Plumbing completed

There's not much to say. I crawled under the bus and completed my plumbing under the washbasin in the bathroom. It was just like the plumbing for the shower albein with narrower tubing. I still need to seal a few things underneath but not an awful lot and it won't leak if I don't.

I cut the steel strip for my back lower window cover. My new thinking is just to screw a sheet of steel over the window with a shim to allow for the window gasket. It's easier and faster.

In other news I carefully stripped my tablet down to look inside. It is the USB socket that has failed. That's microsoldered into place. Microsoldering is a little beyond my skills and equipment. I hadn't really hoped for anything. I guess the tablet is trash. Still, it'll make a nice video!

How dangerous is it working under a bus?

Well, today I went under my bus and worked on installing my second waste barrel. This one is for the handbasin. I've installed it rather further forward than one would immediately think it should be for a very good reason. I want the clean water barrel directly underneath the handbasin so that I can pump water straight up. Underneath the toilet is where I might eventually put a black tank so the grey tank has to go forward.

Today I went to Lowes (hiss, spit), to buy some stop nuts for my cable clamps. Oddly, I bought sufficient for one barrel but not for the other (which needs stop nuts badly). I guess my counting was off. 

Looking around, I thought about the plumbing and wondered whether I could simply go with flexible pex tubing. I could put a 3/4 to pex connector on both barrels. Having got this far though I'm not about to start re-plumbing the system though. I could definitely use pex from the bottom connection though. 

So, basically, that's all I did today. I did find Tractor Supply's chain connectors didn't have a standard opening. One connector was too narrow and couldn't be used. The other problem was one I had encountered last time. The chain connector U bolts are not at a standard distance. I made a new template and it worked for 3 of the U bolts but not for all of them. There was a variance of about 1/8 inch between the bolts which made standardisation somewaht hard.

In terms of the U bolts on the other side of the bus, rather than putting stop nuts, I wonder whether perhaps welding the nuts to the bolts might not be more secure. The same could be done to the bolts just done with stop nuts. It would add that extra security. I certainly don't want barrels coming loose and falling under the wheels when I'm driving. In terms of removing them if necessary, I can always use an angle grinder. That's easy enough!

So, the upshot of my week off is two barrels installed under the bus and the handbasing not only reinstalled but clamped down. I lost a lot of time due to rain. In fact there was a trashcan standing beside the bus and in the two wet days, it accumulated at least 3 inches of rain.

I still have to do the plumbing, ventillation and to replace the lower back window with steel. It'd be nice to have the front door unlocking system set up too. At least there's progress! While I was under the bus, I looked at the hillbilly wiring. I'm wondering whether soldering the connections rather than leaving the crimp connections might solve many of the problems. Indeed, I might even try to rewire the reversing horn.

Thinking about the top flashers, having got the barrels in place, I might attend to those too. For the moment I want to get all the stuff under the bus completed because I really hate working under it. That includes the wiring and possibly installing a second reversing camera cable, just in case I want to install a new camera.

A non entry

Today was a day when I worked as a volunteer and went supplies shopping. That's almost all I did.

On the list today were 1.25 inch drywall screws and a 16 inch drawer runner. I did pick up a can of wd40 though. It wasn't something I'd thought of but since it was $2.99 rather than $5.99 and since I use the stuff occasionally, it was worthwhile.

While I was at work, I chatted to some guys who were putting privacy film on glass screens. They suggested three things. The first was that Windex can be used to remove privacy film. The second was that a non carbon razor blade could be used to scrape resistant film off. I was also told film could just bake on with the sun. A further titbit is that you can't have too much soapy water sprayed.

So, as soon as I got home, mindful of the fact privacy film might be hard to remove if it's left too long, I prised up a fold in the mess on the back window and it all peeled off easily. Now I can redo it. In fact, I'll redo the three windows I did badly. I hate bad workmanship.

How to apply window tint properly with Lexen tint film.

Today I slipped some liquid hand soap into my spray bottle and had a go at another window. That didn't go any better than the previous attempts!

Feeling rather disheartened, indeed disappointed, I resigned myself to the fact my window tinting was always going to look amateurish. Then somebody on a forum I follow came up with a useful suggestion . The problems were that the film was hard to control. It was also hard to separate from the backing layer.

Tools...
Paper towels
Masking tape or any adhesive tape
Knife (supplied with tint film)
Spray bottle with water and soap mixture.
Plastic spatula (supplied with tint film)
Glass scraper
Smooth surface - I had a sheet of plexiglass.

Method...
Scrape paint and other detritus off both sides of the window.
Spray inside of the window with the soap solution.
Wipe the glass clean with the paper towels
Clean the sheet of plexiglass with soapy water and paper towels
Spray the plexiglass liberally with soapy water.
Using tape, lift one corner of the backing sheet on the film.
Place the film sticky side up on the plexiglass so the water will hold it in place.
Remove the backing fully, ensuring the film remains face up on the plexiglass.
Spray window and the glue side of the film (this is the up side of the film) liberally with the soapy water solution.
Pick the film up, hold it in position over the window and press it against the window.
Starting from the center, press the paper towel firmly against the film and smooth the film so there are no bubbles or wrinkles.
Working with the spatula, chase any water bubbles out. It helps if you use downward motion since gravity works with you that way.
Trim the edges of the film using the supplied knife.
Smooth any areas that need extra work.
Pat yourself on the back.

My worktop looked like this...

My finished window looked like this


Then I ran out of film and had to order more. My film came from Amazon and at the time of writing was $10.40 for a roll 20 inches wide by 10 feet long.

Needless to say, I ordered three more rolls though I have a suspicion that 14 panes of 12 x 24 inches with wastage might need more. If the others go on as well then I might replace the film I didn't do so well. It's definitely time consuming!

Other than that, I found several paint companies have apps that tell me what color my paint is. Sadly, the light is not uniform on my Carpenter blue paintwork but it looks like it could well be Swan Sea. I'll grab the bull by the horns and buy a pot tomorrow together with the green paint.
I still have to finish cleaning and prime my bus cockpit but things are getting done. I'm feeling quite positive about the project.

I had a go at gluing some plastic planks together using plastic glue but it wasn't a great success. I'm giving thought to gluing a plastic plank mount together to hold my shower base.

The tint film is 20% and looks OK though I suspect 5% might have been a better choice. I can see into my bathroom from certain angles. The solution will be to Velcro shower curtain to the inside of the window frames.