Author Topic: G'day! Bart here from Joolca - Portable LPG Water heaters.  (Read 253996 times)

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Offline Bart@Joolca

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Re: G'day! Bart here from Joolca - Portable LPG Water heaters.
« Reply #300 on: February 01, 2017, 09:33:22 AM »
Awesome, all sorted on the other end :)

Great choice on fittings, always good things heard about JG fittings!

Keep us posted on how things go and good luck with the install :)
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Offline Fathom

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Re: G'day! Bart here from Joolca - Portable LPG Water heaters.
« Reply #301 on: February 14, 2017, 05:27:46 PM »
It's worth buying something from these guys at the moment just for the confirmation email...

Copy and paste...( minor edits to remove personal details)

Dear...

You know how you often can remember exactly what you were doing when you found out that something big just happened?
At the moment of the moon landing, for instance, my soon-to- be father was polishing the chrome on his spanking HT Holden, preparing to take it to the drive-in (a big step for mankind that he will never forget).

Well, when the customer service team at Joolca received news of your order, Bart, Harley and Cameron were going through a swatch of tent fabrics. Jack was perfecting his cappuccino-leaf pour and Maciek was experimenting with gas flows. Andrzej was pilfering another lolly (his fifth today) from the client jar at reception.

Everyone stopped mid-motion, mouths agape. We simply stared toward the sky in utter amazement.

Time froze.

The cappuccino leaf overflowed its banks and floated out over the floor.

Then there was spontaneous applause, embraces and confetti from the rooftops as the significance of this momentous moment sunk in: you had ordered 1   x FLOTAP 12V Pump Kit  1   x ENSUITE Shower Stand 

Our peaceful little office quickly turned into a hive of activity. Bart, who’s always had a flair for the dramatic, jumped up on the boardroom table, put the phone on speaker and bellowed at Siri, “get me the courier NOW!!!” Someone shouted, “it’s Queensland 4XXX !” as Jack went on a frenzied search for the bubble wrap and sticky tape. Harley seized a packing slip and scribbled down (you’ll have to excuse his handwriting) “ 25 (the address) , ” before Maciek had even got to the warehouse door.

Cameron, who’s never been much good at handling intense emotion, reached for his inhaler.

Years from now, these are the things we’ll remember whenever we hear the name (my name)

Please accept our heartfelt gratitude for this unforgettable experience! In return, we hope to give you everything that you expect – and more.

At the time of writing, the courier has promised to do her utmost to have the shipment delivered to you within three business days; Bart is untangling Andrzej, who in the general excitement got taped to your box; and Maciek is reminding me to tell you that we’re always available (at least Mon-Fri, 9am-5pm, AEST) on 1300 669 500 and support@joolca.com.au.

Kind regards, Joolca

PS You'll receive tracking information as soon as Cameron can breathe normally again.

PPS Please find formal order confirmation attached with all bells and whistles.


That's just gold.
Cracked me up.
Always give 100%... Unless you are giving blood.. then it may not go so well...

Offline Bart@Joolca

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Re: G'day! Bart here from Joolca - Portable LPG Water heaters.
« Reply #302 on: February 15, 2017, 03:11:31 PM »
Haha, thanks for the positive feedback :) Our copy guy had a lot of fun with this! Glad you liked it!
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Offline peter_mcc

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Re: G'day! Bart here from Joolca - Portable LPG Water heaters.
« Reply #303 on: February 16, 2017, 08:35:43 PM »
Mine turned up yesterday - we set it up in the front yard for a play and it works well. I was very impressed by how much thought has gone into the little things in the box - it includes everything!

Offline peter_mcc

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Re: G'day! Bart here from Joolca - Portable LPG Water heaters.
« Reply #304 on: February 16, 2017, 08:37:29 PM »
We're planning to screw ours to the door of our Tvan front box. Does anyone know if the factory mounting points are strong enough to survive things like the Gibb River and Kalumburu Rds up in the Kimberley? I'd rather reinforce it at home (where I've got tools, scrap metal, etc) than on the side of the road somewhere...

Offline Bart@Joolca

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Re: G'day! Bart here from Joolca - Portable LPG Water heaters.
« Reply #305 on: February 17, 2017, 12:24:08 PM »
Thanks Peter! We really do try and target every aspect as much as we can :)

The mounting brackets are actually updated (thicker, bolted) from our initial style - so you shouldn't have issues with this side of things. For peace of mind I suppose it wouldn't harm the situation to reinforce them so more, but they really don't come off. We've had a fair amount of customers who travel across Australia and would undoubtedly let us know if their brackets let them down.

Another option would be (if not too inconvenient) taking the unit off and storing it inside when you think things could get a bit hairy.

If anything does fail on the unit you have my details and I'm always more than willing to sort things out :)

Let's see if anyone else has any good input too :)
Instant & never ending hot water. Anywhere.

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Offline Ozsnowman

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Re: G'day! Bart here from Joolca - Portable LPG Water heaters.
« Reply #306 on: March 02, 2017, 10:50:27 AM »
Well, thanks to the Ebay 10% off, I now have ordered the Joolca shower tent, and can throw away the two hideous units that we are using now! Yay!  :cup: :cup:

Now for another DIY hack :). For everyone that is having a hard time with the shower switch, I found this at Bunnings for about $15
https://www.bunnings.com.au/gardena-12mm-hose-connector-with-control-valve_p3110386


You can splice this into the hose and gives you another point of control, similar to the new indoor plumbing that Joolca are advertising right now
« Last Edit: March 02, 2017, 01:43:55 PM by Ozsnowman »
We've swapped from the camper to a van yay! :)

Offline Bart@Joolca

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Re: G'day! Bart here from Joolca - Portable LPG Water heaters.
« Reply #307 on: March 02, 2017, 02:44:52 PM »
Ebay 10% off FTW!

Nice find!

We actually worked to try and solve the shower switch issue and we had some samples in of a new style shower head. Having used one myself they are much easier to operate - basically the 'OFF' position is part of the spray pattern options. As in, you will spin the shower head through shower, mist, etc. and come to a closed off function which blocks the water. So, no more up-down slide style, just built into the spray functions.

I'll have to double check how many we got in so far as spares, but if anyone would like a replacement can you please PM me/ email me if you have my email on hand and I'll do my best to sort something out :)

@ Ozsnowman if you want to have one of these shower heads let me know via PM please - also sorry for you going out of your way for a fix for the current style heads!
Instant & never ending hot water. Anywhere.

www.joolca.com.au
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Offline Ozsnowman

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Re: G'day! Bart here from Joolca - Portable LPG Water heaters.
« Reply #308 on: March 08, 2017, 09:54:27 AM »
Got my shower tent Monday, and it sat there until last night until curiosity got the better of me and I had to try it out (in the loungreroom, sorry honey lol)  >:D.

It's so easy to set up! Well done!

I'll set it up again over the weekend, and actually try it out with the shower :)
We've swapped from the camper to a van yay! :)

Offline Cyclone71

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Re: G'day! Bart here from Joolca - Portable LPG Water heaters.
« Reply #309 on: March 08, 2017, 05:08:08 PM »
Hi All
Another tip for the difficult to switch head as my pump puts out about 60psi I decided to add this regulator cost about $30 bucks on eBay and a few fittings from Bunnings
Cheers
Cyclone71



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Offline Ozsnowman

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Re: G'day! Bart here from Joolca - Portable LPG Water heaters.
« Reply #310 on: March 09, 2017, 10:02:29 AM »
Got the new shower head Bart - impressed! It's a much easier way of switching :). I'll hook it properly this weekend and give it a crack  :cup: :cup:
We've swapped from the camper to a van yay! :)

Offline Bart@Joolca

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Re: G'day! Bart here from Joolca - Portable LPG Water heaters.
« Reply #311 on: March 09, 2017, 10:08:51 AM »
Haha! We both went to post at the same time and you bet me to it!

Thanks - love to hear good things about our tents (and gear) because it helps us down the track.

Oh yeah, the shower head should make things much better :) Definitely keen for feedback :)

@ Cyclone71

Cool find! Have you given it a crack yet?
Instant & never ending hot water. Anywhere.

www.joolca.com.au

Offline tls1946

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Re: G'day! Bart here from Joolca - Portable LPG Water heaters.
« Reply #312 on: March 13, 2017, 01:10:39 AM »
Are these heaters suitable or not suitable for mains water pressure and or pressure pumps?
The use of pressure reducers has me concerned.
tls1946

Offline Stewart

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Re: G'day! Bart here from Joolca - Portable LPG Water heaters.
« Reply #313 on: March 13, 2017, 06:54:33 AM »
Looking at the Joolca tent to take with us at Easter.  I was wondering how big and how heavy it is all packed up and does it have windows in both rooms? Is there a my swag discount on the tents, or only the hot water?
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Offline Cyclone71

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Re: G'day! Bart here from Joolca - Portable LPG Water heaters.
« Reply #314 on: March 13, 2017, 08:23:31 AM »
Yeah works a treat has made the water on off switch much easier to use
 
Cheers


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Offline baggs71

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Re: G'day! Bart here from Joolca - Portable LPG Water heaters.
« Reply #315 on: March 14, 2017, 08:46:01 PM »
screen capture tool

hey bart...i used mine for the first time over the weekend and found it awesome....but in heavy rain it did not work....once the rain stopped after a while it worked again....we were camped at a site without showers and my three girls loved it after a 11klm hike,,,,fresh and clean...now thats campin!

can you explain what i did wrong?

Offline Bart@Joolca

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Re: G'day! Bart here from Joolca - Portable LPG Water heaters.
« Reply #316 on: March 15, 2017, 09:16:33 AM »
Are these heaters suitable or not suitable for mains water pressure and or pressure pumps?
The use of pressure reducers has me concerned.
tls1946

Hey! The HOTTAP is suitable for use with mains water or a suitable water pump. The reducer Cyclone71 put in was to help with his difficult to use shower head (wasn't related to pressure handling ability of the unit). So, all is well here :)

Looking at the Joolca tent to take with us at Easter.  I was wondering how big and how heavy it is all packed up and does it have windows in both rooms? Is there a my swag discount on the tents, or only the hot water?

I threw up some images of the tent on page 7 of this thread. Jump to that page and have a look - I included some dimensions as well :)

The current shower tent design has:

- A window on front/ back wall of shower area
- A window on back wall of dry area (as door is on front wall)

PM me if you're interested in grabbing some stuff :)


hey bart...i used mine for the first time over the weekend and found it awesome....but in heavy rain it did not work....once the rain stopped after a while it worked again....we were camped at a site without showers and my three girls loved it after a 11klm hike,,,,fresh and clean...now thats campin!

can you explain what i did wrong?

Hrm, was the unit exposed to the rain or was it covered? These units aren't actually water proof so from what I understand, if it was exposed to rain:

- Rain would have gotten onto the burners and stopped the unit from firing up
- When the rain stopped and the burners dried up the unit was able to fire up

I'd recommend getting some kind of cover over the unit when it rains. If you want to use it while raining then some kind of enclosure/ awning to keep water from getting into the unit :) Also, how does the unit work now? Any issues from the weekend? Or, good as gold?

Most importantly here: 11km hike! Woah. What an adventure - that actually sounds like it would have been awesome! Capping off with a nice hot shower afterwards....and a cold beer....not for the kids though, hehe ;)
Instant & never ending hot water. Anywhere.

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Offline baggs71

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Re: G'day! Bart here from Joolca - Portable LPG Water heaters.
« Reply #317 on: March 15, 2017, 05:06:45 PM »

Hrm, was the unit exposed to the rain or was it covered? These units aren't actually water proof so from what I understand, if it was exposed to rain:

- Rain would have gotten onto the burners and stopped the unit from firing up
- When the rain stopped and the burners dried up the unit was able to fire up

I'd recommend getting some kind of cover over the unit when it rains. If you want to use it while raining then some kind of enclosure/ awning to keep water from getting into the unit :) Also, how does the unit work now? Any issues from the weekend? Or, good as gold?

Most importantly here: 11km hike! Woah. What an adventure - that actually sounds like it would have been awesome! Capping off with a nice hot shower afterwards....and a cold beer....not for the kids though, hehe ;)

Yep i figured that bart...yes it works fine now..but did not realise until too late this sucker aint shower proof like on the side of aq house...
Yes the beer was cold and the hot shower fantastic...will be pop riveting some diaqmond plate to attatch to lid of front box when in standby mode...
so when the transit case comes off when on location it is still protected from rain entering the top of the unit casing..

very happy

awesome product bart

Offline Bart@Joolca

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Re: G'day! Bart here from Joolca - Portable LPG Water heaters.
« Reply #318 on: March 16, 2017, 02:31:19 PM »
Haha! No harm done anyway it seems so as long as she's still firing up we should be good to go!

As a heads up for anyone reading, please keep your Hottie protected from the rain :)

will be pop riveting some diaqmond plate to attatch to lid of front box when in standby mode...
so when the transit case comes off when on location it is still protected from rain entering the top of the unit casing..

Very good idea with the cover for the top, could even go a little further and try get it angled (or just extend out) to cover up the side grills as well. The control board actually sits on the LHS and the battery box just off from the RHS of the unit.

Good luck with it :)

Also, thanks for the kind words - I appreciate it!
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www.joolca.com.au

Offline Stewart

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Re: G'day! Bart here from Joolca - Portable LPG Water heaters.
« Reply #319 on: March 27, 2017, 05:16:09 PM »
Thanks Bart I  my ensuite tent was waiting for me when I got home from work today. Took it into the backyard to test it out. I am super impressed with how easy it was to put up and put down. I can't wait to take it to Fraser for the school holidays next week.
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Offline Bart@Joolca

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Re: G'day! Bart here from Joolca - Portable LPG Water heaters.
« Reply #320 on: March 28, 2017, 12:51:50 PM »
Awesome news! :D Thanks for the kind feedback -enjoy ;D
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Offline prado2004

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Re: G'day! Bart here from Joolca - Portable LPG Water heaters.
« Reply #321 on: March 28, 2017, 02:20:15 PM »
hey bart have been reading through everything and have some questions? i had a smartek 6 in my camper but have got a van now and am doing it up. willing to give yours a go to help support a swagger and want to mount it inside the front boot in my van then just open then hatch when in use. that way i dont have to set it up.

can you send me a PM for the heater and hoses etc sent to 4510 QLD. dont need a pump as have one or any other accessories. Is there an on and off switch on the unit? i plan on running the plumbing through it so that i can turn it off when i want cold water and on when i want hot water, am presuming this is how it works?

currently my van inside looks like the below. the tap on the right is from the mains and the hand pump from the tanks underneath. it does not have a 12v pump from tank water. I was thinking of installing a 12v pump from tanks and running it through the hot tap and then replacing the hand pump with a normal tap and that will be the outlet for hot water. i was going to run one tap and just turn the hot tap off when cold water is required and on when hot water is required. i would install a t piece and run an outlet on the side of the van for a shower as well. I was thinking this in terms of ease instead of running hot and cold lines. if i wanted to run hot and cold do you have a mixer tap you or anyone else can recommend and whats the best way to do this with two lines? do i need two pumps? i would i would imagine.



cheers

Brenton
« Last Edit: March 28, 2017, 02:57:03 PM by prado2004 »
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Offline trngia

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Re: G'day! Bart here from Joolca - Portable LPG Water heaters.
« Reply #322 on: March 28, 2017, 04:25:10 PM »
About to try out the new shower head we have just received and have a shower. All setup and I hear the ignition but it does not fire.  Tried calling but they are closed now, missed them by 30 mins. Tried purge of the gas as on the instructions but still nothing.

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Re: G'day! Bart here from Joolca - Portable LPG Water heaters.
« Reply #323 on: March 28, 2017, 08:29:37 PM »
Make sure you have new batteries.  I had the same problem the first couple of times with mine - lots of spark but no ignition.  The batteries actually also open a gas valve and in my case this was not happening so no gas was getting through to the burner.  New batteries solved the problem.  I now make sure I carry a few new spare batteries but haven't had the same problem again since.

Offline Bart@Joolca

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Re: G'day! Bart here from Joolca - Portable LPG Water heaters.
« Reply #324 on: March 30, 2017, 08:35:08 AM »
Hey Brenton, will PM you in a sec!

Well, to go through your questions:

- We aren't able to split up contents, so, the HOTTAP will need to come with the shower hose, shower head, gas hose and regulator
- Now, the HOTTAP doesn't have an on/ off switch, but you can mimic a switch by just removing the batteries. Our battery compartment (custom design and custom mould) is insane - all you need to do is push in the compartment, it will click and pop out. If you remove the batteries then the unit won't power on and you can run cold water
- Pretty nice set up, T piece would definitely be convenient for a shower/ sink set up

In terms of the mixer tap, I'm not the absolute best here but maybe someone can add some coin to this scenario

I don't have a specific mixer, nor have I spoken with people who recommend a certain type or style. Steve and I spoke a bit about mixers a couple pages back, and this might help with info here:

Water supply from the mains circuit takes care of itself but it's the supply from the water tanks that has me a bit stumped. My intention is to tap into the water line on the outlet side of the onboard Shurflo pump which is rated at 10L/min. Given the HotTap maxes out at 6L/min I guess it should be sufficient to allow cold and hot to flow at the same time. Any thoughts?

My reply:

So, water flow wise: 10LPM - 6LPM = 4LPM. So, if you are maxing out your HOTTAP, you'll get a max of 4LPM to the cold side of things. Only thing to note here is; if you have a high flow tap (let's say 15LPM or so) then your cold line will have less resistance (as opposed to your HOTTAP hot line) and may result in more water flowing through. Which means less water for your HOTTAP, which means potentially tricking the HOTTAP to shutting off as it isn't getting enough flow.

I know that you can get lower flow taps which should work not too bad with the set up. Something like a 10LPM should work as that is the max your pump can give out anyway.

If you have a mixer tap, these get a bit tricky too (with flow and stuff I mentioned above). Seeing as you are interested in the HOTTAP OUTNG, would it be possible for you to tap in the included pump (and then have two pumps, one for hot and one for cold)? Otherwise, if you have a low flow tap I think you would be ok with your Shurflo.

So, I'd try go two pumps - one for hot and one for cold. This, in my head, seems the easiest way and it also guarantees flow in both lines. One line might cause some dramas. But this is just from my experience with others :)

Hope this helps!

@ trngia

Very good suggestion by tazzi, it might actually be the batteries. Especially if the unit was working already and then kind of just stopped firing up. Basically, like tazzi said, not enough juice from the batteries to open up the gas side of things - but enough to get the piezo firing away.

We are open now so please give us a call if you need to :)
Instant & never ending hot water. Anywhere.

www.joolca.com.au