Road shower 4L (10 gallons= about 100 pounds) bad for roof tops?

RacerAV

Active member
I'm worried that placing 100+ pounds 8 feet in the air onto my roof rack above my trailer will hurt more than I'm thinking it will... I have an Explore from IntechRV, part of their flyer line up... (man thats a lot to say)

I'm just imagining me trying to hold 100 pounds overhead while hiking up a rocky hill... eesh
 

azscotts

Observer
If it makes you feel better, water is 8.3 lbs/gallon. So you're only lugging 83 lbs of water with a 10 gallon tank. I'd be more worried about center of gravity.
 

RacerAV

Active member
You know I’m not sure but man I hope it does! If not. I’ll be heading to camp with a full tank and heading home when it’s empty. No sloshing around allowed!

Anyone know if RoadShowers are baffled inside??
 

Ducky's Dad

Explorer
If no baffles, you can solve that problem by throwing some wiffle balls into the tank. Takes up a little volume, but mitigates sloshing. Big tanker trucks use a variation of these balls to minimize sloshing and load shifting. You can buy balls by the bucketful on Amazon, everything from golfball to softball size.
 

Coachgeo

Explorer
anyone explored the safety issue of putting this in potable water containers (bacteria they collect or from degrading of balls, or their chemical makeup etc) . Granted this is a shower thread but then again one showers over cuts and contusions assuming the water is not going to introduce an infectious agent.
 

Porkchopexpress

Well-known member
I'm worried that placing 100+ pounds 8 feet in the air onto my roof rack above my trailer will hurt more than I'm thinking it will... I have an Explore from IntechRV, part of their flyer line up... (man thats a lot to say)

I'm just imagining me trying to hold 100 pounds overhead while hiking up a rocky hill... eesh

I looked up the dimensions on your trailer and it’s 7’8” wide and the sloshing would be fore and aft. I think it would be fine.
 

RacerAV

Active member
anyone explored the safety issue of putting this in potable water containers (bacteria they collect or from degrading of balls, or their chemical makeup etc) . Granted this is a shower thread but then again one showers over cuts and contusions assuming the water is not going to introduce an infectious agent.
good question! I'm assuming the food grade ones would be fine.

I ONLY use filtered water, drinking water hoses, solid brass connections, etc. for anything related to water I bring camping. In plastic jugs OR the RoadShower. That way I know they are always good to drink if need be. Or as you pointed out, showering over an open wound.
 

Jmanscotch

is wandering
One option would be to place it underneath. Adapt a bike tire pump to a fitting on the 12 oclock position of the tube end and pump a few PSI in before each use. Not perfect, but an option if you wanna keep the weight low but need water pressure.
 
What am i missing? 4L = ~1.05 gallons = ~8.75 lbs. Wheres the other 90lbs coming from?
Was that typo'd? 40L ???
 

RacerAV

Active member
The "4" means version 4. The "L" means long.

http://www.roadshower.com/modelcomparison.html

" Full weight 116 lbs"

Google says the roof rack system on th Explore is 300 lbs, so unless you loaded a bunch of other stuff, I do not see an issue with adding 116 lbs
yeah i dont think the rack will have an issue, even if placed up top... i was just thinking about the trailer behavior with everything up there! plus an awning, the AC and fan... it adds up!
 
Last edited:

Chi-Town

The guy under the car
90-100lbs of sloshing weight 8 feet up is going to affect the vehicle dynamics greatly while driving.

You would be better off with two jerry cans full of water loaded down low and just toss them on the roof when you get to camp with a shower attachment.

As far as bacteria in water storage, this is a valid concern. There are additives for RV water tanks that can help minimize the risks.
 

Coachgeo

Explorer
90-100lbs of sloshing weight 8 feet up is going to affect the vehicle dynamics greatly while driving.

You would be better off with two jerry cans full of water loaded down low and just toss them on the roof when you get to camp with a shower attachment.

As far as bacteria in water storage, this is a valid concern. There are additives for RV water tanks that can help minimize the risks.
the key is "sloshing weight" which can be reduced to no sloshing, but chi-town has a point still.. hybrid might be wiser? Besides lifting 5gal cans to roof for heating is quit a task actually, but pumping it out of containers carried down lower, up to fill the empty solar PVC pipe on the roof...... now that could work. Make an even more efficient solar reflector for it by taking a larger 1/2 slice of a much larger PVC Pipe or even galvanized sheet metal stove pipe (take apart for storage) solar reflector. place it under pipe on roof after pumping water up to it.

course then again.... metal Jery cans placed out in sun with folding solar reflector to go around it would probably heat faster due to better heat transfer from solar reflector on metal...... compared to solar reflector on PVC?

Bacteria?? few drops of clorox and your fine.
 

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