You've heard me say before about what rubbish these solar cells and wind turbines are on many occasions. I do try every now and then to get this green nonsense to work. Today I pulled out my solar panel and connected a 12v CPU fan to it. I aimed the panel squarely at the sun at the perfect angle and waited. Nothing happened. Unsurprised I connected my 12v CPU fan to a 6v battery and it whirred away nicely, shifting a good quantity of air.
Just to be sure - the panel was sold as 12V 5W and the CPU fan was sold as 12v. It probably only consumes 500MA at most or 10% of the panel's rated output. It is therefore rather strange that the fan does not spin, given the figures. Now a cynic would probably say that the panel manufacturer was grossly exagerating the output of the panel. Yeah... I'll go with that. Having seen it at midday failing to make a 12v indicator panel light bulb glow more than very faintly I'm going to go with the solar panel is a load of rubbish.
Sadly, this is not my first foolish forray into the fantasy world of renewable energy. Years ago I had a small panel and I plugged it into my cellphone to charge my cellphone. As I didn't actually need to use that particular phone, I left the whole lot plugged up on a windowsill for an entire week. After that week, during which the sun shone firercly on the panel, the phone had enough charge in it to run it for 15 minutes. Bear in mind this was an old style flip phone. If I remember correctly it was an Eriksson T15 or something similar. Those were the days when a phone could be charged and left on standby for 10 days before having to recharge it.
It's very tempting to follow the hoohaa about renewable energy but the truth is that electricity generated from the sun and from wind is just nonsense. Looking at the wind turbines available for motorhomes and the solar panels, the electricity generated is truly pitiful and the cost is truly outrageous. In order to run a microwave the theory is that a standard microwave such as the one I tossed out a few weeks ago because it was shot, would need 1100watts to power it. In terms of my pitiful little $15 5W solar panel that can't run a fan or light a bulb, in order to produce 1100W, I'd need 220 panels. Given that the panel is about 12 inches by 8 inches, that's going to cover 146 square feet. That, by the way is probably more space than the entire roof of my bus. It would cost $3,300 too. Even if bigger more economical panels were used then the power produced would still be unlikely to power my microwave.
Looking at things another way, if my panel cannot actually produce its stated capacity but can produce about 10% of it then things look pretty bleak for solar panels. Assuming a whole roof covered with panels producing a fanciful 1100W but an actual 110W then that 110W would have to be produced for 10 hours in order to produce enough power to run the microwave for just 1 hour. Now I bet you're saying that nobody runs a microwave for an hour. Think again! That's a cheap-ass Rival microwave that costs $50 in Walmart. That thing takes 15 minutes to cook a plate of food. There's three meals and maybe a couple of drinks and the entire day's supply of power is gone. No mention of heating water to shower, running lighting or anything else.
So, what is the solution? Well, initially I just won't be wasting my time with electricity unless it's of the battery powered or plugin variety. Speaking of battery powered, I did buy some AA powered phone chargers. There is a possibility of another couple of solutions too. One is to put a 12v battery under the bus, connected to the main batteries when driving so they will charge and disconnected when camping but connected to the house circuits instead. That could be achieved with a simple, ordinary switch on the console. Actually that is probably by far the best solution!
Thinking about the battery under the bus, it would need a massively powerful switch to control the amperage produced by the alternator. Thus a switching relay is likely to be needed. There sure is a lot of electrical work I need to do under the bus besides this!
There are starting batteries available that also have air compressors and USB power connectors. They don't have batteries that are all that worthwile inside. Usually 20AH at most. Those are pretty similar to the uninterruptable power supplies used in most offices. Again, the problem is a miserly battery.
At the moment, electricity is a way off in the future. However I have tried a few things that just haven't worked out. Mostly it has been the solar garbage that has been the hold up. Solar power like wind power really is cloud cuckoo land.
Showing posts with label electricity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label electricity. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 12, 2016
Sunday, March 20, 2016
What happened to the Playboy Bunny-girl?
Today was a bit of a mish-mash day that actually ended quite successfully. The day dawned rather too early which was not welcome. In fact, I was probably awake before 5am after having hit the sack about 1am. At 7am the alarm clock kicked me out of bed. That was followed by a rather lengthy trip to Walmart and Lowes (hiss, spit).
The overall aim of the morning's trip was to do the month's grocery shopping. While there, I took advantage of the fact that Walmart's garage was open (on a Sunday) and had them give my car a much needed oil change. While that was going on, m'lady and her mother went to do the grocery shopping and I nipped across the parking lot on foot (shock, horror - somebody in America daring to walk somewhere) into Lowes (hiss, spit) where I managed to get the U bolts I wanted, a replacement drill bit and absolutely no rivets. Lowes (hiss, spit) was totally out of 3/16 rivets!
Returning to Walmart, I picked up my car and then rejoined m'lady and her mother to discover that one of the Walmart minimum wage serfs had been insanely rude to them. Given that both m'lady and her mother are inoffensive people, that was totally inexcusable. No point in complaining though. Walmart's solution would just be to fire the disposable minimum wage serf rather than to fix the demonstrable problem with their staff's attitudes.
While in Walmart, I noted the aisles were full of Easter merchandise. I think this is probably about the closest I'm going to get to a Playboy Bunny though!
Having completed the shopping and returned home, it was time to catch up with my missing kip. So, a couple of hours later I headed to the bus and checked the running lights. Initially one of the tail lights was out but the bulb was OK so after wigglimg the bulb, the light lit. One of the top red markers is out as is one of the right hand amber markers. I'll get to those in due course.
Entering the bus, I looked around and my eye alighted on a small packet in my tool box. Yesterday I had hunted through that tool box several times looking for rivets. Incredibly, there was the packet of 3/16 rivets that I needed. Thus, I set to work.
The last two of my cheap self-adhesive paper blinds were stuck up very well. They took quite some pulling to remove. Given that the other 3 had simply fallen down under their own weight, I don't for one instant believe that they would have withstood the test of time. Thus, the two blinds in the bathroom were replaced.
The caribinas made moving the shower curtain very easy. It was just a case of unclip, reclip and done.Sadly the caribinas were too small to use with my lantern. That's not a problem though - I can always get a bigger caribina.
Slowly, things are coming together. I need to put the water tanks underneath, themain breaker box in, a method of securing items in the back closet, a method of opening the front door from outside and to secure the lower window of the back door.
The overall aim of the morning's trip was to do the month's grocery shopping. While there, I took advantage of the fact that Walmart's garage was open (on a Sunday) and had them give my car a much needed oil change. While that was going on, m'lady and her mother went to do the grocery shopping and I nipped across the parking lot on foot (shock, horror - somebody in America daring to walk somewhere) into Lowes (hiss, spit) where I managed to get the U bolts I wanted, a replacement drill bit and absolutely no rivets. Lowes (hiss, spit) was totally out of 3/16 rivets!
Returning to Walmart, I picked up my car and then rejoined m'lady and her mother to discover that one of the Walmart minimum wage serfs had been insanely rude to them. Given that both m'lady and her mother are inoffensive people, that was totally inexcusable. No point in complaining though. Walmart's solution would just be to fire the disposable minimum wage serf rather than to fix the demonstrable problem with their staff's attitudes.
While in Walmart, I noted the aisles were full of Easter merchandise. I think this is probably about the closest I'm going to get to a Playboy Bunny though!
Having completed the shopping and returned home, it was time to catch up with my missing kip. So, a couple of hours later I headed to the bus and checked the running lights. Initially one of the tail lights was out but the bulb was OK so after wigglimg the bulb, the light lit. One of the top red markers is out as is one of the right hand amber markers. I'll get to those in due course.
Entering the bus, I looked around and my eye alighted on a small packet in my tool box. Yesterday I had hunted through that tool box several times looking for rivets. Incredibly, there was the packet of 3/16 rivets that I needed. Thus, I set to work.
The last two of my cheap self-adhesive paper blinds were stuck up very well. They took quite some pulling to remove. Given that the other 3 had simply fallen down under their own weight, I don't for one instant believe that they would have withstood the test of time. Thus, the two blinds in the bathroom were replaced.
The caribinas made moving the shower curtain very easy. It was just a case of unclip, reclip and done.Sadly the caribinas were too small to use with my lantern. That's not a problem though - I can always get a bigger caribina.
Slowly, things are coming together. I need to put the water tanks underneath, themain breaker box in, a method of securing items in the back closet, a method of opening the front door from outside and to secure the lower window of the back door.
Monday, February 29, 2016
What is that fuzzy plug?
Yesterday I posted a slightly fuzzy photo of my new inlet in the side of the bus. Many of you will not have seen a connector such as that before. There's a reason for that - it's not sold in Lowes (hiss, spit) or Home Depot (cough). It is designated as a Nema 6-30I.
The Nema designation means that it's an inlet (hence the I) and will handle 30A at 250v. Unlike the normal Nema connectors used in the US (Nema 5-15), this is a twist-lock connector. Now the twist lock means that when the connector is inserted, it can be twisted and locked into place. This has the upside that it won't fall out but the downside that it's easier to damage the inlet etc by simply tripping over the power cord.
On most RVs etc the connector used is the TT30 connector such as the connector I installed in m'lady's front yard. Here we get to the nitty-gritty! Hunting around I could not locate a TT30 inlet for less than $70. Thus I went for a different connector. It makes no realistic difference. It'll work just the same. The only difference is that if I have to replace the cord then I'll have to build my own cord like I have been. I can't use off-the-shelf cords.
The upside of off-the-shelf cords is that they're available at most RV outlets. The downside is that they're sold at huge prices. Cords are available secondhand (probably red hot too) but would you trust a cord of unknown capacity? I won't trust anything electrical or electronic that's secondhand. I've seen too many secondhand electrics and electronics bursting into flames.
A subsidiary upside of having a bespoke connection is that because it's non standard, it's not as desirable to those that would wish to steal cables. Now I'm not thinking of a masked bandit in a black and red striped sweater with a sack labelled "swag" over his shoulder but I am thinking of less scrupulous individuals that "forget" their RV cord and "borrow" somebody else's cord but never return it.
I can see a day when RVs will largely not have cables any more. Look at it like this - at $2.50 a foot for 30A cable - the cables are just ridiculously expensive. The standard RV cable is about 50 feet. That represents about $75 of investment just lying on the ground for somebody else to pick up and walk away with. If they figure they can get a bottle of beer out of it, they figure it's been a good day's work. Heavens I've even heard of people's house air-conditioners being stolen and they weigh up to a ton!
With the rising price of copper and the almost static cost of generators, there's going to be a convergence. It will soon be cheaper to slip a $300 generator under an RV than to put a power cord. I don't really see solar and wind power as being worthwhile.
Investigating solar power, to produce the 10A at 120v needed to power a microwave directly, I'd need 1200W of power. Solar panels are $1 per watt wich does not mean that I'd need $1200 of panels. Because of the poor light at times I'd most likely need $2500 of panels just to run the microwave directly at midday.
Batteries seem like a good idea but the cheapest deep cycle battery gives 100ah of power which is a misnomer because you're only supposed to take a maximum of 55% out of a battery before the battery gets damaged. Thus a $90 100AH battery is about $2 per amp hour or 17c per watt hour.
In order to run a microwave for 15 minutes (thinking about the lowest power microwave in Walmart that takes 15 minutes to cook a plate from frozen and which coincidentally rusts to bits in 2 years), 300 watt hours of power would be needed at 10A. Now those two factors are very important. Remembering the 10% power loss from using an inverter (and ignoring the $300 cost of a 2KW inverter), 100A at 12v would be needed for 15 minutes. Most 12v batteries can't discharge more than 20A for more than a few seconds without getting dangerously hot. To be safe, think about 10A. This means 10 batteries in parallel, each weighing 50lbs would be needed to power a microwave. That's 500lbs of battery.
How much would a system cost that could power a microwave? Well, $900 in batteries, $1200 in solar panels, $300 inverter plus whatever I haven't thought of. That's a minimum of $2400. Of course if you went for lithium batteries, you'd need less batteries and be carrying less weight but be paying 20 times more for the batteries. EG a 300ah lithium battery is about $3500 and has a maximum constant discharge of about 50A.
So, the cheapest form of cooking power is a plug-in for electrical operation. The cheapest plug is a Nema 6-30. But cheaper even than carrying a generator is a portable gas cooker with butane tanks just like you'd use for camping!
The Nema designation means that it's an inlet (hence the I) and will handle 30A at 250v. Unlike the normal Nema connectors used in the US (Nema 5-15), this is a twist-lock connector. Now the twist lock means that when the connector is inserted, it can be twisted and locked into place. This has the upside that it won't fall out but the downside that it's easier to damage the inlet etc by simply tripping over the power cord.
On most RVs etc the connector used is the TT30 connector such as the connector I installed in m'lady's front yard. Here we get to the nitty-gritty! Hunting around I could not locate a TT30 inlet for less than $70. Thus I went for a different connector. It makes no realistic difference. It'll work just the same. The only difference is that if I have to replace the cord then I'll have to build my own cord like I have been. I can't use off-the-shelf cords.
The upside of off-the-shelf cords is that they're available at most RV outlets. The downside is that they're sold at huge prices. Cords are available secondhand (probably red hot too) but would you trust a cord of unknown capacity? I won't trust anything electrical or electronic that's secondhand. I've seen too many secondhand electrics and electronics bursting into flames.
A subsidiary upside of having a bespoke connection is that because it's non standard, it's not as desirable to those that would wish to steal cables. Now I'm not thinking of a masked bandit in a black and red striped sweater with a sack labelled "swag" over his shoulder but I am thinking of less scrupulous individuals that "forget" their RV cord and "borrow" somebody else's cord but never return it.
I can see a day when RVs will largely not have cables any more. Look at it like this - at $2.50 a foot for 30A cable - the cables are just ridiculously expensive. The standard RV cable is about 50 feet. That represents about $75 of investment just lying on the ground for somebody else to pick up and walk away with. If they figure they can get a bottle of beer out of it, they figure it's been a good day's work. Heavens I've even heard of people's house air-conditioners being stolen and they weigh up to a ton!
With the rising price of copper and the almost static cost of generators, there's going to be a convergence. It will soon be cheaper to slip a $300 generator under an RV than to put a power cord. I don't really see solar and wind power as being worthwhile.
Investigating solar power, to produce the 10A at 120v needed to power a microwave directly, I'd need 1200W of power. Solar panels are $1 per watt wich does not mean that I'd need $1200 of panels. Because of the poor light at times I'd most likely need $2500 of panels just to run the microwave directly at midday.
Batteries seem like a good idea but the cheapest deep cycle battery gives 100ah of power which is a misnomer because you're only supposed to take a maximum of 55% out of a battery before the battery gets damaged. Thus a $90 100AH battery is about $2 per amp hour or 17c per watt hour.
In order to run a microwave for 15 minutes (thinking about the lowest power microwave in Walmart that takes 15 minutes to cook a plate from frozen and which coincidentally rusts to bits in 2 years), 300 watt hours of power would be needed at 10A. Now those two factors are very important. Remembering the 10% power loss from using an inverter (and ignoring the $300 cost of a 2KW inverter), 100A at 12v would be needed for 15 minutes. Most 12v batteries can't discharge more than 20A for more than a few seconds without getting dangerously hot. To be safe, think about 10A. This means 10 batteries in parallel, each weighing 50lbs would be needed to power a microwave. That's 500lbs of battery.
How much would a system cost that could power a microwave? Well, $900 in batteries, $1200 in solar panels, $300 inverter plus whatever I haven't thought of. That's a minimum of $2400. Of course if you went for lithium batteries, you'd need less batteries and be carrying less weight but be paying 20 times more for the batteries. EG a 300ah lithium battery is about $3500 and has a maximum constant discharge of about 50A.
So, the cheapest form of cooking power is a plug-in for electrical operation. The cheapest plug is a Nema 6-30. But cheaper even than carrying a generator is a portable gas cooker with butane tanks just like you'd use for camping!
Saturday, February 27, 2016
Unexpected achievements and a bad Kahr.
Today was, I had thought, going to be a day of zero progress on the bus. How wrong I was. I did most of the things I intended to do for tomorrow!
Work, which was scheduled for today, was to have been a full day of training but that was truncated at 1pm when two of the trainers were indisposed. Thus, being sent home early, I popped into Lowes (hiss, spit) for some plumbing pieces (of which more at a later date) and headed home.
Arriving home at 3pm, there were 3 good hours of daylight left so they got put to use. Last night I had been thinking about a handbasin for the bus. I considered the end of a small gas cylinder. I'd noticed there was such a cylinder on the junk pile. Thus, out of an abundance of caution, I placed it on the ground, ready to ensure it was empty. The cylinder said "helium" on it but it could well have been refilled with propane. Labels don't always mean what they say!
Not wanting to cut into a cylinder that might have propane in it, I decided on remote ventillation so I grabbed my (somewhat disappointing Kahr PM9) and fired a single shot from about 25 yards away. The shot did not immediately appear to have hit the cylinder to I aimed for another shot whereupon I discovered the blasted thing had jammed. Racking the slide, I found it kept jamming. In the end I put it away. That Kahr PM9 has been nothing but trouble since I bought it. I wish to Heavens I'd gone for a revolver rather than that stupid thing. Revolvers never jam! I would hate to be surprised by a bad guy when carying a PM9. I am pretty sure the PM9 would be more effective simply hurled at the bad guy. In terms of penetration the PM9 managed to get through one side of the (very thin) steel then totally failed to make an exit hole. I can hear the bullet rattling around inside. I'm going out on a limb and going to say that I just don't think the PM9 would penetrate a bad guy's shirt!
Putting the cylinder out of the way for the moment - the plan is to cut the top off to turn it into a handbasin - I proceeded onto today's work. I'll have to see if I can weld something this thin. That might present a significant challenge!
Today the plan was to complete welding the patch over the hole in the side of the bus cut by the hillbillies. That took me all of the remaining daylight. It was just a laborious process of building up steel and filling gaps until eventually the result was pretty good. It looked rough from the outside but it'll do.
I put the power socket cover over the area where it'll be fitted and sprayed with orange paint. Then I pulled out my angle grinder but instead of a cutting disk, I put a grinding disk. This worked surprisingly quickly and ground the excess welds flat to the point the socket cover fitted without rocking. It did reveal two small holes in the welding where the welding has not really filled the gap. These holes are minimal. I had thought 6011 rods would penetrate and fill holes but oh well.
Next, the whole lot got cleaned up with a wire brush then painted with brown undercoat. This bus does not have to look perfect - it just has to work well. The undercoat went on well enough. Tomorrow I'll put undercoat on the back of the plate then paint the front with grey paint. But before I do that, I'll make the holes for the socket cover. With any luck - if the paint inside is dry in time, I might put a second coat inside and then install the remains of the underbody electrics. The main breaker inside will be installed at a later date. Some have asked why I'm putting a main breaker box. The answer is simple - the main breaker is there to protect the cable from overloading. Currently I have a 20A cable but I'll also make up a 30A cable and might get a 10A cable too. The reason for this is twofold. Firstly different sites offer different facilities and secondly, the heavier rated cables cost more per foot. If I can park close to a power point I can use my heavier cables and get more power. There is another thing in that the heavy cables being more expensive are more prone to theft.
Work, which was scheduled for today, was to have been a full day of training but that was truncated at 1pm when two of the trainers were indisposed. Thus, being sent home early, I popped into Lowes (hiss, spit) for some plumbing pieces (of which more at a later date) and headed home.
Arriving home at 3pm, there were 3 good hours of daylight left so they got put to use. Last night I had been thinking about a handbasin for the bus. I considered the end of a small gas cylinder. I'd noticed there was such a cylinder on the junk pile. Thus, out of an abundance of caution, I placed it on the ground, ready to ensure it was empty. The cylinder said "helium" on it but it could well have been refilled with propane. Labels don't always mean what they say!
Not wanting to cut into a cylinder that might have propane in it, I decided on remote ventillation so I grabbed my (somewhat disappointing Kahr PM9) and fired a single shot from about 25 yards away. The shot did not immediately appear to have hit the cylinder to I aimed for another shot whereupon I discovered the blasted thing had jammed. Racking the slide, I found it kept jamming. In the end I put it away. That Kahr PM9 has been nothing but trouble since I bought it. I wish to Heavens I'd gone for a revolver rather than that stupid thing. Revolvers never jam! I would hate to be surprised by a bad guy when carying a PM9. I am pretty sure the PM9 would be more effective simply hurled at the bad guy. In terms of penetration the PM9 managed to get through one side of the (very thin) steel then totally failed to make an exit hole. I can hear the bullet rattling around inside. I'm going out on a limb and going to say that I just don't think the PM9 would penetrate a bad guy's shirt!
Putting the cylinder out of the way for the moment - the plan is to cut the top off to turn it into a handbasin - I proceeded onto today's work. I'll have to see if I can weld something this thin. That might present a significant challenge!
Today the plan was to complete welding the patch over the hole in the side of the bus cut by the hillbillies. That took me all of the remaining daylight. It was just a laborious process of building up steel and filling gaps until eventually the result was pretty good. It looked rough from the outside but it'll do.
I put the power socket cover over the area where it'll be fitted and sprayed with orange paint. Then I pulled out my angle grinder but instead of a cutting disk, I put a grinding disk. This worked surprisingly quickly and ground the excess welds flat to the point the socket cover fitted without rocking. It did reveal two small holes in the welding where the welding has not really filled the gap. These holes are minimal. I had thought 6011 rods would penetrate and fill holes but oh well.
Next, the whole lot got cleaned up with a wire brush then painted with brown undercoat. This bus does not have to look perfect - it just has to work well. The undercoat went on well enough. Tomorrow I'll put undercoat on the back of the plate then paint the front with grey paint. But before I do that, I'll make the holes for the socket cover. With any luck - if the paint inside is dry in time, I might put a second coat inside and then install the remains of the underbody electrics. The main breaker inside will be installed at a later date. Some have asked why I'm putting a main breaker box. The answer is simple - the main breaker is there to protect the cable from overloading. Currently I have a 20A cable but I'll also make up a 30A cable and might get a 10A cable too. The reason for this is twofold. Firstly different sites offer different facilities and secondly, the heavier rated cables cost more per foot. If I can park close to a power point I can use my heavier cables and get more power. There is another thing in that the heavy cables being more expensive are more prone to theft.
Friday, February 19, 2016
Conceptualising
I had opportunity to continue thinking today. Normally, I just don't get a chance to do my own thinking so I have to buy pre-prepared thoughts from Walmart in the thought aisle. Usually I prefer the Indian spicy throughts with a side of Nancy's Nook. Anyway, I left Walmart with a couple of bottles of ideas in an unmarked brown paper bag.
Today I looked at different ideas for cooking, power and ventillation on the bus. That was prompted by the fact I am about to close-up a large aperture under the bus and that as it is, two compartments could replace the existing one compartment.
One idea I had was to put a gas bottle compartment for cooking and water heating. Lowes has some 4.25lb propane cylinders that are 9 inches tall by 12 inches wide. That sounded pretty interesting. Obviously it would have to be well ventillated so some kind of mesh would make the floor and sides. I have some mesh too though it's very rusty. New mesh is cheap enough. In the end though, I decided against this route as I don't really see the need for extra gas power.
For electricity I was thinking I might use those external cell-phone batteries and charge them from a folding solar panel rested against the windshield from the inside. Now that would charge my phone, tablet and mifi pad but not my camera batteries. Well, that's what I thought until I saw this website http://www.voltaicsystems.com. Actually, having discovered that site, many of my power problems are solved. Basically, I realised the only things I really need power for are my cellphone, mifi pad and tablet. Lighting is taken care of with an LED lantern powered by D cells. My toothbrush and hair clipper both run off AA batteries. My shower head runs off D cells too and in the event the batteries are dead, a manual option can be employed for all but lighting.
For ventillation I had the idea of using a fan to pump air from the ceiling in the bedroom out through a hole in the floor created by the hillbillies. That would be complicated. Better to close-up that ridiculous hole and make a roof vent instead. Now I looked for roof vents and found some interesting ones on the Amazon British website. They were horribly expensive though and only worked for single-skinned vehicles. Going further and back to the electric fan option, there are some solar fans. Perhaps mounted on the outside of the bus with suitable ducting and filters, they might be the solution. They'd need an on-off switch but would be a zero power option. They're also dirt cheap.
So, I don't need an underbody compartment for batteries or gas cylinders. This means I can just weld a plain sheet of steel over most of the exisiting hole. Had I realised earlier that I could have put the master breaker inside the bus, I could have just had steel conduit taking the cable to the power socket and done away totally with the underbody breaker box. Of course, one lives and learns. I didn't know anything about most of the things I have done before I started work. I am not a handyman. I am an office worker. I am prepared to persist and am not afraid to try new things.
Thinking ahead about water, I did see somebody else's conversion in which they had a handpump to pump water from a 5 gallon bucket under their sink. I deliberately have not installed a handbasin in my bathroom or kitchen. In the kitchen, it seems so pointless because everybody washes their dishes in a plastic bowl as it retains heat better than a metal sink. As for water disposal, I can simply chuck it down the shower drain. In the bathroom, the handbasin can be replaced by a bowl and a jug of water. Again the water can be chucked down the shower drain. I have thought about using a footpump to pump water out of an underbody tank. Now the downside of an underbody tank is that they freeze. I'm not worried about that with the waste tanks because 90% of the time, the drain cock will be open and it'll be draining to the ground. The waste tanks are just there for times when an open drain isn't desirable. The upside of an underbody tank is it can hold more. The upside of 5 gallon jerrycans of water mean it's unlikely to freeze as they can be stored inside.
Going back to ventillation, solar powered ventillation over the cooking area and the bedroom look very possible. The downside is they only work during the day and they will look a little odd from the outside.
In terms of electrical supply, I have already experimented with a $5 USB charger and found it lacking. The other day I ordered a much larger capacity USB charger from eBay for about $9. If that works well then I have my power solution. I didn't realise I was so close to being completed!
In other news my rivnuts for the shower curtain supports arrived. I forgot to pay for my screw eyes so they will be a few days late as it was a few days before I remembered to pay for them.
Today I looked at different ideas for cooking, power and ventillation on the bus. That was prompted by the fact I am about to close-up a large aperture under the bus and that as it is, two compartments could replace the existing one compartment.
One idea I had was to put a gas bottle compartment for cooking and water heating. Lowes has some 4.25lb propane cylinders that are 9 inches tall by 12 inches wide. That sounded pretty interesting. Obviously it would have to be well ventillated so some kind of mesh would make the floor and sides. I have some mesh too though it's very rusty. New mesh is cheap enough. In the end though, I decided against this route as I don't really see the need for extra gas power.
For ventillation I had the idea of using a fan to pump air from the ceiling in the bedroom out through a hole in the floor created by the hillbillies. That would be complicated. Better to close-up that ridiculous hole and make a roof vent instead. Now I looked for roof vents and found some interesting ones on the Amazon British website. They were horribly expensive though and only worked for single-skinned vehicles. Going further and back to the electric fan option, there are some solar fans. Perhaps mounted on the outside of the bus with suitable ducting and filters, they might be the solution. They'd need an on-off switch but would be a zero power option. They're also dirt cheap.
Thinking ahead about water, I did see somebody else's conversion in which they had a handpump to pump water from a 5 gallon bucket under their sink. I deliberately have not installed a handbasin in my bathroom or kitchen. In the kitchen, it seems so pointless because everybody washes their dishes in a plastic bowl as it retains heat better than a metal sink. As for water disposal, I can simply chuck it down the shower drain. In the bathroom, the handbasin can be replaced by a bowl and a jug of water. Again the water can be chucked down the shower drain. I have thought about using a footpump to pump water out of an underbody tank. Now the downside of an underbody tank is that they freeze. I'm not worried about that with the waste tanks because 90% of the time, the drain cock will be open and it'll be draining to the ground. The waste tanks are just there for times when an open drain isn't desirable. The upside of an underbody tank is it can hold more. The upside of 5 gallon jerrycans of water mean it's unlikely to freeze as they can be stored inside.
Going back to ventillation, solar powered ventillation over the cooking area and the bedroom look very possible. The downside is they only work during the day and they will look a little odd from the outside.
In terms of electrical supply, I have already experimented with a $5 USB charger and found it lacking. The other day I ordered a much larger capacity USB charger from eBay for about $9. If that works well then I have my power solution. I didn't realise I was so close to being completed!
In other news my rivnuts for the shower curtain supports arrived. I forgot to pay for my screw eyes so they will be a few days late as it was a few days before I remembered to pay for them.
Sunday, February 7, 2016
Meandering toward perfection
Not feeling much like doing anything today I started by gathering up most of the garbage in the bus and by putting it all out in a big cardboard box. Then I gathered all my tools up and put them in the tool box. Now I might be able to find things. I put together a box of consumables such as paints, sealants, glues and lubricants and a box of electrical stuff.
Next I ventured outsde and derusted then primed a piece of angle iron that I found yesterday in the bushes. That will make excellent angles on the new breaker box compartment. I didn't do any welding - pretty much because I didn't really feel like doing any.
After that, I took an old enameled steel table top that I'd found in a junk pile and cut the steel for the sides of the compartment. They're roughly cut and will have the final cuts next time around.
Thinking about filling the hole in the side of the bus left by the hillbillies, I remembered the remains of the seat back that I used parts for filling in where a window was missing. It should be the same thickness as the bodywork steel. In any case, it's about the same size and will need minimal trimming to get it to fit.
After this, things remaining to do...
1. fit the 120v inlet socket.
2. Install two or perhaps all 3 of my 15 gallon drums as waste water tanks.
3. Fit drawer separators so things can be stored in the drawers easily and so china doesn't get chipped in transit.
4. Install a 12v battery system powered by a 30W solar panel. That could use a NIMH battery setup. In fact I prefer NIMH to both lithium and lead acid.
5. Tow hook and tow wiring.
6. Rewire the schoolbus flashers to be brake lights and indicators.
7. Install a front door unlocking system.
8. Weld some steel over the lower window of the back door as a security measure.
10. Install a shower curtain.
That's about it. After removing the I beam underneath the bus, I eliminated my step which made getting in and out more challenging. To aid me, I spent $12 on a set of folding steps from Walmart. They work though I have to put my knee on the floor of the bus and hoist myself up.
In terms of registering the bus as a motorhome, I might as well complete the forms and get that underway.
Next I ventured outsde and derusted then primed a piece of angle iron that I found yesterday in the bushes. That will make excellent angles on the new breaker box compartment. I didn't do any welding - pretty much because I didn't really feel like doing any.
After this, things remaining to do...
1. fit the 120v inlet socket.
2. Install two or perhaps all 3 of my 15 gallon drums as waste water tanks.
3. Fit drawer separators so things can be stored in the drawers easily and so china doesn't get chipped in transit.
4. Install a 12v battery system powered by a 30W solar panel. That could use a NIMH battery setup. In fact I prefer NIMH to both lithium and lead acid.
5. Tow hook and tow wiring.
6. Rewire the schoolbus flashers to be brake lights and indicators.
7. Install a front door unlocking system.
8. Weld some steel over the lower window of the back door as a security measure.
10. Install a shower curtain.
That's about it. After removing the I beam underneath the bus, I eliminated my step which made getting in and out more challenging. To aid me, I spent $12 on a set of folding steps from Walmart. They work though I have to put my knee on the floor of the bus and hoist myself up.
In terms of registering the bus as a motorhome, I might as well complete the forms and get that underway.
Saturday, November 28, 2015
Danger, danger danger!
This is why air conditioner engineers make extremely bad electricians! Look at the bare wire to the right. It looks like an earth wire but its connected to the right side neutral bus. Interestingly the live and neutral wires going to the air conditioner unit are both live. It looks like the cheapass that installed the air conditioning unit used 3 wire cable instead of 4 wire, running the two live lines through the live and neutral wires and the neutral through the non insulated earth wire. The result is shocking wiring. I am informed that the incompetents that installed this may well have been a South Carolina firm called Kabiner or something similar. I am apparently the first person in 5 years to open that breaker box! Let's just say I'm very glad I inspected, used a voltmeter and rubber gloves. Thus kind of horrendously dangerous electrical workmanship is far too common in South Carolina!
I still have to cover my conduit with soil but my 30A socket works. It's all correctly wired and working. Sadly, I couldn't bury my cables due to the fact nobody else has which would make putting a shovel in the ground somewhat hazardous. Dish Network for example, laid cable that looks like stitching with alternating above ground and slightly buried cable. The old phone conduit is largely underground but above ground in other places. There are various loops of cable of various types poking out of the ground, hence my decision to lay my conduit on the surface and cover it over. It is most definitely not the recommended solution but the only alternative would have been an aerial cable which would have had to be armored against squirrels.
The end result was a working socket. I tested it with a TT30 to 10-15 adaptor and a fan. Tomorrow, the big test when I plug my welder in. For now though, the electric cable that has been running under m'ladys front door for the past few months is now gone.
I'd been stressing over doing the wiring because I had to look everything up. Normally, I go by what was done before but what had been done before was so horrendously dangerous, it couldn't be used as a guide. As I said, normally I'd bury the conduit but what with it being a low to no traffic area being in a nook by the end of m'ladys trailer, I'm not afraid of foot traffic over the cables.
Saturday, August 29, 2015
A plank? Really?
What with working from 8 til 4:30 with no lunch break and having not slept well the night before, I was exhausted after work. Thus, today's significant achievement was solely to visit Lowe's to spend $38 on yet another plastic plank.
Arriving home, I measured the soon to be shower base at 36 inches or rather, slightly under. I cut two 36 inch planks and one 24 from my 8 foot plank.
Tomorrow I shall trim the 9 inch wide planks to 7.5 then make the ends match and trim the ends so that the tub fits well into the mount.
Looking around Lowe's, I didn't get any inspiration for alternatives. The sole thought would have been treated 7 ply the same as I used for my toilet lid. That would have required copious quantities of brackets to secure it. The plastic planks solution can simply be glued to the PVC floor. I might screw the end pieces together but they'll be glued too.
I didn't buy more than just the plastic plank because that'll take me a lot of tomorrow and when that's done, there's the closet chain to erect and the breaker box to install. There's more than enough to keep me in mischief until the end of next weekend!
Thinking about power, I thought I'd come up with the final solution to the electricity problem. I remembered a gizmo that could be fed butane, hydrogen, propane or methanol to produce electricity. It had no moving parts. Hunting for it I kept finding references to products about to be released, products that had generated large sums of crowdfunding in the past and some very expensive cellphone chargers. I found nothing that could produce even 200watts.
Reading further, there was a Forbes article about the total failure of fuel cells to take off. It seems the gizmo is called a fuel cell. Reading yet further it transpired that they're relatively simple devices that could be built with very few tools and components. The problem is that platinum wire is needed in large quantities. That's why they have never taken off - nobody will pay the price when cheaper albeit Heath Robinson affairs are available in the form of generators.
Power generation keeps returning to wind, solar or generator. Solar is just horribly expensive. Wind is cheaper but pretty awkward as the generator needs to be mounted then unmounted for travel. Generators seem to work out as the most economical option.
Arriving home, I measured the soon to be shower base at 36 inches or rather, slightly under. I cut two 36 inch planks and one 24 from my 8 foot plank.
Tomorrow I shall trim the 9 inch wide planks to 7.5 then make the ends match and trim the ends so that the tub fits well into the mount.
Looking around Lowe's, I didn't get any inspiration for alternatives. The sole thought would have been treated 7 ply the same as I used for my toilet lid. That would have required copious quantities of brackets to secure it. The plastic planks solution can simply be glued to the PVC floor. I might screw the end pieces together but they'll be glued too.
I didn't buy more than just the plastic plank because that'll take me a lot of tomorrow and when that's done, there's the closet chain to erect and the breaker box to install. There's more than enough to keep me in mischief until the end of next weekend!
Thinking about power, I thought I'd come up with the final solution to the electricity problem. I remembered a gizmo that could be fed butane, hydrogen, propane or methanol to produce electricity. It had no moving parts. Hunting for it I kept finding references to products about to be released, products that had generated large sums of crowdfunding in the past and some very expensive cellphone chargers. I found nothing that could produce even 200watts.
Reading further, there was a Forbes article about the total failure of fuel cells to take off. It seems the gizmo is called a fuel cell. Reading yet further it transpired that they're relatively simple devices that could be built with very few tools and components. The problem is that platinum wire is needed in large quantities. That's why they have never taken off - nobody will pay the price when cheaper albeit Heath Robinson affairs are available in the form of generators.
Power generation keeps returning to wind, solar or generator. Solar is just horribly expensive. Wind is cheaper but pretty awkward as the generator needs to be mounted then unmounted for travel. Generators seem to work out as the most economical option.
Monday, August 10, 2015
Put out an all points bulletin. Missing...
One screwdriver, Phillips head, six inches long, black plastic handle. Missing. Last seen in the vicinity of a large grey bus. Presumed dangerous. No massive reward for recapture.
After having painted the lower portion of the bathroom white and not being ready to put purple paint anywhere, most of the drawers in the kitchen were painted white. All need purple paint on the fronts but with the bathroom with wet walls and wet drawers there really wasn't room to put the toilet in order to paint it. Nor, with the toilet in the bedroom was there room to paint the table top.
As the white paint would likely take a while to dry, the next task was to look at the upper rear light clusters. The plan is to switch the red and amber lenses so they mirror the arrangement on the lower cluster, prior to wiring the uppers in to repeat the lowers. By reusing the lights and repurposing them, it gives traffic further behind more of an indication of turning and braking which, given the appalling driving in South Carolina, the drivers badly need.
I put the stepladder in place and sent up the ladder. Darn it! My interchangeable bit screwdriver wouldn't fit. Time to find my standard screwdriver. Of course, after an hours hunting, it could not be located. It wasn't in my bus nor my car. While hunting in my car, I found my LED sign had been broken - probably by shifting lumber on one of my lumber trips. Not welcome but since it paid for itself and isn't likely to be used again, probably best to pitch it or switch out the display with my old original LED display if that's still findable.
One of the most onerous tasks is washing out brushes and rollers. I tend to automate the process but do wonder whether washing out rollers is ever worth the effort.
After a suitable or even a wholly unsuitable break, I headed out and looked at the paintwork. The drawers and walls were dry enough to continue work so the ready painted drawers were replaced in their respective homes. The three remaining drawers were pulled out and painted. The emergency door which could not be fully painted earlier due to rain had a coat of white on the lower half. The corners of the bathroom that could not be reached with the roller had white paint applied.
Then it was time to paint the bedroom table. The toilet still being in the bedroom was moved to a more suitable location where upon a few minutes were spent sitting on the toilet while painting the tabletop. After that, two sides of the toilet had a coat of white paint. Judging by the way the white paint is now down to quarter of a can, I might have to buy more.
Tomorrow and Wednesday being work days, little is likely to be done though Wednesday being a very short morning means a trip to Lowe's is likely.
As of now, the bathroom countertop needs paint, the toilet needs a lot more paint, the galley needs a second coat of purple paint and the white areas of the galley need another coat. The drawer handles need to be installed, countertops screwed down and a layer of vinyl tiles applied to the countertops. If course the shower base still needs to be installed. Other than that and the few hundred things I have temporarily forgotten, its just electrics and water that need installing. I'm quite pleased with progress!
After having painted the lower portion of the bathroom white and not being ready to put purple paint anywhere, most of the drawers in the kitchen were painted white. All need purple paint on the fronts but with the bathroom with wet walls and wet drawers there really wasn't room to put the toilet in order to paint it. Nor, with the toilet in the bedroom was there room to paint the table top.
As the white paint would likely take a while to dry, the next task was to look at the upper rear light clusters. The plan is to switch the red and amber lenses so they mirror the arrangement on the lower cluster, prior to wiring the uppers in to repeat the lowers. By reusing the lights and repurposing them, it gives traffic further behind more of an indication of turning and braking which, given the appalling driving in South Carolina, the drivers badly need.
I put the stepladder in place and sent up the ladder. Darn it! My interchangeable bit screwdriver wouldn't fit. Time to find my standard screwdriver. Of course, after an hours hunting, it could not be located. It wasn't in my bus nor my car. While hunting in my car, I found my LED sign had been broken - probably by shifting lumber on one of my lumber trips. Not welcome but since it paid for itself and isn't likely to be used again, probably best to pitch it or switch out the display with my old original LED display if that's still findable.
One of the most onerous tasks is washing out brushes and rollers. I tend to automate the process but do wonder whether washing out rollers is ever worth the effort.
After a suitable or even a wholly unsuitable break, I headed out and looked at the paintwork. The drawers and walls were dry enough to continue work so the ready painted drawers were replaced in their respective homes. The three remaining drawers were pulled out and painted. The emergency door which could not be fully painted earlier due to rain had a coat of white on the lower half. The corners of the bathroom that could not be reached with the roller had white paint applied.
Then it was time to paint the bedroom table. The toilet still being in the bedroom was moved to a more suitable location where upon a few minutes were spent sitting on the toilet while painting the tabletop. After that, two sides of the toilet had a coat of white paint. Judging by the way the white paint is now down to quarter of a can, I might have to buy more.
Tomorrow and Wednesday being work days, little is likely to be done though Wednesday being a very short morning means a trip to Lowe's is likely.
As of now, the bathroom countertop needs paint, the toilet needs a lot more paint, the galley needs a second coat of purple paint and the white areas of the galley need another coat. The drawer handles need to be installed, countertops screwed down and a layer of vinyl tiles applied to the countertops. If course the shower base still needs to be installed. Other than that and the few hundred things I have temporarily forgotten, its just electrics and water that need installing. I'm quite pleased with progress!
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