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Old 10-08-2017, 09:06 PM   #41
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Originally Posted by PNW_Steve View Post
+1 on the residential fridge. I have owned 4 RV's with absorption refrigerators. Two of them failed while I owned them and I replaced them with 10-11cf residential fridges. I am building my bus with a 10.8cf residential fridge and solar/batteries to support it. I will have a generator for backup as well.

T & G looks awesome!! Did you screw it to the metal bus frame? If so, what kind of screws did you use?

Stove looks sweet as well. I want one like that but the prices of the compact stoves has me hesitating.

Keep us updated.
Cool, ya I'm going to keep searching around for a good energy efficient 110v fridge.

Thanks! It was a PITA to put up but I'm really happy with how it looks. Yes I screwed the T&G to the metal frame with the cushion tape between the two. I first drilled a hole through the board and frame and then put it a wood to metal self tapping tin screw I bought from home depot. Worked great once we got the system dialed.

Ya the stoves can be pricey but I managed to get a good deal on this one, nice and small but not too small like some of the ones you see people putting in skoolies (cubic mini, hobbit).

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Old 10-08-2017, 09:07 PM   #42
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Wow. That's beautiful. I'm going to have to do the wood on the ceiling. It's a bit spendy, but feels so warm.

That stove is fabulous. Nice score. If times get super-tough, you can always burn that ceiling....

Thanks for indulging us with pics. Looks like great build.
Thanks! Haha ya I worked too damn hard on the ceiling to burn it lol
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Old 10-08-2017, 09:09 PM   #43
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Hi Samroon,

LOVE your bus. I am in the middle of gutting my '96 International Skoolie up here in Estes Park. I would love to see yours some time! I just saw this question in a previous post that looked like it never got answered.

In my experience, that rear control unit is for starting the bus from the rear for maintenance. The PSI gauge, I imagine, is to watch the PSI build in the air tanks and then make an adjustment from the engine bay.

I hope this helps!

-Ben
Thanks for the help Ben! That actually explains a lot haha. I'd love to meet up sometime, I likely be in Salida area this winter Ski Patrolling at Monarch so if you find yourself in that area let me know!
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Old 10-09-2017, 10:50 PM   #44
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Worked on the hearth for the wood stove today. Made a stand for the stove out of old, thick wood and backed the walls with metal.

Question for the wood stove users out there. What are you using for the floor shield for your wood stoves? I don't want to use brick or tile or anything. Was thinking of getting some black 16 gauge sheet metal. It doesn't say anywhere in my manual, but do you guys think it would be ok to use metal around the base of the wood stove and then leave the outskirts of the wood bare? The wood platform the stove will be on is 24"x44" and the stoves footprint is only 15" wide and 17" deep.

Thanks for the help
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Old 10-10-2017, 12:36 AM   #45
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Originally Posted by samroon View Post
Worked on the hearth for the wood stove today. Made a stand for the stove out of old, thick wood and backed the walls with metal.

Question for the wood stove users out there. What are you using for the floor shield for your wood stoves? I don't want to use brick or tile or anything. Was thinking of getting some black 16 gauge sheet metal. It doesn't say anywhere in my manual, but do you guys think it would be ok to use metal around the base of the wood stove and then leave the outskirts of the wood bare? The wood platform the stove will be on is 24"x44" and the stoves footprint is only 15" wide and 17" deep.

Thanks for the help
Can you contact manufacturer for suggestions?



Hearth Pads?

Style: Standard
Material: Micore | Particle Board | Slate Stone
Frame Material: Steel
Color: Idaho Mica Stone
Width: 32" | 36" | 40" | 48"
Depth: 32" | 36" | 40" | 48"
Thickness: 1.5"
Protection Type: Ember | Thermal
Certification: UL 127 | UL 1482 | UL 1618 | UL 737 | UL Listed
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IMPERIAL Black Stove Board??

Click image for larger version

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Old 10-10-2017, 09:25 PM   #46
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Originally Posted by Rusty View Post
Can you contact manufacturer for suggestions?



Hearth Pads?

Style: Standard
Material: Micore | Particle Board | Slate Stone
Frame Material: Steel
Color: Idaho Mica Stone
Width: 32" | 36" | 40" | 48"
Depth: 32" | 36" | 40" | 48"
Thickness: 1.5"
Protection Type: Ember | Thermal
Certification: UL 127 | UL 1482 | UL 1618 | UL 737 | UL Listed
Attachment 16366




IMPERIAL Black Stove Board??

Attachment 16367
Thanks for the help Rusty! I got in touch with the Morso folks and the floor heat shield is just for lose burning embers and ashes. The heat shield has to extend eight inches to either side of the stove.

I called some sheet metal folks locally and found some 16 gauge black sheet metal for $2.50 a square foot. That's what I'm planning to use seeing as it will only be $10 for the whole thing.

On another note, I have been planning on using double wall stove pipe (6in) for a while now. Went to a local stove shop here in Durango and got my assed ripped because apparently I have a death wish using double wall instead of triple wall pipe. They told me my bus will burn down with the triple lol. Needless to say I won't be doing business with them. Been looking around only for some good double pipe and a thimble.

What have you guys been using for stove pipe? What have you guys been using for thimbles? Looking around for them it appears most of them only adjust to 6inches or so.
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Old 10-10-2017, 10:06 PM   #47
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Old 10-12-2017, 10:49 AM   #48
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Any thoughts on thimble for a thin (2in) wall? Can't seem to find anything
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Old 10-12-2017, 10:57 AM   #49
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Any thoughts on thimble for a thin (2in) wall? Can't seem to find anything

Had to look what it was, first !!!

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Old 10-13-2017, 07:05 PM   #50
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Ya they look like that. Looking I can't find anything under 4 inches so I guess I'll end up having to to get a 4inch section and then modifying it to fit on a thinner wall.

Thought about using a masonry thimble like the on e listed below and just modifing the outside with a 6inch hole in a piece of sheet metal.
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Old 10-13-2017, 08:07 PM   #51
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if you are going out a sidewall, couldnt you just make a small section of that wall thicker by adding to it on the inside.. ie if you are using a 4" pipe you could make a 12" x 12" section 2 inches by putting a section of 2 x 12 flat on the wall, drilling your clearance hole in it and installing the thimble?
-Christopher
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Old 10-13-2017, 08:30 PM   #52
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if you are going out a sidewall, couldnt you just make a small section of that wall thicker by adding to it on the inside.. ie if you are using a 4" pipe you could make a 12" x 12" section 2 inches by putting a section of 2 x 12 flat on the wall, drilling your clearance hole in it and installing the thimble?
-Christopher
This ^^^

... and as the thimble takes care of the clearances, the extra thickness on the wall where it exits wouldn't have to be made from non-combustable material.
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Old 10-22-2017, 06:26 PM   #53
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Thanks for the help. I have the chimney and such arriving sometime this week.

Been working on the electrical and plumbing. The plumbing is getting pretty much all set up, the two tanks are connected in series. We are using all 1/2" PEX with cinch clamps. We will only have two fixtures (the sink and shower) so there isn't too much to plumb. The shurflo pump and filter is connected between the pump and Suburban Water heater.

Moving onto the electrical. I am currently rigging up the 12V system. I have four AGM 155ah batteries connected in parallel. Directly off the battery I have a blue seas 12v fuse block for my LED lights, water pump, and water heater.

Couple questions concerning grounding. Do I need to ground the battery bank or do most of you guys have a "floating" system? I grounded my blue seas fuse block off of the frame and it wasn't working and I realized I had never grounded my bank to the frame haha. I was planning on for sure grounding the aims inverter to the frame but wasn't sure if the bank should be grounded or not. If the bank was grounded on the frame it would save me from having to run around cable from the blue seas block because I could just run a short ground to the frame. I am installing a shunt between the inverter ground and battery bank ground.

Thanks for the help!
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Old 10-23-2017, 10:36 PM   #54
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Been searching around but can't find a very definitive answer on the grounding. Sounds like it's more of a decision on if you want your system to be floating or not. What have you guys done on your electrical systems?
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Old 10-23-2017, 10:44 PM   #55
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Thanks for the help. I have the chimney and such arriving sometime this week.

Been working on the electrical and plumbing. The plumbing is getting pretty much all set up, the two tanks are connected in series. We are using all 1/2" PEX with cinch clamps. We will only have two fixtures (the sink and shower) so there isn't too much to plumb. The shurflo pump and filter is connected between the pump and Suburban Water heater.

Moving onto the electrical. I am currently rigging up the 12V system. I have four AGM 155ah batteries connected in parallel. Directly off the battery I have a blue seas 12v fuse block for my LED lights, water pump, and water heater.

Couple questions concerning grounding. Do I need to ground the battery bank or do most of you guys have a "floating" system? I grounded my blue seas fuse block off of the frame and it wasn't working and I realized I had never grounded my bank to the frame haha. I was planning on for sure grounding the aims inverter to the frame but wasn't sure if the bank should be grounded or not. If the bank was grounded on the frame it would save me from having to run around cable from the blue seas block because I could just run a short ground to the frame. I am installing a shunt between the inverter ground and battery bank ground.

Thanks for the help!
Grounding major components to the frame is a good idea, but using the frame as your only ground circuit isn't. Ground faults are the biggest culprits in faulty electrical circuits.

It costs a bit more in wire to run proper, wired ground paths from each component, but it makes for a more secure system. You could do what Yamaha have done with motorcycles. They have run a ground circuit around the bike and so every component has a common ground. One effect of this is to neutralize much of the interference that can be problematic with audio equipment.
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Old 10-23-2017, 11:14 PM   #56
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Okay that makes sense. So try to run a ground wire to the small 12v accessories but ground the inverter to the chassis? Does the bus bar need to be grounded to the chassis? Thanks for your help Twigg.

Almost finished with the plumbing. Most of the 1/2" PEX is all hooked up, the tool for the pinch clamps was pricey!! We made an outlet that bypasses the pump and can be used to flush the tanks (hopefully removing any sediment) and we can also use it when we are leaving the bus for a period of time so that the water isn't just stagnant in there.
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Old 10-23-2017, 11:37 PM   #57
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Okay that makes sense. So try to run a ground wire to the small 12v accessories but ground the inverter to the chassis? Does the bus bar need to be grounded to the chassis? Thanks for your help Twigg.

Almost finished with the plumbing. Most of the 1/2" PEX is all hooked up, the tool for the pinch clamps was pricey!! We made an outlet that bypasses the pump and can be used to flush the tanks (hopefully removing any sediment) and we can also use it when we are leaving the bus for a period of time so that the water isn't just stagnant in there.
The bus bar would be grounded through the inverter. I wouldn't add too many grounds. The inverter instructions will probably call for it to be grounded to the chassis. I'd probably just ground the inverter, because you don't want an internal fault to ground through the 12V side, and the battery bank. Everything else I'd run back to the negative bus bar attached to the battery negative.

If there is a better way, someone else will pop in and explain.
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Old 10-24-2017, 10:12 PM   #58
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Okay ya that makes sense. That's probably what Ill end up doing. Have the 12v as a floating system and then grounding the inverter to the chassis.

Here's a link to a google drive of the pictures, not sure if the link works or not. Let me know if it doesn't! The photos aren't super up to date but it shows some of the progress that has been made.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0Bzqrv
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Old 10-24-2017, 10:14 PM   #59
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https://drive.google.com/drive/folde...DBqOHJ5NTNJYWc

Oops, now it should work
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Old 10-26-2017, 08:37 PM   #60
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Got the wood stove all installed and working. Ended up using double wall pipe all around and a 4"inch deep thimble from home depot. I have a 12inch section of double wall going out the back and through thimble to a T with a cap outside. The T will allow me to clean the pipe easily. Then I have a 48 inch double wall section going up above the roof with a rain cap. I used furnace cement on the 12inch piece of pipe and the T. I plan to take off the 48 inch section when I am driving.

Been working on the electrical recently. I have my 12v system pretty much all squared away (besides the water heater). Im getting ready to hook up my MPPT to my batteries and panels. I have my shunt and was originally planning to use it between the inverter ground and battery ground. Should I connect the charge controller ground to the shunt as well? IE the shunt in-between the battery ground and charge controller ground as well as the inverter to battery ground.
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