Latest developments

Today it rained hard so I managed to check my bus leak seals. Aside from a minor drip over the shower windows, all those treated recently have been cured. That can be considered a great success! The remaining leak will have to be traced another day.

Another leak has resurfaced. A while ago, I sealed the cockpit roof vent and noted that cockpit leaks had been greatly reduced. A few days ago, I removed the plastic bag I had taped over the vent. Now the leak is back and just as bad. Given that Carpenter went bust in 2001, its unlikely that I will be able to obtain a replacement roof vent cover. I know exactly what the problem is - the vent cover is dented as though somebody trod or sat on it. I'll probably just do away with it.

The Rustoleum that I'd painted on bare aluminum has now begun to peel. It's peeling on the paintable caulking that had cured not many days before it had been painted. It's peeling off aluminum that had already been painted. It's peeling off plastic where it had dropped accidentally yet had appeared stuck fast. Let's just say I don't consider Rustoleum to be worth the bother of applying even if the paint was free! The worst of having painted with Rustoleum and wasted my money on it is not that waste of time and money but the time and money I'm going to have to invest in getting that garbage off the bus in order to repaint with another brand.

For the moment nothing can be done because almost all the work is outside. The minor stuff can be done anytime but I'm concentrating on the last big projects right now. Eventually I want to strip the Rustoleum garbage off but that is on the back burner.

Interestingly, I painted a different color of Rustoleum labelled as rust killing on the back bumper. There's rust showing through now. I know Rustoleum has a class action against them for selling a furniture restoration potion that damaged furniture. It can't be long before they get a class action against them for their other garbage.

How disheartening!

Today I went to the bus with the intention of painting the roof. It seems the Rustoleum on the roof is now beginning to peel. More areas of the sides are peeling too. Clearly there's something amiss with the Rustoleum. Indeed, I contacted Rustoleum and they agreed it shouldn't be peeling and bubbling and announced they were sending some form of refund. Obviously they must know something about that batch for them to be sending a refund.



That was pretty disheartening. I have a small pot of grey Rustoleum that I was planning to use to complete the roof painting. Having seen all that, I've decided I'm not going to waste my time putting more Rustoleum up if all its going to do is peel. Clearly at some point I'm going to have to repaint the whole bus. It kinda spoils the effect but I need the bus completed, paint is something that can be left til last.

Meanwhile, my battery powered shower unit arrived as did my Harley Davidson ignition switch. They're waiting on my unlocking gizmo and my completing the plumbing.

The water tanks are proving troublesome to obtain. It seems to cost $20 a tank for shipping. Secondhand 15 gallon tanks seem to be $20 which is ludicrous for something that's only $40 brand new. I have a feeling I'll end up driving to the manufacturer in Georgia to get brand new tanks. It's 200 miles in each direction. At 19mpg and $2 per gallon, that's going to cost $42 or the cost of shipping two barrels.

Given the ludicrous cost of standard water tanks, even with the ludicrous shipping costs and having to buy new barrels they still work out cheaper.

A few days ago, I bought a lot of cheap 10-24 nuts and bolts. Those might be good enough to hold the forthcoming battery compartment together if enough are used. They're each apparently capable of 55 kilograms. Its hard to find good figures for bolt strengths online. So many sites are such unreliable garbage. I'm sure I have a mechanical handbook somewhere. There's no rush though as I haven't cut all the steel yet.

Speaking of cutting steel, that was another task that never got done today. In order to paint the roof, I had to move the bus. In order to move the bus, I had to start the engine. Oops! Flat battery. Clearly either I have a bad battery or something is draining it. Thus, the battery is currently on charge.

So, the sum total of today is nothing. I got depressed and that's about it. With luck, tomorrow should be better.

China wins again!

I've had major issues with US based suppliers of Nema L6-30 FI connectors. They just don't seem to want to sell the product they advertise. Twice I've had my order cancelled by some joker that says I cancelled yet I did not. Then I found a local supplier that wanted $50 for a $15 part. Others wanted $80 for a $15 part. So, the upshot was I went back to eBay and ordered the part from a Chinese supplier. I expect it will be delivered next week. I just don't get why this is such a problem for US suppliers. It's not as though customer service is a challenging skill. Equally US suppliers seem mathematically challenged. Surely its better to sell 100 of an item at $1 profit per item than to sell 1 at $40 profit?

It rained very heavily overnight. Thus when I checked the inside of the bus, I was pleased to note that water ingress where the ingress had been bad was down to a few drops. The bedroom was down too but there was still a small puddle.

Not so welcome was what had happened to my paintwork. It looks like somebody has thrown acid over the paint. I'm pretty sure they haven't but the hood will have to be redone. There's paint peeling off the rub rails too though curiously only in tiny patches and only on the tops. The roof of the bus is unaffected. It can't be the baking soda because that was all over the roof and the roof is unaffected. It's just the hood (where there was no baking soda) and selected areas on one side of the bus. Notably, under a tree but the tree is only by some affected areas.


If it was a problem with my painting Rustoleum over cellulose then surely the paint would have bubbled universally yet it has not. I'll have to load my sprayer with sugar, sugar blast the affected paint (which peels away in big flakes) then repaint with Rustoleum. Perhaps I'll spray this time.

When its dry, I'll head back to the roof and will attend to the questionable seam. Clearly I missed something. I might just as well work on the other seams while I'm up there - adding more silicone.

The rain came down heavily again, putting paid to the motion of more work outside or under the bus. Indeed, even going out to the bus was too much of a challenge. The rain was that heavy!