Working on the CDL

Today I rushed off to the DMV to do the theory test for the general knowledge test for my CDL. The line was out of the door and it was a hot day. Needless to say, I decided to do that another day.

Returning home via a few stores, I found in Big Lots a couple of interesting things. The first was a lantern. I'm not sure how it compares to my existing lantern but it also runs off D cells and hangs from a loop. It's quite decent and at $7 seemed worth buying. My other lantern might be a shade brighter but the hanging loop broke. My old lantern felt better quality but that's very deceptive. Had it been better quality, the handle wouldn't have broken off. It just seems those LED things don't last so there's very little point in spending more than the absolute minimum on them.

I didn't get a picture in daylight but it seems a pretty good light. While I was in the same store, they also had a small magnetic mirror. The magnetic part is of no use since my interior walls are wood. The cool thing is this mirror is small and the surround matches fairly closely the paintwork of the bathroom. I'll have to see if I can fit a magnetic mount for the mirror in due course.

I quite like this mirror though I had not actively been looking for one. Who can pass on a $1.50 mirror though?

Moving on from there, the next stop was Lowes (hiss, spit) where five cans of Great Stuff were purchased. I'm experimenting on one side of the bus with spraying Great Stuff. There seems a lot of heat entering the back compartment via an uninsulated access area. Since that area is where the 8 way flashers used to be, I'm filling it with foam to see if it makes a worthwhile difference. If it does, I'll fill the other 3 bays.

Now, the center (above the back door) isn't going to be filled because it's an access conduit for lighting wiring. I might try to put some kind of insulation in there though, somehow.

Today I relocated my bus manuals and started reading them. The first was the DT466 manual which answered my question as to engine capacity which seems to be 7.6 liters. The second was the 3800 manual which gave me all the maintainance steps. Somewhere there's a manual for the transmission. I'll locate that at some point.

Meanwhile, today I started the engine and ran it for 10 minutes. That brought the battery back up a little. There seems to be a small power drain from something. I'll have to get into the habit of using the power cutoff until I can eliminate that power drain. Ideally though, I'd like to put solar panels on the front of the bus to keep the batteries charged. I'd imagine one 30W panel would do it while the second could charge my electronics. That's a $100 expenditure fir the future.

I was tempted to work on the panel that will go under the silly hole in the bedroom floor but was thwarted by rain. I'm hoping that I'd be far enough away from the wasp nest for them not to take an interest. I really want to get this bus in a condition to be able to retitle it.