A leak stopped?

Leaks are no good whatsoever and the leak at the back had been leaking for quite a while. Today, from the vantage point of a stepladder it became evident that the leaks were due to some poor seam sealing whoever had done the sealing ten years ago had done. 

It was slow work with a nylon brush in the pistol drill but better doing that than using the cupped steel brush in the angle grinder and getting shrapnel everywhere. The debris field was narrow enough to be swept with a hand brush from the step ladder. Once that was done, the shiny metal was sprayed with the first spray can that came to hand, bearing in mind there was no rust and it had been bone dry for days.

Once the painted seam had dried, Dynatron Seam Sealant was used. It was a previously used tube. The key to keeping opened tubes is to cut a small hole in the nozzle then to fill that with a screw when done for the day. Keeping that tube in an air-conditioned building also ensures it keeps. 

Applying the caulk was a case of squiring a bead as far as the arm could reach then smoothing/spreading it with an old blister packet from a pack of screws. That worked really well, was cheap and disposable. On the Dynatron website it's mentioned that the caulk can be put on with a brush. That would be the end of the brush though.

Aside from the very back seam, the only place now that water could be coming in would be the previous seam. That looked OK on the last visit to the roof. It's unlikely to be seepage from the lights as when my hand was up inside the roof cavity, the damp was above the lights. Similarly the rivets at the backs of the solar panels seem pretty leak-proof. It is now a case of waiting for the next rainstorm.

While the caulk gun was out, I switched caulk tubes and completed caulking around the wooden panel in the bedroom above the bed. That is now ready for paint. One day I'll get to that. I probably need to touch up the whole bedroom. That was painted in haste and not very well.

Speaking of other things, the horn button and horn relay seem to work. When the horn was connected to the horn button and the engine was off, the horn was almost imperceptible. I'd assumed that the horn relay was bad. Wiring the horn back to the hillbilly wire had the same result. When the engine was on, the hillbilly horn wire made the horn sound loudly. I suspect that the same result will happen when the original horn wire and button is used. That makes me suspect the hillbillies couldn't hear the horn with the engine off and just rewired it. 

A lot of people rush in to do things without thinking and without questioning why things are as they are. A very popular thing is to remove the vent from the roof that keeps the insulation dry. Not smart! The horn looks like another example. I could go on about masks and the Covid virus too. People whining about and refusing to wear masks while claiming Covid is non-existent without realizing a mask is a sensible backup should their opinion be wrong and scientific evidence be right. 

So, the back seam is done. The horn will probably be working next time I work on the bus. If the horn button works then the hillbilly wire might as well be removed. It would be entertaining to rig it to a train horn but extra loud horns are actually illegal. An entertaining idea but not worth pursing. There is no reason as far as I can tell to have an extra wire in the engine bay so I might as well retire it.

When running the engine the other day, the Hydromax kept running. When the engine was off, it only ran when I put my foot on the brake. Having researched hydraulic brake boosters there are likely two solutions. Either it is the air in the back brake line or it is the pressure switch at the top of the brake booster. The latter is the most likely. 

Things remaining to be done....

• Back brake lines
• Switching the horn over
• Reworking the right wiper mechanism
• Testing the new roof vent and putting a hood over it if needed
• Removing the buzzer from the console
• Small internal electrical fixes
• Bars over the windows. Measuring, it seems 3 bars will be sufficient though it would be possible also to use a perforated sheet. Bars look more prison like, however.