Surf Gadgets - Portable Electric Bucket Shower

[surfcowboy]

Ok, so with all the talk about hot water bottles etc, in the Winter threads, I figured it was time I posted this.

Tested for 2 winters in the frigid tundra of So Cal, I'm sure you can do better so post up your mods. This was rev 1 of what it looks like. A Home Depot bucket, insulated with an electric fountain pump from Harbor Freight and a sink sprayer attached.



Keep reading if you are curious. I fill it with hot water from my garage sink. It lasts several hours at least warm and is amazing after a surf. I put it in my car, the top seals and I have a strap to keep it from tipping. When I'm ready to rinse off, I have an inverter plugged into my lighter that I extend with an extension cord (kept under the passenger seat) to the back area. That tape near the sprayer is the best part. A magnet so I can dock it to my car and not have to lay it on the ground when I'm peeling the wetsuit.

Pump label - I think 200GPH from Harbor Freight. The sprayer throttles it and I get about 2-3 mins out of a half bucket.



Top seal - Cut out for electric cord, sealed with Duct Tape.



Lid fitting, not really necessary, you could just drill a hole and put a hose adapter in, but I'm geeky. Hardest things to find, the adapter parts to do this. Found them at OSH.



Top View of sprayer hose into lid.



Build one. It'll change your life if you're spoiled and handy like me.

[Tom]

I made  one similar, but used a 12 volt boat bilge pump that  I  could  plug into  my cigarette  lighter  socket . It worked  pretty  good .

[ninja tuna]

There was a kickstarter for something similar to this about a year or 2 ago but I have not seen anything about it since.

Great writeup though. Looks awesome.

I take one of those blue water jugs and fill it with hot water and it stays warm, even hot for several hours without any insulation.  That insulation is a good idea.

[surfcowboy]

I was never coordinated enough to keep those blue jugs from splashing everyone and everything for 10 feet.

And the bilge pump is a great idea too.

[chicagoflasup]

That would really suck if that 115 a/c v powerd pump just happens to leak and next thing u know u are geting a electrocuted  shower     make sure u use gfi outlet! dont need to lose a zoner.

[surfcowboy]

That's the great thing about car electrical, lots of fuses.

I have a power strip with a breaker in line too, so it's fairly isolated, but a good point about safety.

There's no metal anywhere in it. I'm fairly sure that you couldn't pass current through water drops but that might make a good Mythbusters episode!

[PonoBill]

I recently saw a very nice rack shower made out of a piece of 8 inch pipe about six feet long with plates welded on the ends. He had a hose with a sprayer end attached and a radiator fill nozzle that undoutedly gives him some overpressure protection. A shrader valve to pressurize it and the tank was painted black. Very nice fabrication job. Almost looked commercial, but probably not. Just a good fabricator/welder.

[surfcowboy]

Pono, that's a great idea. I dig the guys who use pipe to make tanks for their sprinters too.

[Off-Shore]

That is an awesome piece of engineering for a great cause. Nothing like a homemade piece of equipment that fulfils a need that nothing off the shelf can.

[mantaray]

Pono...it wasn't this was it??

http://www.roadshower.com/