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Old 04-26-2016, 04:06 PM   #61
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Personally, I've never had good luck with tint film. Had two cars with "professionally" applied tint...both became a nuisance within a couple of months.

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Old 04-26-2016, 04:19 PM   #62
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The "percentage" of the film is the measure of "visible light transmittance" or VLT. You might see either term on marketing materials. Lower VLT corresponds with darker appearance, as you said.

Solar energy rejection varies significantly from one family of films to another, but within a given family of films, the darker/lower VLT will also reject more solar heat. Some brands test and advertise their heat rejection while others don't.. I suspect there's a reason for this but I haven't experimented with the cheap stuff to see for myself. I've used Solar Gard automotive films on several windows in my cars, bus, and home and been very pleased with it. Some of mine are up to 5 years now since I applied the film.

The right VLT for you depends on your objective. If you want nighttime privacy while there's any source of light in the bus, IMHO even 5% window film won't get you there. Daytime privacy is much easier to achieve.
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Old 04-26-2016, 04:54 PM   #63
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The "percentage" of the film is the measure of "visible light transmittance" or VLT. You might see either term on marketing materials. Lower VLT corresponds with darker appearance, as you said.

Solar energy rejection varies significantly from one family of films to another, but within a given family of films, the darker/lower VLT will also reject more solar heat. Some brands test and advertise their heat rejection while others don't.. I suspect there's a reason for this but I haven't experimented with the cheap stuff to see for myself. I've used Solar Gard automotive films on several windows in my cars, bus, and home and been very pleased with it. Some of mine are up to 5 years now since I applied the film.

The right VLT for you depends on your objective. If you want nighttime privacy while there's any source of light in the bus, IMHO even 5% window film won't get you there. Daytime privacy is much easier to achieve.
Really, all I wanna do is keep the inside cooler [emoji12]

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Old 04-26-2016, 05:02 PM   #64
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Roger that Mr Wagon. At night with a light on inside the bus you can see everything. On the other hand at night you'll not be able to see people outside watching you.

Is there a film that blocks light like black plastic. I'd like to permanently cover the bottom half of my windows with something opaque but removable if a mind were ever to change.

I used 5% in my last bus. Took about 5 rolls for a 5 window, which I think was about $80 at the time. Well worth it during the day time. Wildlife walk right past the bus. I've still got the bus and it's been at least 15 years with no bubbles in the film. There are areas where things have scratched the film but it's holding up very well.

They say to not use ammonia based window cleaner while applying the film. I think it's like painting. Most of your time is in prep. You've got to razor scrape the windows to get every bit of stuff off the surface. After it's very clean I spray it down with window cleaner, then apply the film to the wet surface. Use the rubber window scrapers to squeeze out the liquid and smooth out any bubbles until they are all gone. I let them dry for a few days, then go back and trim the edges with a razor knife.
Not one bubble has appeared in 15 years, but on the other hand it doesn't seem to come off now.
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Old 04-26-2016, 05:11 PM   #65
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Really, all I wanna do is keep the inside cooler [emoji12]

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my way is im just installing a BIG air conditioner
-christopher
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Old 04-26-2016, 05:13 PM   #66
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my way is im just installing a BIG air conditioner
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Yes, I noticed!
My itty bitty 12k BTU unit pales compared to your....40k, I believe? You cooling for penguins?

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Old 04-26-2016, 05:42 PM   #67
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40K? Hey, next summer lets take a trip to Death Valley. I hear there's fried eggs on most of the rocks there.
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Old 04-26-2016, 06:01 PM   #68
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53k is the system im actually installing... well at least thats the specs.. however im apprehensive as I didnt know it was possible to get 53k out of a TM-16 compressor... though with the low RPM of a diesel I ordered one with a smaller pulley so I should spin it pretty good...

difference in mine and yours though is I intend to cool it quickly.. similar to a car.. since im not camping in my bus it wont be sitting for hours with the A/C running keeping it cool.. mine has to contend with hot soak, hot metal, plus a running engine as I drive..
-Christopher
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Old 04-26-2016, 06:04 PM   #69
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Hey Cadillac...I would suggest naming your rig "The Reefer"...but, it just might draw the wrong kind of attention, if ya know what I mean.
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Old 04-26-2016, 06:09 PM   #70
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Hey Cadillac...I would suggest naming your rig "The Reefer"...but, it just might draw the wrong kind of attention, if ya know what I mean.
funny thing is when I was getting quotes for parts.. the lady at Transair Spec'd out a 120k dual compressor system...

I told her my bus is a Short bus... but that if I was a school bus driver it might be nice as I could cryogenic all the kids on the way to school... they would be quiet..

besides i doubt a DT-360 coould spin 2 and still drive.. thought it is a VERY buildable engine so I could snag some more TQ / HP pretty easily...
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Old 04-26-2016, 06:42 PM   #71
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Hey Cadillac...kwik kwestion. I have always been told that wet sleeve engines like the DT's should never run any water at all...only coolant, to prevent cavitation. Is this something you know or have heard?
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Old 04-26-2016, 06:58 PM   #72
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Hey Cadillac...kwik kwestion. I have always been told that wet sleeve engines like the DT's should never run any water at all...only coolant, to prevent cavitation. Is this something you know or have heard?

thats new to me.. im new to wet sleeve engines..at leasty diesel ones,

well actually not totally as I worked on the old Cadillac HT-4100(gasoline) which was a pseudo wet-sleeve engine.. I ran a mix of coolant / water but had to add a coolant additive "tablet" every time I flushed to keep from eating up the rubber O-ring seal in each cylinder..

I was thinking the rule was distilled water with the coolant or a pre-mix made for that engine.. I thought I read somewhere that the DT's have a water filter...

of course the issue with straight coolant / antifreeze is it doesnt move the BTU per molecule that water does... the absolute worst thing you can do to any DT engine is get it hot.. (I suppose running out of oil is probably up there on the worst list too)..

-Christopher
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Old 04-26-2016, 08:14 PM   #73
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You starting a mobile butcher shop with a a-hem AC like that?
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Old 04-26-2016, 09:17 PM   #74
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You starting a mobile butcher shop with a a-hem AC like that?

if butchering computers and telephones and slamming down large pizzas counts...

I do tend to run with windows open and the A/C running and want ti be cool... well in the bus the driver slider open anyway...
living in Ohio and often travelling to florida you learn not to keep windows open that you cannot reach while driving....

hmm power school bus windows.. maybe an idea...

Judging A/C size for a Bus is a tricky endeavor.. I should probably start a new thread just for A/C.... but it's success depends on many factors.. average load in your bus.. tinted windows? white roof? humid climate? door open / close alot? lots of slow-speed driving / idling, etc.. most School busses with A/C when you get them going down the highway will darn freeze you out.. as a school bus A/C is designed to keep the bus cool with a full load of kids, the bus spending most of its time idling ,stopping.. door open door close.. slow moving.. so the systems are grossly over-spec;d.. that said they also Fail the soonest of any Mobile A/C out there.. as slow and go wit ha full load of people and door open door close is the Toughest thing you can do to a mobile A/C.. even the faxct the condensers are skirt mounted with electric fans, there;s still Lots of road and engine heat creating high head pressures... school systems are notorious for not taking the units apart and cleaning the coils.. a sigle burned out fan motor on a 3 fan condenser often goes unnoiticed as the unit still "runs" just doesnt cool quite as well.. but it is working hard at that point... driver windows get left open and the electronic control panels get splashed with rain and destroyed easily...

Busses are a tough place to be an A/C...

even converted to RV's and tiny homes our busses Live the easy Life compared to when they were used by Schools...

-Christopher
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Old 04-27-2016, 09:20 AM   #75
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Yeah, I think I'm going to have to be a climatic traveler. Wait, that didn't sound quite right. Synonyms, antonyms and homonyms you know. What I mean is I need to be a fair weather traveler. Looking for temps that require neither heating or cooling ideally.
However, it's highly likely I'll be in some of the humid climates at some point. I'd much rather be in 40 below than the humid eastern and southern temperatures. On the other hand as a much younger man I've spent winter nights in Ketchikan Alaska when I didn't think I'd wake up due to the freezing temps.

What would you recommend for AC that is relatively simple to install for us minimally skilled individuals? I know you've talked extensively about the heat pump mini split systems. I don't rely so much on the cooling as much as I do the removal of humidity so a person can sleep without getting up to see a wet imprint of your body on the sheets.
I've lived nearly five years in S Korea, and they have some serious humidity. It's so hot and humid that everyone takes cold showers to cool off, and there's no point in toweling off because by time you get dressed your clothing is already sweaty. Ahh, good times... to have behind me.
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Old 04-27-2016, 09:29 AM   #76
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Yeah, I think I'm going to have to be a climatic traveler. Wait, that didn't sound quite right. Synonyms, antonyms and homonyms you know. What I mean is I need to be a fair weather traveler. Looking for temps that require neither heating or cooling ideally.
However, it's highly likely I'll be in some of the humid climates at some point. I'd much rather be in 40 below than the humid eastern and southern temperatures. On the other hand as a much younger man I've spent winter nights in Ketchikan Alaska when I didn't think I'd wake up due to the freezing temps.

What would you recommend for AC that is relatively simple to install for us minimally skilled individuals? I know you've talked extensively about the heat pump mini split systems. I don't rely so much on the cooling as much as I do the removal of humidity so a person can sleep without getting up to see a wet imprint of your body on the sheets.
I've lived nearly five years in S Korea, and they have some serious humidity. It's so hot and humid that everyone takes cold showers to cool off, and there's no point in toweling off because by time you get dressed your clothing is already sweaty. Ahh, good times... to have behind me.
the SIMPLEST A/C out there (im assuming shore power or running a genny).. is a portable unit.. one with 2 hoses that are 3 or 4" in diameter.. you could easily make a plate that fite in a bus window and the 2 hoses go right into the plate.. the unit sits on the floor inside.. thats super simple and requires very little cutting and fabbing.. they go up to 12000 BTU.. there is a Soft-start very efficient Portable A/C manufactured.. using the same inverter technology as a minisplit

the NEXT simplest would be rooftop camper units.. cut a hole in the roof and slap an A/C in it.. does require getting wiring up to it.. or rigging up a plug..

After that we get into the more custom solutions like mini splits, custom built stuff.. some of it runnng off the Bus engine, tri-pac's etc..


Heat is a bit trickier if you are on a Genny as standard resistance heat uses up lots of watts.. there are propane solutions without open flame.. (im paranoid.. no open gas flame in a small bus.. just sounds bad)..

and of course the bus's own built in heating system when its running..

-Christopher
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Old 04-27-2016, 09:56 AM   #77
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the SIMPLEST A/C out there (im assuming shore power or running a genny).. is a portable unit.. one with 2 hoses that are 3 or 4" in diameter...r

My little "LG that could" is a 12K BTU with only one exhaust. It's the LG unit from the "big orange box" store with dehumidifier (works great!), just FYI if anyone wanted to look at it.

I'm planning on mounting the unit on a "shelf", so to raise the exhaust port to top-window height, and box everything up with insulation, and attach it directly to a plate, and to the window

When you say "2 hoses", what's hose#2?
On my unit, there is the main exhaust in the back, the main A/C cooled air in the front, and an air filter area on the side that emits a "whisper" of cool air, which i presume is simply generated as byproduct from the unit, and needs to be vented somehow.
Should this last output go to the outside, as well?

EDIT: there are also 2 water drains in the back
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Old 04-27-2016, 10:12 AM   #78
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My little "LG that could" is a 12K BTU with only one exhaust. It's the LG unit from the "big orange box" store with dehumidifier (works great!), just FYI if anyone wanted to look at it.

I'm planning on mounting the unit on a "shelf", so to raise the exhaust port to top-window height, and box everything up with insulation, and attach it directly to a plate, and to the window

When you say "2 hoses", what's hose#2?
On my unit, there is the main exhaust in the back, the main A/C cooled air in the front, and an air filter area on the side that emits a "whisper" of cool air, which i presume is simply generated as byproduct from the unit, and needs to be vented somehow.
Should this last output go to the outside, as well?

EDIT: there are also 2 water drains in the back
on yours.. you are actually taking the cool conditioned air from your bus and exhausting it.. which creates an ever so slight negative pressure on your bus.. bringing in hot humid air..

so what happens is air from the room is blown over a hot coil inside the unit and exhausted. . so yes the air going out is hot but you are using your dehumidified room air to blow over the coils and exhaust..

any air that is exhausted must be made up somewhere.. or your bus would become a big vacuum..

a 2 hose air conditioner sucks in outside air through one hose.. blows over those hot coils and exhausts that air back out.. never using any of your inside air.. so its more efficient and also can handle more space..

the cold air from your unit is room air sucked in from the room and blown over the cold coils and back out into the room...

-Christopher
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Old 04-27-2016, 10:30 AM   #79
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We tinted all our windows except front windsheild.

They were factory tinted on both sides but we went darker. Only problem I see may be the back windows are tinted too darker. So far 10 years of driving in Florida,S.Carolina and Geogia no problem. Hope it stays that way.
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Old 04-27-2016, 11:13 AM   #80
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Some places have ordinances about tinting windows but to my understanding this is about the driver's side windows and windshield. What happens is some people have used heavily tinted windows to shoot people, thus the ordinance.
I don't believe that applies to this type of vehicle when you've got from 10 to 30 windows lining the sides of your bus.
I have tinted windows, but was also thinking of adding a layer of tint film at least to the bottom half of all windows. That pretty much eliminates the possibility of someone standing outside looking in through the side windows, unless they're really tall.
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