Boiling Drinking Water While in a Van

Unless you want to boil it as you drive take along a propane cannister, good sized burner and a kettle. Otherwise quick boiling takes lots of power, and at 12V lots of power = lots of amps. You can't beat physics.

I bought a portable 2 cup kettle in 1970 (cigarette lighter plug) and it can also heat your hamburger for you in the attachment at the bottom. it can hook onto something,

It is quite fast and draws plenty of current, I only switch it on while driving. I still use it regularly.

Solar kettle?

In England?

A billy can resting on the red hot exhaust manifold provides lots of free heat to fry eggs, boil water, or cook a three course meal on...

I've never tried it though John

I like your thinking, trouble is that with modern engines you can barely see the manifold for all the covers and heat shields, let alone rest anything on it.

You might consider wrapping some coils around the catalytic converter. It gets a wee bit warmer than the rest of the exhaust system, and is generally right below the passenger compartment. Just dump a little water into the coils, wait for the geyser, and you have hot water. perhaps a pail with a tube on the bottom going to the coils and one entering the top for the hot water return would do the best.

Yeh, and a small 12v peristaltic pump could circulate the water...

Drill a couple of holes through the door for the pipes...or leave the window open and ...

Did try it! Doesn't work. Tried 20 different ways. Used to cook field mushrooms on the tractor exh. manifold whilst ploughing. There was a little flat bit on the casting. With butter and salt. Delicious. Cold climate tho', could keep the butter in the toolbox for a week OK. 1953-----.

Lots of little problems to overcome, esp. level, vibration, space, et al.

Did develop another way tho'. Can't tell you yet. Using wasted energy too.

Cheers

S

you didn't rule out stopping to boil water so here's something else

http://www.kellykettle.com/

how much water and how often?

Tea for two or two tons of tea?

Sorry, should have been more specific. Trying to boil enough water for about 6-8 mugs of water for hot drinks, i.e the kettle and stove I have has to go through the cycle twice. I figure a bigger kettle would take twice as long to boil so no real advantage as it take forever now!

Look at these here no boiling necessary.

http://www.rei.com/camping/TOC/Water+Treatment?cm_re=toc*toc*water_treatment&vcat=REI_SSHP_CAMPING_TOC

How would you make a jolly nice cup of tea with a water purifier then??

John

Tea is not the only reason that you boil water for. Some people boil water to purify it. If that was the case I was just suggesting an alternative. Then again maybe he wants to take a hot bath. Have had no problem with my gear boiling water when camping. White gas stoves do pretty well. During R&R whats the rush.

Boiling and filtering may not be the best to make water safe for drinking. It should be treated.

A trick we teach our poor is to add a bit of household bleach.

It is as effective as chlorine tablets.

From the field;

If you divert the greatest heat source on wheels (the engine) cooling system water to a heat exchanger with your "load" kettle on the other side of the exchanges you should bould water fairly fast by not sending water to the radiator.

How much boiling water do you need?

Mike

This was the kind of solution I was looking for. Have you done it? I don't have facilities to make a heat exchanger, is there anything suitable out there ? I'm guessing you'd then need to have a pump rather than rely on thermal syphoning?

Mike,

Whoa!!! The heat exchanger method works for getting HOT water. It won't boil it. Most modern vehicles run high 80's ( centigrade) thermostats. A few, 92-4 degC. Earlier ones, lower. like 74degC.

How the hell do you get boiling water from this?

You're going to have to push you vehicle to near the limit of it's system to get boiling water. So I guess, if you have a mountain to tow a trailer up? Maybe. The heat exchanger will only give boiling water out the non-coolant side if the coolant runs to about 105-108degC. This is due to extraneous heat loss in the system of hoses and pipes needed to hook all of this up so that it works. Not to mention heatloss through the body of the HX itself. Then there is the problem of expansion of the boiling water to cope with. It goes on, and on, and on--------.

Should you not wish to actually boil the water , things are much simpler.

Cheers,

S.

If you can find some solar tubes they will make significant amounts of boiled water in 4 minutes. (like a large fluorescent tube, but clear on one side, mirrored on the back. a flat black metal absorber in the middle with a copper tube filled with glycol in it. then the tube is attached to your copper water pipes.)

Jack Jersawits seems to have the best solution.

One other consideration: If your water supply is carried in your van, is it possible to heat it a home, put it in an insulated container, and then boil it on the stove? The stored water will cool down over time but whatever heat it retains will cut down on the boiling time.

Heat exchangers could turn out to be a disaster. Algae will grow on just about any material except copper. Any closed non-copper components that carry fresh water would be a lot of work to maintain.

Now THAT is creative thinking. Plus, being from Chicago, with the cooling air of Lake Michigan keeping things just bearable in the heat of summer, I can imagine how uncomfortable it might be to camp in the South, in summer. But then you don't want to be running your auto engine, or a generator, either. So, deep discharge batteries! Good Idea!

Dude, if what you want is drinking water don't boil it at all. Go to your local backpacking store or go on line and get ano of those cool filters designed to turn water from an outhouse into nice clean water. They work. They remove all harmfull bacteria and some of them even have charcoal filters to remove nasty tasting chemicals.

You build a double wall container that you run your exhaust through. Water in the inside compartment and the exhaust running through the outer wall.

You could also branch off your heater hoses and use a coiled pipe around the container.

re: JMart23's reply: I was thinking of something similar, but simple. Get some 1/8 inch copper tubing, and coil it around one of your exhaust pipes, as close to the engine as possible. Run the tubing up to a one-half gallon vessel. One end should enter the vessel at the top of the rim, or through the top. The other end of the tubing should exit the vessel at the bottom. The water will begin to flow when heat is applied at the manifold, by expanding the water in the tube, thus creating a flow, with cooler water filling the space, following the hot water in it's path, and completing the circuit in the vessel. Around and around it will go, heating it up, hotter and hotter. No pump would be needed.

You would need a temperature gauge, so you'd know when to turn off the engine. I'm sure it wouldn't take more than a minute or so. You would also need some kind of a relief valve, to start letting off pressure, say at about 5 psi, so that it doesn't explode. You would also need a valve on the bottom of the vessel, in order to tap into your supply.

Of course, constructing the thing is half the fun, but do be careful, as water will continue to heat to hundreds of degrees, even thousands of degrees, and still remain water, if the pressure is high enough. That is why the relief valve is so important, and make sure that the relief valve has it's own tubing, to direct the water down to the ground. That way, if it pops off when you have your head under the bonnet, you'll escape without a scalded noggin.

One more idea, which I just recalled. A friend took a nine hour automobile trip from Chicago to New York, with another friend of hers. Her girlfriend had an enormous Golden Retriever, and she refused to kennel him for any kind of transportation. She also insisted on stopping every hour, to let him out for a little run. My friend decided that she would bring her electric cappuccino maker, because they would be stopping frequently. So at each rest stop she make the cappacino, complete with freshly steamed milk, by plugging the appliance into the electrical outlet in the washroom, above the sinks. Then they would sip their drinks while Rex, or whatever his name was, romped around looking for squirrels. According to my friend, it was one of the most enjoyable car trips she ever had!

..and the most wide awake ...

Good answer tomfranpat, although if you had an open system with a lid, we could also put more water in it after the first lot was used

cnc jim

I have a portable propane powered barbecue that would boil water in a reasonable time. and it would be relatively cheap to use.

http://members.optushome.com.au/purewater/pure_wise_water_distiller.asp

I feel that driving and hot water really don't go together, eg. just stop and use one of the alternatives already given here.....gas ring or whatever.

Electricity (unless you have a 2 KW or larger petrol/diesel driven generator in the back) is not even worth considering really.....

In an accident, the thought of being boiled alive by even a pint of boiling water just does not bear thinking about!!! There are many truckers around that have had first hand experience of just that!!!

Andy gets my GA vote for sensibility.

It sounds like tea for the crew (where each likes it a different strength) here. If so, then maybe more frequent stops for fresh cups would be smarter. If it's tea for one several times over (where all cups can be identical), you're better off investing in a really good large thermos. A lady somewhere here in the U.S. won a whopping lawsuit (I won't go into the details, I think it was unjust) against a major fast-food chain when a hot cup of coffee scalded her lap in a car.

(One result - their coffee is now served lukewarm... )

If you were ever a Boy Scout, perhaps you used a solar oven. Put something like this together, and have a grill (as for a single burner gas stove) about 4 inches (10 cm) above the bottom. Make a "cup holder" just a bit larger than the bottom of a Sterno can, fill your kettle, light the Sterno and you can boil water quite quickly without fear of the Sterno can sliding around and causing problems.

Well, you can make a simple rising loop of copper tube and wrap it around the manifold riser, and it will boil a couple gallons within 1/2 hour or so of travel. (Plumb it into a container using a gravity feed set-up)

A heat exchanger which remotely heats a hot water tank using radiator water is available from any marine supply: that'll get you to about 160F, or whatever your engine thermostat is set at..

Camping stoves using white gas are pretty damned quick: and cheap, so I do not know why you said they were slow..

150 amps at 12 volts is 1800 watts, which is way big for a "domestic kettle".

1800 watts is big for a kettle???

In the UK most kettles are 2400 to 2700 watts.

John.

In England, the supply voltage is 220V, and in the states, it is 110V mostly on a 15 amp circuit. So most heating appliances are maxed put at 1500 watts. All my kitchen outlets are 20 amp.

And since you can get twice the watts on the same sized wire at 220 and 15 amp circuit breaker/ fuse it is saver to use a 1800 or larger hot pot (kettle).

Actually the nominal voltages in the US and Britain are 120 and 230 respectively.

Britain used to be 240V nominally. In the interests of harmonizing with continental Europe (220V nominal) a 230v compromise was agreed upon. In reality, it was mostly political "feel good" legislation, as the tolerances were simply widened to encompass both 220V and 240V.

There was/is no requirment for pre-existing installations to comply to 230v, but new transformers and distribution sytems are preferred to be at 230V, though still not really required.

"And since you can get twice the watts on the same sized wire at 220 and 15 amp circuit breaker/ fuse it is saver to use a 1800 or larger hot pot (kettle)."

I am not quite sure what point you are making here. 1800 watts of work is 1800 watts of work regardless if you are at 110, 220 or even 10,000 volts. You still get the same amount of heat and you still get billed for the same amount of power useage. Only the amount of current changes.

I was pointing out while 1800 watt kettle in England will only draw a little less than 8 amps while an 1800 watt kettle will draw 15 amps in the USA.

Which is why Europeans are surprised that most kettles in the US are 1500 watts and the Americans are surprised that there would be 1800 or 2000 watt kettles in England.

I fail to realize how any answer can be sufficient without knowing your source for water and your use for the water.. At least how much and how often!?

I could quickly and safely boil a teaspoon full with a lighter, but that might draw unwanted attention.

Good one, really funny. Keep 'em coming!!

I'm sure - or hope - this won't help, but it was said that the old British Vickers heavy machine gun which had a water-filled cooling jacket around the barrel, would boil a gallon of water in about 300 hundred rounds of .303 ammo. Useful if you had some spare lying around......

In a similar vein, a thin sliver of Semtex (or C4 or any equal plastic explosive you may have handy) will burn vigorously and easily boil a tin of water.

Similar results from a Very flare.....

Weird the nonsense you pick up.

Storm kettle?

I make tea by placing a glas jar with 80 % water and tea leaves over the manifold in a place that is hot and will not move. Tea is done at 60-80 degrees C. Water doesn't need to boil actually. After 30 minute drive, it is done and at a drinkable temperature that I never meassured, but I cannot hold the jar with bare hands, perhaps as I said 60 - 80 degrees.

Asians never use boiling water for tea, it burns the leaves and generates a lot of te-ine. Mate tea is also done with water at 80C, never boiling. British would thing otherwise.

Ahhhhhhhh a topic close to my heart BEER!!!!!

I've a whole load of relatives living in the States and whenever they visit ole Blighty, the first thing they ask is can we go and sample some real ale!!

Budweiser just isn't real beer its some nasty sort of chemically derived stuff from wheat and its overpriced! - I think.

John.

You and Andy are right about American beer. It leaves a lot to be desired. I personally have to drink Heineken, but even that is not as good as the Heini in Amsterdam. Peroni is my other choice over here.

Budweiser? Blech, I wouldn't even use it to wash my dogs.

My sainted late Mother grew up drinking home-brewed beer (her Father's family came from County Cork, so you know it warn't no fizzy yellow water), and she always said that commercial American beer (Budweiser, mainly) tasted like dishwater. So unless your dogs are shaped like plates, it probably wouldn't do to wash them with it (yes, I read ahead!).

Whenever you, Andy, or any of our other across-the-water friends plan a visit here, let me know to where, I'll gladly clue you in on local brewpubs and microbreweries. Having traveled extensively and having sought them out, I know of a good number, and can research others (willingly, I hasten to add!).

While you can buy Bud for ~$1/pt (12 oz longnecks or cans are <$1US) for what you get, yeah, it's overpriced. I will drink it if it's what's available, just lots less of it (to match the enjoyment level). After all, any beer has got to be better than no beer, right?

Now, about the coffee... Sure wish I could brew you all a cup, I think you'd change your mind(s) - at least to the point of not tarring us all with the same brush. I've had coffee in Greece, Italy, Spain, England, Denmark; frankly, I can outdo any restaurant coffee I've ever tasted.

Some nice offers, the next time I am in Amiland you're on!!!

You got it! And if you happen into my neighborhood pub, I'll even stand one up for ya!

Now thats rich, I travel all the way from Germany to your home pub and the best offer is one beer????

Sounds good to me!!!

I guess its a case of not assuming that everyone fits the norm, or that different people like different things...

I know that over here (UK) Budweisser bottles of about 350ml (about 2/3 of a pint) sell for over £2.50 and the young kids seem to like them!! Similarly with the newish alcopop chemical mixes.

So not everyone likes real ale I suppose!!

John.

Good thing, too or the supply might go lower than we who do would like! Me, I much prefer a nice...

£2.5?!? That's what, $4.25? For ONE bottle of downstream beer? EGAD sir!

At the moment £2.50 = $5.00 for 1 bottle of 'beer'

I tried it once out of curiosity, but at that price never again!!

John.

You Guys have to come to Germany, a GOOD bottle of beer will cost between €0.29 and €0.40 cents, that is half a liter, slightly less than a pint!!! That is less than 25P Sterling!!!! Or about $0.50......roughly from my head.....

.....and it will be 5% or stronger AND taste GREAT!!!