[chrismroberts]

Afternoon all

Just ordered an L5 shower heater, probably a bit late for this cold snap, but ready for next winter. Was only £100, so seemed worth a punt. Was reading a thread from 2008 about it, sounds like a few people bought one, did they help or were they not much use?

Chris

[DanielUK]

I've done the same! Mine is sitting in customs at the moment. Hopefully the jedi mind trick I've been using ("this is not the heater you are looking for") will work!

[Mr T]

Are you adding a flow switch,  have you ordered a new gas regulator

[chrismroberts]

I've done the same! Mine is sitting in customs at the moment. Hopefully the jedi mind trick I've been using ("this is not the heater you are looking for") will work!

Uh oh, do Customs not like them? Spent a while looking for UK distributors, to no avail. They told you why they're holding it?

Are you adding a flow switch,  have you ordered a new gas regulator

Don't know about a flow switch? Have a gas regulator sat on a gas fire in the garage I might steal. Should work, if not I've seen them for about £3 on fleaBay

[Mr T]

Don't know about a flow switch?

Some people who have them have added the flow swith so you can work at a lower water flow.

[chrismroberts]

Saves gas? How low a flow? I read that the heater cuts out after 17 minutes too, can it be restarted easily?

[DanielUK]

I've done the same! Mine is sitting in customs at the moment. Hopefully the jedi mind trick I've been using ("this is not the heater you are looking for") will work!

Uh oh, do Customs not like them? Spent a while looking for UK distributors, to no avail. They told you why they're holding it?

I think it may be partly to do with the weekend, and also the bad weather. If they do charge it will be about £20.  I'll let you know

[poole bay]

any one got a pic of a L5 keep hearing about them but dont no what it looks like thanks....

[chrismroberts]

www.cleanitup.co.uk/smf/index.php?topic=63565.0

Rather huge thread

Incidentally, how much gas DO they use? Read one post saying theyll heat about 250 liters, another bloke said it heated 600 liters a day for about a million years, it'll depend on the heat I assume? I only want it hot enough to stop water freezing in the hose and brush jets, not bothered once its on the window

[DanielUK]

this is it fitted, to give you an idea of the size

http://www.acsforums.com/forum/public_html/yabbfiles/Attachments/gas_001_001.JPG

[chrismroberts]

I've done the same! Mine is sitting in customs at the moment. Hopefully the jedi mind trick I've been using ("this is not the heater you are looking for") will work!

Uh oh, do Customs not like them? Spent a while looking for UK distributors, to no avail. They told you why they're holding it?

I think it may be partly to do with the weekend, and also the bad weather. If they do charge it will be about £20.  I'll let you know

Cheers, let me know how you get on Do they bill you through the post or what, or send the baliffs?

[poole bay]

with the hot water L5 how do you connect it up do you need eletric is it a pipe strait from tank and then it heats it does it then go in the pump or does it bypass strait into the main tanks then come out warm has any one got any pics of how this works thanks carl....

[chrismroberts]

with the hot water L5 how do you connect it up do you need eletric is it a pipe strait from tank and then it heats it does it then go in the pump or does it bypass strait into the main tanks then come out warm has any one got any pics of how this works thanks carl....

Theres quite a lot of information on here, www.cleanitup.co.uk/smf/index.php?topic=63565.0

But the basic gist I got from it was this:

The L5 is essentially a mini shower heater/boiler run from a gas bottle. It takes a couple of Duracell batteries for the ignition and thats it. It goes after your pump + DI, but before your hose reels, so its essentially an on demand heater that takes the cold water from your tank and heats it to 30 or 40 degrees.

Its an American product, so it needs a british gas fitting to connect to our gas bottles, and possibly a couple of adapters to fit hoselocks?

[Jeff Brimble]

You need a pump, I just use a Hudson Backpack as the water source.

[Nathanael Jones]

I use an 11kg bottle of gas every 4 to 6 weeks depending on my schedule. Once, when I was extreemly busy I used a bottle in just shy of 3 weeks,.. but even at that its only about £1 per day to run it.

The thread on the inlet & outlet port will fit hozelock fittings,.. I'd recommend a brass one and a better grade of hose on the outlet side though.

The flow switch is easy to fit, but don't worry about it straight away as some ppl find they can work fine without them.

To reset the heater at the 17 minutes, simply stop the flow through the heater (Depending on your pump, hose length and flow rate you might have to stop flow at the brush for up to 20 seconds) and it will reset. Start the flow again and you start a whole new 17 minutes.

[Count Phil]

I found it a royal pain in the harse. Blows out, times out, to hot cut out - it was always bleeding out! I didn't bother to set it up again this year. Besides, it just wouldn't be reliable enough in the snow, if it cut out you would have a frozen hose - you don't realise it has cut out straight away and the pipes would freeze.

On the other hand, it taught me how good hot water was and that you need a proper one. Or, even if you diy, you need a better solution than the l5.

Mines one is up for grabs with a british gas attachment if anyones interested, its had about three weeks use. Comes with an empty gas cylinder. Oh, and the hoses are standard too. (that was one of the biggest hassles, finding hoses that fitted it).

[poole bay]

so you dont need a special pump then i can buy one of the ones you got and let the water run as normal when it comes out of my pump i got of alex into hot box out of hot box in to hose reels then in to poles and whats the flow rate iv got a 650 ltr tank i could buy a 250 and then byepass the hot water in to a smaller tanks and then use it from that....

[chrismroberts]

To reset the heater at the 17 minutes, simply stop the flow through the heater (Depending on your pump, hose length and flow rate you might have to stop flow at the brush for up to 20 seconds) and it will reset. Start the flow again and you start a whole new 17 minutes.

Cheers Sounds like its more economical than I thought. So, if you disconnect your pole and the Varistream stops the pump, does the heater switch off? I know from another heater I used, that you had to turn it off manually, or it would continue to heat the water in the hose and eventually boil... bursting the hose. I gather the L5 is different?

Count Phil, what is the problem with the hoses? Non standard bores or connections?

Thanks for all the replies

[DanielUK]

Mines one is up for grabs with a british gas attachment if anyones interested, its had about three weeks use. Comes with an empty gas cylinder. Oh, and the hoses are standard too.

How much are you after for it?  I only thought afterwards that ordering two would be a good idea, for backup/spares. 

And where abouts are you?  I am in Brighton

[Count Phil]

I'm in bedfordshire.

I think I used a hot washing machine part in the end, i seem to remember they were screw attachments or  something. Any ways, I guess I want 50ish. But you know, whatever.