My short bus "Rolly"

[Doodlebug]

Are you referring to Quartzite Arizona? I lived there for three years in the early 80's.... I imagine it has changed alot since then, more rules, more people. Leslie

[bus-ted]

I went to Quartzite almost yearly several years back, and also did the Tucson Gem & Mineral Show. The main thing I can think of to tell you is that the water there is foul- wouldn't even advise bathing in it!(kidding- sort of). We would drive into Blythe and refill our multiple 5 gal. jugs. So, unless things have substantially changed, I'd allow for that. Otherwise, I had some great times and met some fascinating people there- folks from all over the world.

[Stuff]

what manufacture is Rolly?

[bus-ted]

Just call me Mr. OSHA, but in the pic where you're cutting out the glass panels, your F.I.L. is wearing a mask, but you're not. To each there own, but that dust is murder on your lungs- not just the "glass", but the epoxies that bind it. It hurts my lungs thinking about it.

[Seeria]

Nice little bus. I plan on a similar size once the kids are grown and out of the um traveling homestead (bus on land hah).

Quartzsite... DUST. More dust. Sidewinders. Coyotes that love to stand 3 feet from you, daring you...
Jan and Feb are packed and lines everywhere can get an hour or more long. Nasty. Really, check into the other BLM lands. Some great ones up near Havasu, imo, and less wait to fill/dump and you're near a much bigger town with a lot of outdoor activities. Free there, too. But, don't miss the gem show in Quartzsite. I agree, the water sucks, filter yours. The diners there are food poison (bad experiences there), but the fresh food markets are pretty great.

[Greeper]

That's actually a converter, not an inverter. There's a lot of history to cover why the panel is the way it is. I don't specifically remember the main lugs, but I beleive the white one is your DC negative, and one of the other ones (surrounding the large horizontal fuse) is your battery positive. It does not require a battery for operation, though, so plug it in and measure voltage and that'll tell you neg/pos. I suspect both the top ones are positive, if so, the one on the right will go to the battery. The other aluminum lugs are the branch circuits for your DC loads, and the orange cord is to plug into shore/gen. This will power your DC loads and bring a dead battery up, but due to it's inherent design it will not fully charge, or maintain your batteries, you need a 3-stage charger to do that.

That said, if you need an inverter, let me know...I'm in the business.

[Redbear]

Originally Posted by zenmonkk

. . . I have a budget of lets say $100ish What would you recomend for a good 3 stage charger/ maintainer? . . . .

Please help!

The converter IS a charger for your batteries, either from shoreline or from the generator, but the older one might not be "three stage" like the newer ones. As Greeper said, the lugs on the right are probably the battery, and the white wire is negative or ground. Unlike other DC wiring, trailers use black for hot and white for ground like house wiring, and not red for hot and black for ground. The fuses and lugs on the left definitely go to your circuits.

I would expect the larger lug to the far right to be the battery hot, but I would test to confirm this. To determine which side of the fuse on the right to connect to the battery, there are two tests you can do after you remove the fuse from the holder.

1. With an ohmmeter, measure from the bar feeding the branch fuses to each side of the main battery fuse. The side that goes to the battery will show no connection without the fuse, such as infinite resistance or out-of-limit. The side that goes to the converter circuit will show almost zero ohms. You might have to scratch the surface oxidation with the meter tips a little bit to get close to zero.

2. With the converter connected to AC ("plugged in"), put the meter (-) where the white wire is. You should have +13 to +14 volts showing with the meter (+) on the side connected to the converter circuit, the side that goes to the battery would show zero with the main fuse out.

[Locutus]

You might want to look into BatteryMINDers (r)...

http://www.batteryminders.com/batterych ... c-243.html

[Redbear]

Originally Posted by zenmonkk

What about these? Anybody used these or something similar? What would be some issues using them?
http://www.iboats.com/Charge-on-the-...view_id.341868

The only thing to watch out for is the 100-amp rating. If you have a 200-amp alternator, it might burn out. Other than that, it looks good.

This Isolation system does not use the engine alternator, works strictly off battery system.

That is not an entirely true statement. It ties the starting and coach batteries together based only on the voltage measured on the starting batteries. It will kick on with charging voltage from the alternator or any other charging source. But something must raise the starting system voltage. It is unlike an isolator, which ONLY feeds alternator output to the coach and starting banks. In another place they mention it shutting off when the motor stops. "Does not use the engine alternator," huh?

Note: If you have a dead bus, and a mechanic wheels one of those filing-cabinet sized booster-chargers, and sets the power to "moon launch," without an over-voltage disconnect (not mentioned in the specs) the relay will kick in and connect all the delicate electronics in the coach to the over-voltage. A removable fuse or cut-out switch in the coach feed would be helpful in that situation, to protect your electronics and any LED lights.

[Redbear]

Originally Posted by zenmonkk

. . . . Thanks Redbear, Think I'll pass On this then. I forget things like disconnecting whoozie whatzits.

I didn't mean to scare you off - you asked about "some issues" and I gave you some. As long as your alternator is under 100 amps, I would not be afraid to use this solution. It is pretty close to "set and forget." It is a much better solution than a simple solenoid that connects the banks whenever the ignition key is in "run," as it demands charging voltage to activate, and drops out if the chassis system is in trouble. In some vehicles I've driven in blizzards, the alternators can barely keep up with the headlights, snow-clogged wipers, engine systems, and heater defrost. This device would shed the house bank in that situation.

The mechanic with the "moon launch" charger is a threat to any delicate systems, not just automatic ones. I once saw a DOT truck drive by that must have fried electronics a couple of times. It had a full-size street sign bolted onto the battery box for all to see that read,
"REMOVE RADIO FUSE BEFORE JUMPING BATTERIES."

I also did not say that the device did not have an over-voltage disconnect, merely that the advertisement does not mention one. This device might be useful, and could use a little more research, plus some better writing than the web page link provided.

[Stuff]

lol yours is a mess of wiring to? Ive contacted goshen about wiring diagrams or anything but it fall pre- Thor industries' takeover. feels like thor guys had a bon fire with the old manuals and documents and then started it all over again!

I hope mine is old enough that the signal lights and stuff is completely on the chassis only!

When you go to start your bus is there the sounds of relays turning on in the box over your head?

[Stuff]

id mount the tanks under at the back.

[Stuff]

nice progress!

[Seeria]

Wow... if my ex husband had picked up anything I would have thought something was wrong with him, too. Now that kid you met, I haven't found anyone here yet. In fact, the guys at Lowes think I'm some crazy old lady and they all know me now, ask what is my latest project for the bus.

[Griff]

When installed, it works just like any other drain...meaning your shower will drain into your gray/blackwater tank (or wherever). The extra/auxiliary plug on the bottom is so you can drain the liquid that stays in the pipe in the event you need to perform plumbing repairs, or if you have winterized it and need to drain the antifreeze out of it prior to returning it to regular use.

I've seen those fittings at Lowe's & Home Depot, as well as decent hardware / plumbing supply stores.

[Stuff]

its just a normal plumbing trap. of you worry about it freezing after every shower just pour a cup of anti freeze in the drain after each shower.

[Seeria]

Hey Zen, think you can gimme a couple measurements? I'm curious how much usable space there is in that model. Back of driver's seat to back of bus, width, height interiors type deal.

[Stuff]

ohhh that would be nice!

[Seeria]

Thanks

[Seeria]

How's it coming along? What did you decide to do for water tanks?