Getting down and dirty

Today was a day of achievement and visible achievement at that! In short, the plumbing under the shower is complete. There is a question as to whether I should perhaps add a jubilee clip on each end of the pex tubing so I probably will, just to be sure.

The nuts on the cable grips were replaced with stop nuts. Getting them off was easy despite the application of Locktite Blue Thread Locker. I had anticipated a struggle given the instructions to heat the screw to 700F to release the Thread Locker. I had to do no such thing. Clearly Thread Locker is a garbage product trading on unsubstantiated claims. It was applied to clean, new bolts and the nuts installed just after the stuff had been poured liberally over the threads. It just didn't stick. This is why I trust stop nuts. They just don't vibrate loose. As it transpired, there was insufficient space on the thread for two nuts so I only had to work on one barrel. The other already has stop nuts.

The next thing was to replace the screws and clean up the excess silicone goop from when I installed the sheet metal over the schoolbus flashers. I ran out of 3/16 steel rivets. I'd been rather overzealous with my fastnings and had clearly put 27 holes in each plate. I'll get more rivets tomorrow.

It looks a little better now. A little less obvious. I didn't feel it was worthwhile to weld though soldering would have been useful had I a functional propane torch. While I was up there I replaced the broken CB aerial. This time, rather than having it vertical, I have angled it slightly in order to lessen the chance of tree branches snapping it off.

Now is getting to be the kind of weather when working under the bus is getting unpleasant. Fortunately I don't have much that is truly essental to do underneath. I had to brush off one tick, swat one mosquito, brush off some ants and a couple of spiders. Right beside the bus were a couple of anthills.

Clearly it is going to get really unpleasant soon. The good news is that I have only two things that need doing under the bus. The first is to redo the hillbilly wiring. Now for that I might just get my mechanic friend involved. As for the other, it's a case of doing the plumbing under the sink into the other barrel. For that I need to get a new sink connector and a 1.5 to 1.25 inch piping adaptor plus some 1.25 inch piping. I found my hole saw makes 1.25 inch holes so it seems better to get cheap piping to fit rather than an expensive hole saw the right size. Of course, under the bus, the piping has to reduce to 0.75 inch tubing as I have a lot of 0.75 and my junction is 0.75. I'll further need another 0.75 to 0.5 pex adaptor. The whole plumbing setup is nonstandard because of different ideas that have cropped up as I have been working.

In some places I have overspent. In other I have had bargains. I'm pleased with the hosepipe valves that I picked up for $2 in Walmart. They are way cheaper than anything Lowes (hiss, spit) had. As there will be no real pressure, they don't even have to be very strong!

I am sure my waste water system will leak though I don't know how much. Some leakage is desirable in order to reduce the need to actively dump the waste water. In actual fact, it's just soapy water used for washing. That's not really dirty. The only problem will be non biodegradable deturgents.

I have been giving thought to carrying freshwater and located a 15 gallon barrel at Walmart for $47. That's quite a bargain when U-Line sells them for $41 with $30 shipping. Either that or a 220 mile drive to the nearest U-Line suplier. At 19mpg and $1.85 a gallon, paying shipping would be cheaper than visiting U-Line. Anyway, the Walmart solution sees best. A manual pump also seems in order. Those seem to be between $20 and $60 with electric pumps coming in even cheaper. An alternative to the pump would be just to draw water from under the bus via one of those handy Walmart $2 faucets.

Right now, the goal is to obtain the supplies needed in order to complete current operations. The back door lower window needs to be replaced with something solid. That will involve welding. In fact, quite a lot of welding and some grinding in order to make it smooth. 

Finally, the front door locking mechanism needs addressing. I have encountered linear actuators that sound interesting though pricey. Currently I'm returning to an old idea using the two electromagnets I bought from China that won't repel anything magnetic. Rather than have them pushing the latch upward, pulling it upward - if they're strong enough. Placement will be ultra critical however.

On the whole though progress is painfully slow, I am happy with what has been achieved thus far. I am looking into some kind of fireproof box to keep important documents safe. By that, I mean passports, insurance, registration and citizenship documents. Sadly, thus far, all I am encountering are pretentious pieces of junk. I am seeing fire proof boxes calling themselves safes and sporting ludicrous things such as combination locks and keypads. How utterly insane! All I need is a fireproof box with a latch. I don't want to fuss about with locks or fiddly trash like combination locks. Most of those alleged safes can be picked up and carried away for later opening or can be quickly opened with an angle grinder or a can opener!

When the going gets tough, the tough go shopping!

Today I have to report that my $55 RCA tablet purchased from Walmart at Christmas has ceased to charge properly. The likely culpret seems to be the flimsy little USB charging connection. Needless to say, this should not have failed with just 3 months usage. On the occasion I get it to start charging, I quietly walk away while it is charging and return to find it has not charged but rather discharged. I seem to have to hold it in order for it to charge. This is very irksome as I use this for updating my blog in the absence of a real computer.

I fully intended to buy all the plumbing parts needed in order to plumb in my shower waste water tank. I had to abandon the trip to Lowes (hiss, spit) because a whole series of really rather tiresome people kept approaching to talk to me. It seems that I am attracting timewasting people whose only pride is in their verbal diarrhea quite a bit at the moment. After the third or fourth person that broke my concentration, I gave up and headed to Tractor Supply for the bits that I needed. 

At Tractor supply I grabbed a cart intending to leave with potting soil and 4 baby chicks for m'lady but the potting soil was outside and it was raining hard. Believe it or not but Tractor Supply didn't know whether their chicks were male or female. It seems ludicrous that a company should not know what they are selling! The metal links and cable grips I needed were available but had to be hand carried despite the cart as they kept falling through the mesh of the cart. Having paid for the bits I headed across the road to Walmart but there, my card didn't seem to work. Paying for the two faucets and the cooler I'd spotted via alternate methods, I found my bank card had expired yet I had not had a replacement. All that entailed a long phonecall to the bank and a mad dash across town to an open branch. By then it was getting pretty late and m'lady was calling.

The upshot is that on the next dry day I will be able to install the barrel for the handbasin. I will not be able to do any of the plumbing but I will be a lot closer to having working plumbing. The next stage will be to reinstall the bathroom handbasin. This time I will have to fabricate mounts in order to fasten it down properly. That might involve some welding but I doubt it. It's handy to be able to weld.

Lowes wanted $8.95 for faucets yet what I got from Walmart for $1.95 will do for my waste tanks. All I need to do is to put garden hose connectors on my plumbing and it'll work just fine since there's absolutely no pressure involved. Things are looking up!

Standards aren't all that standard which is why hanging the waste barrel was so hard.

Today was the day designated to installing the waste barrel under the bus. It was expected to be a fairly swift task given that 6 holes had been drilled yesterday. It was envisaged that another barrel might also be installed on the other side of the bus. This was not, alas, to be.

Drilling the next six holes took an age, after which I decided to raise the barrel into position using my dollar store cargo straps. Problem number one was the cargo straps were so long that they could not be tightened enough without jamming the mechanism. The straps had to have the excess cut off and then the ends heat sealed with a match. This is something I'm used to doing with all kinds of nylon straps and webbing. Following drilling the holes, I sprayed the bare steel liberally with Rustoleum zinc paint. With any luck, should water get up there, this will stop rust from being so prevelant.

Next, I installed the turnbuckles on the far side of the barrel since they are the weakest link. The chain should hold 520lbs but the turnbuckles are good only for 130lbs. Full, the barrel will weigh 125lbs so there's a decent safety margin. In order to install the turnbuckles, I had to uninstall the barrel. That was about as time consuming as putting it there in the first place!

During installation of the turnbuckles, I applied Locktite Thread Locker to the threads of the cabe grips I'm using to secure it all to the sub frame. That should be pretty solid! The Thread Locker does come off but only if it is heated. I'd imagine if I needed to remove them, an angle grinder might be faster.

Let me take this time just to state how much I hate rolling around in the dirt underneath vehicles and how much in general I don't like doing DIY stuff. I am driven to it by necessity and even though I'm good at it - mainly due to being a perfectionist - I'd still prefer not to have to do DIY.

The barrel was reinstalled using the cargo straps and a length of chain held up to the assembley to see how much I needed. It turned out to be 22 links. That means my 20 feet of chain should be good for at least another barrel (on the other side of the bus) and possibly a fresh water barrel too (also on the other side of the bus - whenever I am near a U-Line supplier.

Cutting the chain was no easy task, given that I had to hand-hold the chain with a wrench while cutting it with an angle grinder. Still, I did it and the chain was cut in the right places. Installing it was where things became interesting. If you remember I made a template yesterday to drill holes for my cable grips. It turns out that not all the U bolts in the cable grips are the same distance apart between the ends of the bolt. That made installation a mix and match affair of trying the cable grips in different holes in order to find the ideal arrangement. Not a very standard standard!

Eventually, as thunder was beginning to rumble and the sky darkening, I installed the barrel and tightened the turnbuckles then removed the cargo straps. This seemingly simple task had taken all day. In fact, it took several days. The waste barrel on the other side should be much easier!

Two little footnotes. One is that I'm going to leave the plumbing as it is but will connect the barrel with the outlet and a faucet using flexible PEX piping if I can get it big enough. The second is that I need to get a marginally longer socket. It was only just biting on the nut and my deep sockets were so deep that I couldn't get the socket and the wrench in place to turn the nut. I might loosen the chains and slip the barrel an inch or so to the right but I'm not bothered. I think it'll work just fine.

The flexible clear overflow and breathing tube dangling down has been fastened to the barrel in two places with plastic zip ties. I'll trim the excess that hangs below the skirt. Speaking of hanging below the skirt, you'll doubtless be delighted to hear that a 15 gallon barrel placed thus is an inch above the bottom of the skirt. In other words, Joe Public cannot see it and have no reason to believe that this is not in fact a bus.

Slapped in the face by a wet kipper!

Yes folks, the wet kipper of reality just slapped me in the face. As I worked today, I discovered that the inlet thread on the barrels is the same size as the vent cap. I further discovered that it is the same thread as the average garden hose. What a fool I have been! I could have connected the shower directly to some garden hose, let it dangle to make the U bend (or S bend), put a T adaptor on the vent hole with the hose going into that. A separate piece of hose raised a bit would act as a vent and an overflow. At the bottom of the barrel, rather than having the inlet/outlet going into plastic piping, I could just have an ordinary faucet. I could have saved myself no end of effort, some welding and so on. It would also have meant the whole asembley would have been able to flex if the barrel swings a little. Not only that but it would have allowed me space to put a second barrel underneath the shower - with its own faucet.

Well, today started by my having to clear a space underneath the bus on which I could lie to work. The winters leaves had all collected on that side of the bus. A quick blow job later and the leaves were gone.

I looked underneath the bus and the ribs are just about perfect. It seems to alternate two opposing C sections and two box sections. The C sections I can easily drill into to install the attachments for the chains that hold the drums.

Visualising how to hang the drums, I found my cheap dollar store cargo straps are way too long and will probably need to be trimmed but I can see how the drums will hang. Knowing about the hose connectors lets me think more about adding that second barrel. On the other side of the bus, there's space for a white and a grey and possibly a black too. I'm not sure that I want to put a battery underneath though. It just seems that I won't be using that much power anyway. I thus have my eye on a different solution or different series of solutions.

In order to hang the barrels I need to put pairs of holes perfectly aligned. Three pairs of holes will do. Thus I made a small template to guide me for the second hole. Looking at the C section above, I should have no problem with the sections bowing under 125lbs weight. Indeed, given that I'm using three chains with each chain capable of holding 450lbs and three turnbuckles each capable of holding 130lbs plus other bits that are pretty darned strong (can't recall the specifications), I think I have plenty spare capacity. The most I can reliably say it'll stand is three times 130lbs (the strength of the turnbuckles) so 390lbs. Of course I'm unlikely ever to reach more than 125lbs given barrel capacity.

Underneath the bus, I set to and drilled three holes - one for each chain that will pass around the barrel. The second hole posed more of an issue. I had no 5/16 bolt to bolt my template to the first hole. Oh, I haven't told you about the template. I made a template that matched the two sides of my U bolts as shown in the photo.

So, without using the template my first hole was not quite in the right place. I had to do a lot of filing to make it right! And of course prudence being the better part of valor, I departed to Lowes (hiss, spit) where I picked up not only a pair of 5/16 nuts and bolts but also some Thread Locker. That's useful stuff that is painted on a bolt then the nut is tightened and the nut then does not come undone without a significant fight. Just the thing for under bus usage!

While in Lowes, my phone rang with an unfamiliar out-of-state number. I didn't answer but let it go to voicemail. Then when I listened to the voicemail, it was a woman I vaguely remembered trying to help in the past. Eventually figuring out her phone number since Google Voice had screwed up pretty badly, I returned her voicemail. A few minutes later, she rang back. During the ensuing conversation I remembered her as being particularly needy and so the daylight escaped as I made multiple attempts to excuse myself, politely. Eventually after 40 minutes I did get away but the daylight had gone.

Undaunted I grabbed my lantern and an S hook and slid under the bus. Blow me down if the lantern trick didn't work. It was phenomenal! I used my bolt and template and made two very successful holes in just the right places. It was I felt too dark to work on the other side though so I packed up and came inside. Tomorrow it is alleged to be going to rain so I might get under the bus in the morning to drill the other six holes (and rust proof them).

The first barrel could be well hung by tomorrow night. Having said that, I'm rethinking my plumbing ideas since the barrels have hosepipe fittings. I did look at some faucets today but did nothing further. I want to let my ideas and thoughts gel overnight. It could well be that while a better solution exists, it would be financially better to stick with existing plans and just modify them a little bit. Being able to use flexible tubing would be a good thing as it allows the barrels a little movement.

Some strange adventures.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Investigations revealed that it's possible

To put two 15 gallon barrels end on end on one side of the bus but only one on the other side. That's pretty much what I suspected. It's not possible to put them side by side due to there being insufficient space between the chassis and the skirt. Thus, it looks like I can squeeze in a 15 gallon freshwater tank and a 15 gallon dirty water tank on one side. There's no room for a black tank but that's fine. I went with a bucket solution anyway.

Today was one of those grey, miserable days that threatened and delivered on its threat to rain on everything. What with that and the darkness that comes with rain, nothing was actually achieved on the bus other than to put my latest bus purchases onboard for later use. Last night or this morning, I had an epiphany. I'd previously decided to put the barrels sideways because the ribs would act as stabilisers. Without the ribs as stabilisers I have to put stabilisers. I considered things like plastic door wedges etc but ruled them out as too small. Then I realised brackets would probably work. If the brackets are snug to the sides of the barrel then the barrel should not slop about. 

Lying in the yard from demolition of the hillbilly construction was a 14 inch bracket. As it is strengthened with folds, I picked it up and failed totally to bend it. Thus, 14 inch brackets were added to my shopping list. Clearly today was a shopping day - it just wasn't fit to do anything else!

The first port of call was the local Barnyard flea market where there was a CB kiosk. Those with longer memories will recall that on my trip out with the bus a few days ago, the flexible CB aerial was snapped off by a low hanging tree. Incidentally, it was that tree's turn to meet its maker yesterday morning. For days I had been plotting my revenge on that tree but had been too tired after work to be bothered. Yesterday however, m'lady had somebody in to plough the ground for crops. This is a homestead, after all! On its way out, the tractor clearly had encountered the tree and had snapped it off. Problem solved! It would however have been better timed if the tree had not been snapped off before I went to work. I had to go to the immense effort of getting out of my car to move the corpse before I could exit on my way to work.

Thus the first purchase was a longer CB aerial that I will install after I exit the property and remove before I enter the property! After that it was on to Tractor Supply. There, I found 8 more brackets, some chain that would support 450lb (15 gallons of water is about 125lbs) and some steel cable fasteners that looked idea to secure one end of the chain. The other end can be secured with my U bolts. With the length of the U of the U bolt, they can also be used to tighten the chain.

There are several tasks to be completed this week - the first being the electrical breaker box. Then there are the luggage restraints in the back closet and finally the grey water barrels. The fresh water barrel does not currently exist. Though I bought 3 barrels, they were all used and thus unsuitable for potable water. I'll do the fittings for a fresh water barrel but will have to wait until I am near a U-Line supplier that actually has new barrels in stock.

I've been thinking one way and another about the battery system and the ventillation system. Although I looked into installing a smaller 12v battery, I think my original idea was probably best. That idea was just to use tiny dedicated rechargeable lithium battery packs at $8 each. I figure 4 or 5 is all I'll probably need to power my tablet and phone over a few days without power. 

The solar fan is something I have investigated. There are several around but judging from what people seem to be saying, it's pot luck as to whether or not they actually work. Truth be told, the message coming across from all this solar and wind stuff is that it's very expensive. It's an idealistic thing that really isn't financially worthwhile. As an example, I could spend three or four hundred dollars on a set of solar panels plus about the same on batteries to get the same amount of power I'd get out of an 800w generator that I can get for $100. Given that I just don't have any real use for electricity with my butane stove, an 800W generator seems a trifle excessive! A 400W generator seems more realistic but such generators seem very hard to find. 

For the moment, the solar fan seems to be unavailable. The next thing I looked at was wind-powered extraction fans. Those seem to be massively expensive and available only in Britain though. There are some attic fans available but they're too tall. I don't want to raise the operational height of the bus beyond the three inches of the front vent. The alternative is a small computer fan and a battery or perhaps some kind of roof vent. Perhaps some form of anodised aluminum tubing could be used to draw air out by convection. That would seem to be the simplest and most environmentally friendly option with the bonus that it might even work during the night.

Plans to replace the top flashers with metal blanks still exist as does eventually a plan for a tow hook. There are quite a few underbus plans. One is to put a second video camera and another is to rewire the reversing horn but to a switch on the console. That way I can choose to operate it or not. It doesn't become one of those bloody annoying things that screams at people who aren't there at ungodly hours.

On the whole, things are looking promising. The biggest issue I have is with cutting through the environmentally friendly bullshit. As I've said before and it is a very unpopular argument, solar and wind power are the biggest most steaming piles of bullshit I have ever encountered. I have a 5W solar panel that I have played around with and the amount of power generated wouldn't light a fart let alone a light bulb. Years ago I was suckered into buying a solar panel after listening to the environmental bullshit. I wired it up to charge a flip phone and left it hooked up in a sunny place for a week. At the end of the week, the phone had enough power to operate it for a massive 15 minutes. Let's just say I was distinctly unimpressed. Solar and wind power just don't produce any worthwhile power but let's see who the proponents of solar and wind power are shall we? Impressionable students and salesmen actively trying to sell the crap. Now you know why it doesn't work!

The beautiful thing about thinking is

That it's absolutely free. In the intervening days between working on the bus and my last entry and subsequently I have come to several realisations.

But first let's return to the exciting events of the other night. No believable news has been forthcoming about events next door. The loud truck has not returned. Some guys in jeans and black tee shirts were seen climbing all over the cabin. Other than that, there has been a complete lack of news. It's one of those things that will forever have to remain a mystery!

I thought about the plumbing system and realised there are two issues. The first is that if the tanks are installed crosswise then there will be a lot of strain placed on the fastenings on acceleration and braking. The second is that breaking fastenings could be disastrous. This has prompted two new lines of thought.

The first line of thought ties in with something else I have read about. Somebody posted that a composting toilet really stinks if urine is introduced to it. Thus, one thought was to reinstall the small handbasin in the bathroom that I removed and plumb it to a tank installed underneath the toilet side of the bathroom. The handbasin is an ideal height to use as a urinal! Having one tank under each side would mean more distance between the ends of the chains used to fasten the tanks and the tyres or the fuel tank. That's a bonus in that a broken chain is less likely to damage a tyre or the fuel tank.

The second line of thought is to put wedges in place so that the tanks can be aligned longtitudanally. Now I have seen people using plywood wedges but to be honest, having seen the hillbilly plywood, I have no intention of using plywood. Perhaps plastic or steel would be a better bet.

A further thought was a method of emptying the dirty water tanks. As I often park on sandy ground, an electrical valve that allows me to empty the tanks without actually getting out to open a valve is very tempting. There are some systems that allow that but they're mostly 24v. 

The important things to complete are the plumbing, the electrical breaker box, the ventillation, the 12v system and the front door unlocking system.

 Just thoughts.

My first meal

Today, just as dawn was breaking and the cock was crowing there was a power cut in m'lady's household. That, for her means no water, no light and no cooking. The water is pumped via an electric pump from a 100 feet deep well. Cooking is electric as if everything else.

Thus, to the rescue came my little Coleman gas cooker. It made tea and cooked breakfast. I notice the gas cylinder is lighter now so I'd imagine an 8.8oz cylinder might last a week. That's really not too bad though I might be well advised to look for a better gas cooker and a way of slinging a gas tank underneath the bus. 

Actually while in the land of Nod last night I was thinking about improvements. I suspect a 12v 100ah deep cycle battery will be all I will reasonably need. That could be charged from the alternator and feed into the starting circuit when the bus batteries are low.

Thoughts aremulling around in my head most of the time. Right now, the immediate tasks are to get the shower curtain installed, insert drawer partitions, complete my 120v power inlet and hang some waste-water tanks together with a release faucet.

This weekend looked like being a great weekend to do this but I have to work on Saturday so I shall be unable to work any day bar Sunday. Sunday - with luck - should see the welding on the side of the bus done and the power inlet installed. 

My first shower

Yes - I'm a dirty bugger - this is my first shower ever. M'lady's water heater died yesterday so there was no hot water last night. Thus, this morning I went to the bus to get my shower equipment. I could have showered in the bus but as the shower base is being used to store screws etc, I didn't venture use the shower in the bus. Mind, I also need to install a shower curtain.

The good - I had a shower and managed to wash my hair, my body and came out clean. 

The bad - the shower unit is new (only been used once for testing) yet the hinge on the battery compartment has broken already. The hose connection from the pump unit to the output hose leaks pretty well.
  
I wasn't really expecting to have to fix the shower unit on its first real use. Thank goodness I didn't pay Amazon's rip-off price for it. I paid $18 rather than $35 because I bought mine on eBay. Same exact thing that Amazon charges more for. Having said that, duct tape is cheap and fixed the problem. I think a more permanent solution will be to put an external battery compartment.

It doesn't look elegant but it works which is the main thing. For the leaky hose connection, I suspect duct tape might not be the best answer. It's too flimsy to crimp the hose too tightly so I suspect the best would be to use a piece of soft copper wire and twist it slowly until it's barely tight. There might always be a leak there.

To use the shower, I half-filled my 3 gallon cooler with cold water then put a kettle full of boiling water into it. The result was luke warm - I could definitely do with two kettles of water. Having said that, I did manage to shower quite successfully. The key to good flow seems to be to mnake very sure there are no kinks in the hose. It definitely performed better today - with far more power than when I first tested my shower unit.

Showering like this definitely takes a while as it needs time to boil a kettle of water. The cooker works very well and the floor underneath does not heat much. I'd say the heat transfer is about on a par with the heat from my microwave.

The Coleman cooker cost me $18 from Walmart and the gas cannisters are $3 each. That's really not bad at all. The shower unit was $18 too. 

In terms of use, I used about a gallon and a half of water to shower. My hair is long and takes a while to shower. The key is to wet it, rub shampoo in quickly then work on rinsing it out before proceding to lower parts. Crouching in the shower worked well. Now if I was some bald dude then I can well imagine using maybe a gallon or less of water. I'm not a bald dude though!

I can honestly say that I really quite like this shower setup. I had thought it might be irksome or problematic but it all went together very nicely. The biggest improvement would be for the pump unit and the battery unit to be separated. Now I have seen some 12v versions of this which would work well enough if I had 12v in the bus. Right now, my unit runs off 4 D cells. 

In conclusion, the shower unit's construction quality leaves something to be desired. The efficacy is good. The cooler worked very well and works as a very handy limiter on the amount of water used. The gas cooker was slow and the kettle didn't hold enough water. The shower I had was very effective and quite pleasant though luke warm due to my cooking up only one kettle of water. The cooker needs some while to cool before being put in its box again. I can't imagine lugging the shower and the cooker if I was actually on a backpacking camping expedition but I suppose somebody woud. The nearest alternative is a gas-powered shower unit that costs $140 or over $100 more. This setup represents very good value and I'll keep using it.

What a disaster!

The angels wept today and did drench the surface of the earth with their tears. Menwhile, an icy blast and possible Snowmageddon quietly began. Yes, folks, today was bitterly cold and wet. Not a good day for doing anything on the bus. Thus, today was mostly a shopping day.

In Walmart, I picked up a couple of things, the most interesting of which was for $10 a miniature cordless electric drill. It seems to charge off 6v. 20 years after everybody stopped putting NiCad batteries in things (aside from the Chinese) and it has a NiCad battery. Now normally I use a full-sized electric or cordless electric drill. Most of the time that's just fine. For my breaker box compartment it's just too big. I can't get the drill in, in order to get the holes in the right place to attach the compartment to the frame. I figured if I takes an hour a rivet hole, that drill will be worthwhile. I only need it in order to install 6 - 8 rivets! There was a better version available at $15 but I figure if this little fellow can do the job and since it's a job I probably won't have again then there's no point in spending more.

After I weld the next bits on my breaker box compartment I'll have to replace the paint that burns off so I bought more paint and some cheap brushes. At 68 cents a brush, it really isn't worth wasting gasoline on them to wash the paint out. While on the paint thing, I also got some appliance paint. I figured I can try derusting my microwave, spraying it with rust killer and then appliance paint. I know it still works - it just doesn't look pretty!

Remembering what the guy I read about the other day had said, I bought some paint thinner. The grey paint is peeling off quite well in some places. I can simply brush the loose paint off and wipe down with thinner before repainting. If the fellow mentioned online was correct then it might be the solution to problems like this:
I shall be rather glad to be in a position to register this bus as a motorhome. I feel that's getting ever closer. I could have done that with the old hillbilly compartment but wanted to redo it anyway. I am waiting on delivery of my screw eyes and rivnuts right now. These will help me to complete the shower. Then I will have a shower with a funky water delivery system but a shower nevertheless. Other than that, water disposal is taken care of with a bucket but I want to go to stage 2 and have at least one underbody tank. The proper breaker box compartment is a huge step for electrical supply and having seen the old compartment was probably little short of essential.

A 12v electrical system is not as yet planned out but the concept is there. Ideally, rather than a battery, I'll use a supercapacitor setup. That kind of thing can be left alone and it'll be just fine. No worries about overcharging nor about the cells wearing out. 

I said last year that I wanted this bus done by April. It definitely looks like being this April rather than last April. If I can only get a good weekend then I can get the underbody compartent done! It is literally a tiny bit of welding, a tiny bit of painting and some rivetting and bolting away from being done. After that it's a tiny bit of plumbing, some riveting and application of restraints and the waste water system is done. Then there's erecting the shower curtain, cleaning inside and it's done.

For the future I'd want to install my 12v system, possibly an underbelly water tank and way off in the future, possibly a black tank. Then of course there's the bedroom and kitchen ventillation and that is all that I can reasonably hope to want. 

New ideas keep hitting me!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Rolling around in the dirt like a hippo

I intended to do lots of things today but ended up doing just two. The first was to finish priming the two pieces of steel from the roller shutter assembly. After that, while the paint was drying I decided to remove the I-beam that the hillbillies had welded underneath the bus.
I'm still mentally designing the breaker compartment so going slow with it is fine. Aside from that, the existing hillbilly compartment does actually work though it is in terrible condition.

Thinking the beam would be heavy, I piled up some concrete squares underneath the end protruding from the end of the bus. It was then that I realised piling up the slabs further under the bus would be distinctly challenging with lots of trips underneath. I took a short cut and started the bus engine for the first time in a couple of months and moved the bus backwards about 6 feet. Then I piled up the next lot of slabs underneath the end again. 

There was more welding than I had anticipated on the rear bumper so I ended up with some interesting cuts. Having freed the back end, I moved under the bus and worked on the front of the girder. In all I went through 3 cutting disks and it took most of the day. 
Having removed the girder, with much rolling around under the bus, I carried it to the scrap steel pile. I have no idea how much scrap steel I have removed from the bus but I have removed a tremendous amount. I'd say probably close to two tons.

Visible in the photograph above is the reversing horn. Judging from the dangling wire that has been wound carelessly through holes in the chassis, this must have been the work of the hillbillies. It is something I will attend to in due course.
Doesn't the back of the bus look so much better without that girder sticking out? Getting in and out would be almost impossible now had I not foreseen this eventuality and purchased some folding steps in Walmart the other day. As it turns out they're a little low. I might have to get a bigger set of steps. 

After cutting the steel I reckoned the girder I had just removed would weigh something in the region of 50-70 pounds. It was definitely heavy and I certainly didn't enjoy carrying it!
These are the two blinds I installed yesterday. Worryingly, there's a dark spot on the top right of the right curtain. I don't know whether there was a grease spot or whether there is a slight leak. I will have to watch carefully to see what happens next.
In conversation today, my attention was drawn to a threaded hole in the caps of the drums I bought. It seems that they have a 3/4 inch thread. That makes life a load easer. I can see drums appearing under the bus fairly soon.

Removing the weight that I did makes a big difference. I feel happier and I'm sure the bus will drive more sweetly without that hideous thing lumped onto the back.

Ideally, I'd have loved to have had the bus before the hillbillies got hold of it. I'd have done it so much faster and better without having to fix or work around their disasters. It's almost as though a group of guys got together while blind drunk and decided to do the worst construction they possibly could. Their planning and execution was very poor.

I'm looking forward to heading to Canada at some point this autumn. My university Buddy, Eric,  might or might not make it there this autumn due to an operation he has just had. Only time will tell. Still, it'd be nice to do.

That was bloody exhausting.

After today's exertions, I am absolutely exhausted. Heaven knows why but I find welding very tiring. I suppose that could be because it wasn't particularly warm today but it was very dry. I didn't complete everything I would have liked to have done but I got closer to completing a lot of things.

The first task was to climb up on the bus roof to reseal one of the seams. That took a complete cylinder of silicone sealant. Ideally I'd have used something other than silicone but since I've used silicone everywhere else and it seems to be working, I've stuck with silicone. This motorhome will only ever be a 20 year old vehicle. It will never get younger so imperfections aren't that important.

After that, I thought about my plumbing. I decided that for the moment I'll plumb for a bucket under the bus. It should be straightforward to add underbody tanks. The plumbing didn't go quite as planned as it was the last thing done today. Needless to say, I cut the tubing too short after having previously cut it too long. It's currently an inch too short after being an inch too long. Having said that, this is what it looks like.

The long horizontal is an inch too short. It would be usable with a small block placed between it and the attaching point. The jubilee clip I bought to attach it turned out to be way too small. I'll have to buy a couple of bigger clips. Now the attachment point was the first thing I made this morning. Basically, it's two steel brackets welded together. 

Welding was where I made great progress today. I started using 6011 rods rather than 6013 and started getting an arc every time rather than having to fight to get an arc. Most things needed a second pass to get the weld to look good but I burned through fewer sticks and had better welds. I ended up making four tube mounts. Two are to hold the downpipe and two more to hold horizontal pipes when I get the tanks installed.

This was part way through my welding progress. Welding small stuff was way easier than I thought it would be. It was important to keep moving the rod though as I did burn the edge of one of the brackets away a little in one place. 

This is how the mounts looked when completed. After welding them and clearing the slag off the welds, I sprayed them with cold zinc plating. Now that's quite expensive but if it stops rust then it's worthwhile. One is already installed but the second isn't yet as the battery in the electric drill expired before I finished drilling the second hole.

Another task completed was to weld the two parts of the roller shutter top that I'd previously cut into two pieces. I welded with 6011 rods both at the top and the bottom of the join. I did several runs with the welding rods in order to make the welds look good. In between runs, I wire brushed the slag off the welds.

After brushing the slag off, I sprayed with my zinc spray. I would have liked to have cut the construction to fit the battery/cable box but I didn't have time. After I'd worked on the plumbing, it was just too dark. The sun had escaped from me again. I'm just hoping it appears again tomorrow!

I have concerns over whether my underbody work will be too much for the skeleton. I might complete what I'm building for the underneath and then ask my mechanic for advice and maybe get him to weld the underbody stuff. I really don't want stuff dropping off as I'm driving!

A rainy day

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Another epiphany

Toda started with the usual tummyache after eating too much on Christmas day. Then I headed outside to do battle with the metal that I dragged out of the bushes a few days ago that looked like an ideal floor for my battery compartment.

Cutting thin metal is always a challege for my angle grinder - which is now working perfectly thanks to the new carbon brushes and I went through several grinding disks. Good job I bought a second 10 pack of disks a while ago! Just look at the state of the disk I've just been using.

I cut the steel construction I found a few days ago, cutting the edge off one side and cutting it in two such that when two edges are welded together, the construction will be approx 18" by 29" which is about the size of my battery compartment.

As the steel had some handy folded edges, these will act as a strengthening bar down the center of the compartment. Very useful. I had, however to trim the excess fold off as it is somewhere water is likely to collect.

While cutting the floor of the battery compartment, a thought came to mind that has occurred before - namely why I'm even putting a battery compartment. I definitely need access to my main breaker panel and that's always best under the bus. Other than that, I can store the cables more securely inside the bus.

Given that I'm not putting a big house battery, the point of a battery compartment is somewhat questionable. Having said that, it does set me up for future expansion.

Thinking about batteries I was wondering about using NiMh batteries rather than lead-acid or lithium. Lithium batteries are just horribly expensive. NiMh batteries just don't seem to be available in 12v. This is a bit annoying! Out of interest, I looked up NiMh AA batteries and found I could get 48 for $24 and 3,000mah each. If they were put in sets of 10, giving 12v per set then I'd get 4 sets at 12,000mah or 12Aah. 

Thinking further about the NiMh idea, 6v would be way easier to work with just 4 batteries put in series. The downside is that all the charge controllers are set up to charge lead-acid or lithium batteries. To my mind, NiMh is way better than lead-acid because it doesn't gas and can be completely discharged without harming the battery.

Given that the only power I'd need would be to charge my phone, tablet and batteries for my LED lantern and my shower pump, I could probably get away with just D cells and a solar D cell charger. The D cells could in turn power a USB charger. Heaven knows how long that would take to recharge my phone though.

There are a whole load of different options out there for power. My favorite for cooling and for refrigeration at the moment are fans powered solely by solar power and a fridge powered solely by solar. The cold could be maintained in a fridge by simply using freezer blocks. The fans need only to remove heat when the sun is shining. As for the rest, lighting, the shower pump and phone charging - these can all be done from NiMh D cells. For the moment though, I shall continue the plan to install the battery compartment and the shower outflow.

Meanwhile, in a stunning development, the bathtub that m'lady often complained about has vanished. It didn't so much vanish in a puff of smoke but more behind a garden tractor and was hauled to one of the junk piles in the back yard.

It certainly looks better without the bathtub. For those with long memories and the ability to hunt through this blog, the bathtub came out of the original construction. It was used for most of the last year as a handy trash recepticle and had it not been full of trash, would have been easy just to carry.

Things are definitely progressing. The last thing done today was to paint the underside of the new bathroom vanity. This vanity will not have a sink. Instead it will have a removable plastic bowl that can be emptied either into a bucket or down the shower and hence into the bucket under the shower or onto the ground.
Apparently emptying water that's been used for hand washing is frowned upon. That seems to be just plain bizarre to me but I suppose if dumping grey water was approved, people would stretch it further and dump sewage too. Honestly though, as long as its buried properly even sewage can be disposed of outdoors without harm to the environment.

Small achievements building toward success

That's the way to do it! Today of note were several achievements in an otherwise dismal, dreary, wet day. I'd like to be able to claim major success but I didn't do anything major. The major stuff all accomplishes itself as it's all reliant upon the small but insignificant steps.

The first thing I did was to make a coil out of some wire, put my new permanent magnet inside and run 6v from 4 D cells through it. The magnet did twitch. Clearly I need to find some copper tubing slightly larger than the magnet in order to wind enamel wire around it. That should allow the magnet to slide easily and should give years of use. I just have to wind the appropriate number of coils around it.

The next success was more basic and less exciting though vital. I tried my old angle grinder without success. Banging it I could get a few spins from the motor before it stopped. I had a brainwave and changed the other carbon brush. I"d already changed one because it was broken. Voila! The thing worked when I plugged it in. Clearly that problem has been solved for the moment. The other one has a problem based around a loose connection. When I need it, I'll tighten that connector.

Lastly, I hunted around in the bushes on m'lady's 4 acres and found a nice piece of steel. It needs some de-rusting but cut with the angle grinder and welded, It;ll make an excellent bottom for my battery compartment. Unlike the hillbillies, I'll drill holes for water drainage. I'll also see about putting a lip over the door to stop water penetration.

The final solution to the power and cooking problem is, unfortunately, going to have to be a gas cooker where the microwave is currently situated. The microwave is rusted and beyond salvation. I"ll have to install an extraction fan - probably a 12v fan running off my small battery. I could run that through the window I blocked up or put a roof vent. On the whole, the window seems more accessible. I thought long and hard about other solutions but this seems to be the only one that makes financial sense. To spend $3,500 on lithium batteries, $300 on a generator or $500 on lead acid batteries to run the microwave or $40 on a gas cooker. That's $10 cheaper than buying a replacement microwave. The big bonus is because I've already done the electrical work, I can still use electrical appliances when plugged in. There's also nothing to say I cannot later just remove the gas cooker and install solar arrays, generators and solar panels.

Walmart had a sale

In that sale there was a roll of foam bedroll for $8. Very useful stuff! I bought a roll and will use it to make a honeycomb to put in my drawers in order to protect my crockery. I prefer real crockery as its easier to get clean than plastic crockery - particularly when its handwashed!

Meanwhile, a tragedy struck a couple of days ago. My old Sonicare toothbrush died. The batteries in them degrade over time until they finally just won't hold a charge. As they're sealed unit batteries, nothing can be done. It's quite frustrating and I really didn't feel like spending $100 on a brand new unit. I liked the small head and the way it really worked.

The problem with the old unit was that the charger ran solely from mains voltage. That would have meant a big battery and an inverter in the bus. I'm not a fan of inverters as they waste power.

Bravo! It seems there's a Sonicare battery operated tooithbrush for $10. I got one. I'd been wondering how I was going to work around my toothbrush needing mains power. It takes two AA rechargeable batteries. Now those can be charged from solar power!

By now you'll have noticed two things. The first is that the sink unit isn't very clean. The second is the water dispenser. Underneath the sink is a bucket - just like the one destined for the bus. Yes, I do live in a low rent place!

Since batteries are expensive, the plan is to make a compartment that will carry two batteries. I might put a single battery just so that I can charge my phone etc overnight. As much as possible will be manual. This will be a low power consumption motorhome.