Friday, September 4, 2015

Ah well

Today the bus conversion forum I'd been following descended into the predictable online mud slinging that so many seem to. It's a very regular pattern, particularly when the discussion begins to get technical and moves away from buying premium components. Go to a photo group where the members are worshipping the latest technology and show photos taken with a pinhole camera made from a shoebox and the condemnation will be amazing!

Today I did more bus parts shopping. This time some 10-2 cable which should allow me to complete some of my electrical system. I won't dignify what was said on the forum by repeating it! Anyway, 10-3 cable should be sufficient to carry power to my individual 15A sockets.

I got two 15A breakers and four socket boxes and an external breaker box with a switch that can be used under the bus to control power from my forthcoming socket to my internal breaker box. The plan is now for a reduced internal 120v setup. Instead of four sockets, I'll install two. That should be more than adequate for a fridge and another appliance.

As far as air conditioning goes, there's no reason why a simple extraction fan cannot be used. That can easily be solar powered. I'm not yet ready to put my 12v systems in. That's a task for after registration as a motorhome.

I looked at tubing and high amperage cabling. The plan is to wire for 55a between the inlet and my internal breaker box. There was cabling in the old installation. It was ridiculously light so I condemned it. The tubing they used might be usable though it's not certain. The only need for the tubing is to protect underbody wiring from squirrels.

One of the plans had been to drill 62mm holes in the side of the breaker box to accommodate electrical sockets. That plan was defeated by the fact Lowe's had only hole saws that were too small or too large that were capable of cutting metal. The new plan is to install electrical socket boxes on the outside of the box. The logic is that all the internal cables can be extensions.

Because my internal breaker box has no master breaker I'll put a master breaker under the bus. As the maximum input will be 50A and the breaker box has two sides, the cables to the breaker box from the master can be 30A to each side. I'll wire from the inlet to the master breaker with 55A cable. The actual socket will be 30A and the breaker in the master breaker will be 30A most of the time. When I'm on a 15A connection though, it'll be 15A. I'll just carry a supplementary breaker.

The plan for tomorrow is to complete my shower base mount then to install the electrical sockets for the breaker box, wire them in and commence dismantling the hillbilly cable compartment under the bus. That's badly built of rotted plywood. My new compartment will be a battery compartment that will be made of metal. That'll probably be some of the hillbilly bed frame, if there's any left and sheet metal from an old fridge. As already stated though, the battery compartment is not high priority right now.

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