Desert Sands AKA The Finger Lickkin Good Bus - Page 3

mikerob643 · 05-17-2018, 12:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EastCoastCB

I get 3m seam sealer at AutoZone for $15 a tube.

Awesome thanks for the info on the seam sealer . grabbed 3 tubes of it and am hoping that'll be enough .

Got some angle iron to make new cross braces for the gaps left by the two emergency doors we are deleting and am hoping to have those done this weekend !

On other notes I am still dead in the water with the electrical . I have all wires expose now and am trying to trace wires from the doors back to the wiring box up front but some can't find my way to the relay that is locking out the starter... Going to keep trying slowly but if any experience skoolie electricians happen to be in the flagstaff arizona neck of the woods I would happily pay you for your time to lend a hand with this !
I can turn a wrench pretty well but I'm fairly new to the electrical world and the busses wiring box is one intimidating place to start

mikerob643 · 05-20-2018, 12:36 AM

Made some more headway with the door and window skins today . getting that big of a piece of sheet metal to sit in place into the roof and under the running boards was a doosy

mikerob643 · 05-27-2018, 09:01 PM

So im I just broke our bus .....

We finished up with all the sheet metal work this morning by putting the final sheet over the opening where the emergency hatch was .
So I thought that I would start clearing the electrical lines so that we might be able to finally bypass the interlock and get thr bus running again.
Well 7 hours later I had Tracd every unnecessary wire back to the Box and taken it out from its source. With the heaping mountain of wires out of the way I thought I had done a great job and might now be able to somehow figure out how the emergency door interlock thing was stopping the bus from turning on. So I hooked up the batteries put the key in and got nothing

Before when I tried turning the key on I would get the wait to start light on my Dash well the glow tubes primed and then when I would turn the key fully it wouldn't work because the interlock device. Now I'm getting nothing though. The dashboard doesn't show the wait to start light or battery voltage .
I think i just broke the bus and don't,know how to retrace and undo my error .

Does anyone have any advice on how to fix this or who i could call to help with professional assistance .

o1marc · 05-27-2018, 09:16 PM

Please post or PM more detailed pics of that door closure, I have to do the same on mine.

mikerob643 · 05-27-2018, 09:40 PM

Here are some photos of the door delete . we skinned over with paint lock 20 guage sheet metal and used stainless steel closed end blind rivets to attach . we seam sealed under the sheet metal whwre it rest against bus body as well as along all edges. Then welded in some angle iron for supports in the old door frame .

mikerob643 · 05-27-2018, 09:45 PM

We bought our rivets from https://www.albanycountyfasteners.com
And those guys are great . we are on the other side of the country, and the orders would arrive in no time it seems like. Our order list was included in the shipping box and had been hand checked and initialed by someone at the company when they packed it. It was awesome that they go through the little extra time to double-check every order and have the Packer initial the slip so that way if there's ever a problem you know who to call and how to fix it. I don't think we're going to need many more rivets for this bus but if we need any Fasteners or anything like that I'm going to go through these guys again they were awesome

o1marc · 05-27-2018, 09:47 PM

So they did modify the roof skin slightly for the E door?

mikerob643 · 05-27-2018, 09:57 PM

Welcome , and yes the roof was notched out slightly to account for the door . it's un noticeable because there is usually a gutter that drops down and makes it look like the roof line stays consistant . Because we took the door out and there's no longer an opening there or hopefully a way for water to get in , we did not put the gutter back in place. So now it's pretty easy to see that they cut up an inch or two into the roof skin for the door.

Also if anyone knows anything about electrical please look a few posts up and read my slightly long-winded post about my now huge electrical problem

Any advice would be greatly appreciated

EastCoastCB · 05-27-2018, 11:23 PM

I suck with electrical stuff, but a few forum members and lots of practice has me doing a little better.

Found this, IDK if it will help of not-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHRPxsxCGZw

mikerob643 · 05-28-2018, 11:46 AM

Thanks east coastcb that helps maybe a little I don't know if it exactly translates to my bus .

I feel like I was having a really hard time describing in words and the few photos what was happening with the electrical and my bus so I decided to make a few videos that hopefully depict the problem in full detail

https://youtu.be/-9cBlvCGMsw

https://youtu.be/iB0fZNVA01w

https://youtu.be/glSb4WO8mVg

Btimmer · 05-28-2018, 05:35 PM

From what I can see from the videos, you may have two issues. The first is there is probably an open circuit resulting from the cutting of the the wires.

The second is that you might want to check the water levels in your batteries which might explain why nothing registers on the charger. Possibly just try charging one battery alone.

I wish I were closer to be able to help. Chasing electrical gremlins can be challenging.

mikerob643 · 05-28-2018, 09:05 PM

Thanks btimmer, I tried disconnecting the batteries so they are not in pararalel and now they both charge! I really dont get why they only charge when not hooked in parallel vut the front one was pretty dead so may be this could help things.

And yes I must have muffed up a circuit somehow . i was very carfull to trace each wire and take it off at its source which was all either on the switches next to the driver or a yellow thomas switch thing that had each spot labeled flashing red or amber ect. I really don't know where or what happened but it is obviouse that something went wrong .

Ugggh I am really thinking I might throw in the towel and seek some professional help . I really don't want to but don't know where else to go from here

Btimmer · 05-28-2018, 09:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikerob643

Thanks btimmer, I tried disconnecting the batteries so they are not in pararalel and now they both charge! I really dont get why they only charge when not hooked in parallel vut the front one was pretty dead so may be this could help things.

And yes I must have muffed up a circuit somehow . i was very carfull to trace each wire and take it off at its source which was all either on the switches next to the driver or a yellow thomas switch thing that had each spot labeled flashing red or amber ect. I really don't know where or what happened but it is obviouse that something went wrong .

Ugggh I am really thinking I might throw in the towel and seek some professional help . I really don't want to but don't know where else to go from here

When the batteries are hooked in parallel the load might be too big for your light charger. Be sure to check the battery water level. A dry battery won't charge properly or at all. Be sure to use distilled water when refilling.

My hunch on the wiring is that there is a relay that is activated by one or more door(s). Once you find that and isolate it, I think you will solve your problem. I'm sure another bus owner who has solved this problem will be along to help you. It may take a day or so since this is a holiday weekend.

mikerob643 · 06-01-2018, 11:05 AM

Okay so I'm still plugging away at the electrical and thanks to btimmers advice I now know I didn't ruin anything electrical by taking out all the wires excess wires! The batteries were dead and once I charge them back up the bus was still acting the same way it always has. the key turned half on lights up the dash starts to glow plugs and everything else. Like before though when I try to crank it over the ignition lock does not allow the bus to start. I tried Bridging the main solenoid in the wiring box I don't know if this is the correct term for it or not but I added voltage to the secondary hot Inlet so that way the solenoid close the big circuit and then I tried to start the bus while the solenoid was activated. The bus still would not attempt to start so the interlock device must be somewhere else between the key and the starter. Does anyone else have any experience with the vandalock interlock device having a separate solenoid that's not in the wiring box? Tonight I think I'm going to try to trace wires from the starter back and see if I can eventually get to the key and maybe find it that way.... we'll see. Any advice would be greatly appreciated

mikerob643 · 06-02-2018, 01:42 PM

The bus started !

Still in the thick of the electrical but I feel like I'm finally making some headway , I made another small video talking about it

https://youtu.be/LUEX9QatDPE

And I followed the wire that i talked about in the video and it ran to this relay of sorts.

Any electrical wiz's know how to decifer these hieroglyphics?

Btimmer · 06-03-2018, 12:55 AM

Glad to hear you found the relay. Once you trace the relay wires, you'll probably be able to eliminate it from your wiring system.

PNW_Steve · 06-03-2018, 09:48 AM

D and F are connected to the coil in the relay. Applying 12 volts across the coil changes the state of the connections.

Without 12v on the coil - E is connected to C. A is open.

With 12v on the coil - E is connected to A. C is open.

mikerob643 · 06-03-2018, 09:49 AM

The interlock system has been eleminated !!! Traced those wires and finally got to another relay, under the steering wheel that was the one !
Now I just need to start cleaning up the mess I made.
Does Any one know where to buy those plastic push attachment things that hold,the rear dash plastic down . the old plastic ones did not survive being taken out ?

mikerob643 · 06-03-2018, 10:08 AM

Also I recently had a birthday and my wife made me this awesome birthday bus card .

Going to get it framed and make it the first piece of artwork to go up in the bus

glenncooper · 06-03-2018, 12:56 PM

I’ve just been reading through all of the posts on your bus. You’ve purchased almost exactly what I am looking for in terms of a bus - what I call a “real” bus with a “real” engine, but about 25 ft long. It looks great. I live just down the road in Cottonwood, AZ, and we truly are lucky to have rust free busses available in the area.

Good job working out the electrical problems too. While I don’t know anything about buses, I’m an electrical engineer who has worked on industrial control systems for decades. I was going to offer to take a look at it, but sounds like you’ve worked it out.

One off the really exciting things about Skoolies (from someone that still doesn’t own one...) is the self-reliance and independence that a person can develop. By figuring this out yourself you will now be far more capable of taking care of similar future problems.

I look forward to following your future posts....

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