worked just fine - climbing up my dome and taking down the solar bag, sloppily refilling it and then trying to hang it back up was a severe pain in the ass though.

Anyone got some nice slick solar shower installations they made to bring? I have 12v power and I actually have some old aquarium pumps around, so I could potentially do some kind of recirculating system or at least something that pumps the water up to the solar heated "tank" so I don't have to fumble around with 5 gallon jugs 8 feet off the ground.

[FIGJAM]

If you're not dependent on gravity feed you could eliminate the reservoir by using a coil of black irrigation hose.

This will provide hot water on demand almost anytime during the day, and I would throw a blanket over the coil when not in use so it won't scald you.

You'll have to test what length of hose to use for temp control because by the time the water passes through 50' of black hose in the sun it will probably burn you.

[trilobyte]

Ooh, that's brilliant, Figjam! We've used a fountain pump in a bucket to power our shower over the years, but that's still left us with the issue of warming up the water before we dump it into the shower bucket.

[FIGJAM]

If it's going straight into a bucket you may want to slow the flow a little so the water gets time to heat, but test, test, test.

Don't burn your burners!

[LowePro]

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Liking these ideas! Personally, I find the solar shower bag to have low pressure and generate a lot of waste water, and I don't mind a cool shower, so we use a garden pump-sprayer, easily modified with a longer hose and a 90 degree angle adapter on the sprayer tip (from the copper pipe section of the hardware store). The pump-sprayer sits in a kiddie pool and we use a homemade PVC stand to run the hose up and hold the sprayer wand tip about 6 feet high. Pump it up 20 to 30 times and you have decent pressure but low flow for a nice shower. Make sure the pump-sprayer has a little "locking" tab on it so it will stay in the ON Position while you shower. No electricity required. Did some testing this weekend and a 5 minute shower was 1 gallon of water. Could be even less if you turn if off to soap up.

I will steal your idea to paint the sprayer jug black and let it soak up some sunlight. We could also do a 2 stage process; let the water heat up in a solar shower bag, then dump into the pump sprayer. But I actually like a cool shower during the heat of the day.

[DoctorIknow]

It consists of a pvc bag that's black on one side and clear on the other, presumably so the sun can enter and be absorbed by the side exposed to the water.

I love it...."presumably"....

The debate ("Black or clear side up") is a burner constant, with everyone certain they are correct.
Printed instructions differ on different brands, offering both suggestions.

BTW, anyone buying a cheapo, better get two, and not fill them up completely, as the handle will rip the vinyl apart. Also, try to find one with the valve NOT connected to the bag, but at the end of the hose. Also, a "push-pull" valve works better with one hand then a lever valve.

And now, a too long video on reasonable test of "black or clear" facing the sun:

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[melodiousdirge]

It consists of a pvc bag that's black on one side and clear on the other, presumably so the sun can enter and be absorbed by the side exposed to the water.

I love it...."presumably"....

The debate ("Black or clear side up") is a burner constant, with everyone certain they are correct.
Printed instructions differ on different brands, offering both suggestions.

BTW, anyone buying a cheapo, better get two, and not fill them up completely, as the handle will rip the vinyl apart. Also, try to find one with the valve NOT connected to the bag, but at the end of the hose. Also, a "push-pull" valve works better with one hand then a lever valve.

And now, a too long video on reasonable test of "black or clear" facing the sun:

[media]

[/url]

Interesting! As a side note I think the vein of discussion matches hilariously with your username

I like the idea of an on-demand coil but I agree it might get TOO hot. I could possibly blend with cold but now you're talking about a lot of complexity for a damn shower. I think I might duplicate but scale up the hanging bag idea, using a black rubbermaid with a greenhouse tinted/clear cover, put that up on top of my trailer and use pvc hard pipe or a short garden hose to get it over to where my shower is. Should at least get better on/off control with a hose nozzle.

[FIGJAM]

You can control the temp by shading part of the coil with a space blanket, or anything for that matter.