
Camplux 5L Portable Propane Gas Water Heater Review
Every year for the last decade or so we do a winter camping trip to a campground with no facilities other than one water spigot for the campgrounds for 10-14 days.
This presented us with some challenges when it came to getting ourselves clean - especially the kids who would be filthy at night. We didn't want them getting their beds filthy day one, especially when they were smaller because they were sharing beds with us still.
Initially I created a pump system using steel sprayer, which worked good enough but at night it was freezing and the kids would lose their minds at how cold it was, and the wives wouldn't even consider using it. You can read more about that on our article: how to build a camp shower.
This year I decided it was time to get serious, so we upgraded to a propane tankless water shower system by Camplux and I gotta say, this might be the best investment I've made to our camping experience.
So if you are looking for an off-grid shower solution, either for camping, boon-docking, overlanding or what have you, then check out one of these propane systems. As Dr. Evil says in the first Austin Powers movie (although he was talking about something veeeery different) "It's breathtaking, I suggest you try it."
Camplux Water Heater Model Considerations
Camplux makes a huge range of propane and "propane related products" from showers and stoves to ovens and heaters.
Because I wasn't quite sure what I wanted, I went with their cheapest option which was the Camplux 5L 1.32 gallon per minute heater. This turned out to be good and bad for a few reasons I'll discuss in a minute.
But let me say off jump street, unless you have a plumbing source nearby with unlimited water, the 1.32 gallons per minute is plenty - I wouldn't get one with anymore water flow than that. There was plenty of water coming out of the head via the pump supplied with the unit and as we'll get into - 1.32 GPM sucks dry a 5 gallon water bottle really quick. Faster than you might realize.
BTW If you buy anything with the links we provide on this page we might get a small percentage of the sale from the manufacturers end. For more info click here.
However the model I purchased was missing a few key things, which I had to fabricate myself. Make sure you don't make the same mistakes I did:
- Make sure you get a model that comes with the stand. Mine did not, and since we we're going camping I had to fabricate my own to bring along last minute.
- Get the 11' shower hose or you'll have to buy an extension and connectors - ours came with a 6' hose for the shower head which was too short. Camplux has 11' long shower head hoses, thats the one you want. We'll show you in a bit how we extended ours.
All told I was able to easily navigate these small problems, and still came out ahead from a cost savings standpoint since I got my whole system up and running for under $200 (I got it on sale for $170.). If I had to do it all over again I might spring for the $399 Nano 3 Pro since everything is fully integrated into the unit, like the water pump and the power for it.
Anyway, lets see how the unit I got worked out, so you can decide if this makes sense for your needs as well or if you should consider the higher-end models.
Camplux 5L 1.32 GPM Tankless Water Heater Review
Let me start out by saying I love this shower. It's perfect. The water is nice and warm, the water pressure and spray is more than adequate, and when you are cold and dirty after a long day of camping activity its really nice to be able to clean up with hot water before hitting the sack.
The system is easy to setup and once it is, all you have to do is flip a switch to turn on the water pump and you're good to go...we'll that and you might also need to fill up your water source - suggestions on that coming.
There are a few things you'll need in addition to the tankless heater itself: a source of propane, a source for electrical power to run the water pump, and a place to take your shower. Maybe also a way to transport water. We'll discuss each as we walk though our setup.
Tent and Propane
First a word about the shower tent: I upgraded the tent we had to a double wide with a Oileus Pop Up Privacy Tent I got from Amazon for $99. It's pretty decent and was roomy enough for 2 people so we could help the kids clean up. There are probably better options out there but I think this one will serve our needs for the next few years.
Pro tip: make sure you have some kind of roll up mat or wooden shower mat with you, an old rubber truck floor mat also works great. The tarp-like floor sheet that comes with this shower is a dirt magnet and we wound up not using it at all.
Here's a closer view of the shower setup. A couple of things to note here. As I said earlier, I mistakenly bought the heater that didn't include the stand - so I made my own out of some spare wood.
I also mounted the water pump to a block of wood, just to make it a little more resilient to moving and to get it off the ground.
Tucked behind the Camplux is a 5 lb propane tank. I love this little tank and it's great for camping trips. I recently bought a 10 lb tank as well, so I can bring that along for our cooking needs instead of lugging around the 20 lb. We have a hardware store nearby that can fill both tanks for us.
Water Supply for the Camplux
Since there is only one water spigot for the whole campground, we had to have a way to provide water to the shower that was portable. I had an old 5 gallon water bottle laying around and used a 260 lb foldable hand truck to move it around this way the kids could go fill up the bottle as part of their chores.
I also had a few 2.5 gallon Scepter cans around, which we would carry with us as extra supply. This arrangement worked out OK but I've got a better solution - I purchased two 5 gallon Scepter water containers for our next trip. They fit better onto the hand truck and now we have 10 gallons of water instead of 5.
Being conservative with water, each person used about 2.5 gallons of water per shower. That meant we were refilling the 5 gallon bottle 2x a day. With the 10 gallon setup, that gets us 4 showers which will save us that extra trip to the spigot (its about 400-1000 feet away from the campsite, depending on which site we are at.)
Power for the Camplux
The heater itself uses two D sized batteries inside the main unit, I guess thats to spark the flame on and off. The water pump however requires its own 12 volt power source.
I used our Bluetti EB70S Portable Power Station as our main power source for the water pump via the 12 volt cigarette lighter style power cable which came with the unit. Camplux also includes an alligator clip attachment which you can use to connect directly to a 12 volt battery's terminals.
This worked out fine, and the pump hardly used any power at all. We had a few hours of sun every day or two so I was able to keep the Bluetti topped up using the 200 watt folding panel I have from Rich Solar.
I did the math, and the pump used about 1 ah of battery a day. I wanted a dedicated power supply for the pump so I can keep the Bluetti over by our kitchen area, so I picked up a Ryobi 18V ONE+ 120-W power source with 12V output to use instead. I already have a 9ah Ryobi battery I can use for it, and that should give me showers for 9 days before recharging or swapping the battery out.
That's not a cheap solution though if you aren't already invested in the Ryobi ecosystem, you can grab a 15 - 18 AH battery for about $40 or get a 300w system from Bluetti or any other solar generator of the same size for about $150 and that should give you a weeks worth of showers before a recharge is needed.
Extending the Shower Head Hose
As I mentioned earlier, the hose that came with the unit I purchased wasn't long enough for our needs. It's fine if you are using it for a sink but not for our shower.
The connectors on the Campulx however are quick release type nipple connectors.
I needed to use a small 10' garden hose I picked up from Home Depot as my extension and grabbed some quick connectors for the attachment points. That solved the problem for me.
Using The Camplux
Operation of the Camplux heater is simple once you've made all your hose connections. Make sure the propane tank valve is open and your pump is connected to power. There is a switch on the pump power cable to flip on, and you will hear the pump activate for a moment as it fills up the intake hose. It will suspend itself until you use the shower, with occasional activation as it maintains pressure.
The pump activates when you press the button on the shower head to open the flow of water. It uses some manner of pressure switch to do so, there is no direct connection between the pump and the shower head.
It takes about 30 seconds of water flow before you start to get hot water. That's when I wash feet and hands, things that can handle a little cold. I turn the shower off while soaping up to save water.
As far as setting the dials go, we found that setting the heat to nearly its lowest setting and the water flow up to the highest to be the best for us. You might be able to dial back the water flow, but that will make the water hotter that comes from the shower head. Start low heat first, you can always dial it up - but if you start hot the shower will be to hot to use for a while until the heating elements cool down.
The shower head is well designed and has a light pressure mode and a wide spray mode. Both are useful. There is an on/off button on the side to start and stop the flow of water.
That's pretty much it, when you are done, turn off the switch to the water pump so it doesn't pull power trying to keep the water pressure up.
The hook in the tent isn't really great for the shower head, so we had to hand hold it. I've got to come up with a better solution next time around - maybe something just as simple as a loop of rope to hold the shower head level.
Where To Get One
BTW If you buy anything with the links we provide on this page we might get a small percentage of the sale from the manufacturers end. For more info click here.
Camplux 5L 1.32 GMP Portable Tankless Shower Water Heater
CSA approved portable tankless water heater for US &Canada markets. Wide comfortable water temperature range from 8℃-46℃ (46.4℉-114.8℉), 1.32 gallons per minute of hot water output, you can get instant on-demand hot water easily .
Compact and lightweight size tankless water heater with folding handle keeps it out of the way, allowing for a convenient set-up outdoors, great for off-grid, road trips, camping trips.
Flame failure device, anti-freezing protection, over heating protection, oxygen depletion safety shut-off protection always ensures you wonderful and safety outdoor showers.