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Old 07-04-2015, 09:40 AM   #1
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How to get electricity on bus with 12 volt battery

Doin research on gettin electricity on bus whether i get mini school bus or shuttle bus.

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Old 07-04-2015, 01:07 PM   #2
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Search, read. Search, read..........

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Old 07-06-2015, 10:37 AM   #3
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There are a lot of different ways of doing, it all depends on your needs and wants. Are you going to boondock, plug in at a camp ground, run a generator? There are a lot of options.

You can get a lot of ideas from the build threads. All I can tell you is there is right way and a wrong way of getting electricity on the bus, this is the wrong way

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Old 07-06-2015, 11:13 AM   #4
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Thx. Minii school bus or shuttle bus size. Will use it as mobile home /office.
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Old 07-06-2015, 11:15 AM   #5
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Will not be on camp grounds. Can't use a generator. In the City will have it parked.
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Old 07-06-2015, 02:15 PM   #6
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this is the wrong way

Now you tell me.
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Old 07-06-2015, 02:21 PM   #7
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I'm afraid this thread is simply to general to warrant any useful responses. You really need to do some research on this site (and elsewhere) about general electrical and RV/boat electrical. Once you have an idea of your needs you can ask more specific questions, though - again - most questions have been answered somewhere on this site already.

I know it can be difficult to sift through all the information. Google search is much friendlier than Skoolie's search: http://www.skoolie.net/forums/f12/ti...arch-9133.html
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Old 07-06-2015, 06:10 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Piersg View Post
There are a lot of different ways of doing, it all depends on your needs and wants. Are you going to boondock, plug in at a camp ground, run a generator? There are a lot of options.

You can get a lot of ideas from the build threads. All I can tell you is there is right way and a wrong way of getting electricity on the bus, this is the wrong way

Well, better late than never.... er, wait, that might be too late
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Old 07-06-2015, 08:59 PM   #9
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Reminds me of my first day at computer school. I asked the Instructor how all those pictures & words got on the computer screen. "Very carefully" was his response.

It didn't take long to learn that those pictures & words are really nothing but a bunch of 1's & 0's.

Read & learn & then read & learn some more and before you know it your questions will become more based on what you are really attempting to know & do.

I know.....I've been on here for over a couple years now and there are still questions I have. I don't ask them because I still can't figure out how to phase my question so as to get an answer that would be helpful to my cause.

So in the meantime, I read & learn & read & learn some more.

I have also found it kind of entertaining on my part to write down the questions I have and as I run across the answer I can enter it in. You'll be surprised at how much you may already know.
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Old 07-06-2015, 09:00 PM   #10
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That's for sure.
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Old 07-07-2015, 07:25 AM   #11
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You can get a honda or yamaha generator that will run much quieter than your bus engine idling,
using the bus as a home office still leaves a lot of questions unanswered but for a short bus if you want to have air conditioning it will need to have a generator or be plugged into the grid,
If you just want to run some lights and fans and keep a computer and printer running you can get away with solar.
all the items listed above will need probably about 500 watts of solar panels, about 500 amp hours worth of batteries, will probably cost at least $1500 installed if you do it all yourself. This is a very rough estimate.
Of course you would want to get a list of the electric devices you want to use, estimate the hours per day they would be in use to then find out how much solar power and battery power you will need, this should be done before you make any purchases.
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Old 07-07-2015, 07:29 AM   #12
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Thank you for your response. That's very helpful info. And buying the used mini school bus or shuttle is best to check auctions, right ?
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Old 07-07-2015, 07:48 AM   #13
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imho the best way is to get one directly from a school district or govt agency auction so you can ask the mechanic if it runs ok or at least if you can take a look at the last years maintenance records, even better if you can view it before you bid on it so you can start it up yourself,
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Old 07-07-2015, 07:53 AM   #14
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Sounds good -will do. Mechanics are on the site of the auctions?
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Old 07-07-2015, 07:58 AM   #15
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the auctions I am aware of are all online auctions, others may have better knowledge of this,
if say a school district has an auction it is likely the bus will be parked in the districts maintenance parking lot with the other buses, if you can you should go to the buses location a week or two before the auction ends to view it and ask your questions,
the day of the auction is probably too late to get any info.
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Old 07-07-2015, 08:04 AM   #16
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Thx but online auctions like eBay you'd be buying something sight unseen right & at times likely to see something you like but bidding rises to expensive.
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Old 07-07-2015, 08:15 AM   #17
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Don't just look at Fleabay. Publicsurplus.com and govdeals.com are usually better choices than Ebay; Craigslist may get you a decent privately owned unit, but can be a big a crapshoot as ebay.

Sometimes the bus companies themselves will have their buses up for sale, although avoid First Student, since they run theirs until they start dropping pieces on the highway.
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Old 07-07-2015, 08:18 AM   #18
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The buses on Ebay and Craigslist are almost always privately owned buses that haven't had nearly as good of maintenance as the ones still at schools.
And the prices are much higher.
I got a running bus for 2100 that got me 800 miles home. That in itself is a friggin bargain. The same bus neglected and left in a field for ten years would be on CL or Ebay for at least three or four grand.
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Old 07-07-2015, 08:19 AM   #19
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Lol. Will look at both webs. Good.
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Old 07-07-2015, 08:24 AM   #20
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I got a running bus for 2100 that got me 800 miles home. That in itself is a friggin bargain. The same bus neglected and left in a field for ten years would be on CL or Ebay for at least three or four grand.
Sometimes, though you do get lucky CB. I got my bus on Fleabay from a NL-based bus company that drove it down from Newfoundland to Maine, and from Maine the last 511 miles to South Jersey without a hiccup for 2.5k.

But the two auction sites I linked to are going to be your best options for decent, running buses, short or shuttle. I was looking at one FE transit in upstate NY that was garage sheltered on govdeals, but I wanted an RE and hadn't seen any, other than scrap grade Thomases in VA and Florida
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