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Old 04-20-2012, 05:24 AM   #101
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Re: 2012... The Year of Renewal

I've have to chase more than one hornet/dauber from the bus. They also like the interior AC unit that sits right behind the driver's seat. I'll have to take a look at the cover of that thing and figure out a way to remove it long enough to put some screening on the inside of the vent opening. The openings are like, 1/2" tall by 4" long. I guess being inside, no one thought about the bugs that might like to make a home inside.

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Old 04-22-2012, 12:18 PM   #102
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Re: 2012... The Year of Renewal

What a truly craptastic day here. I started building the framework of the side walls, then realized I couldn't finish 'em until I removed the windows and made sure they were all cleaned and resealed. And of course, it will rain for the next couple of days. Bah!

In good news, I picked up a Shurflo RV pump on demand (2088-422-444) that's 2.8 GPM and 45 PSI. I also bought an accumulator tank from Camping World. Then I went to Harbor Freight and bought 4 more of those little magnetic lights, a tire gauge that goes up to 120 PSI, and a Micro Temp infrared "non contact" temperature reader. I'll be interested in using that for a couple of things. First for reading skin temperatures before and after insulating, and second, for reading the temperature of the tires/wheels after driving a while.

Mom's boyfriend brought over his compressor and a small air grinder so I can remove the vertical support bar on the passenger side cage. It's rubbing against the bed every time I try to lower it and it's damp outside. Maybe I can get that done today. Otherwise, I think I'll take a cue from the dog and cat and just SLEEP.
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Old 04-22-2012, 01:46 PM   #103
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Re: 2012... The Year of Renewal

I just put one of those accumulator tanks on my system and what a difference...well worth the investment.
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Old 04-22-2012, 02:40 PM   #104
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Re: 2012... The Year of Renewal

Quote:
Originally Posted by browncrown
I just put one of those accumulator tanks on my system and what a difference...well worth the investment.
Yeah, I know.... your post is the one that convinced me to go ahead and do it myself!
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Old 04-22-2012, 04:57 PM   #105
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Re: 2012... The Year of Renewal

And.... VICTORY! The vertical iron bar that was blocking the bed is now GONE.
It only took:
  • An Electric Grinder... for the majority of the welds[/*:m:b8zt9t16]
  • An Air Grinder... to get into those tight spaces between the weld and the ceiling & wheel well[/*:m:b8zt9t16]
  • A Cold Chisel... to start cracking the last tiny bit of weld[/*:m:b8zt9t16]
  • AND 3 DIFFERENT SIZES OF MAUL... to, um, persuade the damned welds to finally let go!!!![/*:m:b8zt9t16]


Seriously, kudos to the dude who welded that puppy in place. The welds were perfect 1/4 inch beads with great penetration into both the support bar and the vertical bar itself.

Now if the rain would only go away, I could get the rest of the windows removed & caulked. That will be another week of after-work sessions. Where in the world is the time going???
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Old 04-23-2012, 08:16 PM   #106
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Re: 2012... The Year of Renewal

I think I’ve found the coolest bathtub ever! It’s a 1 foot tall, by 2 foot wide, by 4 foot long water trough from Tractor Supply! It’s just big enough to sit in comfortably, and deep enough for a semi-soak if I’m so inclined, yet roomy enough that a standing shower will work great as long as the shower curtain I get is magnetic at the bottom (to hold it inside the tub).


Tractor Supply also had a water tank that should be fine for the potable water. It’s only 35 gallons, but it fits perfectly in the space I’ve designated for the sink. I bought a fitting that reduces the drain from 1 inch to 1/2 inch ID, which is the same as the pump. With a package of 25 feet of matching hose, I’m on my way to working out the water system!


The tank fits perfectly between the cage and the heater. But I may turn it sideways to give more room for the pump and accumulator tank, plus the sink drain.

I’m excited to see it all starting to take shape.
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Old 04-23-2012, 09:45 PM   #107
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Re: 2012... The Year of Renewal

Quote:
Originally Posted by TygerCub
... as long as the shower curtain I get is magnetic at the bottom (to hold it inside the tub)...
DollarTree sell shower curtain liners for $1 with 3 magnets sealed in the bottom. Liners are thinner versions of shower curtains. I have used them to line my fabric shower curtain as well as stand alone shower curtains. I toss them when they get yukky. About once a year. I salvage the magnets out before tossing. They make nice refrigerator magnets.
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Old 04-24-2012, 12:22 PM   #108
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Re: 2012... The Year of Renewal

I'm very interested to see how the water trough works out. I toyed with the idea but couldn't come up with what I thought was a satisfactory way to add a shower drain.
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Old 04-24-2012, 01:02 PM   #109
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Re: 2012... The Year of Renewal

Quote:
Originally Posted by TygerCub
I think I’ve found the coolest bathtub ever! It’s a 1 foot tall, by 2 foot wide, by 4 foot long water trough from Tractor Supply!
When I first got my bus, the previous owner had a similar 'bathtub'. It is about half the length of the one you show, but made of thick black plastic. I am sure it came from a farm supply store also. They had a shower curtain that went around it and they filled it half full of warm water and used a ladle to pour the water over themselves. It seemed a little old fashioned, but apparently worked very well, especially with small children.

Are you planning on plumbing in a drain in the bottom?
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Old 04-24-2012, 04:14 PM   #110
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Re: 2012... The Year of Renewal

Quote:
Originally Posted by jkindt
Are you planning on plumbing in a drain in the bottom?
Yep. I've already picked up a drain for the 'sink' I'm installing (which is no more than a 13 qt stainless steel mixing bowl)


What makes it nice is both the bowl and the tub have flat bottoms that rest flat on the counter or *floor surface.

For the sink, this means it can be installed either sitting directly on the countertop (like those fancy sinks they sell for bathrooms now), or I can set it flush to the bottom in a more traditional manner so messes are easier to wipe into the bowl.

For the tub, it means the entire bottom is already supported. I may put a thin rubber mat under it to prevent abrasion, but otherwise, I will be cutting directly through the floor to install the drain.

and here's the tubing I bought the same time I purchased the tank and tub...
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Old 04-28-2012, 02:33 PM   #111
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Re: 2012... The Year of Renewal

Today before it rained I took out 5 of the 6 uncovered windows on the passenger side and washed them down. While they were drying, I washed the window frames, scraped up the old caulking, and knocked the old rivet posts back into the frame. The windows were reinstalled then caulked using the clear Henry's sealant. Of course, by then it looked like it was going to rain, so I switched gears and went inside to finish up the wall framing.

The inside wall on the passenger side will be broken down into 3 sections:
  • 1) the first window by the door (totally uncovered)
    2) the next 3 windows (bottom half covered)
    3) the last 2 windows (totally covered, but left in place)

The last section is temporary, as I figure out the best layout for my stuff. I was originally going to leave the two windows partially uncovered like the other three, but think I'd rather have a large cabinet for storage than an exterior view. One of the last two windows also won't close completely (it worked before! ), so I'm having to figure out how to fix that before building that wall section.

I'll edit later to add pictures. Right now it's finally stopped raining so I'm going back out to work some more.
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Old 04-28-2012, 05:19 PM   #112
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Re: 2012... The Year of Renewal

Quote:
Originally Posted by TygerCub
... I've already picked up a drain for the 'sink' I'm installing (which is no more than a 13 qt stainless steel mixing bowl)
Just an FYI.... If you are looking for a bowl to use as a sink, don't forget to check out the pet supplies sections in stores. They have some nice wide/shallow SS water bowls as well as some nice ceramic water bowls. Just make sure the tail pipe (vanity... bathroom) you get doesn't have the hole in the side for the overflow (which your vessel sink will not have). Filling those overflow holes so the nut still threads over, yet the hole doesn't leak is a pain.
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Old 04-28-2012, 06:24 PM   #113
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Re: 2012... The Year of Renewal

Quote:
Originally Posted by TygerCub
I wouldn't use that tubing for drinking water, unless it's listed for that use. I'd stick with pex for all fresh water lines. Some kinds hose will make the water taste bad, and shave minutes from your life.
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Old 05-08-2012, 09:50 PM   #114
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Re: 2012... The Year of Renewal

Here's a quick photo dump of the stuff I've accomplished in the past couple of weeks:

Bought some mylar emergency blankets and aluminum tape to wrap the insulation panels that were used to blank out the bottom half of the windows.


Here's one wrapped up like a christmas present, all nice and shiney! Hopefully it will reflect the sun to keep out some of the worst heat. You can see the bubble wrap that I considered using at first. Luckily, I looked at it from the outside and decided I didn't want to be but SO Cheezy!


Aluminum tape should withstand the heat and hold the mylar in place.


This is what the windows look like from the outside. Not perfect, but not too bad either.


Some of the foam required some custom carving to get it to fit around and behind stuff. I'm really happy with this 2" stuff.


I also created a template for the ceiling curve and installed the first partition wall. It backed up to the cage framework. The bathroom side will be able to utilize the cage grid, while the bedroom side remains nice and smooth.



And here you can see the final progress as of tonight. I've installed the wall panels on the passenger's side, and am ready to finish the bathroom (outlined in blue). Because the wheel well poked under the cage, I had to build a platform for the reserve toilet buckets to rest on. The actual toilet will rest directly on the floor. Tomorrow I'll start framing out the "seat" box.

It's very exciting to finally see some actual progress in the build. Hopefully, things will fly now!
If I'm diligent and nothing goes wrong, I should be able to do some primitive 'tin tent' camping this Memorial Day weekend.
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Old 05-10-2012, 05:31 AM   #115
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Re: 2012... The Year of Renewal

Insulation in the shower was very important to me. Nothing worse than showering in a COLD room!
... well ... except maybe using the toilet in a sauna. I'd say that's pretty bad too.
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Old 05-10-2012, 10:15 PM   #116
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Re: 2012... The Year of Renewal

Just a super quick video of the side-wall build.
http://www.youtube.com/user/TygerCub?feature=mhee
I'm a little behind on my videos. There's two more that need to be edited & posted, but all my round-to-its are square. I'll get there eventually.
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Old 05-11-2012, 10:01 AM   #117
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Re: 2012... The Year of Renewal

bubble wrap for the toilet doesnt work either.
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Old 05-11-2012, 09:36 PM   #118
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Re: 2012... The Year of Renewal

Quick Fix I had to do last week after realizing I made a mistake...

[flash=640,390:1llnpfbp]http://www.youtube.com/v/N6qmdhpMgkk?version=3&feature=player_profilepage[/flash:1llnpfbp]
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Old 05-12-2012, 10:26 AM   #119
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Re: 2012... The Year of Renewal

Another freaking video! Am I the only one who refuses to watch online videos because it plays for a couple of seconds, Then stops while it "loads" some more? Oh wait. I am the only one on campground wifi network! Sorry! But I 'm still not going to bother with it.
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Old 05-12-2012, 04:57 PM   #120
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Re: 2012... The Year of Renewal

:You're not the only one, living just slightly west of nowhere, we get our signal via an air card. Using a yagi antenna and a booster, I'm able to get a usable signal most of the time, over the hill and through the woods to an antenna about 12 miles away. Phone lines here are so bad we're lucky to hear you talk. I tend to NOT even look at web sites that are heavy on Flash.
I would occasionally like to see a video, most of the time it's not worth the wait, and it uses up bandwith. I don't like getting those messages saying I have used up almost of my monthly allowance.
Cell phones don't work here either.
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