I must be the biggest sucker

No photo again but today's work didn't merit it. Two things were achieved but only two.

Those that can cast themselves back a couple of blog entries will recall that I ran out of rivets putting the steel plates over the sites of the old schoolbus flashers. Well, today despite feeling quite yucky from working, I replaced the four screws used temporarily with rivets then sprayed over with grey paint. Not very exciting but worthwhile.

My other accomplishment or rather the reason I consider myself to be the world's biggest sucker stems from an experiment I carried out today. Those with very long memories will recall I bought a pair of electromagnets from China some months ago. It has already been established that no matter what polarity current was supplied to it (which would normally alter electromagnetic polarity), the electromagnet never would change polarity. In fact, it seemed to be both polarities simultaneously. Two identical electromagnets would not repel each other. They would just attract. Similarly no matter which polarity of permanent magnet was introduced to the electromagnet, the electromagnet could never be persuaded to repel the permanent magnet. Pretty strange and rather useless.

Today I tried the electromagnet for its attractive purposes. Fail again! It would attract but as a 9v magnet, it would attract from around 1/8 inch but very feebly. It would grip something strongly but was utterly useless in all other respects.

My goal is to engineer a way of opening the bus front door. What I'm trying to do is to lift the locking latch on the front door opening mechanism. Carpenter did employ an electric door opener but my bus has only a manual opener. Had I had the electric version, I could have simply tapped into the circuit with a remote opener. Looking around those would set me back $500. That's just too costly!

Clearly I was a fool to believe any Chinese electronic gizmo would actually work. I do buy bits from China but that was my first electronic gizmo. Oh well, lesson learned. Don't buy any electronics from China.

Looking around, there are some linear actuators on sale. That would make the door an electric only affair. That would make exit in an emergency somewhat interesting so I'd have to put some way of bypassing the electrical system. Sounds interesting though!

What the Hell is that and where does it go?

Despite the fact I feel more like the Walking Dead than any semblance of being human, today I took the bits I bought at Lowes (hiss, spit) that I neglected to blog about the other day and put them together. As I currently work with small children I get just about every ailment they so generously give me. It's all airbourne stuff that's hard to defend against so this weekend I have a tummy bug. How nice!

So, the other day somebody gave me some spare 1/2 inch Pex tubing. Thus I got myself a T adaptor for the downpipe from my shower and some other connectors in order to connect the waste barrel via flexible hose. That makes life much easier for times when I might have to take the barrel down to get silt and crud out of it. I'm sure it'll need cleaning at some point!

All that fitted together very nicely though I had a problem at the other end of the Pex tubing because I'd bought the wrong size connector. I'll fix that tomorrow if I'm feeling any better or maybe later this evening. It all depends on how my virus goes.

That's a bigger view of my construction. From left to right we have...
1. A Walmart ball valve for a hosepipe that cost $1.95. That's way cheaper than the cheapest faucet Lowes has!
2. A 3/4 inch angle with a thread on the end pointing down. The other end just happened to fit into my 1.15 inch tubing nicely so I said "what the heck" and glued it in there.
3. A 1.25" T adaptor that will fit onto my 1.25" downpipe. 
4. A piece of 1.25" tubing connecting the T adaptor to a 1.25" to 0.75" hosepipe adaptor.
5. A 1.25" hosepipe adaptor.
6. A Hosepipe swivel. That will make removing the barrel so much easier as I can just unscrew the tubing.
7. A 0.75" to 0.5" threaded Pex adaptor.
8. Some 0.5" Pex tubing.

Not shown because I bought a 0.5" to 0.25" threaded Pex adaptor in error is the adaptor on the other end of the tubing that will be connected to the barrel. 

I'm pretty sure I could have got a plastic swivel but Lowes (hiss, spit) didn't have one. The dollar store might and I might look into that for the other side of the bus for the handbasin waste pipe. Actually, the handbasin waste piping will be handled totally differently anyway. I will learn from the shower outlet and do the other side differently!

After building (but not installing) the new plumbing bit, I climbed up onto the hood of the bus to use my new Grabbit tool to remove a crosspoint screw that had the cross worn out by a previous attempt to remove it. As I suspected, the Grabbit was little more than a nice-sounding gimmick. It did nothing other than cost me about $8 (or about an hour's wages). That screw will have to be removed the traditional way - with a drill bit! Then I felt wobbly and sick after my not too strenuous exertions and had to lie down in the cool for a couple of hours.

Returning to the fray, I attacked an old fridge that was dumped on m'lady's land. That yielded a nice piece of steel even though it went through 3 cutting disks on my angle grinder. There's plenty steel left too! It's a little thinner than I would like but on the other hand, it is free and welded to the back door, will make the door much more secure than a solitary pane of glass.

I did take a photo of the fridge lying amidst the foliage but for some unknown reason my phone told me it had taken the picture but had not in fact done so. I could say Bah Humbug but that being a little Dickensian should be more replaced by the modern equivalent of "bloody technology". I mean, seriously, what's the point of these wonderful electronic gizmos if they don't work ALL the time?

As an aside, I did mention that I am living way out in the backwoods of South Carolina. Remember the TV series The Dukes of Hazard? Remember the rebel flag I showed you a few days ago? Today I show you the mailbox. It doesn't get much use and hence is more of a bird's nest. That's how far into the backwoods I live!

After another trip inside to rest, I found the old U bend or S bend - whichever you want to call it - that I had put under the handbasin. It seems to be 1.5 inches. My task will be to find something that'll bring that down to 1 inch to fit my standard plumbing. Moving swiftly on, I took two photos of the old fridge - one to show where it's located.

Then I took another photo - of the side I had removed. The inside is steel also which means it could be useful. The left hand side of the fridge which is up against a tree, I didn't start to cut but looking at it, there wouldn't have been much point as that side has a rather large calibre bullet hole through it at a strange angle!

Having done that, my attention turned to the school bus flashers. The screw that wouldn't come out eventually did after I used an angle grinder at a shallow angle so as not to damage the bus. It transpired that this screw could have been ignored. It held only the lens in place. Four other screws held the flasher lens in place.

If I am careful, I can probably replace the amber lenses with arrows with the amber lenses of the flashers. That makes my indicators much more visible. Anyway, having removed the light assembley - which wasn't that hard, I cut the push fit connectors off and screwed on some wire nuts. It turned out that there were two wires and two elements inside the light. It was a most peculiar affair. Having removed it, I've taped over the aperture for now but this is what it looks like without tape.

What surprised me was not just the huge size of the aperture but the cobweb behind it! Using the lens as a template, I marked out some disks on a sheet of aluminum, ready to cut them out to cover the holes.

Having marked the circles I realise that cutting 4 circles is going to be challenging. Rather than delegate that, instead I might use steel and make two sheets of steel with vaguely rounded ends cut to as close as possible, the same dimensions. Then after painting them, simply put silicone seal behind them and rivet them into place. If I pre-drill both sheets and put the holes in the same places, it should look quite tidy.

Meanwhile, tomorrow's task - assuming I feel better which I suspect I will - is to get the plumbing completed for the shower side of the bus, including removing the nuts that I put Thread Locker on and replacing them with two sets of stop nuts. That means a trip to Lowes (hiss, spit) for a 3/4 inch to 1/2 inch Pex fitting that I can glue into place. While I'm there I might as well get the stuff for the other side of the bus too. Having done that, if there's time left, I'll add a second set of stop nuts to the handbasin side of the bus. Ideally I'd like to get the blanks put up to replace the top flashers but that might be a pipe dream for this weekend.

Meanwhile, I totally forgot to say but the AA powered phone chargers arrived yesterday. These are really nifty because it means I can charge a phone using rechargeable AA batteries or via disposeable AA batteries. Basically, that pretty much takes care of all of my electrical requirements. I just don't need electricity for anything other than lighting and my phone, tablet or mifi pad.

How bloody frustrating is that?

Yup. It's a broken drill bit! Not a wussy little drill bit either. That's 3/16th! I'd been battling to install roller blinds where my existing stick-up blinds had fallen down. The problem was I had to drill through not just inner skin but body skeleton as well. That stuff is hard to drill through!

I'd installed two blinds and was working on the final hole for a third blind when - due to tiredness - I pressed the drill too hard and the bit snapped. Well, that put paid to what I intended to do today. I can probably put the third blind up but the end is secured by a single rivet not by two. Yes, today I was using rivets since I am now totally out of short self-drilling bolts. It makes no odds - the blinds will be pretty secure anyway.

My goal for the weekend had been to install all the blinds, finish installing the main breaker box, install the waste water tanks, fit a method of securing the boxes in the back closet and put a panel over the lower back window. Well, that schedule just got knocked for six! Drilling holes today was such a beastly task that even with a power drill it has taken several hours.

Then, of course, there are all the tools I cannot find since I tidied the bus up and put everything where it is supposed to be. I have to be ready for an inspection at any time to verify that I have a motorhome, not a bus. One of those things was the tool I need in order to change the grinding disk on my angle grinder. Thus the disk could not be changed and I could not use my angle grinder to cut the blinds as I have been doing. Instead I had to use a hacksaw. All stuff that just takes extra time!

Right now it's pollen season so everything outside is covered with pollen. Every footstep kicks up gret clouds of pollen - it's like walking on the moon!

The final window one one side put up the biggest fight imaginable. The drill was skidding all over the place. Talk about rock hard steel! Eventually I had one hole in situ. Then after a long hunt, I found just one solitary rivet. I ran out of rivets!

Still, the three blinds I put up look pretty good. There're two more to replace but oddly enough, those stick up blinds have not fallen down - yet. I expect they will if left up for very much longer.


So, tomorrow I definitely need to pick up more rivets. I don't think there's much danger of my proceeding further than putting up the other two blinds and installing the main breaker box.  I'd like to install the underbody waste water tanks and install something to control the boxes stored in the back closet. I have a vague idea that bungee cords might help there but anchor points will be the challenge.

Another thing I'd like to do is to replace the lower rear window or at the very least to cover it on the inside. I could simply bolt or rivet the cover over the window. Replacing the window would be the best option but also the most time consuming. There's an awful lot of welding involved there!

Tomorrow I could buy the stuff to mount my underbody tanks though I have a feeling it won't be needed or used for a while. I know I need to replace my CB aerial too.

The new plan

Today I went onto the bus and fixed some warped hardboard which had warped due to the water ingress from the leaking roof last month. The door between the cockpit and the galley needed adjustment too. That had been badly warped but now it works correctly.

Thinking about the battery carrier problem, I realised I might have been overreacting. Thus, today I went ahead and got some more tools from Harbor Freight. I'd been in need of a better rivet gun and of some deep sockets so I picked those up. A welder was not on my list this time.

The rivets should have a sheer strength of 900lbs which means plain rivets should work. I'll have to see if the bolt holes are too big. If they are then I'll use 1/4x20 bolts instead. Otherwise, I'll try rivets.

Meanwhile, I'm looking into two other things. The first is super capacitors and the second is thermo electric generators. In order to power a microwave for 20 minutes, I'd need 1200w at 110v. Given the losses from an inverter of around 15%, the power supply at 12v would have to provide 12,650W. Given that my favourite battery would provide 500CCA, I'd need a bank of at least 14 in order not to overload any of the batteries. That would cost at least $1,000, weigh at least 700lbs and take way more space than there is space available.

Super capacitors can provide a lot of power quickly. They're not as energy dense as batteries but the idea is that if they could provide a 20 minute burst of power, they could be backed by just one lead acid battery. The task now is to find a super capacitor setup that can provide sufficient power.

As far as thermoelectric power generation is concerned, I have a feeling that like most non gasoline powered generators, its going to be expensive or worthless in terms of power generated. The two methods under current investigation are Stirling generators and Peltier generators. Stirling generators use magnets and coils together with a closed air system. Peltier generators use heat difference to generate power.

Nothing much

Today was a day when I didn't even enter my bus. I did, however, manage to get 200 two inch 10-24 bolts online for less than 3 cents each. They're zinc plated ordinary steel with a strength of 700lbs. I did get some nylon insert lock nuts to go with them. If need be I can get ordinary nuts cheaply at Home Depot. That's if I find out necessary to pair a nut with a lock nut.

The heaviest thing the bolts will be supporting is two 50lb batteries plus the compartment. I'll be fastening everything in multiple locations so I'd imagine by the time I've built it, I could probably lift the bus using it. I tend to build things strongly.

The neat thing about the bolts is that unlike steel rivets I don't need to buy an expensive extra riveter to employ them. Steel rivets cost more than the bolts did and of course aluminum rivets just aren't strong enough. If I need an extra spanner, they're dirt cheap. Basically, the bolts are a tried and trusted low cost option.

Meanwhile my battery powered shower arrived. It looks to be of decent quality though only time will tell. I'll probably test it tomorrow. The big hold up now is those blasted water tanks. As I said, those are probably going to be my biggest problem.

I contacted a couple of companies selling new 15 gallon barrels and not one responded. Clearly business must be so good that they can't handle more. Either that or its yet another example of US customer service leading the world in suckiness.

4 screws to a marathon!

The idea was simple - to bolt the final upright into place for the front closet. Practice was a different matter entirely! It didn't help that the temperature was 111Fahrenheit either!

The first bracket bolted in nicely. Then after such little exertion as drilling two holes in the wood and two holes in the seat rail then bolting a bracket to the rail and screwing the bracket to the wood, the heat was too much and I had to retreat indoors.

Returning to the fray which was now 97F, I marked the place for the second bracket, having checked the wood was vertical. I drilled thge holes and bolted the bracket to the side of the bus then had a problem.

The head protector on the door lintel was blocking access for the drill to make holes to screw the wood to the bracket. Fortunately it was held on only by 3 self drilling screws. Those were undone and as normal, most just spun in their holes. One went bouncing down the steps and out the door into yard debris.

I resolved to replace the screws with rivnuts. Enlarging the holes was easy enough though one hole had been mangled by whoever put the protector up. So, I got on with my beam and after securing that, turned my attention to the protector.

Two rivnuts went in well, the third not so well. When the protector was in place, one bolt just spun, indicating that removing it if I have to will require an angle grinder! Maybe I'd have been better off using rivets?

Having done it all, I measured for a low cross member then stepped back to admire my work. Looking up and down, it looked fine. Then I saw it! The vertical was straight until the bottom 18 inches. The bottom 18 inches bowed forward. More of America's "wonderful" wood! How a country can build homes with wood of the low quality available, I don't know! Anyway, as it has only to support an OSB panel, its not too bad.

Knocking off for the evening with sweat pouring off me, I noticed how the bus had sunk into the ground. I suppose 13 tons will sink a bit. Probably time to start the engine again and move it a bit!

Oh no! Another catastrophy!

After yet another sleepless night, probably due to the extreme heat of late, I stirred myself from the realms of slumber to commence work on the bus. Arriving at the bus (and conveniently not mentioning m'ladys most excellent breakfast), I pulled out my new drill bit to commence putting patches over the last four inch diameter holes the hillbilly owners had considered it to be a jolly spiffing idea to make. Uh oh... I bought the wrong size drill bit.

At a casual glance, a quarter inch bit looks a lot like a 3/16 bit though the 3/16 bit is a shade smaller. My rivets are 3/16 so clearly I couldn't use a 1/4 inch bit and hope for the rivets to be snug. I hunted but could not find another 3/16 anywhere.

In desperation, I pulled out my angle grinder and replaced the cutting disk with a grinding disk and had a go at regrinding the tip of my drill bit. Sadly, after testing it, the drill vibrated badly as I was clearly far enough off center foir my sharpening not to have worked well.

Clearly that meant a visit to Lowes. Another couple of gallons of fuel I could have been very happy not using. Still, wandering around Lowes I looked for lift on, lift off hinges - which they did not have. Then I looked for solutions to my closet rail problem.

Lowe's had two pieces of white chain. One was plastic and clearly decorative. The other was metal and claimed to support 35lbs. I looked at the unsealed ends of the bent wire used to make the chain and chuckled. If that would support 35lbs then I'll be joining Obama on his next flying pig hunting session!

The chain in general was disappointing. My thoughts then turned to rope. Not to use in a glorious entry to the next world but to use as a closet rail. Hung and tied to eyes attached to the ceiling, that could work quite well. Still, its way too early to think about that yet.

I returned home feeling quite yucky. It wasn't nausea at having to spend money though that will do it. It was more either to do with the heat or perhaps needing to see the optician.

After dinner and in the fading light, I drilled holes in aluminum plates that I then riveted over the four remaining inch diameter holes. I did the usual thing - drill, spray with anti rust paint then after that had dried, applied silicone goop and riveted.

All four holes now having been attended to, my attention turned to the unholy mess the hillbillies had made of creating an underbus storage compartment. Their workmanship is absolutely appalling. The door is a solid sheet of aluminum. The hinge doesn't quite work. The door is bowed and where its bowed, leaks rainwater. The compartment is made of plywood which looks to be in poor condition.

The plan for the storage compartment is simply to remove it and rivet the door over the nasty hole they cut in the body. That's a job for another day though.

Just one photo today. I took it then Android stopped recognising the camera and I had to restart my phone, by which time, dripping with sweat and being chased by hoards of mosquitoes, it was time to stumble through the pitch black into the house.