Coleman Water Heater (on demand)

Smoke & Beers

Smoke & Beers

is Blowin Smoke!
Joined
Sep 10, 2008
Messages
1,244
Reaction score
137
Points
0
Location
Ellis...
31T323WKVVL._SL500_AA280_.jpg

I found one of these at a local hardware store for $120...I'm planning on picking it up since I'm going to start competing this spring...
I did a search here and saw that they were getting so pretty good reviews about 3 or 4 years ago... I'm just wondering if anyone who bought one back then still has theirs and how it holds up over time?
TIA for the info...
 
I'm interested in this as well. My wife bought me one this past Christmas and I haven't even taken it out of the box yet. I have a competition next weekend in Lake Havasu, AZ and was told I have to "clean" it out before I use it with some Calcium, Lime, Rust remover. I better get on that!
 
For $120 that's a no-brainer. We've used one for two years so far. Hot water is nice.

Forget the water jug it comes with. Fill a large cooler and just put the pump in it
 
KC_Bobby said:
For $120 that's a no-brainer. We've used one for two years so far. Hot water is nice.

Forget the water jug it comes with. Fill a large cooler and just put the pump in it
Click to expand...
I too got one for Christmas... I'm picking up the hose and 'Bulk LP' connections to make it complete.

We are looking forward to NOT having to use the turkey frier for boiling water!
 
I love mine, but I do have a word of advice:

Under NO circumstances leave it alone in a room with a five-year old and a screwdriver. The knob on the front is held on with one screw. Under that, there is a spring and a piece of metal that holds it on the shaft. If that comes off (and it's not really held on there very well once that screw is gone) the unit is unusable and unrepairable. That spring is force fitted at the factory and cannot be replace once it is off. I contacted customer service at Coleman and was told that, even if I shipped the unit to them, they could not fix it. They did offer to ship me a new one if I shipped them the old one (which cost me $175) and $125. I was disappointed in the level of service I got from the company and in what I consider to be a poor design for something that's likely to be around children, but the unit itself works great.
 
I got one this year and used it this past weekend. I just stuck the hose in a 5 gallon bucket of water and topped it off as needed. Worked just fine. I paid 180 or so, 120 is a great buy.
 
We used to have one of those, but we wanted something that would connect to our sink, so we got one similar to this
 
we have had ours for a couple of years now. Its terrific!
 
Ours died after its third year, but we (and the occasional HD inspectors) loved it.
Another team we know told us a similar story, that three years seems to be their effective lifespan.
 
Had one and it worked well until the pump started stopping. Beat it or bang it on the side of the bucket and it would usually start or if not then use a toothpick to spin the impeller. Then a piece of plastic broke on the knob that trips the pizo crystal. There is no customer service or spare parts. If it breaks, throw it away. Now use an inline propane system bought off ebay and a shur pump. Works great and can at least replace components if they fail.
 
We love ours, too but it died at our last comp in the fall. I contacted Coleman and they are replacing it for me.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
We love ours but as Bobby said the jug is kind of a joke. Rolling cooler works great.
 
I love them!!!

I have had experience with the Coleman and Oster (same same) On both the units the battery charger died. That is the single biggest problem with these units. It cost $12.00 for a new charger the first time but now they are on back order until July....

I'll find a replacement that will work from Mouser Electronics supply and post the part number if anyone needs it.

$125 is a good price if it comes with all the attachments. I setup fully loaded is about $230.00, usually.
 
Thanks for the opinions...I stopped by and picked it up on my way home from work this evening...Looking forward to using it...just hope I don't have to use it this weekend with the approaching ice/snow storm:evil:
 
I've gone through 3 in 5 years, had to return two of them. The biggest problem I had is that they wouldn't operate on A/C. A/C was only there to charge the battery which runs the ignitor for the burner to heat the water.

Lots of problems, sometimes it would just quit working.

Tried to find a better battery but couldn't.

I still like them, I just expect for that kind of money they work better and more consistently.
 
We've used it competitively for the last 4 years...That being said, when it's working, it makes life easy (we use the shower head attachment and the pump submerged in a 35 gallon tank)...My only problem with this unit, is it has died on us usually at the most inopportune time (Battery Charger quit and unit failed to ignite propane)...I have gone through 4 different units over the past 4 years...I've also tried the zodi portable hot water heater (water will not get hot enough)...The one thing that's been very good about the coleman, is the product support (I bought the first one only, and all the others have been replaced at no charge by coleman). For $120,
that unit is a steal...and even though I've had so many problems with it, I would still recommend you get it cuz there is no comparable unit out there that can perform as well as it does when its working...and besides, if it should break, coleman will replace it.
 
That's a good price!
Ours died after the first year of comps.
Needless to say,I went out and bought another...
 
I would also say that you should make sure that you fully charge the battery before storage. I have had to replace 1 battery in the 3 years I have owned it and the guy at the battery store just said to make sure and charge it after use and then store it and the battery will last a while. I love mine. Probably one of the first investments that any comp team should make when they first get started.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

cayenne
FIRST COOK on the new Offset Smoker!!! Pictures and comments...
2
Replies
22
Views
878
Bury Me In Smoke
B
cayenne
First Try on Vertical Spit, BGE XL: Tacos Al Pastor
Replies
13
Views
1K
SYBQ
S
S
Turkey on the MAK
Replies
6
Views
382
Back9Q
B
K
New PK100 Electric Smoker for Sausage!
Replies
2
Views
749
Kevin James
K
P
Weber Kettle 22 - What was I thinking?!?
Replies
1
Views
2K
Happy Hapgood
Happy Hapgood
Back
Top