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Old 10-18-2019, 06:46 PM   #121
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Rated Cap: 87, says Gillig...
Started installing the decking on the roof. The decking is cut to the same width as the solar panels (~77in). I hope to get the entire roof covered in solar panels and decking over the next couple of weeks. I will also (hopefully) be finally moving the battery pack out of the garage and onto the bus.


I bit the bullet and went with some "basic" Trex over treated lumber. It wasn't free but with 8 solar panels going on the roof, I didn't need that much decking. 5 panels will go between the two hatches and 3 more will go in back. I will also trim out the edges of the decking to even up the decking and dress it up a bit.

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Old 10-26-2019, 05:55 PM   #122
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Finally started putting the solar panels up today. Details and a few more pics here.

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Old 10-28-2019, 10:10 AM   #123
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Finally started putting the solar panels up today. Details and a few more pics here.


Good choice on Trex. Treated lumber would have been less expensive but treated lumber has two real problems for your roof decking.


First, treated lumber bleeds when it gets wet. Not a lot but over time you would have trails of yuck coming down off of the roof from the treated lumber. Those trails of yuck can be very difficult to remove from painted surfaces.


And second, the chemicals that treat the lumber is not very friendly to metal. When it is mixed with water it can become very corrosive.


So good choice with the Trex. The fact Trex is lighter is another good factor in favor of Trex.
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Old 10-28-2019, 02:33 PM   #124
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So good choice with the Trex. The fact Trex is lighter is another good factor in favor of Trex.
Trex is 2.5 times heavier than the same board in PT.
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Old 10-28-2019, 04:56 PM   #125
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Trex is 2.5 times heavier than the same board in PT.
Damn, you beat me to it 😶

Steve
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Old 10-28-2019, 07:17 PM   #126
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Damn, you beat me to it 😶

Steve
By 2-1/2 hours.
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Old 10-29-2019, 05:47 AM   #127
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Quote:
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Good choice on Trex...
Quote:
Originally Posted by o1marc View Post
Trex is 2.5 times heavier than the same board in PT.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Firepuncher View Post
Damn, you beat me to it 😶
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Originally Posted by o1marc View Post
By 2-1/2 hours.
Trex is heavier but better; agreed. Can we get back to how awesome Rick's roof is please...
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Old 10-29-2019, 10:30 AM   #128
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That roof looks awesome! That trex looks pretty heavy. I hope you have taken it into account for your weight distribution.

Ted
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Old 10-29-2019, 10:40 AM   #129
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That roof looks awesome!
Yes, more of this; thanks Ted. And again, just to reiterate: Trex heavier than wood...
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Old 10-29-2019, 12:10 PM   #130
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Just FYI, while Trex is a superior to wood product, it requires different mounting methods. Instead of 16" centers like wood, Trex recommends 12" spacing. I would also not leave the ends unsecured like in the pic. They will warp up on the ends. So it's 2.5 times heavier and requires more heavy framing than wood.
Roof will be awesome when finished.
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Old 10-29-2019, 12:16 PM   #131
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Trex is heavier but better; agreed. Can we get back to how awesome Rick's roof is please...
Frankly, Rick's roof is beautiful. I intend to do mine very similar in the Spring. I'm designing a collapsible cable railing to contain my granddaughter and drunk friends. 😜

Steve
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Old 10-29-2019, 12:30 PM   #132
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...I'm designing a collapsible cable railing to contain my granddaughter and drunk friends.
"...my granddaughter and her drunk friends" You made my day; hilarious.
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Old 11-06-2019, 05:56 AM   #133
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Hoping for a big long weekend working on the bus. Hopefully this weekend the bus will finally start generating its own power. The solar panels are all mounted and secured. Half of the solar panel wiring is done as well. This weekend the plan is to finish up the panel wiring and move the battery pack and inverter out of the garage and onto the bus.

Here is a pic of the "DIY combiner box assembly" I chose to build vice buying. The larger box contains fuses for the 4 strings of panels (2S4P). This box was positioned near a roof hatch for easy(-ish) access. The smaller box is where the strings are actually combined and brought into the bus as a single pair of 6 awg wires. This box will be under a solar panel. More details here.

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Old 11-08-2019, 05:46 PM   #134
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Hoping for a big long weekend working on the bus...
So my long weekend is off to a slow start. I had the day off but ended up helping a friend demo their master bath in preparation for a remodel...

I did receive my sweet Dickinson propane heater, and I hope to add its installation this weekend's work plan. The heater will be installed in a back corner of the bus to help keep the bedroom area toasty warm.

I plan to run the chimney pipe out of the bus horizontally thru one of the flashing bus light holes...


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Old 11-08-2019, 09:45 PM   #135
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That heater looks very nice. I also want one of those for my bedroom. Thanks for sharing the pics.
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Old 11-24-2019, 06:32 PM   #136
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A few updates:

The propane heater is installed (-ish) and working great after adjusting the arc of the chimney pipe. Details here.

And the big deal: full up solar testing has begun. The battery pack and all associated gear has been moved onto the bus, the panels and charge controller connected, the bus is generating it's own power. Details here.
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Old 11-25-2019, 11:21 PM   #137
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Your roof looks great. I especially like your hatches. Any chance you can link the make & model?
__________________
One...slow...step...at a time.
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Old 11-26-2019, 04:03 AM   #138
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Your roof looks great. I especially like your hatches. Any chance you can link the make & model?
Thank you. The hatches are Vetus Libero Model LIB6255. I got mine from a seller on eBay for $300 each. The opening they require matched the Gillig's roof holes almost perfectly (24.5in X 24.5in).
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Old 11-27-2019, 08:43 AM   #139
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And the big deal: full up solar testing has begun. The battery pack and all associated gear has been moved onto the bus, the panels and charge controller connected, the bus is generating it's own power. Details here.
Here is the first four days worth of data from the Victron app. Not currently running any loads (inverter off mostly). During this early phase of testing I am going slooow... One step at a time.

It's like I'm testing a microwave and manually shutting it off before the timer gets to zero. I know it will shut off at zero, but just in case...

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Old 09-30-2020, 09:35 PM   #140
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Any updates?!?!
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