Geminus Bus Build

[o1marc]

Originally Posted by geminusprime

Why thank you.

To be honest, this is really only for traffic accidents, which it should work great for. For general skoolies, I'd highly suggest at a dashcam.

For home security systems, they are a ruse of sorts. Alarm systems and cameras do not keep robbers out, they simply discourage them and give the user a general false sense of security. Sure, if you have a monitoring company the police will eventually be called, but it takes at least 3 minutes to get from "Alarm signal" to "police alerted", then add the response time for your local police department. That's likely going to fall in the 10 to 25 minute range, enough time for a large majority of robberies to take place.
The new "RING" doorbell is one of the most innovative items to come out lately, extremely effective.
I wouldn't suggest not having a security system, but also don't put faith in a security system of any kind to physically prevent intruders. They simply don't. They make sure you know that something is wrong and assists in alerting the police.

It does help with criminal prosecution and insurance claims by leaps and bounds.

"When seconds count, police are only minutes away." Bad guys will get in if they want. I want a system that records faces. The alarm on my bike does not sound at the bike until 3 minutes after it is disturbed, that would scare them off to do this to someone else. Instead it sends a signal to my key fob and gives me 3 minutes to confront them at the end of my 9mm.
The newer cheap mirror cams are motion sensitive, so any movement while stopped automatically starts recording.

[jimburke77502]

There's nothing better than a keen sense of hearing on a big ars dog to let you know it might just be time for some target shooting.

[o1marc]

Originally Posted by jimburke77502

There's nothing better than a keen sense of hearing on a big ars dog to let you know it might just be time for some target shooting.

Sometimes just a big arse dog food bowl at the front door is enough.

[Sleddgracer]

Originally Posted by geminusprime

Why thank you.

To be honest, this is really only for traffic accidents, which it should work great for. For general skoolies, I'd highly suggest at a dashcam.

For home security systems, they are a ruse of sorts. Alarm systems and cameras do not keep robbers out, they simply discourage them and give the user a general false sense of security. Sure, if you have a monitoring company the police will eventually be called, but it takes at least 3 minutes to get from "Alarm signal" to "police alerted", then add the response time for your local police department. That's likely going to fall in the 10 to 25 minute range, enough time for a large majority of robberies to take place.

I wouldn't suggest not having a security system, but also don't put faith in a security system of any kind to physically prevent intruders. They simply don't. They make sure you know that something is wrong and assists in alerting the police.

It does help with criminal prosecution and insurance claims by leaps and bounds.

security system

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by Sleddgracer

security system

Mine-

[geminusprime]

So got some more done with the security system and DVR. Looks like the network function may be a bit faulty, but I'm digging through the settings to try and manually force it to connect without using DHCP.

I also got a basic wiring diagram done, it doesn't include the majority of 110v and 12v appliance wiring, but does have the core system, security system, and house system displayed. Also haven't done any wiring schematics for the bus systems themselves, such as the horn, upper turn signals/brake lights, etc. Pretty much just the basics for the next month.

Also, my four legged security system.

[Native]

I noticed that you show all your batteries in series indicating you have a 24V chassis and a 48V house wiring. Is this so, or should the batteries be shown wired in parallel?


Nice doggie ... nice ....(now run fellas!)

[geminusprime]

Originally Posted by Native

I noticed that you show all your batteries in series indicating you have a 24V chassis and a 48V house wiring. Is this so, or should the batteries be shown wired in parallel?


Nice doggie ... nice ....(now run fellas!)

That'd be a bit woopsie daisy on my part. Should be wired in parallel.

[PNW_Steve]

Running parallel battery strings has some issues.

Educate yourself before you commit unless you enjoy spending lots of money replacing batteries.

[geminusprime]

Originally Posted by PNW_Steve

Running parallel battery strings has some issues.

Educate yourself before you commit unless you enjoy spending lots of money replacing batteries.

Any insight into the issues with using parallel? I've been using the same type of setup with solar for for non-skoolie applications and it's been working fine for years.

[geminusprime]

So searched these forums and a solar power/off grid forums, couldn't find anything specifically for parallel string issues. I did see the options for 12v and 24v systems (which I think you may be referencing for the issues). I'm going to be running a large portion of my electronics off 12vdc instead of 110vac so I am trying to stick with a 12v battery bank, despite the benefits a 24v bank has.

My schematic above is wrong and wouldn't work, and result in a nice 34' tinderbox. I had it pushing 48 volts through the cranking batteries. Schematic should have been run parallel completely. I may also go with parallel series on a 12v bank using 6v batteries instead of 12v parallel.

As for current work, not much getting done with the incoming rain, although over the week I have gotten a bit done in scouting places for repair that my school district friend can't offer. Sticker shock is a hard thing to deal with, but tis the life of the type.

Also got a new mystery neighbor with a massive oil leak. Rolled up today thinking I was being cited for parking or issues with the color (still not gotten Geminus painted yet). Turns out a semi truck had emptied his engine oil onto the pavement. Rules out me working up under my bus for the time being unless I want to roll around in engine oil, but I've gotten the majority done under there for now.

[joeblack5]

Thanks for bringing the SR 71 hutchinson kansas science museum on my radar,

and yes we are driving 55mph and have a lot easier time to see the scenery.


Later J

[Native]

Wow, that is quite a mess!

[geminusprime]

Originally Posted by joeblack5

Thanks for bringing the SR 71 hutchinson kansas science museum on my radar,

and yes we are driving 55mph and have a lot easier time to see the scenery.


Later J

YES! Hutchinson Kansas, the Cosmosphere! Totally forgot what town it was in. Oh man that was such a great stop, I heavily recommend it. Among some of the other things I mentioned, they also have:

• The Original Apollo 13 Capsule
• Recovered F-1 RocketDyne engines from a Saturn V
• Several moon rocks behind ballistics glass
• Mockup LEM you can explore
• Original Soviet exploding moon plaque grenade
• And soooooo much more!

Originally Posted by Native

Wow, that is quite a mess!

Yep. Felt bad for the guy, I guess he blew his engine in transit (we're right by the highway offramp) and parked it there. EPA people were out there today just before the rain came too taking pictures. Didn't know South Carolina prioritized the environment at all - our local lake is often tantamount to liquid pestilence.

[geminusprime]

Got the passenger side wall up, floor to windows. Originally was going to use 12' planks of Yellow Souther Pine at $12.98 per board, but found a great deal on some 8' shiplap panels for $3.00 a piece.

Already had the supports and buffers for the wall and chair rail, so returned the yellow pine (I did not know you could return unused lumber) and swapped it out with the shiplap. Not sure if it's at all stores, but some great prices on Lowes wall planks of all kinds at my local store (29732). Oddly some of the longer versions of the same style cost more per foot than shorter sections.

Anyways, got some trim to cover the shiplap plank edges, and used sunken screws on the trim to further secure the boards. It's not perfectly straight, it does bow out about 1/8" in some sections due to the metal behind the mounts being a bit uneven, but it's negligible.

Finished the top of the wall with a 3" primed wood board (not melamine/MDF) screwed into the vertical wall mounts, which wasn't planned but worked perfectly.

[Native]

Good start on your walls ... and at a good price. Looking good!

[geminusprime]

So, I've made several sketchup models and drawings, and being me those have went completely out the window.

I overestimated the room required for humans. Like, by a lot. Far too much space was wasted in assuming 4+1" walls, 3.5' minimum space in any dimension for shower, 3' required for toilet clearance, etc. Those are nice amounts of room, but not the minimum, especially in a skoolie that's not required to be up to any specific building code (lucky us!).

So, in the meantime since I'm still unsure about the interior (although pretty sure I'll be going with the lower of the dual image shot) I figured might as well get to painting.

So, parked on a dead end street next to semi trucks, spray painting isn't an option. As you can see in my earlier post the truckers aren't exactly the most courteous leaving trash & pee bottles under my bus and leaving their rigs leaking oil on the road into the creek - but hey, I'm not gonna stoop to their level and leave paint mist on their company truck windows.

So - roller painting! This is horrible!

Already sanded down, got the trim up today, gonna give it a soapy wash then acetone wash, then paint. Washing tomorrow, finishing the trim tape today.

Got some white rustoleum oil enamel paint, already did my best on the hood. Didn't go so well, but hey, it's legal. It also looks better even with the drips and crappy paint job than it did before with the massive amount of peeling. Now it has a thick 3 layers of unthinned rustoleum.

Hood was such a chore. Rollers didn't work well, had to brush a large portion of it and I am certainly not a painter. But hey - it's white!

For the rest of the bus after the wash, gonna just use 1/4" nap rollers (foam didn't work well on tests) and straight rustoleum.

[Ninjakitty]

Hell, the paint looks good from here!

[geminusprime]

Originally Posted by Ninjakitty

Hell, the paint looks good from here!

Thanks! I was trying to get it to look passable from 50 or so feet.

[musigenesis]

Originally Posted by geminusprime

the truckers aren't exactly the most courteous leaving trash & pee bottles under my bus

Another tenant in my fenced and locked yard apparently brings a big dog around - there are a number of enormous turds next to and under my bus. If I find out who it is, they're going to get a steady accumulation of dog turds on top of their rig.

Originally Posted by geminusprime

For the rest of the bus after the wash, gonna just use 1/4" nap rollers (foam didn't work well on tests) and straight rustoleum.

Have you tried paint pads? I used to paint houses and we used them to repaint aluminum siding and they worked pretty well. I'm going to at least try them if I can't find a spot where I can spray.