Adding a second outside shower?

[Jas]

My outside shower is located right at the electrical, water & sewer ports on my surveyor. This is nice if I want to rinse off the sewer, water & electrical cables before storage but useless and maybe a bit dangerous when at the campground. Aside from the trip hazzards, if there is a nick in the power cable the addition of wet skin in close proximity to electricity is a huge concern. I am changing the sprayer head/hose out to a quick connect garden hose for the clean up purposes but was looking for info on adding a new shower near the door. When we come back from the beach it would be nice to rinse our feet off before tracking the sand into the camper.

The hot water heater is near the door so running new water lines shouldn't be a problem anywhere along that wall, I'll just stab the cold supply and the hot outlet lines. My problem is where to find a shower unit small enough to fit without a big o'l box sticking inside the camper. Any ideas?

[dimurrrw]

Originally Posted by Jas

When we come back from the beach it would be nice to rinse our feet off before tracking the sand into the camper.
My problem is where to find a shower unit small enough to fit without a big o'l box sticking inside the camper. Any ideas?

I understand your concerns. But why do you need hot water to rinse off your feet at the beach? On those occasions what I do is simply carry an extra hose of appropriate length, put a "Y" on the faucet and add a hose nozzle. There are many variations on the theme. Then I can put out fires, rinse feet, people, car windshields, outdoor furniture, children, dogs, cats, etc, etc. Problem solved!

[Jas]

It's a nicity is all. That and I wouldn't have to hook up another garden hose. I may end up hard plumbing a hose spigot off the camper's water main to avoid having to run a pressurized garden hose under or around the camper. I could use it as a secondary city water connection at the house when it's in storage too.

[2Susan]

What I did on the last trip where sandy & dirty feet were a huge issue was 1/4 fill a large dishpan with water and a small squirt of dish soap. A scrubby pad floated waiting for little children (and mommy and daddy) feet for a quick dip. A folded towel sitting next to the dishpan was enough for drying.

I also use the prefilled dishpan trick for handwashing. A smaller dishpan with water and dishsoap sits on the picnic table for handwashing before and after eating. The dishes after scraping go through the same water which takes off most of the crud sort of a prewash. The dishes then go into a wash dishpan and then a rinse dishpan. As the rinse water becomes soapy it becomes the wash water with a squirt of dish detergent. I use the empty clean prewash dishpan with fresh water for rinsing. The 3 pan idea is left over from scout camping where large amounts of dishes mean the same wash/ rinse water won't last for all the dishes.

I guess dishpans are my current favorite tote/ mulitiuse item on board.

We've been putting the kiddie plastic picnic table next to the door. There is a long enough bench for all three kiddos to take off shoes and it's study enough for adults to perch on the table top. So right now shoes come off before we go inside.

[NWJeeper]

Jas I don't think you are going to find such an item. Since most RV walls are only around 2" thick you would have an issue with even just a wand fitting in that kind of space let alone one of the outside shower boxes that are available. Is there a storage compartment nearby that you could run your plumbing to and keep the spray wand inside of?

Our outside shower is in the same compartment with our water connections and sewer drains. We like to use it to wash the dogs outside (although they don't like it much) after a run on the beach so they don't get the sand in the rig. I would just prefer a little longer hose but that could be easily remedied.

You should probably look into taking care of that nick on the power cord too as it could present a shock hazard if it's raining outside.

[Jas]

the power cord thing is hypothetical but it could happen especially with foot traffic in the area. All it would take is some kid cutting through on a bike and an ill placed stone to start a tear in the power cord insulation.
I'm paranoid about these sort of things it's the engineer in me.

I have a bar with a 6" deep cabinet as the back to the dinnet seat. The dinnet seat happens to be the one that hides the hot water heater. That's where I would stab something like this in if anywhere. It's only 2' of plumbing hot & cold and within a foot of the front door. I was looking for a shower& box that is less than the 6ish inches I have to work in.

[GeoMiklas]

I've installed outside showers in two other TTs. Consider your locations such as opposite the bathroom vanity or kitchen sink. Obviously, these places have the most wasted space and you can tuck in the full-size auxiliary shower box with no problems. These locations are also high on the outside wall.

Measure TEN times, cut only once.

If you are going through Mercer, PA, I would be happy to take a look at it for you and even help you install it. I'm pretty good with the plumbing, having all of the PEX tools and fittings right here at my house.

[Jas]

Thanks for the offer but I won't be in PA for a few months.

As far as location goes, I already have an outside shower cut into the bathroom vanity. That's the one that's immediately above the sewer hose between the water connection and power cord. The kitchen in the SV291 is on the slide out 4' away and I really don't like the idea of any plumbing in the slide but the wife loved the layout....

My next best option was near the hot water heater. Even if I get a piece of copper, a boiler valve (garden hose spigot) and a chunk of pex to splice into the cold side of the heater circuit I will be ahead, at least mentally. The wife just wants it to look pretty and of course work.

It's a neat feature to have it's just not conveniently located for our needs.

[GeoMiklas]

Originally Posted by Jas

Thanks for the offer but I won't be in PA for a few months.

As far as location goes, I already have an outside shower cut into the bathroom vanity. That's the one that's immediately above the sewer hose between the water connection and power cord. The kitchen in the SV291 is on the slide out 4' away and I really don't like the idea of any plumbing in the slide but the wife loved the layout....

My next best option was near the hot water heater. Even if I get a piece of copper, a boiler valve (garden hose spigot) and a chunk of pex to splice into the cold side of the heater circuit I will be ahead, at least mentally. The wife just wants it to look pretty and of course work.

It's a neat feature to have it's just not conveniently located for our needs.

Well you can take your idea of the boiler valve.....find the low point drains under your trailer. If yours are capped, you can run a hose from the cold low point drain to run your valve. This way, you are not cutting through the filon.

Personally, I don't like the outdoor shower mounted loo low. My first outdoor shower was installed at Camping World in Kissimmee FL. I told the service manager where "I" wanted the shower mounted. Instead, they mounted it where it would be easy for "them" to connect into the plumbing. As a result, when I was in a site that was tongue high/bumper low, the outdoor shower was practically unsuable. So about 6 months later, I got up the gusto to cut my first hole in my new trailer. Remember, measure 10 times, cut once. I had no problem plumbing inside the bathroom vanity, just like "I" told CW to put it the first place. The hole they made was made larger for a compartment door under the bunk.

I put an outdoor shower in my second TT, and located it behind the kitchen sink. Outside, it was located about mid-coach, and the height was just below the counter top.

[Jas]

I love the low point drain idea. Thanks, I'll try to run with that as it will just be a JIC style elbow, length of hose and a spigot or 2 depending on whether or not I add hot water to the mix. I'll have to jerry rig up a short hose and shower head holder to get the height to make it useable as a shower though. Might need 2 holders on the side of the camper as the wife is conciderably shorter.

[GeoMiklas]

Originally Posted by Jas

I love the low point drain idea. Thanks, I'll try to run with that as it will just be a JIC style elbow, length of hose and a spigot or 2 depending on whether or not I add hot water to the mix. I'll have to jerry rig up a short hose and shower head holder to get the height to make it useable as a shower though. Might need 2 holders on the side of the camper as the wife is conciderably shorter.

Bear in mind.....if you have plain-jane pex hanging down with the little drain valves above the floor with the little keyring type puller, this will not work. Your drains must be pressurized right to the caps at the bottom of the drain.

[Jas]

They aparently didn't have any isolation valves in the bin the day they built my camper. All of my plumbing is either dead headed with a cap or at an appliance so I should be good to go in that respect. I work as a hydraulics engineer for the Navy, we like 2-3 isolation valves between everything, at both ends, just in case!

[MrT]

Originally Posted by 2Susan

I also use the prefilled dishpan trick for handwashing. A smaller dishpan with water and dishsoap sits on the picnic table for handwashing before and after eating. The dishes after scraping go through the same water which takes off most of the crud sort of a prewash. The dishes then go into a wash dishpan and then a rinse dishpan. As the rinse water becomes soapy it becomes the wash water with a squirt of dish detergent. I use the empty clean prewash dishpan with fresh water for rinsing. The 3 pan idea is left over from scout camping where large amounts of dishes mean the same wash/ rinse water won't last for all the dishes.

I guess dishpans are my current favorite tote/ mulitiuse item on board.

2Susan, that's a great & simple solution. For large feet like mine, the dishpan can be a little tight. Sam's Club has restaurant-grade bus tubs that are sturdy for tote use, and are a bit larger for footwashing duty.

[Herk7769]

Originally Posted by MrT

2Susan, that's a great & simple solution. For large feet like mine, the dishpan can be a little tight. Sam's Club has restaurant-grade bus tubs that are sturdy for tote use, and are a bit larger for footwashing duty.

I made my double battery box out of two of those!

[2Susan]

Originally Posted by MrT

2Susan, that's a great & simple solution. For large feet like mine, the dishpan can be a little tight. Sam's Club has restaurant-grade bus tubs that are sturdy for tote use, and are a bit larger for footwashing duty.

I'm really liking your suggestion for bus tubs. I was thining of bringing a plastic motar mix tub but it's a bit big. The bus bins may also fit on the floor of our shower.

The closest Sam's Club is in Great Falls, Montana - a 5 hour drive in a car, and a border crossing. Costco (which we do have in Alberta) does not have the restaurant supply sort of items (and of course is much more expensive). I think next week when we take our big trip it will swing past a Sam's Club with the addition of some bus tubs on the list! Thank you.

[2Susan]

Originally Posted by herk7769

I made my double battery box out of two of those!

I'd like to see a picture of how you did that. Very interesting!