somewhereinUSA build

Discussions about all things to do with buses, trucks, and the homes made within them.

Moderator: TMAX

ol trunt
Posts: 551
Joined: Thu Jan 17, 2013 2:51 pm
Location: Southern California
Contact:

Re: Another newbe

Post by ol trunt »

Very nice! I think you could win a tractor pull the way that hitch is built :lol: Your logo is really cool--I'd love to copy the idea but after a recieving a PM on another forum addressed to "OLT RUNT", rather than Ol trunt I probably better not give the local pranksters any ammunition. Jack
User avatar
somewhereinusa
Posts: 323
Joined: Sat Feb 12, 2011 2:44 pm
Location: Andrews, Indiana
Contact:

Re: Another newbe

Post by somewhereinusa »

Your logo is really cool--I'd love to copy the idea
Photoshop is your friend. It only exists in my minds eye :D
User avatar
somewhereinusa
Posts: 323
Joined: Sat Feb 12, 2011 2:44 pm
Location: Andrews, Indiana
Contact:

Re: Another newbe

Post by somewhereinusa »

I've been pondering on how to actually plumb in the in floor heat. I had everything, just wanted to make sure I had thought of all the possibilities. The bedroom is in, filled, bled,and test fire done. No leaks and it got hot in there. "Course it's almost 80 here, but it did get hotter. Here's the plumbing. The aluminum plates did heat up quite a bit. The cleats are just to hold things down a bit until I lay the floor. I still have to cut and lay the insulation on the left. One of the things that was holding things up was, I needed some way to make the curves without kinking. None of the commercial things were quite what I needed, or were way too expensive. These wooden ones work quite well.

Image

Since I'm not at all sure all of this will actually work, I also put in a hot water heater with a fan. Even if the floor don't heat the room, it will be warm and I can run around in my bare feet. :D

Here's a picture of the heater assy.

Image
ol trunt
Posts: 551
Joined: Thu Jan 17, 2013 2:51 pm
Location: Southern California
Contact:

Re: Another newbe

Post by ol trunt »

Hey Somewhere. As usual you have done a very sanitary instalation. The wood "thingys" are a clever solution to the kink problem and will work just fine. I'm a bit confused about the water heater with a fan and how it will keep you warm--I must have missed something. Jack
User avatar
somewhereinusa
Posts: 323
Joined: Sat Feb 12, 2011 2:44 pm
Location: Andrews, Indiana
Contact:

Re: Another newbe

Post by somewhereinusa »

I'm a bit confused about the water heater with a fan and how it will keep you warm--I must have missed something.
Jack, poor choice of wording, :screwy: it's just an automotive type heater core.

Dick
User avatar
Lostranger
Posts: 335
Joined: Fri May 14, 2010 2:49 am
Location: North Carolina
Contact:

Re: Another newbe

Post by Lostranger »

Love that radiant heat, Dick. Installation looks terrific. I had long planned to do radiant floor, but instead I'm building a tiny wood stove. Choice came down to the cost of fuel. I can get almost unlimited supply of small hardwood for free. Since we are full timing, wood will be much cheaper than propane. We have a propane radiant heater as backup.

We won't burn wood while traveling, and I've learned on this trip that the driver's heat/defroster does not work. Maybe the PO interrupted the line while removing passenger heaters. Oh well, I didn't have anything else to do....

Jim
User avatar
somewhereinusa
Posts: 323
Joined: Sat Feb 12, 2011 2:44 pm
Location: Andrews, Indiana
Contact:

Re: Another newbe

Post by somewhereinusa »

Well the weather has been bad and I'm not likely to work out in it so I thought I would get some detail work done.
I have three battery banks and I wanted an easy way to monitor them. I built this little panel to be added to the original driver switch panel. I have a lot of room since I took out a lot of switches having to do with school bus things.

Here is the panel itself.
Image

The run position shows start system voltage when engine is running. The other three positions are for start batteries, house batteries and the aux is for the bank I have for computer batteries. When the engine is not running the panel is off until you push the button below the meter. When engine is running, with the switch in the run position the meter is on all of the time. You can also check the other banks while engine is running by switching to the appropriate bank and pushing the button.

I built this junction block to be installed in the wiring junction box accessible from the outside under driver side window. It will keep the strain of big wires off of the back of the meter/switch assy.

Image

Detail of back of panel.

Image

The complete assy.

Image

We're expecting another 4 inches of snow this afternoon, then it's supposed to warm up the rest of the week. Hopefully I can get back to working on the bus next week.

Dick
ol trunt
Posts: 551
Joined: Thu Jan 17, 2013 2:51 pm
Location: Southern California
Contact:

Re: Another newbe

Post by ol trunt »

Great idea and a tidy make up. I didn't think to include the run battery on my similar volt meter but now I'll go back and change it . The Isuzu quadrant I'm using has a button like you installed but it only shows the odometer or the oil level when the motor is not running. Jack
User avatar
somewhereinusa
Posts: 323
Joined: Sat Feb 12, 2011 2:44 pm
Location: Andrews, Indiana
Contact:

Re: Another newbe

Post by somewhereinusa »

I wanted a panel mounted USB power/charging port, bot couldn't find any I liked. They were way too expensive, and ugly. Here's one I built for about $2.00 with parts I had laying around. If you run right down to your local Radio Shack, I'm assuming a price more in the $15 range.

Image

back side

Image

These are really easy and quite simple. If you want to do your own I've posted the schematic here.http://www.somewhereinusa.x10.mx/usbSchematic1.pdf

It will work with voltages from about 8 to 35 V dc.

Dick
User avatar
somewhereinusa
Posts: 323
Joined: Sat Feb 12, 2011 2:44 pm
Location: Andrews, Indiana
Contact:

Re: Another newbe

Post by somewhereinusa »

It's been a long time since I posted anything. I've reached one of those plateaus where I'm procrastinating on doing some thing on the bus. I may have to try Jack's method and take longer showers.
I've been putting a lot of miles in lately, who would have thought that gas would be my biggest expense in retirement? I needed to get rid of the F350 crew cab, and the Cherokee is rusted out beyond any reasonable hope of repair. I set the F350 out by the road and sold it in less than 10 hrs, even got what I wanted for it. A search of Craigslist got me just what I wanted. A nice little VW Rabbit pickup.
Image

It has very little rust,the body panels are pretty straight with only few minor dents. It has new tires, new brakes, new transmission and a seized engine. Included in the deal were two extra engines and a pile of other stuff from two other cars. As it turned out it was less than two miles away. His property actually meets mine in the back corners. Offered him the cash I had gotten the night before from the big truck and he took it. Tied the tow bar to the front bumper with nylon straps and drug it home. By the end of the afternoon the engine is almost out. I should have a truck that gets at least 40 mpg now.
ol trunt
Posts: 551
Joined: Thu Jan 17, 2013 2:51 pm
Location: Southern California
Contact:

Re: Another newbe

Post by ol trunt »

I'd say that good long shower paid off--that Rabbbbbitt will make a great TOAD! Is it diesel or gas? Jack
User avatar
somewhereinusa
Posts: 323
Joined: Sat Feb 12, 2011 2:44 pm
Location: Andrews, Indiana
Contact:

Re: Another newbe

Post by somewhereinusa »

Forgot to say, it''s a diesel.
Stealth Camper
Posts: 824
Joined: Fri Apr 09, 2010 5:17 pm
Location: Oklahoma
Contact:

Re: Another newbe

Post by Stealth Camper »

My brother bought a 1977 Rabbit diesel (new) and drove it into the ground over the next 25 years or so. Always got between 42 and 54 mpg, depending on how hard he pushed it.

He also had what I always thought was a 1969 Honda Civic...turns out it was the Z600 - big rubber bumper around the back window. He has two of them he is trying to decide what to do with. I keep telling him he needs to sell them to me. They are so ugly, they are cute!!
User avatar
somewhereinusa
Posts: 323
Joined: Sat Feb 12, 2011 2:44 pm
Location: Andrews, Indiana
Contact:

Re: Another newbe

Post by somewhereinusa »

Jack, here's the temporary shower, I thought I'd post here to keep build pics all in the same place.
This is under the base, 2 inch insulation and radiant heat tubing. I HATE small showers so basic area is 36 x 44, we're not all that tall
so the extra 3 inches added to the floor isn't a big deal.

Image

This shows the plumbing. I wanted a flexible shower with nozzle. I thought all of the commercial showers, that I could afford were very cheaply made. This is simply a stainless washer hose with a garden hose spray head.

Image

Detail of spray hose. When I find a better hose nozzle I'll change this.

Image

Shower base installed. I built this out of 3/4 plywood and coated it with a rubber like paint made for shower installation. It went on quite nicely, I painted everything top and bottom with 3 coats. I then painted with oil based enamel. I hope all that stuff works as advertised. I'm not really happy with the color. I wanted more of a tile red.

Image

Outside of temp shower. Plans call for the entire thing to be built of red cedar with poly finish.

Image

Now for the questions/problems.
I didn't put enough/any slope to the drain. It's more of a problem than I thought it would be. Especially when the bus isn't perfectly level. Any ideas on something I could add/trowel in to make a slope, then coat with the water proofing rubber? I had originally thought to do an epoxy/pebble floor and I still may. http://aeromarineproducts.com/rock-pebb ... 4AodFnok7A

My shower faucet is a brass fixture made for showers. It is real brass with the old style valve that goes in and out with a rubber washer. No water saver head or any fancy anything. Just hot and cold in and one out. I'm used to the problem of when using a shower with a shut off going a bit warm or cold when you turn it back on. This goes from warm to very hot and back while you have it turned on steady. It doesn't seem to do that at the sink, but I'm not standing in the water stream with nothing on either. I have a high volume water pump with very good pressure. All plumbing goes from pump to manifold with individual lines to each fixture. Any suggestions?
ol trunt
Posts: 551
Joined: Thu Jan 17, 2013 2:51 pm
Location: Southern California
Contact:

Re: Another newbe

Post by ol trunt »

Hey Dick, You won't need much slope to get your shower floor to drain. I suppose I'd use "Bondo" to build the floor up a bit and then coat it with smooth epoxy. The nice thing about body filler is that it is quite flexible and it is easy to sand to the proper contours. As for the water temp problem, I imagine you are experiencing some heat loss in the line while the water is not flowing hence the variation in water temp. I used two pumps for my water system, one for hot and another for cold. I did this because I chose to use an on demand water heater which requires flow to start the heat cycle. By using a solenoid valve (switchable either in the kitchen or bath) my hot water recirculates to the water tank thus keeping the heater activated and providing me with a constant temp supply of hot water. I expect that your system, if it isn't already, could be adapted to a similar design. Having said all that, The RV type shower water mixer I'm using is really a piece of junk and is very hard to adjust the water temp with. Once the temp is set though, the recirculation system seems to keep the water temp quite constant. Jack
Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 33 guests