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Old 12-22-2009, 08:50 PM   #1
Mini-Skoolie
 
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Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: NorthEastern Wisconsin
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Year: 1992
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Errabundus Bus

Hello.....
I've been lurking here for some time now. Thought'd be time to share our experience of the last two years of building and owning a skoolie. You can check out my wife's blog at http://errabundusbus.blogspot.com/ There is a lot of non-skoolie info there also, so if you just want to see entries about the conversion, there is a way to do that on the right hand side of the blog.

We are a homeschooling family of 7 who love to camp. Our skoolie is setup more for weekend getaways and family vacations rather than permanent dwelling. The thought of living off the grid and being self sustainable is very appealing however.

My latest project for the bus is a homemade hydronic heating system for the bus. So far all I have is a 40 gallon gas water heater cut down to about 5 gallons and a head full of ideas. I am planning on mounting the water heater under the chassis and running hot water lines to baseboard heaters. At this point it'll run off of propane or an electrical element if we have shore power.

Matt

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Old 01-04-2010, 10:27 PM   #2
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Re: Time to Say Hello!

Welcome, you have been lurking. Love your website by the way. Were in the same boat we love to camp and were home schooling. Our kids are a bit younger but were off to a good start. Our site is www.sethandhannah.com see you around either here or on your blog. Pictures are always liked and appreciated look foreard to seeing your skoolie.
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Old 01-06-2010, 03:09 PM   #3
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Re: Time to Say Hello!

Hey Matt, thanks for posting! I really enjoyed reading your wife's bus blog, and forwarded a link to my wife in hopes that she will get inspired by it.
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Old 01-17-2010, 08:09 PM   #4
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Re: Time to Say Hello!

A couple of pictures of the doghouse cover I fabricated. I'm trying to cut down as much engine noise as possible. I have foam padding stapled onto the back of the cover as well as underneath the dash. I went so far as to relocate the gas + brake pedals over to the left a couple of inches.


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Old 01-17-2010, 08:55 PM   #5
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Re: Time to Say Hello!

Here are some more random pictures. The screens were made out of plastic trim(Home Depot) cut down to about 3/4 inch strips and screwed together at the corners and then I routed a groove all the way around to accept the rubber spline to hold the screen. The last picture is a homemade WIFI antenna.











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Old 01-17-2010, 09:40 PM   #6
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Re: Time to Say Hello!

I'm curious on the Antenna. Is there info on it?
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Old 01-18-2010, 08:26 AM   #7
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Re: Time to Say Hello!

Very nice! And I love homemade antennas, especially ones that are well done!
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Old 01-18-2010, 09:14 PM   #8
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Re: Time to Say Hello!

Smitty, the door isn't there anymore. It replaced the 4th window down on the passenger side. I don't know how much the cover will cut down on engine noise since I only got it installed this weekend. Any reduction will be good. The antenna is rather simple in design and works well. I will try to get a diagram posted this week sometime
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Old 01-20-2010, 01:29 PM   #9
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Re: Time to Say Hello!

Quote:
Originally Posted by ErrabundusBus
Hello.....
...My latest project for the bus is a homemade hydronic heating system for the bus. So far all I have is a 40 gallon gas water heater cut down to about 5 gallons and a head full of ideas. I am planning on mounting the water heater under the chassis and running hot water lines to baseboard heaters. At this point it'll run off of propane or an electrical element if we have shore power.

Matt
I found this article to be very interesting. It is similar to what I want to do (except use the existing rear heat exchanger in place of the auto radiator).

Here's a question for you... Do people who homeschool their kids think different and do different because they homeschool OR do they end up homeschooling because they think & do different? I homeschooled my twins 4th grade to 12th grade and camped the whole time. We "unschooled". Everything was a field trip.
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Old 01-24-2010, 07:31 AM   #10
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Re: Time to Say Hello!

The reasons we started to homeschool are not the same reasons now, if that makes any sense. Our oldest was going to start 7th grade when we finally took the plunge and only regret not starting sooner. We had to de-school.
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Old 01-24-2010, 07:58 AM   #11
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Re: Time to Say Hello!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Diesel Dan
Hey Matt, thanks for posting! I really enjoyed reading your wife's bus blog, and forwarded a link to my wife in hopes that she will get inspired by it.

Thanks Dan, my wife actually encouraged me with the idea of this project. I have always been into car projects whether it was to make them look good or to go fast. She would reluctantly tolerate the other "woman". But now, she enjoys planning and helping. It has been a family project from the start and I wouldnt have it any other way. I believe it has brought us closer together.
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Old 01-24-2010, 08:21 AM   #12
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Re: Time to Say Hello!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Redbear
Very nice! And I love homemade antennas, especially ones that are well done!

Can't say I'm an antenna guru but this one works for our needs. It is omnidirectional.
http://flakey.info/antenna/omni/quarter/omni_tech.jpg

I just housed it in pvc plumbing parts from Home Depot. It helps to pick up the WIFI signals from the truck stops and restaurants.
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Old 01-24-2010, 08:59 AM   #13
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Re: Time to Say Hello!

Kudo's on your bus and double kudo's for keeping your tribe tight, that's a rare thing these days. I raised a daughter and two sons and we were very tight. Two are on their own now (kids and married) and one has a leg out the door and I miss them terribly.

I like what you did in the drivers/co-pilot area with the carpet and transmission cover, I've been looking at that area awhile now wondering how I was going to finish it out. Now I know!

Did you glue the carpet right to the cabinetry? I was thinking of gluing it to 3/8" plywood, wrapping it around the edges, and then screwing the carpeted panels to the cabinetry with washered screws so it's removable, the tops and rim of the side councils will be stain grade. I'm going to do the same thing to the drivers side "council" that covers the heater, with cut out's for a register and the anti-freeze control valve. I built the passenger side council to match, excepting the control panel for what switches remain. I should also have enough room in the new panel for my Ranger ham/cb rig and relater com gear.

There isn't a bus on this forum I haven't carped idea's from!

Take care,
Den
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Old 01-25-2010, 09:03 PM   #14
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Re: Time to Say Hello!

Quote:
Originally Posted by ErrabundusBus
Can't say I'm an antenna guru but this one works for our needs. It is omnidirectional.
http://flakey.info/antenna/omni/quarter/omni_tech.jpg

I just housed it in pvc plumbing parts from Home Depot. It helps to pick up the WIFI signals from the truck stops and restaurants.
Ah, a dirt-simple 1/4-wave vertical polarization ground plane antenna in a protective housing! Thanks!
(I used a similar device in the past, built on a BNC connector with wires twice the length, in order to feed a dish on 1.296 GHz.)
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Old 04-28-2010, 08:14 PM   #15
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Re: Time to Say Hello!

Generator and storage compartments...
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