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Old 08-11-2011, 09:52 AM   #1
Mini-Skoolie
 
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Houston Texas
Posts: 55
Year: 1997
Coachwork: Bluebird
Chassis: Tc2000
Engine: 5.9 Cummings turbo diesel
6 months in

Well it has been a long time since I updated the board, so hear I go. 6 months into this I think I have a month or two left to finish. The inside is coming along great, the solar panels are on and working, the gray tank is installed, the black one is ready to go, and all that is really left to make it usable is finish the plumbing. I do have more like the under cab storage and mount the generators, but those can wait. Enough talk here are some pics.


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Old 08-11-2011, 09:56 AM   #2
Mini-Skoolie
 
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Houston Texas
Posts: 55
Year: 1997
Coachwork: Bluebird
Chassis: Tc2000
Engine: 5.9 Cummings turbo diesel
Re: 6 months in

A little more here is some of the normally unseen:



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IMG_7973.JPG   IMG_9028.JPG   IMG_9014-small.jpg  
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Old 08-11-2011, 10:03 AM   #3
Mini-Skoolie
 
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Houston Texas
Posts: 55
Year: 1997
Coachwork: Bluebird
Chassis: Tc2000
Engine: 5.9 Cummings turbo diesel
Re: 6 months in

One last set. Outside hookup. I have set it up so you can do eveything from either side.


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Old 08-11-2011, 10:40 AM   #4
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Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: from: Prescott, AZ currently: Denver, CO
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Coachwork: BlueBird
Chassis: All American RE
Engine: 8.3 Cummins
Rated Cap: 72
Re: 6 months in

Damn! Looking really nice. Great wood work.
Care to elaborate a little on your solar setup?
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Old 08-11-2011, 11:22 AM   #5
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Re: 6 months in

good use of the rubber gromet plugs!
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Old 08-11-2011, 12:09 PM   #6
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Location: Austin, TX
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Year: 1996
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Engine: DT466/AT545
Re: 6 months in

Dude! I am totally impressed! The woodwork and systems installation are both really clean and just well done overall. I look forward to seeing it after you put the finish on the wood - I'll bet it's gonna be gorgeous!
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Old 08-11-2011, 04:28 PM   #7
Mini-Skoolie
 
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Houston Texas
Posts: 55
Year: 1997
Coachwork: Bluebird
Chassis: Tc2000
Engine: 5.9 Cummings turbo diesel
Re: 6 months in

Thanks for all the compliments; I have been hitting it hard.

As for the solar system; It’s a long a deep study for the overall plan for my power. The goal is to be able to run the system for 8 hours with no shore power or generator. First the raw 12 volt power is currently four 250 amp hour batteries with room for 8 more. Next the inverter is a Tripp Lite Inverter (RV3012OEM), which handles charging the batteries from shore/generator power, inverting the 12 volt power and conditioning the power. It is rated at 3Kw with the ability to “boost” up to 6Kw if needed. I have meticulously planned the overall system to not exceed 3000Kw, so this will be fine. I have two of the inverts wired with a manual switch gear; the second one is for back up. The solar panels are Uni-Solar flexible panel 136 watt panels(x4), with the plan and room to add four more. The charge controller and breakers are in the pictures I added. I currently charge the batteries from dead in 8 hours of sunlight and can run the system for 3 hours at full blast with the current batteries. So once I am done I will have 12, 1000 AH batteries, and 1088 Watts of PV. I also have two generators I will be mounting this weekend. First is a Generac 8.5Kw quitepack as my primary, and second is a contract style 3Kw one that has welding attachments, both are diesel. I have a 100 gallon secondary tank I will be installing as well, so with the stock 100 gallon tank the secondary 100 gallon tank, an all of my equipment being diesel (i.e. stove, generators, and engine) I should be set to boondock for a LONG time. We would like to go 30 days(ish) without ever plugging in. All the appliances are high efficient equipment. Even the Fridge is 110 or 12v. So once The BOV (Bug Our Vehicle) is done, we plan on disappearing for long periods of time.
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Old 08-11-2011, 04:31 PM   #8
Mini-Skoolie
 
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Houston Texas
Posts: 55
Year: 1997
Coachwork: Bluebird
Chassis: Tc2000
Engine: 5.9 Cummings turbo diesel
Re: 6 months in

John,

I did a lot of diggin on the 12v to 110v lines running together, and you can find as much for it as against it. I ask an electrical engineer, and after a 30 minute long dissertation on this he decided it should be ok.
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Old 08-11-2011, 04:37 PM   #9
Mini-Skoolie
 
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Houston Texas
Posts: 55
Year: 1997
Coachwork: Bluebird
Chassis: Tc2000
Engine: 5.9 Cummings turbo diesel
Re: 6 months in

I also installed a dual pole 200 amp alternator. The second output allows me the option to charge the system from the engine with the flip of a switch gear. As back up, I have installed an isolator with a relay in the buses battery bay. I can switch to this to charge my system, or in an emergency, start my engine from my bank.
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Old 08-11-2011, 07:45 PM   #10
Bus Crazy
 
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Location: Whidbey Island, WA.
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Year: 1984
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Chassis: All American
Engine: 3208 na boat anchor
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Re: 6 months in

Do I understand correctly, that you have four 12V batteries that are 1000 amp hours each. That would be about 400 pounds of lead for each battery. ( a 220 amp hour golf cart battery weighs 60 pounds, you'd need 8 of those to approach 1000 amp hours at 12 volts).
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Old 08-11-2011, 08:08 PM   #11
Mini-Skoolie
 
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Houston Texas
Posts: 55
Year: 1997
Coachwork: Bluebird
Chassis: Tc2000
Engine: 5.9 Cummings turbo diesel
Re: 6 months in

Sorry for the mixed up, I currently have a total 1000 amp hours, four 12v batteries at 250 AH each, they are about 85lbs each. Thanks for the catch, fixed the post!
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Old 08-11-2011, 10:16 PM   #12
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Year: 1984
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Engine: 3208 na boat anchor
Rated Cap: 2
Re: 6 months in

Still, at 1000 amp hours, that's a good sized battery bank.
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Old 08-11-2011, 10:48 PM   #13
Mini-Skoolie
 
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Houston Texas
Posts: 55
Year: 1997
Coachwork: Bluebird
Chassis: Tc2000
Engine: 5.9 Cummings turbo diesel
Re: 6 months in

I really want 3000 AH, Like I said we want to disapear for long periods of time!
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Old 08-12-2011, 11:32 AM   #14
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Re: 6 months in

also less worrying if the power will run out overnight etc etc
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