JAN 1 , 2004
Happy New Year Everyone !

Well , I 'm really glad to say the Direct-Vent Heater started right up on a full tank of propane yesterday.
I'm not so sure it was a propane issue though...I kind of think water from the big wind & rain Storm the other day got down the pipes...and it just needed time to dry out a bit.
I got the new framing section attached today and got most of it's interior shelving brackets built and installed
Here's a couple of pics 

I'm thinking of changing my mind about having the battery box at the bottom of this new cabinet ...because  2 LP Gas On/Off valves are located there .
I'm probably just being paranoid , but I'm not sure if it's a good idea to have batteries that could and do sometimes short out and produce sparks and such down there with the LP valves.
I did a really good job of installing the valves & fittings down there ...but I keep having visions of hitting a good bump and having one of those fittings loosen up ...leaking LP gas ...and then KABOOM !

So for my sanity ...I'm going to locate the batteries in a different location and use that area for some kind of non-sparkable storage.

I'm pretty happy ...things are moving along nicely in the Bus.
Pretty soon I'll start to install the 120 volt & 12-volt wiring ...Cool. 

 

Jan , 5 , 2004
I've been busy taking care of some business ...and dealing with 10 degree temps while doing some stuff for the Bus.
I have to admit , I'd much rather work outside in 10 degrees with blue skies and Sun ...then the rainy weather we typically get around here.
Over the last few days I've been working on the cabinet I partially built the other day.

This cabinet will house our 12-volt distribution panel , solar panel Charge Controller , 12-volt converter , Inverter ,and 12-Volt Battery Monitor...on a shelf near the bottom of the cabinet.

Here's a couple of pics
the 1st. one shows the wooden panel with the various monitors & such that will be attached to the front of the cabinet ...and the 2nd. shows the 12-Volt Converter/Battery Charger.

I haven't attached any of the controls or monitors to the panel yet ...I want to figure out what type of hinge I want to use to attach the panel to the frame first .

After I got done with this project ...I built the area in the cabinet that will hold our TV/VCR, Satellite Receiver & DVD player ... I still need to add some moldings to it , but it's basically done.
Here's a Pic

I really need to watch my 'P's & Q's ' on this cabinet ...there's a lot of stuff going on in it .
Tomorrow , I'll start to run some 12-volt & 120 wiring.

Another small detail I mostly finished is to add a a couple of shelves to the closet.
 

 

JAN . 6 , 2004
Wowser ! Down to 0 degrees this morning ...slightly nippy for sure. The News says Seattle's getting really pounded with Snow & Ice.

I'm so glad we had the Dickinson Woodstove installed in the Bus ...because it was so cold in there this morning the Propane Heater wouldn't work.
From what I hear , when the temp goes down to 0 ,like it did today ...propane actually can freeze up and not flow well through the LP lines.
So, I started up the woodstove and 20 minutes later it had warmed things up enough to start the Direct-vent furnace.
Pretty Cool .
Some Jerk on a Bus 'Board' gave me a hard time because he thought it was stupid to have 2 different types of heating systems in a Bus... This is why it's Smart to have 2 types of heaters you Moron.

I messed around building a few shelves in the Bus today and half froze-up Solid...but I ran out of Paneling so , I walked out to the building supply store and bought some ...which they'll deliver , hopefully tomorrow morning.

Wow ! It's really Cold

 

JAN. 7 , 2004
It warmed up enough today to start snowing ...here's a pic of my Winter Workshop
 

I finished up the Food Pantry part of the cabinet today .
Here's a pic ...the slide-out shelf is for canned foods. Millie & I like to make sure our Buses always have enough food storage. It makes traveling much nicer to have the stuff you need to cook a great meal with you .
 

Once the wood dries out I'll paint the shelves and interior of the pantry white. And I'll add a light inside also.

I also attached plywood & paneling to the area of the big closet that will face our bed.
 

It was still mighty Cold today to be working outside . But at least I'm making headway on our Bus.

JAN. 8 , 2004
I attached the 'Power Panel' to the cabinet today .
It's hinged , so I can get to the inside whenever I need to.
Here's a few pics

I wanted to make some doors for the cabinet today , but I'm coming down with something ...so I'll get to them tomorrow.

I forgot to mention a really good Website & Forum about School Bus Conversions I ran into about a month ago called Schoolie.net .
It's a great resource for anyone who's converting a Schoolie.
 What I really like about this Site is the Folks there actually have School Buses and are doing really nice conversion Jobs on them ...it's not like some Yahoo Group , where 3/4 of the group don't have a bus ...have no intent to get one...but just hang out there so they can pretend they know what they're talking about.
CLICK-HERE to check Schoolie.net out.

 

JAN. 11 , 2004
Been God awful Sick for the past few days ...still feel a bit crappy.

Yesterday I started running the 120-Volt wiring lines in the Bus.

Basically all it entailed was running the lines to the places where they'll be an electrical plug-in. Any time I needed to run a line off the main line ...I made sure to make this connection inside a Junction Box . This is REALLY Important ...a Junction Box protects things from coming into contact with a 'Live' wire if one of the wires come undone .
Here's a couple of pics of a Junction Box setup.
 

I used the right sized wire nut on all the wire to wire connections and for added safety completely wrapped each connection with Black Electricians Tape.

I'll use rubber hose to protect the ROMEX wherever it might chafe...like I did with the copper LP tubing. 
I was half-way tempted to use electrical conduit pipe everywhere ...but decided it was Over-Kill for my situation . As long as I protect the wiring really well against rubbing & Chafing , I should be fine.

Here's a few more pics
 

I got the whole Bus wired up with 120 runs to all the necessary locations today ....tomorrow I'll add the anti-chafing hose pieces and start on the 12-volt wiring .
The Bus looks a bit messy , with the pipes , wiring  & such ...but I'll make it all look great in the end .

 

JAN. 13 , 2003
Yesterday I got down to installing all the TV Lines in the bus. Since we have 2 TV's and will have 3 different 'Feed's'... it called for a lot of cables , and some careful planning.

First I ran the Cable TV Land-Line from the exterior Cable TV/Phone inlet

Back to the 'Entertainment Center' in the Rear of the Bus , and attached it to a Flush Mount TV Wallplate . Here's a pic of what I'm talking about...not all the wall plates are attached to the base yet.
 
Then , I added another wallplate for the RV TV antenna & Satellite line feeds ...and attached the cables to that.
I made sure to mark each cable ( 'C'-Cable , 'A' Antenna , 'S' Satellite ) at both of the ends ...to make repairs easy later on.

When I got done with the various TV lines ... I ran a phone line to the Bedroom & the Computer desk . I used real phone cord for this , not the modular clip type . I trust the real stuff to last longer...and you don't have to worry about replacing broken modular clips.
Our phone lines will lead into wall-mounted units.

I worked on the 12-Volt wiring on one side of the Bus today ...tomorrow I'll get the other side done.
 

Last week I ordered a WESTCO® foldable hand truck online...I needed something to carry the Propane tanks down to the place where I get them filled.
This is nice and well-built little hand truck , the model I got is called the 'Mini-Mover' and measures 24"H x15"W x2"D when it's folded up ...only weighs around 8 lbs. , and has a 110 lb. carrying capacity. 
WESTCO® makes 2 other folding hand truck models like this with a larger carrying capacity if you need it.

I did a pretty serious Web Search to find the best 'on-line' price on this hand truck...and settled on PBR HAND TRUCKS  
Their price for this model is around $70.00 ...and they offer Free Shipping ( except to Alaska , we paid $52.00 to have it shipped up here ...took almost 7 days to get here too. God ! We get ripped off on Shipping up here. )

There are a few sites out there offering what appears to be a better price for this hand truck ...but they're selling a cheap 'knock-off' of the WESTCO ®. Be careful , make sure it's a WESTCO®...the other brands are only good for carrying around a lightweight suitcase , and would most likely break in a week.

I'm really happy with this Hand Truck ...haven't carried anything with it yet , but I can tell by it's workmanship that this will last a long time.

Here's a few pics

JAN. 15 , 2004
Yesterday , I did a bunch more 12-volt wire runs ... nothing very interesting , just your basic thread the wire around stuff  and add some splices here and there operation .
I ran out of wire and picked up another 100 foot spool from the Marine Supply store .

It always amazes me how much 12-volt wiring is needed to do a decent sized Bus conversion ...I'm at 300+ feet of it now , and probably will need another 50 ft. to finish it up.
I'm using some good 12-gauge marine grade wiring. It's spendy , around $65.00 for 100' ...but it's really good stuff . It's designed for either interior or exterior (Wet/Dry) applications.
Here's a pic
 
 
 

JAN. 17 , 2004
Been busy over the past few days wiring up the bus ...and doing a bunch of research on 12-volt systems and how they work.
It's not at all hard to put a 12-volt system together , but there are 'Rule's ' you have to follow.
First , you'll need to figure out what 12-volt devices and lighting you're going to be using ...and where its going to go in your rig.
Then comes one of the really important parts ... the size of 12-volt wiring you'll need to run the stuff.
I'm using 12-gauge wiring which is rated to carry a 'Line load' of 15-20 Amps safely .
What this means is I have to be careful to add up all the Amps of each light or device that I'll tie into the 12-gauge line.
Since my 12-volt RV Lights draw 1.5 amps each , I know that I can safely have 8 lights ( total of 12 amps ) on that line with plenty of room , in a safety sense ...to spare.
 

Our 12-volt lines ( circuits ) right now consists of...
 2 trunk lines for the lighting ( one each side of the Bus )
2 Lines ( one on each side ) for 'Accessories' , TV , Stereo & Such
1 line that feeds our 2 12-volt ceiling vent fans and the light/fan in our Stoves Vent.
1 line for the Water Pump

I was careful to make sure that all the devices on each line wouldn't overload the circuit (line).

So , in a Nutshell ...wiring up a 12-volt line system is really easy ...just make sure the wire that you're using is a big enough gauge to carry the load and you'll do fine.
There are a few other details you need to know about ( fusing & such)...I'll go into them when I get to that point in the system.

I've also been adding some anti-chafing stuff along the wiring here & there. What I'm using for this is the Black Foam Rubber tubing they make for protecting water pipes from freezing .
It fits really nicely over the the wiring packages I'm running ...to hold it to the wire I'm using Cable Ties ( one of Mankind's Greatest Inventions ever ).

I still need to do a bunch more wiring tomorrow...wiring is a big job in a good sized bus .
I'll try to take some pictures tomorrow ...  

 

JAN. 18 , 2004
I did a bit more wiring today ... I'm going to use a switch unit with a light in that will let us know if the 120 feed to Hot Water Heaters is on or off. So , I added another line for this . I also got a bit more of the wire anti-chafing done.

Working around Boats has really taught me to be extremely careful about chafing... I'm willing to bet , that more RV's fires start with thinning out a wires insulation through chafing ...then they do from some other source.
A bus , even if it's got some great Shocks ...vibrates Big Time. Those Vibrations travel everywhere in the rig , and if the line isn't protected and secured well...eventually something bad is going to happen.

Some folks run the wiring through Conduit ...but I never do . Even if the wires are in a Conduit , it's still being slapped around in there .
 My method for dealing with this is , instead of using some form of conduit ...I take the wires and strap them together ( using cable ties ) into a 'Package'. Then I use sections of Insulated Pipe Wrap to cover the wire packages ...and seal that up with some more cable ties.
This makes for a very tight system , that when it's secured to the walls and floors is very solid and doesn't move about at all.
I'm using Conduits Clamps to secure the packages to the floor and walls.

This isn't at all a fireproof way of going about this ...but it is an excellent way to keep from ever having one from line chafe.

Here's a few pics

JAN. 19 , 2004
I've been doing some more research on Wire Sizing , Voltage Loss ...distance traveled and Such . And have also received some Very helpful emails on this ...Thank You George.
 This is an Interesting subject to learn about...lot's of stuff to figure out.

Here's a Link to a Site that has a simple & easy to understand Chart on figuring this kind of thing out.
WIRE SIZING GUIDE

According to this Chart , I can't have 7-8 lights on the same line ...taking into account the distance the line will travel back to the power source.

But ....Charts like this are looking at this in a Maximum AMPS use at one time sort of way.
What I mean by this is ... in our case
I counted up the lights we'll have on the 30 foot line ...they'll be 7 of them.

1 light over the drivers seat
3 over the Stove/Cooking Area
2 on the Toilet/Sink side of the Bathroom
1 in our Closet

They all add up to 10.5 amps ...if we were going to use them all at the same time. But of course , we not going to use them like that.

Typically we'll only be using 2 of the lights over the stove at any given time ( 3 AMPS )...I only added the extra light over the Stove for times when we'll need the extra Illumination . I imagine we wont use that light much ...because on a separate Line is the Stove Vent/Light which will give use plenty of extra lighting.

Next in our Toilet/Sink area ...they'll be 2 12-volt lights . 1 over the Medicine Cabinet/sink area and 1 over the toilet. ( 3 Amps ). Typically we'll only use 1 of the lights at any given time.

 The light ( 1.5 amps ) over the Drivers seat is only there for use when we're traveling , it's there to help illuminate the area when we stop and want to read a map or such at night. We hardly ever leave more than 2 lights on in the rear of the rig while were traveling at night.

The Closet light ( 1.5 Amps ) is there to help Millie find something...but will only be used when needed.

So our Actual typical usage AMP draw will only be 4.5 amps on that 30 foot line ...which is well within good operating parameters.
If we turn on the extra light in the bathroom , Kitchen or closet...that would add another 1.5 amps ...6 amps total...we might see a slight dip in the lights ...but nothing drastic.

Ideally , if I lived in a normal place with lots of stuff available , that didn't cost a fortune for the simplest of things , and didn't take 30 + days to get it to you...I definitely would break up the circuits into nice tidy packages running only around 4.5 amps each . But I don't live in a Normal Place ... things are very hard to come by here. 

But even so...Millie & I are pretty conservative Power users in our Rigs anyway ...so our system should work great for us.
 Once again , I learned an important lesson about the hard & fast 'Rules' on doing anything...Like most Folks I forget  'Rules' and 'Charts' are meant to be interpreted correctly . I got all wrapped up in the 'you can't run 7-8 lights on that line ' stuff ...and completely forgot the fact that I'm not really using all that Amperage at the same time.

Geez , I must be getting Old ...I used to be a halfway Intelligent sort of guy ...I guess I'll have to have Millie slap me up the side of the Head every once in awhile and say 'Wake Up !'

Today , I headed out to Spenard's and picked up a bunch more sections of Pipe Wrap ...and did some work on protecting the wiring packages.

I got that rats nest of wiring under where the Distribution box is dealt with today.

All the 12-volt leads are now where they should be and protected against chafing .
I Also wired up the 120 plug-ins for our Hot Water Heater & the Plug-in for the 12-Volt Converter.
Here's a pic
 

I'm using WireMold® Boxes throughout the Bus , I did the same in our last Bus .
 I really like these Boxes because they allow you to have all your wiring on the exterior of the walls instead of running them inside them. I think this is a very good thing in a moving Vehicle ...you don't have to worry about some line chafing through and starting a fire in the walls.
They're a more expensive setup to use than the more typical blue plastic wall boxes are...I paid around $6.50  per WireMold® box . But I wouldn't use any other type of system in our Bus.
 

Here's a pretty basic lesson in wiring up a simple one-wire Plug-in Receptacle for those who could use the help.

I'm using Romex wiring with 3-wires within the Sheath.
What you do first ...is carefully cut off approx. 3-4 inches of the outer plastic sheathing. Make sure you're careful about it ...don't cut so deep that you cut into the interior wires.
Now pull the sheathing off the end of the wire .
The 3 interior Wires should now be exposed ...here's a pic of what they look like
 

You'll notice that the 3 wires are different colors ...Black , White & a bare one that's Copper.
The Black Wire is the 'Hot' Wire...The White Wire is the 'Neutral' Wire ...and The Bare Copper Wire is the 'Ground' Wire.

Next you'll strip off around 3/4 inch of the plastic insulation covering the ends of the Black & White Wires.
Take your Pliers and make a loop at the end of each of the wires.
Now your ready to Wire up the plug-in Receptacle.
From here on it depends whether your using a WireMold Box like I am or a more Standard in the wall type.
The Standard in the wall type of Box will have the 120 volt wires running into it and you'll work from there... With a WireMold Box you'll wire up the receptacle first then feed it into the box.

You'll notice on the 120-volt receptacle ...that one side has 2 Brass Colored Screws & the other Side has 2 Silver Colored Screws and one Green Colored Screw.
Here's a couple of pics that might help
 

Since I'm only putting one Receptacle on it's own branch line ...and not wiring them up as a series of Plug-ins on the same line . I screw down tight 1 of the 2 Brass & Silver Screws on the Receptacle.
Next you take the Black 'Hot' wire ( it doesn't really matter which wire you connect first . What matters is you do the job right ) and push the the wire loop that you made, under the Brass Colored Screw ...and tighten the screw down well.
 

Next you'll do the same as above with the White Wire ...this will be attached to the Silver Colored Screws.
Finally you'll attach the Bare Copper Ground Wire to the Green Colored Screw.

That's it...it's pretty easy stuff . Just remember this...

The Black Wire 'Hot' attaches at the Brass Colored Screws
The White Wire ' Neutral' attaches at the Silver Colored Screws
And the Bare Copper Wire 'Ground' attaches at the Green Colored Screw

As long as you stick to this pattern exactly with every Receptacle in your Rig ...you wont run into any problems.

Tomorrow , I'll start to wire-up the 12-volt Distribution Box

 

JAN . 20 , 2004
I didn't get much work done on the Distribution Box today...instead I did some more anti-chafing work on the wires around the Bus. And Cleaned up the Bus a bit.

 

DICKINSON WOODSTOVE INFO
I'm getting a lot of Emails asking Questions about our little Woodstove , and a few wondering why I didn't just install a bigger woodstove like we had in our last bus...here's a few things to think about that might help.

"Can The Dickinson be used as my primary heating source ?"

Answer: Yes it can , if you live in a well insulated rig and you plan on only wintering in a place where it doesn't get very cold . In an extremely Cold area , you'd have to Super-Insulate your rig to a point where it'd be a bit silly.... to be able to use the Dickinson as your only heating source.
And even if you did 'Super- Insulate' your rig , given the Dickinson's small Firebox ...it would take some time for the Rig to warm up to a point where it was comfortable.

" Will The Dickinson Hold a Fire Overnight ? "

Answer : I doubt it. Once again , given the small size of the firebox , realistically I don't think you could ... even if you used Coal and damped the stove down completely . I cant imagine you'd get more than 1 hour of use before you'd have to get up and refill the stove.

That's about it... The Dickinson would work great as a primary heater in a Van or small RV . But in a big 'Schoolie' or such , you'll need a better arrangement . Either a full-sized Airtight Woodstove or a combination of Diesel or Propane Furnace and a small wood burner will keep you comfortable in just about any situation .

In our last bus 'Home' we had a full-sized woodstove as our Primary Heater ...it worked great and kept us completely warm in temps of 20-30 below zero.

But , I chose a different arrangement for our new Bus for a number of reasons .
First, we wanted a little wood burner , that wouldn't take up a lot space in our rig... to use when we were camping out in the 'Boonies' to knock back the chill and conserve on LP gas.
But, we also realized that we would need a more 'Conventional' type of heater to use when we were staying at a campground around Folks in RV's. 
I think it's safe to say that , some of these RV types might applaud your innovation in having a wood stove as your heater ...but the majority would 'Freak Out' when they saw smoke coming out your pipes , imagining sparks were going to set their rigs on fire...or get their Shiny RV's dirty from soot.

So , this is why we went for the heating arrangement we did... we realized that the idea of only camping out in the woods somewhere , away from folks who might be bothered by our woodstove wasn't very realistic.
That might work in Alaska and Oregon ...but if you travel out East , you'll have to sometimes stay at campgrounds , whether you like it or not ....around folks who are not going to appreciate your woodstove at all.

Before I picked up our Dickinson , I checked out some medium-sized Airtight Woodstoves at Spenard's ... and because I love Wood heat so much ,  was severely tempted to put one in Latcho Drom like I did in 'Home'. 
But because of how much room they take up in a rig when they're installed with the appropriate safe air-spaces and such...decided against it. 
Our woodstove and wood box in our Bus 'Home' took up 5' of space ...that's a lot of space to lose , even in a decent sized bus.
Another detail that was an important one for us in deciding not to install another larger airtight stove ...is wood storage .

Average sized woodstoves take a decent amount of wood to keep them running day & night...that's not a problem if you're going to stay parked in one place for a good amount of time . You can always have a stack of wood outside the rig. That's what we did with 'Home' , stacked up a cord of wood outside.
But , if you're going to use your rig for any traveling ...you'll need enough wood storage to realistically use your woodstove as a primary heating system. Not only do you need a decent supply of wood ....you'll need to figure out how you'll replenish your supply of wood...which is not always an easy thing to do .

There are plenty of areas around the U.S. that you'll travel in , that don't heat their homes with wood ...and you'll find it extremely difficult to get enough wood for your stove.
Some folks chop up Pallets or ask for scraps of wood at construction sites in places like these...but I don't think it's a good idea to rely on something like that.
You could always buy a bunch of Presto Logs at the store to help you get by until you get to an area with more wood availability ...but that's an expensive and inefficient way to heat with a larger woodstove.

So , basically ...those are the reasons we didn't install another Air-Tight stove . I love them and all that ...but for what we want to do with our Bus , it just wouldn't work for us.
Since our Bus is meant to travel , I'm pretty happy with the setup we have. The Propane furnace is great , so far I'm really happy with it . And I love the Dickinson ...it was a huge help in warming up the bus enough to work in it before we got the LP furnace installed . I'm finding one of the nicest things about this little stove is it's tiny firebox. Where using 'Presto Logs' in a larger stove is very inefficient...they work out perfectly in our little stove.
I bought a box of 5 Presto Logs , cut them up into little chunks ...which lasted close to 2 weeks. A more typical woodstove would have gobbled up those 5 logs in 1 day.  

But with all that said ,there's no reason anyone else couldn't have a full-sized wood stove and a LP heater if they wanted one ...it would work out great . It's just is going to take up more interior space then I'm willing to lose in my bus.

 

JAN . 21 , 2004
Got a bunch of 'Detail' oriented stuff done today.
Wired-up the WireMold Box receptacles for the TV area in the rear of the Bus ...and also the one where Millie's KitchenAide mixer will be located , on that sliding shelf up front.
Then , I added another phone line under the front passenger seat ...this will be for when I want to use our Laptop on the table there.

I also wired-up the 2 switches for the Cassette Player/ Radio & the CD player unit ...and ran the Speaker Cables in the bus....oh yeah , I also installed a couple of 12-volt RV lights.

Then when I got done , I stood in the Bus and looked around thinking about what needs to be done next .
Even though , I always draw up a basic plan where things will go in the Bus ... I really only use it to get a rudimentary Idea of bedroom, kitchen etc . placement . 
I'm more of a figure the rest of it out as I go along sort of guy.
So , it's really important for me to Stop every once in awhile and look at stuff . And make sure I didn't forget something important.
Knock on Wood ...so far things look good .

JAN. 24 , 2004
Spent most of yesterday walking around town picking up bit's & pieces for our 12-volt system.
The hardest thing to find was another 85' of 12 gauge wire for our Bedroom lights ...but I finally did.
Today I finished up all the interior wire leads and got them all hooked up to our Distribution Box.
Note: If you're going to set-up your Distribution Box on a door like I did...make sure to remember to leave some slack in all the leads so that the door will open and close without putting too much strain on the wire connections.
Here's a couple of pics

It's nice to finally get this part of the 12-volt system done
What I need to do next is pay the guys at the auto-parts store to crimp some connector ends onto the primary sized battery cables I'm using to run from the converter to the big Perko disconnect switch and from there to the 2 12-volt power posts.
Once that's done I'll be able to run power leads from the post to the panel ...and give it a test to see if things are working correctly .
Way Cool. 
 

JAN. 26 , 2004
It is BLOODY COLD here !!!
 Started off at around 1 below zero when I started working on the Bus this morning ...now it's warmed up to a balmy 8 above zero.
Not only do I not like working outside in conditions like this ...something even worse happens.
Cold Weather makes my Wife Millie very Cranky .
Uggh.

Well , even under Adverse circumstances like these ...I'm happy to say I got the hard part of the 12-volt system Finished  today.
It's all wired up and basically ready to go ...All I need to do is run 2 lines to the battery box and hook them up to some batteries .  I haven't picked up our batteries yet. I'll probably get them next week...because I'm too broke to buy them right now.

I added a switch to the Power Panels door to run a 2-speed 12-volt fan I installed inside the area that contains all the electrical stuff.
The fan will help cool things done in there when the converters running.
I'm also adding another little fan unit right behind the charge Controller & battery monitor ...that has it's own little solar panel to run it.
I like these little Solar Fan units ...they're not some piece of Toy Solar Junk. It's a well made little unit that's marketed for putting behind an RV fridge to cool the fins down . But they work anywhere ...Way Cool.
Here's a pic of what it looks like.

Here's some pics of the finished 12-volt system. In the 1st. one you can see the 'Power Posts' . These are really nice to have in a system like this , because they give you a good & safe way to add another line to your system whenever you want to.

I'll add a nice looking vent to the Power panels door and some in the interior to allow for airflow in there . This is really important to do in such a small enclosed area , because all electronic devices like converters and such produces heat that needs a way to dissipate.

JAN. 28 , 2004
I installed a 12-volt Receptacle for our little 300-watt inverter that we'll use to run the Satellite Receiver when were away from 'shore power' today.
I like these little 'Stand-alone' inverters ...since they're not hard-wired into your system , you can use them in other places where you might need 120 volt power.

When I finished with the little Inverter , I attached the main Battery Cables to the power posts and then cut a hole through the steel truck box that will hold our batteries ...and added a rubber grommet setup to protect the cables at the point they enter the box.
Tomorrow , I'll head out and pick up another one the rubber end caps I'm using as a grommet and add it to the inside of the truck box (where the Battery cables enter)
here's a few pics

I also did a bunch more wire protection (anti-chafe) on the various runs of 12 & 120 volt wire.

Inverters
We picked up 1000 watt Inverter a few months ago , but I'm not sure I really want to install it.
Inverters are really Cool ...but they can really do a 'number' on your battery bank , in the sense of seriously depleting them.

It's the re-charging the battery's after depleting them , that has me a bit worried.
I can foresee numerous situations where you'd run into problems recharging the batteries when you're in some out of the way spot.
It's been raining for 3 days , so your solar panels haven't been much of a help...then you try to run your generator and that wont start.
So , now you're going to have to leave some beautiful spot ...and either head to a campground , where you can plug in and recharge your system ...or find a service person who can get your generator running again.
I just think 'Big' Inverters are too tempting , you're going to want to use them if you install one...so , I don't know.

It is a really nice thing to be able to use your microwave and coffee maker out in the Boonies, But , I'd hate to drain our Battery Bank ...and not have a way to bring them up . I'm a firm believer in the '@#$% Happens ' philosophy ...and that it always happens at the most inconvenient times.
So , I guess we'll just use our French press coffee maker when we're away from 'plug-ins ' ...and the electric one when were staying at a campground with shore power.

Even though I'm designing 'Latcho Drom ' to be our Fulltime & comfortable home...with all the amenities that most Houses have , I still want to make sure that the 'technology ' I'm adding ...takes into account all the situations we might run into , and doesn't impede the whole purpose of our 'Rolling Home'. 
Which is to be equally efficient in both campgrounds & when were camping out in the Boonies.
And possibly Draining my Battery Bank when we might really need it, just for a little convenience doesn't feel very efficient to me.
       

 

JAN. 31 , 2004
I picked up a 115 amp-hour marine deep-cycle 12-volt Battery this morning from the auto parts store ...and got to drag it home using that folding hand cart I bought.
Since I don't have a car or such this cart is really going to come in handy. It made it through the wet snow carrying a pretty heavy battery with no problems ...very Cool cart.

I hooked up the battery and tested out our new 12-volt system ...really happy to say nothing blew up , no smoke ...Nada .
So far so good ...lights worked fine...here's a few pics.

When I got done looking for any problems ...I brought our Bose speakers out to the bus and hooked them up to our double-stereo setup. And played a CD ...it didn't sound so good and when I cranked up the volume a bit the CD player shut-down.
Then I popped a cassette in the other player & it did the same.

I kind of suspected this might happen , but had hopes it would work out fine.
What happened was, even though I installed a separate power switch for the CD player & the Cassette player to shut one unit completely off while the other was being used...power was being fed-back through the speaker wires , into the unit that was shut down and over-loaded the system...shorting it out.
I could only turn the volume up a tiny bit on either Player...before it shut off.

That's not Good, I like Music ...and at times like to really crank up the volume ...so this wasn't going to work.
I walked down to our local Stereo/Music store and asked the clerk if he had any speaker selector units that I could buy ..and told him the problems I was having.
He showed me a unit that would work that cost around $125.00 ...so I asked him isn't there more of an efficient way to go about this.
So we chatted awhile about the difficulties in having a double-system like mine... and that it was really hard to find a good & reasonably priced player that would play both Cassettes & CD's .
He told me that he could order a unit like that for me ...but a good one would cost around $250.00 ...and why don't I just buy a Cassette player that has the capability to plug a CD changer into it.
And 'guess what ...I have one on sale'
So , I bought it.
It's a JVC Stereo/Cassette player with a 12 CD changer ...that I picked up for just under $200.00.
I temporarily Installed it in the Bus...popped a CD into it ...cranked that volume up high with no problems.
Here's a pic
 

Tomorrow , I'll add some molding to 'pretty up' the Jig-saw cuts and then I'll permanently install the units.
I'm glad I did this ...couldn't really afford it , But it's a good thing. It will make life easier for us in having a system that's made to do what we want ...instead of messing around with switches and worrying about electrical shorts.

It feels good to see the 12-volt system works fine . Other than wiring up some lights as I go along ...it's basically a Done deal.
Very Cool.

FEB. 3 , 2004
Been busy the last few days taking care of 'Business' stuff ...but was able to get into the bus today and do a little .
First thing I did was mount the AM/FM antenna this morning and test it out...worked fine.
Then I froze my butt off outside cutting Molding & staining it up ...before attaching it to various & sundry places inside .
Tomorrow I'll pick up some more building stuff ...then do so more molding work .
Hopefully I'll get our new Stereo set-up completely installed too.

FEB. 4 , 2004
I got the stereo installed today and here's a pic

 
I also added a vent to the door that holds the Distribution panel & such.

When I got that stuff done ...I cut the 1/4 inch plywood & paneling pieces to make the doors for the front cabinet , and brought them inside our apartment ...where I glued the paneling to the plywood and added some weight's that will hold the 'door's nice and flat till they dry.
Tomorrow I'll cut the molding sections that will go around of the doors & stain them.

If I had a shop to work in ...I'd probably make the cabinet doors differently. Use a router & such to build a more conventional door.
But I don't have a shop...and it's either snowing or pouring down rain here at this time of year , so I have to cut and build the panels as quickly as possible to keep the wood from getting soaking wet.
I have to say this is very depressing to have to work this way...it sucks , actually.
But , anyway ...the doors should look pretty good when I get done with them.
   
 

FEB. 7 , 2004
Been busy making cabinet doors for the last few days.
I cut the pieces outside and bring them into our apartment to dry out...I have to be Really Careful that the doors are completely dry before installing them.
Otherwise they'll warp .
Here's a pic of what the doors look like

I haven't decided yet what kind of door pulls we'll use...I'm leaning toward a Nautical look , and still am searching around for the right pull.

This morning , I installed some of the doors in our bus.
Here's a pic
 

When it warms up a bit here in Sitka ...I'll apply poly-urethane to all the molding around the doors . That will give them a nice and slightly shiny look.
 
 

FEB. 11 , 2004
I've been puttering around the Bus for the last few days ...doing a few things that need to be done before I can build our Bed.
Little stuff like making sure all the wires ( phone , TV antenna & Satellite antenna leads , 12 & 120 volt wiring ) that will lead back are attached and protected.
I've got a nasty lung infection , so I'm taking things slowly until I feel better.
I really want to start the Bed area...but I'd better wait a bit.

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