Kazetsukai's Build

[kazetsukai]

Originally Posted by musigenesis

This confirms me in my decision to build an insulated bulkhead wall behind the driver's seat.

I have a waist-high wall right behind the driver. I'm not going to close up the driver area, (at least not permanently) although that's probably a good strategy- my strategy is to insulate and cover up all metal surfaces on the floor. I need to replace the entry door as well.



I may spray insulation underneath, depends on the thermals down there.

[WIbluebird]

Thanks for the helpful pics, it does help me consider foam board as a viable alternative to spray foam. If it works in New Hampshire I'm sure it will be more than aquedate for a Wisconsin winter!

Did you have any trouble getting the foam boards on the ceiling to stick if it was cold weather?

[kazetsukai]

Originally Posted by WIbluebird

Thanks for the helpful pics, it does help me consider foam board as a viable alternative to spray foam.

I think boards + squirt in great stuff in the cracks works very well.

Originally Posted by WIbluebird

If it works in New Hampshire I'm sure it will be more than aquedate for a Wisconsin winter!

I do want to see what happens in the single digits...

Originally Posted by WIbluebird

Did you have any trouble getting the foam boards on the ceiling to stick if it was cold weather?

No glue, it wasn't really even needed. We cut them to barely fit when crammed in, they were held in by friction.

[kazetsukai]

Well, winter came to NH in earnest yesterday. Just finished 2-3 hours of snow removal.





Temps (indoor = in home, outdoor = left:bus, right: outside):


The split is doing a great job. The interior mount point (taken a few days ago, before the snow):


The outdoor unit seems to keep clear enough. Yesterday when I was clearing snow I saw it draining water ("defrosting").


One of my additions I failed to show here previously was overhead storage along the passenger side. Books, games, blu-ray, etc go up here. Right beneath you can see the TV rail, where I planned to have our TVs mounted. The idea being they could be positioned anywhere on that wall.


But yeah, so far climate control has been hugely successful.

[Placeholder Bus Name]

This whole build is impressive! I really like your electric set up! I'm no EE, but I've chased a spark or two and we plan on running a Solar set up with back up generator. I'm not sure how yo work it out, but the bus has 2 large RV AC units up top.

Thanks for the great thread!

[WIbluebird]

Do you only have one mini split unit for the entire bus? How is that working out?

Trying to figure out if i need 2 9k BTU mini splits or if one bigger one can heat/cool an entire 40' bus.

[o1marc]

Originally Posted by WIbluebird

Do you only have one mini split unit for the entire bus? How is that working out?

Trying to figure out if i need 2 9k BTU mini splits or if one bigger one can heat/cool an entire 40' bus.

You can get 110v units up to 12K BTU, then they jump to 220v.

[kazetsukai]

Originally Posted by WIbluebird

Do you only have one mini split unit for the entire bus? How is that working out?

Trying to figure out if i need 2 9k BTU mini splits or if one bigger one can heat/cool an entire 40' bus.

I have one 9k unit. I will probably add a second, perhaps a slightly bigger (12k) one. Below zero I'll probably need it.


My bus is 37' and this unit has kept the cabin locked at 70F down to 20F ambient.

Originally Posted by o1marc

You can get 110v units up to 12K BTU, then they jump to 220v.

Mine is 220v. I wanted 220v specifically for efficiency, and my inverter is split phase.

[kazetsukai]

So now I'm taking a few steps forward on automation.
(Screenshot: electrical panel touch screen interface)


I was giving feedback on another user's arduino code when I figured out a nifty solution to a problem that had been bugging me. First, to recap on my project, automomy:
https://github.com/kazetsukaimiko/autonomy/

My automation code differs from many others in that I use both a computer (Pi or desktop or laptop or whatever) and a microcontroller (Arduino). For many, many projects the Arduino alone is sufficient. However, the more complex and more variety of scenarios you try to handle, the more unwieldy the Arduino code tends to get, thus most projects only handle a very specific use case.

Well I wanted to write something others could potentially use, or I could use in a variety of contexts without ripping out large portions each time. This meant it had to be configurable. This requirement alone makes using a computer hugely advantageous, as to "configure" an Arduino you'd likely need to recompile/reupload new code even if you were generating that code. I still need Arduino-side code to control pin input/output, but I just needed to hook general control of all pins up in a way I could use Serial commands to handle all use cases.

I tried JArduino for this and didn't like my results all that much. I was using an Arduino Mega board and its support for the Mega was limited. It was also a proprietary, low-level protocol which I didn't like. So I wrote my own using ArduinoJson:
https://github.com/kazetsukaimiko/au...nlink/src/main

This enables Serial communication using JSON, so any programming language can easily talk to the board. You can use a JSON object to Request read/write of digital pin outs, and the read of analog pins. The board responds with a JSON object Response. An example pseudo-conversation would be:

(JSON Request): "Read digital pins 13,14, and 15. Read analog pin 8 assuming a resistor value of 250 (ohms)"
(JSON Response): "Digital pins: 13 = low, 14 = low, 15 = high. Analog pins: 8 = 90."

This response model also lets me easily hook up boards directly to the network in the future, some boards even coming with WiFi chips integrated:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07MR3V6WP

Some people may want to run multiple Arduino boards and use input events on one to influence output events on another. And there's a limit to how many pins one board can support, too. Lets say you have a board just for sensors/digital inputs, and another for relay controls... When your tank level sensor on board A goes below a certain level, shut relay Y off using board B.

Well, you can do that Arduino-to-Arduino. But who controls who? And now each board is running two different code bases by necessity. What if one has a bug that only happens when responding to the request of the other? What if you want a ton of boards? This is why having the computer/orchestrator works well, because the implementation complexity curve, while it may start off higher, is far less severe than microcontroller-only.

So anyway, I had this problem figuring out how to identify each board. Like, if I have two boards connected via USB, what if I swap their USB ports or lose power? I can't just assume /dev/ttyUSB1 is my relay board and /dev/ttyUSB0 is my sensor board, I have to verify this. So I looked into persistent storage and figured out I could write a UUID to each board's EEPROM. I can then associate that UUID with a configuration on the computer side and thus if I move the board to a different port, or a different computer altogether even, the configuration magically points to that board.

This opens up a lot of possibilities. On the computer side of the equation, I have a Java EE Microservice with full REST and even-driven faculties. Some really robust stacks there. You could have multiple computers in different locales with multiple boards each, have them all talk to one another and respond to events as they come in. Or in my case, I can configure additional boards as needed for analog inputs.


Now I need to make discovery/setup of additional boards as easy as possible.

[kazetsukai]

Seeking more advice...

Our washer/dryer combo doesn't look like its ever going to work as a dryer. A blower motor is seized and I can't find a replacement unlike the water shutoff. Faced with buying all new laundry, I considered the Bosch 300 series (compact, stack washer + dryer, 220V), an LG all-in-one (cheaper, probably better since it is a single unit), or.... foregoing laundry in favor of a nice, residential fridge.

The fridge idea has taken off, especially seeing as we have 110V, 220V _and_ hot/cold water right in that one spot. I imagine quite a few of you go without full-sized laundry machines, can you help put us at ease? Good idea or no? I have a large sink, I could do laundry there and hang stuff in the giant shower in an emergency. The other advantage this brings us is it opens up some closet space behind our shower wall, previously to be used by pull-out Dometic-style fridge/coolers.

We are getting ready to move some stuff in and discovered the lack of storage to be a fairly weak point in our build. Reallocating space this way gives us more fridge room obviously, but also opens up quite a bit of storage for off-season clothing, etc.

Second, just want to vent my thoughts so others may know what to expect should they choose a similar path.

Having trouble focusing on any one problem at this point. I keep going back to the financials after we move out. Do we sell and immediately hit the open road or do we stick around and save some extra cash, etc. The bus is the mechanism by which we eliminate all our debts, but the overall goal is to buy land outright and build out of pocket, so I keep cycling over our options there: yurts, shipping containers, tiny house (trailers), prefab "cabins", geodesic domes, and most recently "barndominiums".

Then I even have questions about whether I want to keep working for someone else at all. I've learned a lot doing my build, maybe I could turn those skills into money somehow. I'm very interested in learning more, for one.

Every day is one closer to Spring, and to showdown: Can I get everything ready to sell in time? Can I simultaneously figure out some place to land in the area, or are we just going to high tail it out of here? Lots of doors opening, and its just getting harder to pick.

[Ninjakitty]

We have an all in one Deco washer/dryer (vented). At first, at seemed like a waste of space, however... we have now been stationary in the bus since July. If we didnt have the combo, life would be very difficult. I can't imagine not having it. We are a family of 4 and its payed for itself in what we would be paying at a laundry mat 1-2 times a week. Not to mention the pain in the but it is to go to the laundry mat.

[o1marc]

Originally Posted by Ninjakitty

We have an all in one Deco washer/dryer (vented). At first, at seemed like a waste of space, however... we have now been stationary in the bus since July. If we didnt have the combo, life would be very difficult. I can't imagine not having it. We are a family of 4 and its payed for itself in what we would be paying at a laundry mat 1-2 times a week. Not to mention the pain in the but it is to go to the laundry mat.

How long and efficient is the dryer cycle?

[Ninjakitty]

Originally Posted by o1marc

How long and efficient is the dryer cycle?

We use the timed cycle instead of the sensor cycle and it gets the clothes 100% dry. We are plugged in while stationary. Of we were traveling, id probably run the genny while drying.

[Mountain Gnome]

just my 2¢:


laundry at the 'mat is EXPENSIVE and time-consuming. And watch your stuff like a hawk!


Yea, I was thinking "live in bus, save $$$"
But then comes all the "little" fees that add up like laundry.


Me, personally, I can do without a fridge, and choose to do so, cause I hate the noise, and don't want to have to have that big of a battery bank + solar to keep up $$$$ with.


If I could fit just a washer in my 'bitty bus, I'd be elated. And a drier! WOW! But I'd have to kick out the hammock.....


But that's me.

[o1marc]

Originally Posted by Mountain Gnome

just my 2¢:


laundry at the 'mat is EXPENSIVE and time-consuming. And watch your stuff like a hawk!


Yea, I was thinking "live in bus, save $$$"
But then comes all the "little" fees that add up like laundry.


Me, personally, I can do without a fridge, and choose to do so, cause I hate the noise, and don't want to have to have that big of a battery bank + solar to keep up $$$$ with.


If I could fit just a washer in my 'bitty bus, I'd be elated. And a drier! WOW! But I'd have to kick out the hammock.....


But that's me.

My home dryer is down, so I have to go to town to dry at the laundromat. Oriental guy owns it and upcharges a $1 for drying if you didn't wash them there.
I recently got a deal on one of these for $40, couldn't pass it up. May find a way to utilize it in the bus. I mounted a tankless heater on the back.

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

[Ninjakitty]

Originally Posted by o1marc

How long and efficient is the dryer cycle?

We set it to dry between 1hr 20min and 1hr 40min. Takes about 2-2.5 hrs for a load of wash.

[o1marc]

Originally Posted by Ninjakitty

We set it to dry between 1hr 20min and 1hr 40min. Takes about 2-2.5 hrs for a load of wash.

I can see where you would definitely wanna be on shore power.

[PNW_Steve]

I had a washer and dryer in my last fifth wheel trailer.

Doing limited laundry doubled our water consumption. It was useless unless we were on full hookups.

I could run them fine on my 3kw Honda generator. Tankage was The limiting factor.

I am considering one of the little hand crank washers that are very frugal on water and one of those newfangled solar clothes dryers.....

[EastCoastCB]

My amana front loader just took a crap. Its the drain motor. $90 part.
New appliances are so chintzy I'd HATE to build around one in a bus. Could be a nightmare to service.
I'm saving up for a 110v commercial laundromat type unit. Screw this throwaway residential garbage!

[kazetsukai]

Originally Posted by Ninjakitty

We have an all in one Deco washer/dryer (vented). At first, at seemed like a waste of space, however... we have now been stationary in the bus since July.

Prior to being stationary- necessary?

Originally Posted by Ninjakitty

If we didnt have the combo, life would be very difficult. I can't imagine not having it.

I don't want to set myself up for pain... thanks for the feedback.

Originally Posted by Mountain Gnome

Me, personally, I can do without a fridge, and choose to do so, cause I hate the noise, and don't want to have to have that big of a battery bank + solar to keep up $$$$ with.

So you ended up not doing it, and its been a pain. Hmm.

Originally Posted by EastCoastCB

My amana front loader just took a crap. Its the drain motor. $90 part.

I can't even find the blower motor for this EdgeStar. They got out of the laundry business meaning I'm SOL.

Originally Posted by EastCoastCB

I'm saving up for a 110v commercial laundromat type unit. Screw this throwaway residential garbage!

I was curious about this, I'll look at what is available. I have 110V and 220V in that spot.


Still like the idea of a mega-fridge. Solves a lot of problems. I wonder if there's anywhere else I could fit a compact combo unit...