The Broccoli Bus

[cowlitzcoach]

WOW! That is some battery bank!

How much does it all weigh?

Where is your battery pack going to be located?

I didn't realize those batteries were so relatively small.

Do you anticipate any problems with vibrations from running down the road or from the engine?

[aaronsb]

The cell packs weigh about 400 lbs. The support frame probably weighs about 90. After copper bus bars and wiring it'll be close to 600 lbs I think.

The battery is nominal 48vdc and a capacity of 24.5 kWh. In some of my figuring, this is equal to somewhere between 21 and 45 Trojan t-105 batteries when taking into account total discharge ampacity, cycle depth, and other things.

It has little support ears that bolt via short threaded rod segments into the Z bend deck flanges. These are the same pieces on the drivers side that the propane tank hangs off from underneath.

The Z flanges are doubled up and extremely stout. (Thanks bluebird)

Then the whole frame is tucked inside the tire chain/tool locker box that is behind the passenger front wheel.

That box is isolated from the through bay storage area, with its own ventilation and fire suppression (HFC-236fa, blazecut-t)

The battery will be set up with an actively monitored computer BMS with temp sensors, a heater, and cooling system.

The battery guts came out of a Nissan leaf so they will be fine with vibration. I think they have inherited a cushy life after their first life in the leaf car was cut short via an accident. (This is an auto salvage pack)

Originally Posted by cowlitzcoach

WOW! That is some battery bank!

How much does it all weigh?

Where is your battery pack going to be located?

I didn't realize those batteries were so relatively small.

Do you anticipate any problems with vibrations from running down the road or from the engine?

[cowlitzcoach]

Originally Posted by aaronsb

The cell packs weigh about 400 lbs. The support frame probably weighs about 90. After copper bus bars and wiring it'll be close to 600 lbs I think.

The battery is nominal 48vdc and a capacity of 24.5 kWh. In some of my figuring, this is equal to somewhere between 21 and 45 Trojan t-105 batteries when taking into account total discharge ampacity, cycle depth, and other things.

It has little support ears that bolt via short threaded rod segments into the Z bend deck flanges. These are the same pieces on the drivers side that the propane tank hangs off from underneath.

The Z flanges are doubled up and extremely stout. (Thanks bluebird)

Then the whole frame is tucked inside the tire chain/tool locker box that is behind the passenger front wheel.

That box is isolated from the through bay storage area, with its own ventilation and fire suppression (HFC-236fa, blazecut-t)

The battery will be set up with an actively monitored computer BMS with temp sensors, a heater, and cooling system.

The battery guts came out of a Nissan leaf so they will be fine with vibration. I think they have inherited a cushy life after their first life in the leaf car was cut short via an accident. (This is an auto salvage pack)

Talk about going green and repurposing something that was junk to someone else!

[Whatthefak]

Hey btw, I had been seeing converted busses and thinking not for me I'm too tall.

Then I stumbled on pictures of your roof raise on Pinterest, I did more reading, now I have a bus.
I'm planning on a raise like the fast back sketch you put up. I thought it might nominally help drag(and looks cool). Is there a reason people don't do that more?

[cowlitzcoach]

Originally Posted by Whatthefak

Hey btw, I had been seeing converted busses and thinking not for me I'm too tall.

Then I stumbled on pictures of your roof raise on Pinterest, I did more reading, now I have a bus.
I'm planning on a raise like the fast back sketch you put up. I thought it might nominally help drag(and looks cool). Is there a reason people don't do that more?

Getting the join between the factory roof at the lower level and the new raised roof sealed so it won't leak while going down the road into a rainstorm or just sitting is a major reason.

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by cowlitzcoach

Getting the join between the factory roof at the lower level and the new raised roof sealed so it won't leak while going down the road into a rainstorm or just sitting is a major reason.

Takes a bit of care but its not impossible.
Making it LOOK GOOD is the hardest part with ANY raise.

[Whatthefak]

I'm not to scared of leaks I have a welder and some really cool 3m stuff for military vehicles that's labeled for industrial use only

[aaronsb]

Yes, I would agree with this.

Originally Posted by cowlitzcoach

Getting the join between the factory roof at the lower level and the new raised roof sealed so it won't leak while going down the road into a rainstorm or just sitting is a major reason.

[aaronsb]

If I had to do it again, I would drill out EVERY SINGLE ONE of those closely spaced rivets between the rear stamped bulkhead and the section where the windows attach. I'd then add a large strip of sheet across there and then install DOUBLE the rivets I removed (because now you've got a strip connecting where all those holes were at.

I think that looks the cleanest, and would probably be the most leak-free. I took the "building a metal shed" approach, the rear of my roof raise has considerable overhang which seems to keep the weather out.

Originally Posted by Whatthefak

Hey btw, I had been seeing converted busses and thinking not for me I'm too tall.

Then I stumbled on pictures of your roof raise on Pinterest, I did more reading, now I have a bus.
I'm planning on a raise like the fast back sketch you put up. I thought it might nominally help drag(and looks cool). Is there a reason people don't do that more?

[aaronsb]

Lithium battery container for a bus – www.broccolibus.com

Some battery updates on the post above.

As always, progress is incremental.

[cycle61]

New member, Washington native, and industrial electrician here...read the whole thread this morning and wanted to compliment your battery packs, on top of an already excellent build. Inspiring work!

[aaronsb]

I haven't posted in a while. House sale closes mid September, stuff in storage, and job is tentatively ok with 95% remote work.

I am working my a$$ off to get things done asap. I have till the last of September to leave nothing behind at the sold house.

The smoke has made it incredibly hard to work outside here in the Seattle area.

Oh yeah, solar powered air conditioning!



I still need to add the front air faring.



This is sort of a scary go forward only operation at this point.

Hope y'all are doing well.

[Pihl]

Originally Posted by aaronsb

Sides will be installed...sooooon.

How did the riveter work for the 1/4" steel rivets? What size gun is right?
Nice work. Thanks for posting!

[aaronsb]

Thanks! 4x rivet gun. It was fine with the 1/4" rivets.

Originally Posted by Pihl

How did the riveter work for the 1/4" steel rivets? What size gun is right?
Nice work. Thanks for posting!

[aaronsb]

We are staying in Mississippi right now for the holidays, then I think we're heading back to New Mexico again. We like it there, it's drier and the skies are bluer.

[TJones]

Amazing build! Great narration! I was laughing out loud at some of the comments. I will likely be rereading your thread and taking notes of all the great ideas you incorporated. I love the beds and use of the drawer slides for the pocket door. It was nice to see framing done with steel as this is what I am planning on doing.

Also, is that a bypass oil filter above your timing cover? If not, what the heck is it?

Merry Christmas

Ted

[kcarsey]

aaronsb,

Holy cow what a build. Just binge read all 92 pages. I'm in the skoolie planning stage now. I intend to live in it full time with my wife and myself and 3 fur children on board. I'm hoping to find a bus exactly like yours, same model RE with the Cummins 8.3

Your craftsmanship is second to none on many levels. The Nissan leaf packs and all the associated systems that go with it and the lengths you have went to making it work and be safe and essentially autonomous are extremely impressive. One observation/question I have is how the packs are connected? Seems nominal cell voltage is around 7.8v ? After looking at your web site and the bus bars it looks like you have 7 cells in parallel packs that are all wired in series to give you the "48v" nominal voltage.

Is this the same pack size in Kwh as configured in a Leaf, or have you added additional batteries?

What the heck do you do for a living anyways? It seems you are a welder, fabricator, electrician/electrical engineer and apparently software with the Arduino also? haha

[BusT]

And that was the last they heard from the broccoli bus......
Good build . So many badass ideas came to life . I wish I could copy them all. Especially the door. The solar / battery packs.
Some kind of queen size Murphy bed on those hinges and pins like your kids beds. Or a dinette for the kitchen like that. And probabaly some hot water plumbing . And lighting . Really so much in here was done right . Thanks for all the documentation . Really quaint and inspirational build

[Flowstatebus]

Originally Posted by BusT

And that was the last they heard from the broccoli bus......
Good build . So many badass ideas came to life . I wish I could copy them all. Especially the door. The solar / battery packs.
Some kind of queen size Murphy bed on those hinges and pins like your kids beds. Or a dinette for the kitchen like that. And probabaly some hot water plumbing . And lighting . Really so much in here was done right . Thanks for all the documentation . Really quaint and inspirational build

He and his family are very active on Instagram now under their page, @broccolibus6 Just FYI.

[aaronsb]

I'm still alive. Skoolie.net broke for me after it got scooped up by rvlife and it's taken a long time to figure out how to fix my account.

Originally Posted by BusT

And that was the last they heard from the broccoli bus......
Good build . So many badass ideas came to life . I wish I could copy them all. Especially the door. The solar / battery packs.
Some kind of queen size Murphy bed on those hinges and pins like your kids beds. Or a dinette for the kitchen like that. And probabaly some hot water plumbing . And lighting . Really so much in here was done right . Thanks for all the documentation . Really quaint and inspirational build