Quote:
Originally Posted by Robin97396
The good part is by time you get home you're going to be fairly comfortable with taking trips in your bus. I see the compressor as more of a fluke.
|
I also see it as a fluke.. like I ay it gave me no signs of going bad.. I had my head under the hood of that bus several times with it idling.. i could hear the compressor pumping and even at slow idle always kept enough pressure in the tanks that the air drier would purge.. (120 PSI). I have a feeling the unloader rod which is controlled by the governer is the culprit..
had my toolbox been with me I probably wouldve pulled the head off the compressor and took a stab at it.. if these compressors are built like the multi-stage A/C compressors i worked on then the unloader actuator can stick.. or the reed valves are gone.. no way to tell until you take it apart..
and for reference to those who rip apart stuff in the field.. a double layer of brown paper grocery sack in a pinch makes a pretty good gasket for various accessories... a piece of Plastic grocery sack used right can take the place of teflon tape for pipe thread fittings...
since one of the main reasons I got the bus is for road trips, its a good learning experience for me.. for one, learning to use and work with mobile services, also to know what tools and supplies im going to want to carry with me...
fortunately we found a part for this and it will be here tomorrow.. but while ive been shut down ive done more research and taken notes.. talked to people.. as to ordering parts and shipping them to a hotel..
the internet opens up a whole new plethora of parts availability for our busses when we travel.. if we take my breakdown as an example.. lets say I had wanted to try and fix this completely myself.. I called mobile repair as it seemed the right thing to do at the time..
I could have checked in this room ordered myself some tools .. nice ones.. diagnosed the problem .. and then ordered myself the part.. and put it on..
in a bit larger city I couldve taken an UBER or a LYFT (or a bus) to town bought some tools and got going.. NAPA sells commercial truck parts and still has nice pretty pictures of them in books and online... order a part.. it lands in town and the NAPA truck brings it to you..
the Nice hotel manager offered me the keys to her truck this morning... (southern hospitality is real)...
now in retrospect calling mobile service was the right thing for me as im in the middle of a big work project.. so let them deal with the bus.. as i complete my work...
and eastcoast is correct I like an adventure.. no not in the sense of camping in tents or climbing mountains or rocks.. but in the sense of moving forward despite what backward forces are pushing...
I once travelled on a trip with a few guys to florida.. I drove.. we took my 1976 Cadillac convertible.. we got to st pete beach and a few hours later it started to pour.. and pour and pour.. next day rain.. the other 3 guys were totally distraught.. so I said "look its perfect in South beach".. 'oh but our hotel is here and we planned our trip here and what are going to do..this is awful.. our trip is ruined..'.. I tried to get them to go anywhere.. to the mall to miami..the movies.. anything.. they just wanted to cry that vacation was ruined... I got up early in the morning the second day... quietly packed my bag.. called enterprise rental, (yes they really will pick you up)... rented a car.. left the keys on the credenza with a note.. 'gone to SMILE in SoBE instead of FROWN in st pete - Call me when you quit cryin..'.. took my caddy and did just that... 50 miles away from st pete it was sunny and bright and my top was down.. I always said "dayum I soooo never want to be those guys".... and trust me every last one of them could have easily afforded to joined me in SoBe.. its more understandable if you have saved your pennies for a trip and then something happens as you cannot easily replace that...
I feel im lucky.. very lucky.. I have my health and the means to smile when i can... it may not always be that way... but by gosh im gonna enjoy it while i have it..
thats what i like about this forum... its about people following their dreams... no matter what or how you are building your bus or what you plan to use it for... I mean look at the guy who bought a bus only to find out every frame member was cracked.. and so he is making a cool as hell flatbed toy hauler out of it... or the one that blew 12 quarts of oil on the ground in 300 miles.. he got it back together and cleaned it all up and is raising the roof ... everyone here is following some dream... tony house, camper, top end motorhome, old school simplistic style, Party bus for their friends, mobile vet labs, piano haulers, DEV labs, Vans, you name it the dreams are coming real!!
none of us here are the ones who are going to be sitting on a front porch some day saying " I wish I had bought that bus I always dreamed of...."...
-Christopher