The Journey Visvi 1999 Thomas MVP ER

[wmkbailey]

Originally Posted by bansil

Okay,had a glass or two....so air comes out of compressor and will fill primary tank first up until 60/90 pounds whatever cutoff is and then the secondary will air up...?search on busconversionmagazine in the last 2 months same type of issue with air, good luck sorry no more help...good luck

I have four tanks and have not been able to trace to see which one is the primary. I have two large tanks and two small tanks One small on top of one large.

[wmkbailey]

Success, by process of elimination.

All four tanks have a bleed valve to bleed all the air out of the tank. So I opened all four tanks. I figure with them all open, the only tank that would have pressure coming out would be the primary.

That would be the small tank on the passenger side of the bus. It had just a little air so my blockage is around this tank. I started by heating the fitting on the input side. I also noticed that the output side tees off to the two larger tanks (one for front breaks and the other for the rear). I still was not getting any more air pressure so I started to heat the tank it self. After a while I started to get water and ice out of the bleed valve. Then I got a lot of water and a lot of pressure. My air dryer over pressure valve stopped venting. I decided to heat the input side until the air coming out of the bleed valve was warm and dry. I closed the bleed valve and got good pressure out of both large tanks. I closed them off and now have pressure for breaks. After they reached 60 psi the small tank on the drivers side started to bleed off. I closed it and now have pressure to my door.

So now I know how my system works.

This in 15 degrees and 2" of snow. We should end up with 4" by morning.

[sojourner]

This in 15 degrees and 2" of snow. We should end up with 4" by morning

Another reason why I like living in the south. Sure don't miss the snow and cold. Is there a reason you're in such a cold place during the winter? Having been a mechanic for most of my work life, I can relate to what it's like for you. Bummer.

[bansil]

Good show, I have read where up north they inject alcohol into system to stop icing

[wmkbailey]

Originally Posted by sojourner

Another reason why I like living in the south. Sure don't miss the snow and cold. Is there a reason you're in such a cold place during the winter? Having been a mechanic for most of my work life, I can relate to what it's like for you. Bummer.

Family, Otherwise I would not be here.

[wmkbailey]

The air is working good today. But tonight will be another test. Todays high 17, tonights low 0, with more snow. We have about 4" now. Rear engine buses rock in the snow.

[gusbus]

It was minus 22 here this AM! Shirt sleeve weather in the bus tho!!!

Originally Posted by wmkbailey

The air is working good today. But tonight will be another test. Todays high 17, tonights low 0, with more snow. We have about 4" now. Rear engine buses rock in the snow.

[wmkbailey]

Originally Posted by gusbus

It was minus 22 here this AM! Shirt sleeve weather in the bus tho!!!

When I finish insulating the bus and get something built inside to help hold heat minus 22 should not be a problem.

0 outside, a nice 70 inside.

[wmkbailey]

A week ago Monday it got down to 2, with 20 mph wind gust. 68 inside.

20 min to heat 6 to cool back down.

With that second fan hooked back up. 0 outside no wind 70 inside.

9 min to heat 9 min to cool back down.

I'm burning 1 gal diesel every 6 hrs.

[porkchopsandwiches]

That is a lot of $ in fuel for heating! If I was going to live in my bus during cold months I'd absolutely put in a wood stove. Glad to see it is keeping warm though.

[wmkbailey]

Originally Posted by porkchopsandwiches

That is a lot of $ in fuel for heating! If I was going to live in my bus during cold months I'd absolutely put in a wood stove. Glad to see it is keeping warm though.

All my steel supports are exposed and they have frost on them.

That is a lot because the bus its empty and I'm only heating air. I have no thermal mass in here to help hold heat. It is not fully insulated, I still have places where the steel is exposed. I'm also still using the bus heaters, one in back and one in front. I bet my front gets to about 75 before the heat gets to my thermostat.

Once I get the rest of the insulation up, I still have another inch to put in and all the steel will be covered. I will use ducted heaters to get more uniform heat and I plan to install cabinets, furniture, wood floor and things that will help hold heat.

I do not plan to live in an empty and not finished insulated bus, using very inefficient heaters in 0 degree temps. This is only a temp setup, I had limited time to get ready.

I'm happy at how well it is performing. It shows that when I get done it will work much better.

By the way, it is now minus 8 outside and a nice warm 70 inside.

12 min to heat, 8 to cook back down.

I can still walk on the floor bear foot. I did not expect the heater to keep up in this cold.

[gusbus]

I've been running an Eden Pure electric heater to keep the chill off over night (can't see your breath). I,ve got no gauge out there. While I'm working during the day I turn on a Big Buddy heater on low. that brings the temp up to working temp. (probably around 60). Supposed to hit -40 here monday without the wind chill. That'll be brutal even for us.

[wmkbailey]

Originally Posted by gusbus

I've been running an Eden Pure electric heater to keep the chill off over night (can't see your breath). I,ve got no gauge out there. While I'm working during the day I turn on a Big Buddy heater on low. that brings the temp up to working temp. (probably around 60). Supposed to hit -40 here monday without the wind chill. That'll be brutal even for us.

I'm glad to be heading back to Maryland today. It will be 40 when I get back on Sunday.

Stay warm.

[JakeC]

I think that what you have planned for heat, and with the interior finished, is going to be incredibly efficient. At least relatively speaking. In other news, glad you got your air system figured out! Your dryer may be ok after all. I thought I had issues with mine, when I first drove it back to mn, due to lots of similar symptoms, but once I got the tanks heated and drained, it was fine.

[sojourner]

It's my understanding that air dryers are basically not something that "goes bad" other than maybe corroding through. As you have found, ice can be a formidable opponent when troubleshooting anything with fluid. The heater element however might be in question. The main problem with air systems as a whole is lack of maintenance and moisture building up corroding things. If the parts are kept dry you can get a very long service life out of them with the exception of the pump which most definitely needs lubrication.

[JakeC]

On mine, the pump is lubed with engine oil. Best idea ever

[wmkbailey]

Originally Posted by JakeC

On mine, the pump is lubed with engine oil. Best idea ever

Same here.

My air dryer is old and rusted. I had a lot of water in the primary tank. That shows it is not removing the water as it should. A replacement is only $140.00, I think it is time for mine to retire.

[wmkbailey]

We made it home today. We stopped last night for dinner about two hrs away and decided to stay the night. I was not ready to get home yet.



A very dirty bus.

Hey somewhere I took Ohio 250 on the way back. The bus handled the curvy road just fine. I quite enjoyed it, some very good views. But not any shoulders to stop and take a photo.

The bus performed good with out any adventures this time.

[gusbus]

Awesome!
Love the pic. That bus is going to be a class act when you're through with it.

I made it back to North Dakota yesterday with mine. I left home a day early because of extremely cold temps today. High today was -21 . On my 1000 mile round trip I don't think my old Ford used a half gallon of oil; I was pleasantly surprised.

[Stu & Filo. T]

Originally Posted by wmkbailey

Question about riveting.

This is how I plan to rivet the sides of the bus. I'm using the same spacing that the panels around the emergency door uses, 3 1/2" from top then 4 1/2" the rest of the way down.

Here is my pillar after raising the roof.



This is with sheet steel skin over lapped and riveted with above spacing.



My question is; as you can see it will leave two rivets only riveted to the sheet steel skin.



Is this OK, or will this cause an issue later on?

The ribs on my bus are reversed so it looks like the rivets will go into the pipe,I found steel fencepost shaped like the ribs & will fit right over top of the bus ribs, you could use that as filler