The Journey Visvi 1999 Thomas MVP ER

[ThePimentals]

My dryer looks bad too. I try not to look right at it when I'm under there

[porkchopsandwiches]

Mine looks fine...the one thing on my bus that is in good shape?

[wmkbailey]

Woke up this morning at 6:00 and it was 2 degrees outside. It was not suppose to get this cold last night. The bus was still a nice 68 degree warm.

Just a refresher;

1) I have an empty bus, No cabinets, furniture or anything to be thermal mass to help hold heat.
2) I have only two heaters, one in the way back and one under the dash.
3) I have 2" of insulation, but all the steel supports are still exposed radiating cold.
4) I still have areas that are not insulated, did not get it all done before I left.
5) We had 20 mph wind gust.

So I can't believe the Wabasto was still able to heat the bus. Here is the run down.

Time Temp Wabasto run time Off time
10:00 pm 14 4 min 30 sec 6 min
1:00 am 8 9 min 6 min
6:00 am 2 20 min 6 min

As it got colder it took longer to heat, but the cool down was the same. Not sure why. At 2 degrees I could still walk around bear footed. My bed is against the wall and I could not really tell that it was colder outside. I figured I would have to move it to the middle of the bus.

I give the Wabasto an A+. When I spray foam the last 1" and cover all the supports and seal the bus. Get the inside built out to help hold heat. I should be able to handle cold weather well.

Also It looks like I used about 6 gals of diesel over the last 24 hr period, that is $24.00. Still cheaper that a hotel room.

[wmkbailey]

Looks like this Monday will be the same as last, high of 14 low 6. I did discover that I had cut the wires for the second rear fan. Before I realized that I could close the valve to the engine and get more heat out of the rear radiator, I cut the second fan because they are really loud. With this cold I hooked it back up and it heats the bus quicker. We will see how it does on Monday.

Update on the air dryer. My fix did not work and for two days I had to crawl under the bus and run my heat gun for five minutes off the inverter to get pressure to the breaks. Once working it was good until I stopped for more than an hour, then back under the bus again. On Christmas day I was under the bus heating the air dryer when I decided I should check and make sure i have 12 VDC or the new one would not work. Pulled out the old DVM and nothing. Chased the wire back to the fuse panel and I have 12 VDC there. Crawled back under and started to chase the line back and it runs to a bolt on the frame. No wonder it does not work I have both side hooked to ground. So that means the broken wire is the positive side. I had to cut the wire harness to find the one that did not have a wire coming out of it. Open it up and six inches up I found the broken wire and it had 12 VDC. I soldered the two together and before I got back into the bus I had pressure. It works.

Here are some photos of the trip up.





This is our stop on the second night after the hit to the guard rail.

Here is the damage.



Repair kit form Walmart.



Gear oil, Lacquer thinner to clean, sand prepare to help the epoxy, and the two part epoxy.

Here is the repair, still going strong.



During this whole thing we had a lot of rain and at 62 mph I found two leaks.



This is an old one I thought had been repaired. It is from the rear emergency exit. This may haunt me until the end.



Looks like I have a leak around the vent I installed in the roof. It took a while to find it because that was where Durango was sleeping. He kept raising his head and looking around, but I could not figure out why until I petted him and his back was wet. It is a very small drip.

[LuckyChow]

Glad you got the air problem fixed! I know you are too.

The water leaks are really hard to repair this time of the year with so much cold and wet. Many of the caulks say to not use below 45 - 50 degrees. We'll have warm weather eventually.

[bansil]

Stay warm!

and let Durango know that he can move to your area of the bus instead of staying under a leaky roof

[gpeck1970]

Originally Posted by wmkbailey

I was looking into adding cruise control to my bus. I see now why some of you want mechanical buses, adding cruise control is easy. I have a computer controlled fuel injection. My Accelerator is a sensor on a wire. You can’t add a standard cruise control to it. I have been researching, but cannot find the cruise control kit for a Cat 3126. I guess I will have to make friends with a local Cat engine mechanic.

I just Installed a cruise control system on my Bluebird 3208 cat it works great it came as a complete kit check out King Cruise controls http://trekteks.com/2500rv.aspx

[wmkbailey]

Originally Posted by gpeck1970

I just Installed a cruise control system on my Bluebird 3208 cat it works great it came as a complete kit check out King Cruise controls http://trekteks.com/2500rv.aspx

I called King Cruise and they told me they don't make one for the Cat 3126.

[somewhereinusa]

I have complete plans to add cruise using late model GM truck cruise to anything. All parts bought for about $150. Do some google searches it's quite common.

[wmkbailey]

Originally Posted by somewhereinusa

I have complete plans to add cruise using late model GM truck cruise to anything. All parts bought for about $150. Do some google searches it's quite common.

The problem with the fly by wire electronic fuel injection buses, we do not have a throttle to connect to in the engine. I guess maybe you might be able to hook it up to the gas pedal?

[somewhereinusa]

I also have "fly by wire" this set up attaches to the pedal. The guy who gave me the plans tried to hook to the engine on his MCI, but couldn't overcome the return spring back there.

[JakeC]

Hey man, just wanted to let you know I've still been following along on your progress. So impressed. That is going to be one warm bus!! Sounds like your trip has been a bit adventurous but so far successful!! Nice work!

[sojourner]

I have complete plans to add cruise using late model GM truck cruise to anything. All parts bought for about $150. Do some google searches it's quite common.

All I am seeing are ones with electronic engine control. Do you know of any for mechanical controlled engines (with electronic speedo)? Got a specific link?

[JakeC]

Originally Posted by sojourner

All I am seeing are ones with electronic engine control. Do you know of any for mechanical controlled engines (with electronic speedo)? Got a specific link?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Rostra-250-1223 ... 3cc40a8efe

[sojourner]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Rostra-250-1223 ... 3cc40a8efe

Thanks. Definitely a consideration. I'd like to find the DIY plans though for consideration and finding parts if need be abroad (from salvage yards and such).

[somewhereinusa]

These are some of the links I got information from

http://ls1tech.com/forums/conversion...driven-tb.html

I used this to get a dual signal from the transmission. I have found while doing some research for something else that a hall effect trigger might be built much cheaper that I found them when doing the research for this project
http://www.dakotadigital.com/index.c...roduct_id=126/

I have a web page that you can see my wiring diagram and some other info here
http://www.somewhereinusa.x10.mx/cruise.html

[sojourner]

Hey somewhere,
Thanks so much for the links. I'll be looking into that for sure. very interesting.

[wmkbailey]

Originally Posted by sojourner

Hey somewhere,
Thanks so much for the links. I'll be looking into that for sure. very interesting.

Same here, it would be good to correct my speedo too.

[wmkbailey]

My air dryer needs to be replaced when I get back. I have had nothing but trouble with things freezing up on me. The other morning I had a air drain on my secondary tank freeze open. I took it off and brought it inside and thawed it out and drained about two drops of water out of it. It has been good since.

Now I do not have pressure in my break system, secondary system seems fine and the over pressure valve on my air dryer keep bowing air every so often. So I have pressure there, but blocked before it separates to the two break systems.

[bansil]

Okay,had a glass or two....so air comes out of compressor and will fill primary tank first up until 60/90 pounds whatever cutoff is and then the secondary will air up...?search on busconversionmagazine in the last 2 months same type of issue with air, good luck sorry no more help...good luck