Attaching the 15 gallon drums underneath the bus was intended to be accomplished tomorrow. That won't be happening tomorrow though. Today I took m'lady to meet some friends of mine and during an exchange of information, I found why one of my previous positions ended. It transpired that I had not done the rotten job that I had been told I had done. It turned out that the manager in charge of the department quietly disliked me. That explains why some of the training I'd been give was rather obtuse. Afterwards, she'd admitted she'd got rid of me because she didn't like me. Now that I find is rather unusual because most people (not all) do seem to like me (or if they don't, they hide it pretty well).
So, the upshot of today is that I was in Lowes (hiss, spit) on the way back. My idea had been to use a chain with a turnbuckle to tighten it to perfection. That, it seems, is not possible. Looking at Lowes (hiss, spit) turnbuckles, they were all adorned with labels along the lines of "will not support a human" and "do not use to support weight" and seemed to be made of zinc. How useless is that? I have seen people using chains to secure tanks under their vehicles and I'm pretty sure they use turnbuckles to tighten their chains. Now it could be that Lowes (hiss, spit) specialises in supplying an inferior and inherently dangerous product and that many people just don't read the labels, ripping them off and relying upon them.
I had been criticised for considering using nylon cargo straps to secure my drums. It seems that cargo straps are probably the best idea. They can be tightened easily and while not being allegedly very durable, are probably as durable as a plastic tank! So, the answer is to put nylon cargo straps. While I don't possess cargo straps right now, they're easily obtainable. They're better doubled up for strength. I know 15 gallons of water weighs just over 125lbs. Thus if the cargo straps individually hold 120lbs then I can put 3 or 4 straps giving either one or two redundancies for safety.
While I Lowes (hiss, spit) I obtained some small wire nuts. I came to the conclusion that I'm better off replacing the top flashers with plain metal sheeting. The idea of turning them into extra turn and brake lights at the back is very worthy but in terms of practicality, means adding more complications. Thinking about the existing wiring, it seems to me that since it goes straight to the control panel, it could be linked to my small solar panel to use to keep the bus battery topped up. Indeed, it might even be possible to use the wires to connect a solar panel to charge the house battery. The house battery, by the way, only needs to hold enough power to charge my tablet and my phone. That's next to nothing! Certainly keeping the bus battery charged is a good idea. With a little care, the power could be redirected to power a small electric extraction fan at the back of the bus. That would give the option of using the power for the fan.
Another interesting idea would be to couple a small 12v battery into the charging circuit for the bus so the battery charges when the bus is driving or when solar power is going in but doesn't deplete the main batteries when it's being used to power the house circuits. Realistically, the simplest way of achieving this is with a simple switch on the driving console. Power goes into the house battery when the switch is on. When it's off, the circuits are separate though remembering to activate the switch might be an issue!
Tomorrow, I'm not sure which tasks I will undertake. I'll probably replace the worthless paper blinds though. I might then look at the front flashers or even take the bull by the horns and install the main breaker box.
Showing posts with label strap. Show all posts
Showing posts with label strap. Show all posts
Saturday, March 12, 2016
Sunday, January 10, 2016
Lesser achievements but achievements anyway
No photo today. Sorry - it was dark before I'd really done enough to merit a photo. The day started off with my planning to do the plumbing under the bus. Thus, I played around with my plumbing bits and found the S bend I'd bought wouldn't fit anything else that I had so I coupled together a few bits and bobs to make a strangely shaped U bend. The problem is that I've bought bits from Lowes (hiss, spit) and Lowes (hiss, spit) seems to specialise in non-inter-compatible fixtures.
The resultant U bend looked pretty good and was glued together. Then I realised I should - since it was a fine day - get up on the roof to finish off the final seam with silicone seal. Oops... The silione seal had dried up. There weren't quite enough plumbing supplies either. That and the fact m'lady's chickens were out of feed meant a trip to Tractor Supply.
Before I left, I had a quick look underneath the bus. The barrels will fit very nicely between the main chassis members and the side of the bus with enough room for my plumbing parts. I judged I would need 4 more right angle bends and two T sections plus some kind of faucet. Making a quick list, I headed out. Half way down the driveway I had inspiration and went back and grabbed a stopper from one of the barrels.
Arriving at Tractor Supply in glorious sunshine, it took a while to find a cart to carry 100lbs of chicken feed. That 100lbs should last the chickens about a month to six weeks. Then on the shelf I spotted some galvanizing paint. That, apparently is 98% zinc and should protect my fresh welds very well from rust. Then after getting the plumbing parts I wanted - aside from the faucet, I saw something interesting - a great big T junction with threads. Out of curiosity I tried my stopper from the barrel into the T and it screwed in perfectly. Then I found the male mate. I picked out two - one for each waste water barrel.
When I looked underneath the bus earlier, I found two barrels could be fitted very nicely between I section girders. That means I can use simple bolts to attach the straps that hold the barrels. That makes life considerably quicker and easier. The whole plumbing operation can be carried out simply and painlessly. The sections that screw into the barrel are way big in the center and need to be stepped down to fit my pipework. Needless to say Tractor Supply didn't have the correct parts.
Leaving Tractor Supply, the next stop was Walmart for silicone sealant. Tractor Supply had it but it was 50% more expensive than Walmart so I picked some up. While I was there, I looked at the camping gas cookers and saw a very nice dual burner cooker with wind shields for $35 and a set of cooking pots for it for $30. That was very interesting and it seems a pair of gas cans are $6. According to the blurb it seems that on full blast with both burners going, 16oz of gas will last about 90 minutes. That sounds very doable.
Leaving Walmart, I visited Lowes (hiss, spit) to see if they had anything I could use as a faucet or to step the big pipe down. Needless to say, they had rack upon rack of irrelevant stuff. As I studied the racks an announcement came over the speaker to the effect the store was closing in 4 minutes and that I should proceed to the registers. So, not having found anything I headed to the door and left.
It transpires there's a better plumbing store on 378 so I might visit that or the plumbers supply in Lexington later this week. The plumbing looks like it'll be a load easier than I thought. I didn't get plumbing straps nor any means of attaching them to the chassis but that doesn't sound that hard. Everything has been a case of working out how to do it. I'd been wondering how to stop the barrels from sliding but having seen the space available, there shoudn't be a problem. I could probably use two straps per barrel but I'll probably use 3 for safety.
Once the plumbing is done, I can work on the battery compartment. Having cleaned and painted the metal that will be the floor of the compartment, I expect that the first fine weekend I shall be welding the floor to the compartment.
The front door remains a problem waiting to be solved. I'm going to keep the door as a concertina affair. I just need to work more on a way of getting the latch to lift. If I had air brakes then I could simply tap into the air cylinder for a simple plunger and use residual pressure after bleeding the tanks. On the other hand that would mean I'd need to pressurize the tank every time I opened the door. It is, of course, possible to put a small air tank but I don't think I will.
The resultant U bend looked pretty good and was glued together. Then I realised I should - since it was a fine day - get up on the roof to finish off the final seam with silicone seal. Oops... The silione seal had dried up. There weren't quite enough plumbing supplies either. That and the fact m'lady's chickens were out of feed meant a trip to Tractor Supply.
Before I left, I had a quick look underneath the bus. The barrels will fit very nicely between the main chassis members and the side of the bus with enough room for my plumbing parts. I judged I would need 4 more right angle bends and two T sections plus some kind of faucet. Making a quick list, I headed out. Half way down the driveway I had inspiration and went back and grabbed a stopper from one of the barrels.
Arriving at Tractor Supply in glorious sunshine, it took a while to find a cart to carry 100lbs of chicken feed. That 100lbs should last the chickens about a month to six weeks. Then on the shelf I spotted some galvanizing paint. That, apparently is 98% zinc and should protect my fresh welds very well from rust. Then after getting the plumbing parts I wanted - aside from the faucet, I saw something interesting - a great big T junction with threads. Out of curiosity I tried my stopper from the barrel into the T and it screwed in perfectly. Then I found the male mate. I picked out two - one for each waste water barrel.
When I looked underneath the bus earlier, I found two barrels could be fitted very nicely between I section girders. That means I can use simple bolts to attach the straps that hold the barrels. That makes life considerably quicker and easier. The whole plumbing operation can be carried out simply and painlessly. The sections that screw into the barrel are way big in the center and need to be stepped down to fit my pipework. Needless to say Tractor Supply didn't have the correct parts.
Leaving Tractor Supply, the next stop was Walmart for silicone sealant. Tractor Supply had it but it was 50% more expensive than Walmart so I picked some up. While I was there, I looked at the camping gas cookers and saw a very nice dual burner cooker with wind shields for $35 and a set of cooking pots for it for $30. That was very interesting and it seems a pair of gas cans are $6. According to the blurb it seems that on full blast with both burners going, 16oz of gas will last about 90 minutes. That sounds very doable.
Leaving Walmart, I visited Lowes (hiss, spit) to see if they had anything I could use as a faucet or to step the big pipe down. Needless to say, they had rack upon rack of irrelevant stuff. As I studied the racks an announcement came over the speaker to the effect the store was closing in 4 minutes and that I should proceed to the registers. So, not having found anything I headed to the door and left.
It transpires there's a better plumbing store on 378 so I might visit that or the plumbers supply in Lexington later this week. The plumbing looks like it'll be a load easier than I thought. I didn't get plumbing straps nor any means of attaching them to the chassis but that doesn't sound that hard. Everything has been a case of working out how to do it. I'd been wondering how to stop the barrels from sliding but having seen the space available, there shoudn't be a problem. I could probably use two straps per barrel but I'll probably use 3 for safety.
Once the plumbing is done, I can work on the battery compartment. Having cleaned and painted the metal that will be the floor of the compartment, I expect that the first fine weekend I shall be welding the floor to the compartment.
The front door remains a problem waiting to be solved. I'm going to keep the door as a concertina affair. I just need to work more on a way of getting the latch to lift. If I had air brakes then I could simply tap into the air cylinder for a simple plunger and use residual pressure after bleeding the tanks. On the other hand that would mean I'd need to pressurize the tank every time I opened the door. It is, of course, possible to put a small air tank but I don't think I will.
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