Plumbing with Rainwater: Off Grid Shower Build - Part 3 (Update in Description)
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- Опубліковано 9 чер 2022
- UPDATE video posted after first winter: • Checking the Off Grid ...
Also I decided to replace the 5 micron filter you see in this video with a new 1 micron Activated Carbon filter: amzn.to/41WmDIF - to help reduce potential pathogens and improve odor.
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This is #3 in a series of videos where I rebuild an outdoor off-grid shower for my campsite. From faux tile, wood trim, rain catchment gutters, plumbing the pump and filtration system, and some low voltage electrical - this should keep me busy with videos to edit for a while.
IN THIS EPISODE: I figure out how to work with PEX plumbing system, how to install the pump, water filter, pressure accumulation tank, and all the various pieces of the plumbing puzzle needed to get the hot and cold running shower working. All the major elements of this project can be found on Amazon:
PARTS USED:
• Pump: amzn.to/3oQmzwn
• Accumulator Tank: amzn.to/3oJxbwK
• Clear Filter Unit: amzn.to/3LDUe53
SPECIALTY TOOLS USED:
• My favorite Forstner drill bit set: amzn.to/41V57oj
• Step-up metal hole drill bits: amzn.to/3Mlvaz8
• Pex Crimp Kit: amzn.to/40Om8Qp
Anything else you're curious about just ask in the comments and I'll do my best to help.
As is often the case, it's my first time doing any of this stuff, I hope you enjoy watching me muddle through it!
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DISCLAIMER: This video is not a sponsored or paid endorsement. If I share an opinion or mention a product, tool, or service it's entirely my personal opinion and is not influenced by the companies behind those products or services in any way.
LINKS: Most of the links I post here are just me trying to be helpful. Sometimes the URLs I share will be affiliate links, which means that if you end up buying something from one of the links after seeing me talk about it, it's possible I'll receive a small commission, and as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Thank you in advance for using these direct links and supporting the channel. - Навчання та стиль
Great job on both the plumbing as well as the video recording and editing.
I’ve watched several videos on diy but yours has been the best and easiest explanation
Wow. Thank you. 🙏 I really appreciate the support. :)
I was told to have a on/off control on both sides of the main screw on filter. Looking good
Oh interesting, I wonder why. Maybe to reduce back flow when you have to change the filter? 🤔 May be a smart move.
I am to the point to add a shower from my rain catchment system. Great video!
Excellent! I’m glad it’s been useful for people. The one thing I would change having some time to take a step back… I would include a first flush in the catchment system. I’m not sure it would stop the water going bad but it might delay it. If I used it more often it might not be an issue, but if had a couple of showers where I felt like I needed a shower afterwards. 😂 I also recently swapped out the 5 micron filter for a 1 micron filter instead. And I’m still researching what I can add to the water to keep it fresh but not damage the soil when I drains into the ground. Open to ideas on that one. Thanks for watching! :)
This video is very helpful to me. I'm building an off-grid shower as well and wasn't sure how to plumb everything. Thank you for filming the process.
Oh great! I’m glad it was at least somewhat helpful. I’m certainly no expert, but I’m learning as I go. Sadly winter came just two weeks after our first real rain since the summer drought. I had to drain and winterize the system before I really got to use it. Tipping out 50 gallons of fresh rainwater was heartbreaking.
Feel free to come back here and add a new comment if you run into any questions. Or hit me up on Instagram. Thanks for watching! :)
@@lumberingshenanigans Thank you. I will.
Awesome video. Exactly what I needed. Thank you sir!
I subscribed thank you for sharing
Thanks! I subscribed right back! Your shower under the trellis looks so dope! So much simpler when you have a real water source already. :)
Hello Mate thanks for sharing. I have a very similar set up for my cabin and a couple of suggestions, I would put a fireproof backer board behind the hot water heater. Something made a nest in ours which created a scary flame out. Also would put in some sort of drain at the lowest point for quicker winterization.
Two very good suggestions! For drainage I unscrew the filter (which is at the lowest point) open all the faucets, and everything drains easily. I’d like to do an air blast too, but I don’t have a compressor.
Excellent job 👍 I think I will copy it. Cheers
Thanks! Glad you found it useful. Before you head to the store, check out my follow up video after the first winterization. I upgraded the filter to a 1 micron carbon filter. Thanks for watching!
Nice work man!
Thanks! I did a post-winter follow up, where I switched to a different kind of filter if you’re building something similar, I now recommend a charcoal 1 micron filter cartridge instead. And somewhere in this (or that) comment threads there’s a whole conversation about ozone treatment and better pump options. Let me know if you have trouble finding it. Thanks for watching. :)
this video is excellent. ty
Thank you! I still haven’t had many chances to use it since winter kicked in before I had time to go camping last fall. But I’m really looking forward to spring! :)
Honestly as a plumber those brass parts are what I like using you shouldn’t have a problem with expansion and contraction . The pex is forgiving in temperature fluctuations .
Oh that’s great! Thank you. Freezing seems to be the single biggest issue with plumbing anything in an off-grid situation. Even indoor pipes and fixtures can freeze if a structure isn’t heated over winter. Someone needs to invent a rubber faucet. :)
He wasn't talking about the brass fittings expanding in the pex, his concern was the brass fittings in the plastic housing of the filter
Ah… yes that’s true. My concern was about the metal screw fittings shrinking/expanding in the plastic connections of the pump, filter, and accumulator tank. As soon as winter is done causing trouble and spring arrives I’ll be able to hook it all back up and see if anything broke. In retrospect I didn’t do the best job planning the pipes to allow for east draining, but I think I got most of the water out of the system in time.
i just got the same pump and filter set up. I havent hooked it up yet, glad to see the system works
Hey. Great! I hope it comes together as easily as mine did. My one regret is the noise. If I were starting over I would try and find a way to mount everything to concrete blocks or bricks or something less resonant than a giant panel of plywood. 🤣 Thanks for watching!
@@lumberingshenanigans thank you for the heads up. I am going to try to mount mine under the cabin to something solid
Oh yeah if it’s for a cabin I would definitely mount it to something that isn’t directly connected to the structure of the cabin or you’ll hear it loud. Also I’d look into a much bigger accumulator tank so the pump doesn’t need to work every time you run a tap. I think SeaFlow make 2 and 5 gallon versions. Either would be good for a cabin I’d think.
@@lumberingshenanigans oh really? Thank you for that. I was thinking just putting the pump on a switch and turning it on just when I needed it
This pump (and most boat/rv pumps I think) will turn itself off when the pressure reaches a certain threshold. So you just leave them turned on (off when you leave) and they will kick on when needed. Without an accumulator tank the pump will have to turn on, build pressure, and turn off every time you open a faucet, even for a moment. With a tank, the pump build pressure once, the tank holds X amount of water at that pressure, and the pump only works when they tank drops. So maybe you could run a sink for a couple of minutes without the pump needing to turn on. Fewer cycles, less stress, less noise, longer life, etc.
This is one of the best off grid show or videos out there. I will be doing this exact type of thing at my cabin this summer. Which hot water heater brand do you have? I have an Eco temp, but I like that yours vents in a circular pattern off the top instead of the entire top of the unit.
Wow! Thank you for saying that, always a pleasure to hear that I’m doing something right. :)
The shower has been a game changer out in the forest. I received the basic structure of the shower house as a hand-me-down from a neighbor, so I’m not entirely sure on the model number of the heater. But it’s a Marey, and they have a whole line of ducted units like this one. Let me know if you have any other questions. I’m getting ready to post a spring update on this plumbing job after going through its first winter, so stick around. :) Thanks again for the compliment, and for watching!
@@lumberingshenanigans I spent the day working on my on-demand water system. Instead of using pex I am using braided hose. After about two hours worth of work and three trips to the hardware store the system is working flawlessly. It looks very similar to yours, minus the filter. I don’t yet have the water heater in the system but it’s just a matter of plugging it in basically. The only difference with using the braided hose is you need to use hose clamps and tighten them up as much as you can to keep them from leaking with the high pressure. thanks again, I appreciate your step-by-step video. It was the best one I was able to find on the system I wanted.
Great video! I am curious to see how much water comes out the shower head when both hot and cold water turned on.
Thank you. :). And I’ll have to double-check, but I think the pump and the shower head are pretty evenly matched at around 1.8 gallons per minute flow rate. So the bottleneck is a deliberate flow restriction. The idea being to conserve the limited water supply, I also have a timer switch on the pump that cuts the water off after about 3-4 minutes. So at most you could use 5-7 gallons of water per press. Hopefully less. That’s still only about 10 showers per tank of rain collected. The tank needs about one inch of rain to refill. So far it’s been more than enough for how often it gets used.
But I do have a second barrel ready to hook up, which I might do if more people come to camp and we start to run out.
Thanks for watching!
great video, very helpful. Can you connect, say a sink faucet's hot water from that same hot water heater? Or is another heater preferred? thanks
Thank you! You could, but… a little story; I used to live in a house with a whole house tankless water heater, it worked great for most things, baths, showers, dishes, etc. But the one place it always felt like a fail was the hot tap in the bathroom sink. Typically I’d only turn on that tap for 5-20 seconds. This isn’t enough time for water to get to the tap from the heater. It takes about a 20-30 seconds of full gas flame for the heater to get up to temp, and the length of pipe between there and the tap holds more than the 1/4 gallon needed to quickly rinse hands. So I never got hot water to reach the tap, and I used to imagine the utter waste of gas, emissions, and wear and tear on the heater’s complex valve system every time I used that sink. So in the end I diverted the cold to feed both inputs on the mixer tap and never thought about it again.
Long story short… if you intend to use the tap to fill buckets with gallons of hot water, or wash a muddy dog, then yes it will absolutely do that well and efficiently. If you just want to rinse your hands… it might be better to stick to cold only, and even better to install a flow restrictor and a small accumulation tank to feed that tap. This would be less likely to even trigger the pump, and would offer a more consistent and predictable pressure at the tap.
If you definitely need short bust on-demand hot water and happen to have grid power (or a big enough battery inverter) I would consider a tiny electric in-line under-sink heater instead. Here’s one I found for under $40: amzn.to/3Tea5f3 (affiliate link).
I hope that helps answers your question. Thanks for watching and commenting! :)
@@lumberingshenanigans thank you for the response. I was even considering that a little, and i think ill just try it with cold and see how it goes. Much appreciated!
At the beginning, I think you stated it was ran off of solar. Could you explain that setup/connection?
Sure, it’s a very simple setup. One panel, one 12v 100Ah battery, and a super cheap controller. Renogy has the kit for $99 (minus battery) Affiliate link: amzn.to/4cgeAfZ
Subscribed. Awesome vid; super helpful for my similar project. I'm hoping you can answer this question regarding the connection from the rain barrel to the first filter, since you're not really showing that section. Does the pump actively pull water from the barrel or does the barrel need to be higher, so it gravity feeds? My barrel will be located directly behind the wall with the pump, but I'd prefer the plumbing from the barrel run down and then back up through the floor to the pump. Also, are you just using a spigot and hose for that section? Any info is appreciated.
Hey, thanks for the question. It’s been a while so I’m not sure if any of these details show up in earlier “rain catchment” episodes, but in brief… the pump could certainly pull water from a barrel, even uphill several feet if it had to. But I think I’m doing exactly what you want to do, with the barrel at ground level and the pump slightly higher, with a hose spigot running under the building and back up through the floor. The rain barrel is about 3ft tall, so a full barrel will be pushing a fair amount of pressure without the pump anyway. I hope that helps. Feel free to ask for clarification if not and I’ll do my best. Thanks for watching!
And the two episodes from way back when I originally built the rain catchment might have some useful info too:
Building a Rain Catchment System - Part 1
ua-cam.com/video/ZZAxIedY3SQ/v-deo.html
Building a Rain Catchment System - Part 2
ua-cam.com/video/gTo9q2zSX2Y/v-deo.html
@@lumberingshenanigans Thank you so much for the info! Sounds like I'm on the right track. I think I watched your rain catchment vid, but will review those again as well. Keep up the great content.
You didn't show the heat vent how did you direct the air flow of the Exhaust?
You’re right! I actually didn’t install the water heater myself, it came with the structure as donated by my neighbors. But it vents up through the roof with a 6” or 4” pipe I forget which. I think you can see it in the episode where I install the gutters for the rain catchment system.
I'm curious to know why you have the inline expansion tank. I run my shower off a Seaflow pump without the tank with no issues, so want to know what the advantage is?
In theory it’s supposed to reduce the cycle frequency and wear on the pump, provide a more consistent and predictable pressure, and reduce noise. But it’s one of those things, I read about it and went for it without really knowing if it was necessary in my setup, so it may be overkill. 😏 As a side note, I originally started reading up on them when I was designing an irrigation system, most irrigation timers require pressure to open the valve, and pumps need a pressure drop to know when to start and stop, so without a tank maintaining pressure the system won’t function. Catch 22.
Hi there Sir, nice video. May i know if that pump "Camplux JK-3206P." could push the water in a 1 floor house (1 kitchen, 2 complete bathrooms and a laundry)? despite the brief time it should run. The distance would be about 25 meters (82 feet) from the water tank to the house water entrance 3/4 inch. Thanks in advance.
I’m not sure about the exact specs for this pump, but it’s really intended for portable intermittent low-flow use while camping. Hence the name CampLux. You’ll want a lot more GPM (gallons per minute) flow and a beefier pump.
Seaflo is a leading brand in the marine market, and they have one that’s rated 7GPM: amzn.to/44fjdC0 (affiliate link) which I’m considering for an off grid cabin build.
However, none of these “small” pumps are intended for 3/4” gauge pipe, and the drop in psi from 1/2” to 3/4 will be major. I’m sure there are much more substantial pumps that are intended for large residential situations like yours.
@@lumberingshenanigans Thanks for your reply, what i want to do is use it as a solar alternative 12v or at most 24v.
@ronaldd.1355 Yeah I agree with that, most pumps will work off that. And you could theoretically install a large accumulator tank upstairs and have the pump refill that slowly. Like a water tank in the attic in an old house. Or a water tower on the roof of a building in a city. A slower pump simply to trickle the water up to where gravity can help. Then you could use a second pump to pull from that if needed. Or a pressurized accumulator might do enough.
What are the psi & gpm of the water pump? I couldn't see what unit you had.
Hey, thanks for asking. It's a Camplux JK-3206P. Label says it's 6 liters/min (about 1.6gpm) and 65 psi. It's intended for short duty cycle, which works fine for a shower. And (despite the misinformation I got when I called Camplux support) It does indeed have a built-in shut-off when it reaches 65psi on the output, so I turn it on, and it runs until the pipes get to 65psi, then it goes to sleep. Open the faucet and it kicks on again. Post a new comment if you have any other questions so I get a new notification. Thanks!
Could you give me some details on what and where I could buy that particular water heater? I am concerned about buying a water heater and not being able to match the fittings. Everything else is well explained, so thank you.
Sure! Thanks for asking. The one pictures is by MAREY, I don’t know the exact model (it was an old hand me down and may not exist anymore) but it doesn’t really matter, they make a lot of models that will work well. Most appropriate models are specifically meant for “outdoor” use meaning they need to be housed in well ventilated spaces like this and will be cheaper and require less substantial infrastructure. Here are a few affiliate links:
Large: amzn.to/3PWbLHR
Medium: amzn.to/468xUs5
Small: amzn.to/457barb
There are dozens of options, from this brand (I like) and others. Some are even made to be ultra portable. The main things you’re looking for are:
-Propane (unless you have unlimited power, then go electric).
-Flow rate that matches/exceeds what you need from it. One water saving shower-head needs about 1.5-2 gpm so ALL models will work for just that.
-Double-check it takes batteries to run the ignition system (some meant for houses may need house power).
Make sure you don’t choose a model that has a HIGHER flow rate than your pump can reliably provide, it may overheat the water.
As far as fittings go, they’ve all been extremely standardized and all units that look anything like this will have the exact same fittings.
Let me know if you have any more questions. Thanks for watching. :)
I bought mine from ShowerKing. They do propane showers from 5ltrs/min for glamping, up to equine showers. Really reliable compared to the generic Chinese rubbish off Amazon.
ShowerKing are great! But only sold in the UK as far as I can tell. Tankless water heaters have been popular in the UK for decades longer than here in the US. We had one in the shower at my mum’s house in the ‘80s.
May I ask, how much you paid for it all?
I didn’t keep track since I was piecing it all together over many months of research and figuring it all out. But the pex tool was $24, the accumulator was $40, the pump was $90, the filter housing was $36… the water heater was donated by my neighbor along with the basic structure, and the blue water barrel too actually… so idk I probably spent about $300 on the plumbing side? Maybe. Was there anything specific you’re curious about?
How much would this cost for someone to install?
I honestly don’t know. A lot of this shower was built around hand-me-downs, including the structure and the heater. But I probably spent $200 on electrical, maybe $500 on pump, filter, plumbing and fittings. That’s a guess though.
Hello I am copying this exact set up but I am having leaks on the bottom anything I can do ?
Leaks on the bottom of what part?
@@lumberingshenanigans of the water heater, sorry lol
It’s at the connections we have tried tightening with a wrench and with our hands and it’s still leaking
Did you use plumber's tape on the connections?
@@lumberingshenanigans yes we used tape and the pipe connected glue neither worked
Are you worried about freezing over the winter months?
Yes! It’s the biggest issue I face at my location. Hopefully I drained the whole system well enough back in November so nothing got broken. It’s been empty and disconnected from the gutters all winter but I’ll be turning it back on and crossing my fingers soon!
@@lumberingshenanigans You can give it a splash of eco friendly anti freeze and douche it out in the spring. Great video!
Thank you! :) When you say give it a splash, I’m wondering how much I would have to run through the system, and keep in the barrel to stop it freezing. I’m all ears.
@Lumbering Shenanigans if you're just looking to protect the pump and pipes, I don't think it would be much. Depends on which brand you use I would think too
Thanks. I’ll do some more research before next winter hits. I’m sure someone has figure this out for the glamping type places.