New IMPROVED Solar Redneck hot tub( Major update 5/19/12)

[Dawgboy]

This is version is 3.0. You learn lessons along the way. The core of this system is a Dodge Diesel Radiator. I added a 17 amp-hour gel cell battery and a Rule 360GPH 12 volt bilge pump. Real rubber hoses and 3/4" fittings connect it all together. 4 hours will give you a nice HOT tub from 45 degree water.

Would make a great improvised water heater for anything out in the woods...



Burner is a Kenmore Washing machine that has been "modified"


Power system


Pump

[ei8htx]

Ha! that's awesome.

[Shaper]

I love stuff like this...Bravo!

[MVegas]

Well fuckin' played sir.

[AZMedic]

I am astonished....I would of never umm thought of that...

[Mad_Maxx]

A friend of mine made a even more redneck hottub, same basic setup, only he ran the water trough his car`s engine, kinda just exchanged the radiator for the tub, and had his car running to heat up the water

[Confucius]

A friend of mine made a even more redneck hottub, same basic setup, only he ran the water trough his car`s engine, kinda just exchanged the radiator for the tub, and had his car running to heat up the water

Oh, I like that, that offers all sorts of possibilities with a water cooled generator....

[Regulator]

And I thought I had to much time for shit like that. That's awesome!

[psychomajortom]

That beats the hell out of my neighbor's primitive shower. They have a 50 gallon tank over a wood stove and just open a valve on the bottom with an old firefighter's mit to get shitty pressure out of it for a shower.

How hot is hot in this beast?

[eatatjoz]

I've made some stupid shit, but that tops mine. Awesome!

[allofthemonkeys]

Awesome! I showed my wife and she just shook her head and told me if I built anything like that I would be a dead man.

[CitizenZ]

Might want to move that battery back away from the pool, maybe tape over some of those connections.
Water + power = bad
Power + Bubba = Bad

Otherwise; cool toy.

My neighbor, hippy chick, took a large steel water trough a built a fire under it. I didn't think it would last long, but it did work.

[man in black]

yee-fucking-haw brother.

[Apollo-11]

A slightly more elegant version is called a snorkel hot tub or a wood-fired hot tub.

[Dawgboy]

Might want to move that battery back away from the pool, maybe tape over some of those connections.
Water + power = bad
Power + Bubba = Bad

Otherwise; cool toy.

My neighbor, hippy chick, took a large steel water trough a built a fire under it. I didn't think it would last long, but it did work.

It's funny you mention the e-lektricity, I went with 12VDC for a reason, no grid tie. I had posed the battery like that for the photo, but it lives in a battery box with another one just like it and an inverter normally.

So last night's run ended with tragedy in a radiator burn through, but not before many hours of soaking with friends while watching the Geminids meteor shower. I got the tub to 107 degrees and kept it at a consistent 104 degrees as the goal once up to . I had 7 people in it as max capacity I think. Getting it to temp and keeping it there took 3 Wheelbarrow loads of seasoned Oak split and rounds, and a small box of cedar scrap. Wood is free.

Failure this time occurred this time hen a previous solder patch started leaking. We were all done soaking so I damped the fire down, and shut it down, and went on to other festivities. A party guest then stoked the fire and burned the radiator dry

I have another, identical radiator, but i think I will bite the bullet and get a nice stainless coil to go into a chimney for a more permanent solution then my "It's a Kenmore" unit... I did get 3 years out of that radiator though and could probably fix it if i felt like it. Pics of the carnage tomorrow.

[CitizenZ]

Bubba built.

Bubba broke.

[Oneswunk]

That thing is awesome!

My only concern, how will the plastic pool hold up to constant heating and cooling of the plastic.

[Necrodamus]

What about a double boiler system to prevent burn throughs?
Basically put the radiator in a pan of water.
Keep that pan boiling while slowly feeding water to counter the evaporation.

[Neville]

What about a double boiler system to prevent burn throughs?
Basically put the radiator in a pan of water.
Keep that pan boiling while slowly feeding water to counter the evaporation.

Now yer thinkin wit yer dipstick!

[bufordtjustice]

I need to put something like this at my farm/BOL. Nothing like a nice hot tub to make you feel civilized. Good job!

[Dawgboy]

I just got my soft annealed copper for the new coil I am going to build. I am scrapping the radiator design for a more efficient and durable design: A coil in an 8 inch stove pipe. All the smoke and a lot of heat will go through that, and it will not be sensitive to overheating.

Also, about the pool plastic? The last one lasted a year. The sun and my 11 year old boy are harder on them than 105 degree water...

[Texas Rebel]

+1

[FrANkNstEin]

Wow! How did i miss that?

Awesome!

A friend of mine made a even more redneck hottub, same basic setup, only he ran the water trough his car`s engine, kinda just exchanged the radiator for the tub, and had his car running to heat up the water

You know what would be even more redneck then that ? If he had put a tarp into the back of his pickup, filled it with water and heated it with the running engine! One could even get one of these 12v tirepumps that plug into the cigarette lighter in the dashboard and let the nozzle hang into the water for an instant redneck Jacuzzi....

A Bugout Jacuzzi!

[Dawgboy]

Or just serve beans... Serious rebuild of this at the new house. I just disassembled the system and will put it back up after I get moved with some solar boost and a new tub made from a 280 gallon container.