My Raven arrives next week. I am a huge fan of hot water and have been researching since I placed my order over a year ago. My previous truck camper, a Hallmark Milner, had the popular 6 gallon Suburban propane unit. Showering outside after a day of mountain biking the hot water seemed endless. The unit was reliable and I liked the extra six gallons in addition to my 20 gallon water tank. However, my truck is a 1500 and I could feel those 26 gallons sloshing back and forth around every turn and dip in the road. That was too much water for my half-ton truck. I got rid of the old Hallmark Milner (probably weighed 1600lbs and the wood frame was starting to rot). With the Raven shell, I’m only installing the necessities. Heat and hot water. If I cook, it will be with a Jetboil or outside. I want maximum interior space. After lots of research, I settled on a Chinese knock-off of the Truma Combi combo heater and hot water boiler. It’s a JP CR-12 LPG also branded as a Wolf 6000. The Truma is $3500, the Wolf is $2500 and the JP was $1000 plus $500 shipping. When it arrived, it had all the Wolf branding… so go figure. I first heard of the Truma when researching truck campers. The Overland Explorer Camp-X camper comes standard with a Truma Combi. I like the Camp-X but they go for near $40k with no shell option, at least not a year ago when I was shopping. The JP unit is self contained and has a 6 liter boiler. Far less than the Suburban, but more than an on-demand unit. All the reviews say the heater is very quiet. I like that the heat is delivered through duct work so the machine can be isolated in a cabinet. My old suburban furnace, like the stock furnace in the FWC, would cycle all night constantly waking me up. I ordered a narrow 11 gallon water tank from plastic-mart that will have the same footprint as the JP. I intend to mount the tank on the floor near the front window with the JP heater on top (on a shelf made of 80/20 aluminum). Stacked, they will be flush with the tops of the side benches, completing my U-shaped seating area. With the heater and water tucked under the new front seat, the rest of the Raven will have “lots” of room for 3-4 of us to sit around a Lagun table. I’m planning to house my ARB fridge in the rear seat of the truck. I really want as much weight low and towards the middle as possible. I’m even considering moving the whole battery bank to the rear floor of the truck. It drives me nuts that FWC piles all of the heavy appliances on the same side as the driver. If you’re solo, you, plus the water heater, fridge, sink, stove, batteries, are all leaning to Port. Plus, they hang the fridge way towards the back of the camper/truck bed. Just throws the whole vehicle off-center. Good luck with whatever you decide. Planning and re-planning is half the fun of the shell model!
Here’s the pump I selected.
SHURFLO 4008-101-E65 3.0 Revolution Water Pump
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002XM5G70/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_BDZW1HNPW5KJBHHX1C0P?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
And the accumulator tank… supposed to help keep the pump from constantly cycling:
SHURflo 182-200 Pre-Pressurized Accumulator Tank,Black, 9.1" x 4.8" x 3.8"
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000N9VF6Q/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_PW225K46NVZDB9C3WFQ5?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
This is the JP Combi heater. Purchased from JP Industries distributor out of Canada:
https://m.car-parkingheater.com/sale-14173652-6kw-lpg-air-and-hot-water-heater-gas-electric-similar-to-truma-combi-6e.html
Camper X camper just FYI:
https://atoverland.com/pages/overland-explorer-camp-x-pop-up-truck-camper
And lastly the water tank:
https://m.plastic-mart.com/product/345/11-gallon-rectangle-poly-tank-rb319 no