Well.....I know it's been a long time since anything has been updated on the project, but truth be told...it's because not much has happened with it. That is until recently....
Myself as well as 4 others will be taking Havoc to Country Fest 2006 in Cadott, WI next week and after last year's hail incident we decided we should take something more civilized. Please keep in mind that all the work you see in the gallery has basically been accomplished in the last two weeks thanks to a group of motivated friends.
Prior to starting Shane, Natalie, and myself finished cleaning up the floor, painting it with red industrial metal primer, furring it, installing the insulation and vapor barrier, and topped it with 3/8 inch CDX. I know it sounds thin, but it is plenty strong enough with the foam and furring strips under it.
Carpentry: My buddies and myself started building up the walls using 2x2's as studs. There is one screwed into the wall as a good solid base with the others being attached to the floor and the bows in the roof with zinc plated steel angle brackets. Inside the walls is a layer of 1 inch styrofoam insulation to quiet everything down. They are paneled in 1/4 inch mohagany (sp?) plywood as it was the cheapest. It also has an ok finish being that interior paint before c-fest is not an option.
There are a total of 3 bulkheads comprised of 2 walls each. The rear most section of the bus is my bedroom with a twin size bed on one side and some yet to be built cabinets and a desk on the otherside. Under my bed is the watering system.
The next room contains the bunks which are somewhat integral to the walls, wheelwells, outer seat rail, etc. Framed in 2x4's and covered in 1/2 inch plywood means these are not weak bunks. The bunks are designed for a 6'5" occupant and fit a single sized hospital matress quite well. They are actually big enough to allow two close friends to sleep on one. Privacy curtains are yet to be installed.
The next bulkhead makes up the bathroom on one side (drivers) and the shower (will not be completed for c-fest) on the other. The toilet is a 1982 model Thetford cassette type. It's not pretty, but it gets the job done, especially for a group of people are not full timing it and will likely be places with bathroom facilities anyway.
The forward most bulkhead closes off the living room from the sleeping and bath areas. On the door side will be mounted the stove and sink I bought from a used camper. This thing barely had 6 months on it. The other side will house an entertainment center that will hold the TV, fridge, Playstation 2, audio equipment, and microwave with some spare counter space. I can't well describe what it will look like so you will just have to wait for finished pictures.
The living room contains a fullsize couch making sleeping 6 more than comfortable in Havoc. Opposite the couch will eventually be a dinette, but for C-Fest it will just be a card table with some camping chairs.
Electrical: So far I have pruchased only 2 golf cart batteries rated at 110 minutes reserve capacity @ 75 amps of draw. This will be ok for now given the usage the bus will have in the next few months. They are mounted in the starting battery compartment which has been made about 4 inches taller to accomadate the taller house batteries.
In the compartment where the Webasto diesel heater used to be I have mounted the two 750 watt inverters I (and several others from here) bought off eBay. Next to them is mounted a simple metal industrial outlet with 4 plug ins and a 10 gauge cord coming out the back. The 10 gauge cord with plug is what hooks into either shore power or the gennie. There are then three different colored 14 gauge wires with plugs coming into the compartment as you can see in the photos in the gallery. Each color represents a seperate 120v circuit within the bus. They can either be plugged into the outlet box or the inverters (or any combination). Though it might not be deemed the "safest" route, it eliminates any possibility of having two feed sources on one circuit. I don't mind manually transfering power. All wiring is in the original chase panels near the roof or in chase panels built by boxing in where the original outer seat rail was.
Green: Livingroom outlets (with individual breakers) for the fridge, TV, etc
Pink: Livingroom lights and outlet by the sink/stove
Yellow: Rear lighting and outlets
All the lighting is of the flourescent type. I purchased nine 15 watt, 18 inch under cabinet lights which do a FINE job of illuminating everything. The livingroom has 4, the bathroom 1, and each bed has its own. The lights each have their own switch so that controlling power consumption and lighting is easy. Though they hum slightly on inverter power, the light output and low draw is well worth the trade off.
In the master bedroom there is a yet unmounted fixture I purchased from work for $9 which will house two 15 watt compact flourescent lights with one shining the bed and the other the cabinent/desk area.
With all the lights on I am still only drawing 135 watts and could probably guide a 747 in for landing.
Plumbing: I didn't want a pump because I don't like their cost or the problems they can suffer from mal-maintenance which I'm known for. Instead I went with the air pressurized system.
My holding tank is a 55 gallon plastic NSF drum I had laying around from an old diving platform I had. Into the knockouts on the top and bottom is fitted a manifold which is then JB Welded in, but has unions to allow for tank removal.
The upper manifold is the air control manifold. One leg is a simple air bleed with a valve for depressurizing the system or allowing air to escape during filling. The other leg has a valve with an adjustable air regulator behind that which is fed by an 11 gallon, 125 PSI portable air tank.
The lower manifold has a valved hose connection for filling or running off city water. The other side is of course the main water supply.
Advantages of this system:
No moving parts
Silent
No maintenance
Nothing needs to be done to run off city connection
Disadvantages:
Air pressure must be monitored somewhat closely to prevent 125 PSI showers
Air supply can be depleted (though water will run out first theoretically and I have air brakes to recharge it)
It is proprietary
So far it has worked well and supplies an amazing amount of water pressure. By simply manipulating the 4 valves you can do just about anything, including pressurizing the system initially off the city hook up.
I plan a solar water heater, but will add that post later when it is done.
Licensing: I now have RV plates with an 18,000 lbs tax base. I was allowed to name my tax base. The guy at the DMV suggested 5,000 lbs, but I wanted something believable
It did erk me that I had to pay 3 months at the old 27,000 lbs tax base as all plates of that nature expire in February in Minnesota. Still...I couldn't have asked for a more pleasant experience. The people at the DMV were knowledgable and helpful. After signing an affidavit, filling out a reconstruction form, and handing them a $144.75 check I was given plates. No hassle at all.
Yet to finish: Though the bedrooms and hallway are carpeted, the front room still needs its flooring. I have yet to make up my mind as to what's going there. We also need to finish up some last little wiring bits and plumbing before we leave. Construction of the entertainment center and stove/sink housing along with the gas plumbing awaits me this weekend. Finally, the outside needs to be painted. Those are the big things.
I also need to do some small stuff like inspect everything, grease everything, change the oil, fill the 60 gallon tank
, etc but I think it will all be done enough in time to leave next week.
Check out the gallery and let me know what everyone thinks so far
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