Mullet's Thunder Bus Build

[cadillackid]

being a guy with a little body I really would rather risk hurricanes than I would have to endure the fact every damn business in the city decides to keep the AirCon running when its 31f outside!! at least down south when a cold "snap" comes along people turn on the heat!


bundling up Indoors is 1920 not 2019!


-Christopher

[Johnny Mullet]

I can't leave Saturday until I get off work and won't hit the road until 1:00 in the afternoon. Regardless, I am not afraid of a little snow.

[Ronnie]

Here in Virginia we are in between the frozen north and the heat of the deep south. 60 degrees yesterday and sunny. About 45 today which is about normal for us.

Wish we were going, oh well maybe next time. Have a good trip Johnny.

[Johnny Mullet]

Looks like 3-5 inches of snow through Columbus to Louisville tomorrow. This is not going to stop the Thunder bus from going on this trip! Going to be interesting!

[cadillackid]

your biggest challenge will be the tewisty curvy hills on I-71 about halfway between cinci and Lousiville unless it warms to above freezing along there.. I saw closer to 2-4 in columbus and it will be a decently light snow that road crews should be able to handle well

-Christopher

[cadillackid]

latest weather model out... from around wilinington ohio to just souith of cinci, you will incur the heaviest snows with a total of 4-6 inches expected and temperasture right about freezing.. as you move south of there.. the latest states that a mix or change over to rain will occur due to higher temperatures... Lousiville is expted to get the bulk of their snow before you arrive and be done.. with the warmer temps they will likely have cleared their roads by then...



all-in-all I71 is a route between major cities so will likely not be too bad!!



looks like not even the weather can slow down the thuinder-bus!!
-Christopher

[joeblack5]

Be safe on the road. We are on I20 on Louisiana on the easy end of this storm. Waiting for the rain to start at midnight and we hope dry again by 8AM on Saturday. Then on to Dallas.

Later Johan

[Johnny Mullet]

What a way to start the trip. It has not even begun and the fridge decided to totally quit working. Had to throw lots of food away. Oh well, that will not stop us!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_aEs-6j4WE

[BlackJohn]

Johnny, was the bus cold inside ? Fridges do not like cold, especially home types.


Seeing snow ahead and poor drivers out there, I would carry some extra fuel and conditioner. Keep it filled up every couple hours till you get in the better weather.


Godspeed man!


John

[joeblack5]

No worries John, we still do not have running water or a shower for that matter. As long as she runs the adventure is on. The adventure gets bigger when things don't go as planned.
Hard to tell what goes wrong with fridges.
We have a used 12/24 volt Dometic fridge and a 12 volt global cooling freezer. Sure not as much space as a normal household fridge.

Drive careful
J

[cadillackid]

Met up with Johnny last night as he passed through columbus, the videos dont do this bus interior full jusrtice.. its really Nice inside!!! a really warm cheery inviting feeling to go in!.. Love it.

it was snowing and the roads were all trash but he was troopin on through!! I left my bus at home and drove the pickup to meet him.



we turned up his motor a little bit, bus sounds great with his straight pipe on it.. I need to do that to mine!


-Christopher

[joeblack5]

Johnny, regarding your fridge, in the video it looks like it is nice and tight build into the cabinet. Depending on the kind of condensor system ....tubes in the wall...or condensor with or without a fan in the back.
If by any chance the condenser is in the wall then it needs space to shed its heat.
Maybe a reason why the fridge died prematurely.

Later j

[BlackJohn]

^ What johan said there and possibly if the fridge sat without heat in the bus and was then started up for the trip supplies, the compressor oil would be too thick to do its thing and then the compressor.
This has been proven many times by people having a fridge for beer in their shops or garages. Not so bad for beer fridges but some foods will spoil. I tried cracking some frozen eggs from this situation and they explode when cracked, with a big bang.


John

[cadillackid]

Originally Posted by BlackJohn

^ What johan said there and possibly if the fridge sat without heat in the bus and was then started up for the trip supplies, the compressor oil would be too thick to do its thing and then the compressor.
This has been proven many times by people having a fridge for beer in their shops or garages. Not so bad for beer fridges but some foods will spoil. I tried cracking some frozen eggs from this situation and they explode when cracked, with a big bang.


John

same concept with Home Heat pumps.. when I worked in HVAC, the compressors had heaters on them which would turn on below ambient 55-60 degrees or so to keep the compressor crankcase warm.. then these heaters went bad, people would report the breakers blowing on their heat pumps a couple times until they would start up.. (the motor would be locked and make heat so aftera cxouple cycles their system would run.. this was typical when it had been really cold out and warmed up just enough to switch from backup heat to heatpump again)



my minisplit units at home push a small amount of voltage on the compressor windings in idle to keep it warm enough to not nuke the compressor..



-Christopher

[Johnny Mullet]

Hey guys. We are in Arkansas right now and the fridge started working again. When Christopher bumped my hp to 210 this made all the difference in the world. This bus has had no issues with the hills.

[cadillackid]

you guys are Rollin good time!!!! that bus is a great runner! good deal on the frig!.. be interesting to see if being down where its warm if it continues to work the whole time. might be as simple as you need to put some heat tape on the compressor, or a couple computer fans underneath it to suck the coil heat out from the condensor.
-Christopher

[Johnny Mullet]

We are now 100 miles from Amarillo right now. Bus is getting a consistent 10 MPG so far. Used one quart of oil.

[cadillackid]

thats about what all the 444E's seem to use.. they will blow a ,ittle more on the ground if you over fill them, otherwise sounds like you guys are tearin it up!!! way to go!!
-Christopher

[Ronnie]

Oh got to have steak in Amarillo, yum yum. Just look for a giant man and a dinosaur by the road

[Ronnie]

The Big Texan Steak Ranch