A few days ago, when I was in Tractor Supply, I casually picked up a couple of their flyers. Today while sitting in the car waiting for time to go into work, I read that flyer.
Imagine my surprise when I found people were selling ready made underbody compartments. Most seem to be 18 inches tall which would hang 4 inches below the skirt. I've seen busses with storage compartments dangling down. Still, it gave me ideas.
I'm going to put the replacement compartment in for the existing hillbilly cable compartment. I've built it to take two batteries. That should provide all the 12v power I should ever need.
I'm tempted to put extra storage under the bus but I'm going to stick with just the rebuilt compartment for now. The goal is to be operational not perfected.
Noting the wetness in the front of the bus, I looked into getting a dehumidifier. It seems dehumidifiers start at $60 and go up. The $60 model is a Peltier system. Reading further, the Peltier system works by transferring heat from one side of the Peltier element to the other. The colder side attracts condensation that drips into a collection tray while warm air wafts out of the other side. Many Peltier dehumidifiers use fan cooling but given clever design, the fan can be eliminated and convection used to circulate air on the hot side. The other side should not need circulatory assistance.
The Peltier elements run best off 9 - 15 volts. In order to save bother, I've ordered 5a solar panel. Plugged straight in, that should run the dehumidifier at zero running cost. In terms of total cost...
The future dehumidifier will cost just $27.12. The solar panel can be retasked to keep batteries fresh too. I could even retask the Peltier into a diy fridge!
Imagine my surprise when I found people were selling ready made underbody compartments. Most seem to be 18 inches tall which would hang 4 inches below the skirt. I've seen busses with storage compartments dangling down. Still, it gave me ideas.
I'm going to put the replacement compartment in for the existing hillbilly cable compartment. I've built it to take two batteries. That should provide all the 12v power I should ever need.
I'm tempted to put extra storage under the bus but I'm going to stick with just the rebuilt compartment for now. The goal is to be operational not perfected.
Noting the wetness in the front of the bus, I looked into getting a dehumidifier. It seems dehumidifiers start at $60 and go up. The $60 model is a Peltier system. Reading further, the Peltier system works by transferring heat from one side of the Peltier element to the other. The colder side attracts condensation that drips into a collection tray while warm air wafts out of the other side. Many Peltier dehumidifiers use fan cooling but given clever design, the fan can be eliminated and convection used to circulate air on the hot side. The other side should not need circulatory assistance.
The Peltier elements run best off 9 - 15 volts. In order to save bother, I've ordered 5a solar panel. Plugged straight in, that should run the dehumidifier at zero running cost. In terms of total cost...
The future dehumidifier will cost just $27.12. The solar panel can be retasked to keep batteries fresh too. I could even retask the Peltier into a diy fridge!
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