Some strange adventures.

Today was a day that was really odd. It started with my aiming to go to Greenville to try to get my Mac fixed at the Apple store. That's not what actually happened though. As soon as I started the engine, a light came on telling me to get my engine serviced. Thus, I went to Autozone where the problem was diagnosed as a faulty fuel sender unit costing $160. Well, that seemed strange since clearly my fuel gauge worked well. Next stop was the dealer who confirmed it was the fuel sender unit and that it would be $610 to get it replaced (including taxes). By then it was getting a bit late to head to Greenville and since the fuel gauge was still working, I decided to leave it until such a point as it actually needs replacing.

Being in Lexington itself then, I headed to Best Buy where I noted the cheapest Macbook (10 years younger than mine) was $800. Still some way to come before they will be as affordable as a $199 Windows laptop! As usual all the staff completely ignored me from the greeter by the door to the individual in the computer section who was too busy picking his nose to be bothered. Plenty staff just stood idly around chatting on their cellphones and watching customers enter then leave the store having never been asked if they needed assistance. I left too even though I knew what I wanted to ask about since Best Buy clearly is not interested in doing any business.

Leaving Best Buy, the next port of call was Home Depot where I actually found the turnbuckles I so desperately needed. Seeing as Home Depot's turnbuckles which apparently will hold 130lbs had loop ends rather than the closable ends I needed, I had to go across the road to Tractor Supply for some connectors. Et voila - now you can see what is going to be on one side of each waste water drum!

The top left screws into one of the body skeleton cross members. It's a clamp designed to anchor a steel cable. It will hold a chain very well. The next bit is a 130lb turnbuckle. The last bit is a link I can use to connect the turnbuckle to a chain. I will use three like this on one side of each barrel. The other side will have a plain clamp to attach the chain to the skeleton.

I returned home in enough time to work toward putting the barrels under the bus. The first thing achieved was to attach the water tubing. After that I installed the breathing tubes. Sounds simple? I most certainly assure you it was not!

The water tube was pretty easy - just a matter of drilling a 3/4 inch hole in the center of the big cap then screwing in an adaptor - the cap is ready threaded. Then the angle was installed. The other side was far more interesting. I spent ages trying to unscrew a metal ringed cap before discovering after 20 minutes that it simply levered off, revealing a cap with a cross in the head. It took a few minutes to make a screwdriver out of steel to open the cap. The goal was to put a hole through that cap in order to install a breathing tube. 

To cut a long story short (chorus of Thankyou Jesus echoes around the room), my original plan had been to drill through the cap and install a threaded tube through it, tightened by a nut on both sides. Well, that didn't end up working but the plastic hose barb that I'd bought screwed very nicely into the hole I'd slowly made with a drill then enlarged with a file and a stanley knife.

By the time darkness fell, I'd put two breathing tubes and two fluid tubes into barrels. The next thing and I left this until tomorrow is to mount the barrels underneath the body. Interestinly the threades on the cable clamps seem to be 7.2mm or 0.29 of an inch. I don't have a drill that size but I can borrow one. My game plan is to drill a template in some flat steel then use that to drill the holes under the bus. 

The second barrel will not be installed tomorrow. Just the one. The second, I need to buy 6 more cable clamps for. Tractor Supply did not have enough to fulfill my needs. I gather they have deliveries on Thursdays so on Friday I can imagine I might be installing the second barrel. Having done that, I might put the sink that I removed, back in the bathroom as it's just the perfect place to use as a urinal! 

Although I am unlikely to get my Mac working before I head back to work on Monday, I should at least (if plans go well) have some improved plumbing. I don't know about the main breaker box but things are looking promising!

In the post

Today I did it - I posted the application to retitle my bus as a motorhome. As far as I know, that should get to the DMV in a few days. I'll doubtless have to reinsure my bus as a bus before they look at it and change the title since the insurance is up in about a week. The insurance company has been reminding me for the past six weeks to renew my insurance. They just don't realise that I don't ever give anybody free use of my money when it can stay in my own account earning interest until I really have to spend it. Thus, I normally get my insurance on the day before it's really due.

The socket cover I painted yesterday looks really good and matches the rest of the bus rather nicely. I meant to try scraping the paint to see if it comes off as I have little confidence in paint thinner making anything stick to my bus. It seems to reject just about every attempt to prepare the surface for fresh paint. Even stripping down to bare metal could be challenging as the steel is zinc plated. I did get brake fluid just for this but had forgotten about it until now.

In other news, the hour advanced on Sunday night leaving me now with over an hour after I return home before sundown. Had I not been so tired today, I would have worked on my bus. 

I am giving thought to alternatives to power and to attaching my barrels. It strikes me that U bolts could be used to tighten chains and coincidentally would be a load cheaper than using turnbuckles. If I'm right, it could be possible to attach the barrels without needing to do any welding whatsoever underneath the bus.

As far as the house battery is concerned, I suspect plugging into the cigarette lighter socket when I'm driving could well work best unless I can tap into the alternator circuit. Combining that with a charge controller would be an interesting approach. Indeed, looking at the LIon batteries I have been looking at online, I could probably fit them into a small ammunition box. I'm a big fan of small ammunition boxes as I can pack charge controlers, battery meters, cables and USB sockets etc into them as well as the batteries. In other words, a complete and portable power source that can be carried inside the bus. Truth be told though, I'd really prefer to use a supercapacitor

One of the things I'm a fan of is simplicity. Why go to the trouble of slinging things under the bus if it's not essential? The extraction fan for the bedroom can be solar powered on the basis that it's there to remove heat, not ventillate as the bus has plenty ventillation anyway.

With the LIon house battery in a portable case, it could be charged on 120v just about anywhere. The beauty of a standard solution is it can be put together like Lego blocks. Supercaps aren't mainstream which means it'd be a build-it-myself solution and even following published plans, those things don't always work. I really like the idea of building my own electronics but 75% of the time they don't work even when made from a kit and checked scrupulously. Mind, that's petty much my experience of ready-made electronics anyway.

So, the upshot is, tasks remaining to complete:
1. Replacing self-adhesive blinds with roller blinds.
2. Installing waste water tanks.
3. Developing a house-battery solution.
4. Installing a set of bungie cord anchors for the back closet.
5. Replacing or blocking the back door lower window.
6. Replacing or blocking the two back windows.
7. Developing and installing a front door unlocking system.
8. Blanking the school bus flashers.
9. Replacing the arrow indicator lenses with amber flasher lenses.
After all that, I'd say the bus is probably about as ready as it'll ever be. I would kinda like to put some kind of handbasin in the bathroom but a bowl will do quite well.

One of the interesting things that has come to my attention is urine disposal. I hear that peeing in a composting toilet makes the whole thing stink. I'm not quite sure how it will be affected by the fact my toilet is modelled after a cat litter tray. The deposits are simply covered with cat lit. The other day, there was an article in which one bus conversion owner complained she and her girlfriend discovered they had to go and pee in the forest rather than their composting toilet. The upshot was that in the end they replaced their composting toilet with a flush toilet though the domestic toilet they used would use about 10 gallons in a single flush. That's fine for campsites but otherwise, not so great. I would not be too surprised if in the end I decide to install a black tank and a camper toilet. Now the water from that could be pumped from the shower grey tank or if the handbasin empties into a 5 gallon bucket then that could be a source of flush water.

Well, in a few days I should hear more about reclassifiying my bus as a motorhome. I think there's enough there for it to work.

New ideas keep hitting me!

Two members of the genus Sasquatch strolled past as, wrapped up against the arctic cold, I stepped into the freezing outside world. The aim today was to work on the breaker box compartment with a sub aim of marking the steel to cut to infill the rest of the hillbilly hole.

Last night, as I dreamed of things to be, things that might be and things that couldn't possibly ever be, I had an idea. Why not add brackets to the back of the box in order that extra securing points may be employed. Thus, the first order of the day was to locate some suitable steel, which I derusted manually, welded into place and sprayed with rust killing spray.
While I was at it, I re-welded the seam that was a bit loose that I'd welded yesterday. Yesterday I tried using my welder at the lower amperage setting since I was using thin rods and having a problem of burning through steel. That kinda-sorta worked. 40A was too low to be really useful. 70A is a bit high because extreme care needed to be taken that the rods didn't burn a hole in the steel.

Hunting around, I found my white paint. I set to and gave the assembley a white topcoat, hoping that it really won't matter much that some of the undercoat got burned off by the welding process. As rain is forecast for tomorrow, I placed an upturned planter over the assembly.
Then, looking at the sheet steel I placed behind the hillbilly aperture, I realised that it would probably support the edge of the compartment. I also realised that by being very careful I could probably stitch weld the steel into the hole after it's cut to size.
At least I found a use for the duct tape I had in the bus. It was well on the way to not being at all sticky! The steel for this operation was donated by a seat back from the bus that the hillbillies had not removed. Those with longer memories will recall that I removed it and the handrail that was attached to it in around April.

I sprayed around the perimeter of the aperture with orange paint in order to make an outline for cutting. Then, mindful of the fact rain was forecast and this is probably not galvanized steel, I sprayed inside with white paint.
The loose breaker box and cable are resting on top of an upturned trash recepticle underneath the bus. I must admit they look a load better since they were taken out of the nasty environment of rotting wood. Speaking of rotting wood, I did find some light surface rust where the wood had been in contact with bodywork steel. I treated it with anti-rust spray.

The next step will be to mount the breaker compartment in place and secure it from the front and the back. I had planned to drill holes in the tops of the sides but there isn't room to get the drill inside the box to be able to drill vertical holes. That's as of right now. In the future I might find a smaller electric drill and be able to do it.

If I put the steel infilling behind the bodywork panelling then I could weld it to the edge of the flange on the compartment and it would act as a support. I could rivet the steel over the front of the aperture too. That would solve the problem and old vehicles do have patches riveted over them. This bus is a splendid example, what with all the patches I've rivetted over hillbilly foolishness. I could butt-weld the whole patch into the aperture with the aperture (albeit with a cutout for the breaker compartment).

As far as locating the inlet box, that could be placed under the compartment or to the side. At the side, it could point downwards or go out through the side of the bus. The advantage for going out through the side is ease of access. The downside is it looks like a power socket. On the other hand, from 20 feet not many people would really notice anyway - particularly with a grey vehicle.

The paint is definitely peeling in places. I did read that somebody prepped their bus by wiping down the paintwork with paint thinner. That sounds promising and I might try that where the paint peels off. In fact that sounds easier than brushing down to bare metal, priming and painting. I can try it and if it doesn't work, I can try something else. It's not as though it has to be instantly perfect. It has to be comfortably livable inside - which it will be when the shower curtains are in place and it's all cleaned up.

12v electricity is a long-term project that will be installed at some future point. After infilling the hole in the side and installing the breaker compartment I might move on to installing the waste water barrels. I have considered various options and come to the conclusion that nylon cargo straps are the way to go. There seem to be three ways of securing barrels. I have seen some ideas that use plywood cradles but that just seems nuts having seen the way plywood under the bus just rots. 

The three ways are to use chains anchored to the skeleton and wrapped around the barrels, to use nylon cargo straps and to use plumbing strap. Each has its advantages and disadvantages. Cargo straps are pretty universal, easy to install and easy to obtain. Chains are equally easy to obtain but harder to tighten and install. Plumbers strap probably needs a special tool to apply that I don't have. 

Discounting plumbing strap, I'm left with chains or cargo straps. Chains are excellent and very strong but only as strong as the weakest link. As the tanks will be pretty close to the back wheels (unless I can situate them further forward) then there is a possibility that the chain could drop down and get wrapped around the wheel with catastrophic consequences. Nylon straps would just snap at 300lbs pressure. They'd also be kinder to the plastic barrels. Thus, catastrophic failure is not as likely. Some question how well the straps will last but protected from UV and kept dry (the only wet will be road spray) there is no reason why they should not last a good long time. Doubling them up would add extra security. The attachment points for the straps could easily be steel plate with a hole drilled in it that's simply riveted to the body skeleton.

Tomorrow, if it's raining as promised, it's unlikely I'll be able to do much outside the bus. As far as I know, the rivnuts and screw eyes I ordered on Friday won't be here tomorrow. Those will complete the shower curtain attachments. Another thing that could be done is to work out some way of raising the 3 gallon cooler that forms the basis of my shower in order to increase the efficiency of the impeller pump.

A rainy day

I blundered today. When I went out to the bus, it was dry. While I was inside, it began to rain. I had hoped to derust the other side of my steel plates then to paint them ready for welding tomorrow since tomorrow is alleged to be going to be a dry day. We all know the weather forecasters speak with forked tongues though!

While I was in the bus, I sat down and completed my second 20A cable. The one terminates in a NEMA 6-30R which will plug straight into the NEMA 6-30C when the battery compartment is completed. Construction in failing light was not easy but was completed fairly swiftly. I have to say it doesn't look at all bad. It was confusing that the hot/cold pins had no markings other than X and Y which meant I had to look it up to see which wire should go where. I'll doubtless get the same issue when I wire the NEMA 6-30C.

Meanwhile, since the lottery is now up to $900,000,000, m'lady wanted a ticket so I headed to the store and bought two tickets. I don't so much believe I stand a chance of winning but I'd love to see somebody win $1,000,000,000 and be a billionairre for a day - before the IRS takes 50% and the state takes their 20%, leaving them with probably $400,000,000. It'd be hard but I'm sure that by economising they could just about live on that money! For myself, I"d be happy with any amount

When I went out I planned to stop off at a place where barrels were on sale. Oops... I was in thick traffic and missed the turning so I carried on to Lowes (hiss, spit). There, I realised I'd forgotten the piece of tubing I'd cut to take to Lowes for sizing! Still, I had a look at various plumbing bits. Then I looked at hooks from which I could hang my bucket. Looking at them, they would have had a difficult job coping with the lip inside the skirt on the bus. I passed on buying a hook. That was fortunate as it so happened.

On the way back home, I passed the sign where used barrels were on offer. The actual place was a long way down a lane. Down the end of the lane was a downtrodden looking mobile home. In the yard, a big dog barked noisily while some 15 gallon barrels stood to attention. The fellow must have seen me arrive and opened the door as I approached. He was very pleasant and didn't have change for my $20 so rather then buying two of his $8 apiece 15 gallon drums, I bought 3 with my $24.  They had contained some kind of brownish liquid wax. That was slopping about inside the drums so I made very sure the caps were screwed on firmly in order to avoid spills. Clearly the fellow worked where such barrels were used. I'm very happy with my barrels. I suppose I could put 3 grey water tanks or two grey and a black just in case I decide to put a flush toilet some day.

30 or 45 gallons of waste water is a very attractive idea because that puts me squarely into boondocking territory. I can carry fresh water in jerry cans and to be honest the risk of tampering with fresh water supplies accessible from the outside is low but nice not to have. Indeed, with the waste water, a faucet could empty that into a bucket or a hosepipe.

Looking around the bus today, I noticed a tag from a conversion company. I've never noticed it before but it looks like it was Tennessee hillbillies that did the conversion. Clearly some kind of professional hillbilly conversion.

Now that I have the barrels, all kinds of possibilities open up for plumbing. Of course, the things I would have liked to have done didn't get done. The path is there to go way better than just a bucket.

Hunting for Scotch Mist

There are lots of euphemisms for what I'm trying to do now. Attempting to plait fog and attempting to knit a rice pudding are but two. I'm trying to do the impossible - find something real and worthwhile using the internet!

For weeks I've been looking for plastic 15 gallon barrels in order to use them for waste water from my bus. Let's just say that it's harder to find those than it is to find The Holy Grail.

Craigslist has plastic barrels of 55 gallon etc but precious few of 15 gallon. When I do find them they're either an outrageous $20 and 100+ miles away or they're brand new, 200+ miles away and $40.

It doesn't matter what was originally in the barrels since they're just for waste water. The closest I've seen was on somebody else's property. It's a derelict house with barrels outside. Sadly though, as somebody owns them, I can't just liberate them. If they were just out at the curbside awaiting collection by the garbage truck then I'd have no qualms. These are behind a ramshackle fence though.

I'm pretty desperate for barrels but they just don't seem to be available despite being advertised all over the internet. It's just so frustrating. Just two 15 gallon barrels would be ample for waste water. The best I found was $20 per barrel but shipping from Florida was $15 per barrel for a total of $70 which is utterly ridiculous!

For comparison, a brand new 37 gallon water tank is $200. Lowe's 3 inch pipe is $12 for 10 feet and 10 feet will carry 3.6 gallons. Thus $120 of tube would carry 36 gallons. A used stainless steel beer barrel would cost $22 and would hold 15.5 gallons. I did see a stainless barrel but it was riddled with bullet holes.

As I said, its frustrating because I see all the bargains advertised but they're just not available. Its like the drowning man clutching for the straw. Salvation is there - just out of reach!

Sadly, today was a do nothing day. By the time I got home, the daylight had gone and the rain was pouring down. Not a good time to work underneath my bus.