Project Niles Skoolie

[gbstewart]

Originally Posted by jazty

Would you care to share the name of the insurance company? I took insurance off of my bus last fall, but will be insuring it again in the next couple months. I was previously with RSA Group (formerly Royal and Sun Alliance) through a local broker, but it was gosh danged expensive. It'd be nice to compare insurance companies that will actually give you a quote instead of a bunch of discouraging "NO!"s.

ouch, insurance just a pain in the ass here in Ontario, im using allstate, they insure my bus for $214.00 a year but I had to switch my car and van to them, and I have 2 houses insured with them so I think that helped, I did send another skoolie there and they said they don't insure buses any more, but I would give them a call anyways,
btw we will be In Sault Ste Marie in mid july may be at the koa camp ground, also will be in stouffville for a week at the end of july
gbstewart

[NilesSkoolie]

Thanks Guys i will try and keep going. As for the insurance my recommendation is to get an out of city broker that's used to doing farm equipment. Always make sure you can give them something else as well like your vehicle as it will help increase your chances of them saying yes...

So, one day finishing the jeep this weekend, the other i spent on the waste and grey water drums. It took me about an hour to weld up the seam and i did it in 2 passes. An underpass to stitch it and and overpass to give it some strength. Its too hard to do all at once cause its very thin metal and burns through pretty fast even on low.






I have tops for the them already cut from the metal store but i want to do some epoxy resin at the joint inside and outside and place in my sensors and fittings. This way once i weld in the top its all ready to get painted and hooked up. Easier to access the indie topless hehe.

C.

[NilesSkoolie]

Thanks Nat, I got lots of practice welding when i built my buggy, trying to use my artistic skills and fabricating skills to do somewhat new ways that i have not see a lot of on here.

Soooooooo today i went shopping, picked up all the items i would need for hot water and running all the lines. There is still so much to do like purchase the shower / knee high tub and frame that in. As well as fresh water tanks but i will buy those as i want them to be super clean. I decided to do PEX 1/2 in the bus for lines. Easy to run and less chance of cracking as well as easy to fix on the road. I decided to use electric for insurance purposes as anything GAS or Propane scares the insurance companies and would require a certification done for it. This is a 12gal 110 or 220 Electrical hot water tank. I can run a generator if i want to go off grid with it but for the most part we will be doing KOA's or parks with electrical service.

[Locutus]

You might want to rethink the 1/2 inch Pex. You familiar with Handybob's blog? He recommends 1/4 inch Pex because it's better for water conservation. (For example, less wasted water down the drain waiting for it to warm up in the line.)

http://handybobsolar.wordpress.com/

[jazty]

Originally Posted by Locutus

You might want to rethink the 1/2 inch Pex. You familiar with Handybob's blog? He recommends 1/4 inch Pex because it's better for water conservation. (For example, less wasted water down the drain waiting for it to warm up in the line.)

http://handybobsolar.wordpress.com/

I considered going this route. Either 1/4" or 3/8" PEX. The problem is, it's damn hard to find! The tubing itself wasn't available at most plumbing stores. I can just imagine how hard it'd be to get all the fittings for appliances (1/2" or 3/4" NPT to 1/4" NPT adapter + 1/4" NPT to 1/4" PEX adapter?). I ended up going with 1/2" for that reason alone. Woulda loved me some 1/4" PEX, though...

[NilesSkoolie]

Like Jazty says good luck finding it here. I already am having issues finding bulk fittings for my tanks here which i thought would be a standard thing but isn't. I'm not too concerned with the amount of water as it is only my wife and i and for the most part we will be using the parks facilities for showering. It's just nice to have if you need it. My tank and pump are really close to everything and if i find it's an issue i will run a pressure reducer like most taps already use.For visual reference all plumbing is within a 6 foot area.

At some point too if i decide to park the bus on the 20 acre property i am shopping for, it will end up having septic available and once you go 1/4 its a lot harder to go to 1/2 at the point.

I do appreciate the information though.

Picked up the new pump, shower basin and fresh water tanks on order as of today.


Thanks
Chris

[NilesSkoolie]

So i have everything now to complete all the work i just need to put the hammer down! Its been a couple weeks so i will try and keep them groups by project.

AC
I mounted and vented the A/C out the side of the bus. Also hooked up the dehumidifier which is working good cause it was draining some good water out the tube all afternoon.




Bedroom / Bathroom
Since i have had a good 9 months of thinking, i have re thought my original design on this bedroom and bathroom scenario. We were going to run the shower on one side and toilet on other side but after seeing a bus with the bathroom well laid out it left more room for the bedroom.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncXXLjf235g

<- this was where i got the compressed bathroom idea. Took about a week to get the bathtub but i have it now and everything lays out nicely. We decided to go with a 41gal fresh water tank so we also revised the under bed and bed height to accommodate it. We raised the bed 6"'s and now have top access and back door access with double the space we had before.

Bed / Bath Overview


Original Bed

New Bed Area





New Bathroom Layout and rough pics



Kitchen
Again had lots of time to re consider somethings and in this case i must take one step back to go forward. Originally i had purchased an RV fridge that's electric and propane. I just assumed this was the best way because they put these in most rv's so i was following suit. After installing it and running it for awhile there is a few things i really don't like... 1 the heat generated from this type of fridge is a lot. So much so it makes the walls around it super hot heating the bus. Its vented based on the requirements but It takes about 4 hours to be useful too. Sooo long story shot the RV fridge is for sale and we purchases a 9.1c fridge. Yes its a house mini fridge but it cools fast, fits in nice. and i have a 6000amp inverter for on the road and a gas gen for off grid vs propane. As i mentioned too propane = Insurance issues here.

Some shots of it... wont be here till Thursday



Random
Spent most of tonight after working all day hanging out watching Star Wars and snuggling. I hooked up the car stereo to play station / T.V. So now i have 600W of sound and love it... The light sabers sound like they are in the bus hehe.







sorry for the long update... hope that's it... oh got some windshield sun deflectors too... helps lots in keeping it cool! You can see them in the random pic section.

Chris

[Docsgsxr]

Awesome progress! Looks like you didnt miss a beat getting back into it. Take lots of pics for the plumbing!

-Doc

[NilesSkoolie]

Thanks Doc, I will be doing all the water lines tomorrow... I haven't seen many under bus tank photos... i think most people hide that area because i had a hell of a time doing research on it to see what others did. It will be a play by year getting it going but i will take lots of pics .
C.

[gbstewart]

wow looks good, its amazing how many times you can change your mind on things, after you buy everything ,
as for the fridge we bought as used one out of a old rv propane,12v,120 works ok and we boondock a lot so I like the propane, but with that being said to do it again I think I would also go to reg house fridge
what size and modle of a/c did you get?
gbstewart

[NilesSkoolie]

Its a 14,000 BTU A/C... supposed to do up to 800 sq feet but it doesn't considering the bus is somewhere around 400 and we still needed the bedroom A/C
Friday i spent doing all the lighting in the front. Put all the under upper storage lights on a switch so its easy to turn on when entering the bus.



Moved the PS3 just outside the cabinet so its got more airflow to keep cool and it helps with the wifi signal too


Here is the bedroom A/C unit. Still not 100% happy with it outside but inside it functions extremely well. The bedroom gets 10X colder than the front area with the larger one. I have to build some outside brackets and so forth before i drive with it in but i will do that once it cools down outside because its extremely humid outside.





And freezing cold water to help with the swelling... the pain meds help eliminate the back pain but this is a side effect. Swelling legs and feet but feels so good afterwards.

[gbstewart]

wow lots getting done, when I put my rear a/c in I used 1 and 2 inch L brackets to mount it, I used sheet metal screws right into the a/c metal outer case and into the bus wall both in the front and back, just make sure not to hit anything inside the a/c. it hasn't moved in over 13000kms. I do have to replace it with a new one its not cooling like it used too, it was a used unit when I bought it, so I cant complain
gbstewart

[Tango]

Just remembered seeing a nifty window unit installation years ago. Guy cut the hole in the rear like yours, but had a hatch cover. The A/C was mounted on welded frame with a pair of sliders so that it was tucked completely inside the bus when going down the road. The hatch cover was oversized, hinged across the top and acted as a rain cover when the unit was extended. Not sure how it was sealed around the unit when opened as I never got a look inside.

[sojourner]

A word of caution when welding steel drums end to end. They're formed just like a tin can with the top rolled over the sides. Only on these, they have a seal gasket sandwiched between the two parts to make them water tight. I welded 5 together once for a biodigester project years ago and discovered that welding the ends together melted the seal and I had leaks. If you can find a way to seal them from the inside (maybe do another pass from inside) you might be able to seal that up. It would be a bummer if you had leaks around your tank.

[proconsul100]

i like how you installed your rear AC. thats how im going to do mine once i get to that point.

[NilesSkoolie]

My drums didn't have a seal on the actual drum, it was on the lid on these ones. I did a small inner pass and then a larger one to completely fill the gap. I will run a good bead inside the tank of JB or epoxy. My friend makes custom choppers and he build tanks all the time and is getting me some tank sealer to roll around inside to seal it up. I will also pre test the tanks to make sure no leaks in it prior to capping them as well. Thanks for the advice.

I did get a $h1T pile of work done today and moving onto pluming tomorrow hopefully. Then it will be back to repainting the bus... Such a pain but has to be done.

anyway here is my work from today:




New Fridge area:


A/C enclosure:








So tired and hot! was glad to sit down and soak my feet in freezing water.

[LandLubber]

Nice bus dude. like the idea of the a/c.

[NilesSkoolie]

Thanks!!

Been a busy week already so far, had to spend some time on the jeep so she didn't get jealous of the bus.

Made custom brackets to fit the new heated leather seats into the jeep.



Here is the new fridge and it put in place, it finally came this afternoon and slide in like it was made for the hole it went in.




Chris

[gbstewart]

nice fridge, that's about 3 cases of beer size
your bus is looking amazing, you should be ready to start using it soon
gbstewart

[NilesSkoolie]

I wish I could use it... soon!!! I have been out there every free moment I have.

Been working on the bathroom and the closet and back area. I put the rear vent for the tanks in as well.
I tried to do it like an instruction on doing compression ceiling mount for the vent tube if anyone else needs to do this.

Compression roof fitting for vent stack:




Cut hole through the roof, I used an 1" 1/2 hole saw i believe. Maybe it was 1" 3/4.. the markings are wore off of the saw. The inside I cut bigger so that bigger lower section could spin freely. Tighten by holding inside and outside. This alone should create a pretty water tight seal and prevent the tube from moving around.


Apply ABS glue and slide vent cap. May vary a bit depending on what cap you use. I got this one at the RV place. It fits over standard abs.


Just to be sure i then siliconed it and also the siliconed the cover for it. Don't mind my spotty dirty roof! It's getting stripped and repainted in the next few weeks.


Now onto the inside:



I ran it outside under the bus an extra few feet so i have lots to work with once i go to install the tanks.

Update 2
Bathroom, Bench, Closet area and rear LED's










We decided we are going to make the access to the closet through the back side so it faces the bed. That was we can just use a nice curtain and you can't see it from the main living area.

Well that's it for now!!! going to do sink, toilet, tub and some more wainscoting.

C