Missy Conversion - 1998 MCI 102

[JDOnTheGo]

A full loop of the velco 'loop' with adhesive backing - all the way around the window.

Assuming I haven't gotten around to real window screens by next spring, I may try some actual fiberglass screen material then.

[Mountain Gnome]

I love my (skoolie-style) windows being open. This is a major reason I bought a bus, not an RV. I park in the woods, and open the windows, and I am in the woods, not in a tin-can parked in the woods. And all the natural light...

For curtains I use Wally-World twin-sized flat sheets (dark navy and black) folded in half long-ways, and held up with heavy-duty 3/4" disk magnets found at Home-Depot (3 per curtain). The magnets are pinned in place with safety pins along the inner fold of the curtains. I would stitch them in, but then they are not washing-machine friendly.

No curtain rods to buy or get in the way of other things, no holes in the walls; curtains open, close, go up, & come down very quickly and easily. With the solar-UV-reflective film on the glass the windows are all mirrored, and if I am stealthing it overnight in a town somewhere, all a cop sees is his flashlight reflecting in a mirror....

This was the cheapest solution to curtains I could find, and I am very pleased. I don't know I would do it any other way if I had plenty of cash to blow...

I plan on making screens this way, held in place with magnets; but the magnets on the screens could be stitched in place, since they can be washed with a hose and brush on the driveway. The only limitation I see for the screens is the aluminum window frames.

[Brewerbob]

Originally Posted by Mountain Gnome

I plan on making screens this way, held in place with magnets; but the magnets on the screens could be stitched in place, since they can be washed with a hose and brush on the driveway. The only limitation I see for the screens is the aluminum window frames.

Dislike!! Lol, not that you need my nor anyone else's approval.

If you're keeping the bus windows, it shouldn't be too hard to find framed "real" screens. Use some RTV or chalk and glue them outside into the window frame itself. If you can't find any pre-made, I know they sell the screen frame tracks in lengths that you can cut down to 24"x24", put your screen in, and roll the little plastic "string" (screen holdie stuff). Someone, don't remember if it was here or Youtube, had a demo video of how to build your own screens with the metal framing. All you need is a dremel (rotary) tool, cut on the 45°s, and piece it together with the corner pieces.Much less work than rolling them up and down x 26 x every time you move to a new spot. Ghetto magnets totally aside, semi permanent is way more betterer.

[Mountain Gnome]

Originally Posted by Brewerbob

Dislike!! Lol, not that you need my nor anyone else's approval.

If you're keeping the bus windows, it shouldn't be too hard to find framed "real" screens. Use some RTV or chalk and glue them outside into the window frame itself. If you can't find any pre-made, I know they sell the screen frame tracks in lengths that you can cut down to 24"x24", put your screen in, and roll the little plastic "string" (screen holdie stuff). Someone, don't remember if it was here or Youtube, had a demo video of how to build your own screens with the metal framing. All you need is a dremel (rotary) tool, cut on the 45°s, and piece it together with the corner pieces.Much less work than rolling them up and down x 26 x every time you move to a new spot. Ghetto magnets totally aside, semi permanent is way more betterer.

Don't want the screens outside, they add wind resistance, and may rip-off (RTV? seriously?) in the high-wind at 70MPH (like my plastic air-conditioning cover on the roof did somewheres). Don't want them permanently installed, only for use when mosquitoes are swarming (still haven't actually seen conditions where I need them, after living in my bus all summer). I like my windows fully open, be able to stick my head out, etc. I am particularly fond of the e-windows....I open them and swing them all the way up, propped open with a stick.

Aluminum frames add volume when storing them, and will take longer to put up and take down. Call me "ghetto", call me a "hillbilly", whatever. Don't need a snobby bus, just one that works for me... Semi permanent may as well be permanent. I'm keeping my bus "modular". Nothing inside will be "permanent," allowing interior plans to change with time and needs.

That said however, I may add strips of 1×3 or 1×4 wood between each window on the interior, with 2 slots along each long edge where a steel panel and a screen can slide up and down, covering each window when up, hiding in the wall below when down. In the winter, the screens could come out, and a second window pane (Lexan or acrylic) could be installed for warmth. Lots of time....might as well fold-up my curtains every day, twice a day, for a year....

For those of you that need "prefabbed" or "manufactured" stuff in your buses, Home Depot will make your aluminum screen frames to size. I bet Lowes will also.

[Brewerbob]

Originally Posted by Mountain Gnome

Don't want the screens outside, they add wind resistance, and may rip-off (RTV? seriously?) in the high-wind at 70MPH (like my plastic air-conditioning cover on the roof did somewheres).

Lol, whatever glue you like. My bus doesn't do 70mph. I'd have to have a 10mph headwind.

Don't want them permanently installed, only for use when mosquitoes are swarming (still haven't actually seen conditions where I need them, after living in my bus all summer).

Now I see why you don't have your location listed. A bug free summer? What the hell is that even like?

Aluminum frames add volume when storing them, and will take longer to put up and take down. Call me "ghetto", call me a "hillbilly", whatever.

I don't care how ghetto it may look either hence the ignore that part. I'm simply too lazy to put them up, take them down, 26 times. Just opening 26 windows while I'm working in the bus in the middle of summer is a pain. I need one of those tornadoes on a stick fans and open the front and rear. Turn it into a window tunnel.

That said however, I may add strips of 1×3 or 1×4 wood between each window on the interior, with 2 slots along each long edge where a steel panel and a screen can slide up and down, covering each window when up, hiding in the wall below when down. In the winter, the screens could come out, and a second window pane (Lexan or acrylic) could be installed for warmth. Lots of time....might as well fold-up my curtains every day, twice a day, for a year....

Now that's a pretty good idea. Even a half inch air gap would increase the R value I bet.

[Drew Bru]

Originally Posted by Mountain Gnome

That said however, I may add strips of 1×3 or 1×4 wood between each window on the interior, with 2 slots along each long edge where a steel panel and a screen can slide up and down, covering each window when up, hiding in the wall below when down. In the winter, the screens could come out, and a second window pane (Lexan or acrylic) could be installed for warmth

That was our initial plan as well, but hiding the screen in a pocket behind the wall just wasn't feasible for us once we started building our bus out. We, then, tried putting the screen on the outside outside of the bus and using L brackets to sorta clamp them in place. That went horribly wrong and looked sorta trashy to boot. We settled on a very simple solution of adding a small strip of wood to create a groove for the screen frame to slide in. It works fairly well and it's pretty easy to slide the window screens up and down. The screens are just from a typical build-a-screen kit that we bought at the hardware store. The pic shows the screen in the down position. We still have use of the windows if we need to pass an extension cord or a beer to someone outside, and we have screens for buggy and humid summer days and nights. We did like all 20 windows in a couple days, working casually.

[Mountain Gnome]

Originally Posted by Brewerbob

Now I see why you don't have your location listed. A bug free summer? What the hell is that even like?

I don't care how ghetto it may look either hence the ignore that part. I'm simply too lazy to put them up, take them down, 26 times. Just opening 26 windows while I'm working in the bus in the middle of summer is a pain. I need one of those tornadoes on a stick fans and open the front and rear. Turn it into a window tunnel.

I saw insects, not many "buggy bugs bugging me"
I don't have a home-spot yet, so I didn't list one....


Started my summer in central Cali. Spent a few days just inside the Sierra National Forest, but was still close enough to the central valley that I could still smell the smog, and see it during the sunsets. Hot, and dry, almost no flying insects; no mosquitoes, just flies. Not too many bugs inside the cities I stayed in around the SF Bay area.
Went up to Oregon, around Eugene and Ashland. Again, not too many bugs in the city. Went out to the McKenzie valley east of Eugene where it is rain forest, spending the night in the woods in the NF. Never bothered by bugs. Spent a couple weeks on private land nestled in the NF east of Ashland. Very dry land (1" of powdered dust on the private driveway through the private 40-acres of land); no bugs except yellow-jackets. Oh wow, were there a lot of Yellow Jackets. Got stung twice. Windows remained closed at day (but I wasn't hiding inside), open at night.
Went out to the Wind River Range in Wyoming. Kept the windows closed at night because of grizzlies, but it was freezing anyway (I could tell, because the frozen dew would melt in the morning and suddenly start dripping off the roof) so no bugs bothered me there. Spent a lot of time just hanging in my bus all day chillin' while there (except the day I hiked 20 miles back into the mountains).
Went to the 'burbs outside of Chicago to visit my auntie. Slept in my bus while there for 2 weeks, windows open. No bugs.
Went to a weekend festival in Wisconsin. No bugs.
Headed south to GA where I can work on my bus' buildout. Day one I was eaten by mosquitoes. Opened the doors and windows in my mom's house for fresh air, and they all swarmed in. They got in my bus, and ate me while I slept.
In 1994ish I went to the Black Hills in SD in mid-summer. After growing up in GA, I was amazed there were no insects. Not even ants! No flies trying to climb in your eyes, no blood-sucking mosquitoes, no stinging bees. NOTHING. Then wildfires changed the whole forest. I went back in 2003, and the place was swarming with insects.

As for the magnetic screens, I would not make 26 small ones. 2 or 4 long nets thet span several windows at a time is how I would do it, just like my curtains.

I put the curtains up with magnets as a temp solution until I came up with a solid plan for the interior build, but they work so well, they are now my long-term plan. That is why I think the screen solution may work OK. But getting the screens to stay flush would be the trick. I was thinking last night of thin pieces of steel sheet metal flashing between each window covering the aluminum frames would allow the magnetic screens to work well, and seal out the bugs.

I take my curtains down and put them up in about 2 minutes for the whole bus. Folding them is the longest part (I'm a Virgo, so they must be folded) I can drive with most of them still up, and you could drive with the screens still up, also; they are inside not outside.

[JDOnTheGo]

My windows are very wide and open like this:


Which makes them a bit atypical. Part of the reason for the motorized opener is that it makes the screen very simple (no pass thru for a handle or other) and it acts as a latch. At least that's the plan - as noted, it is yet to be tested.

I have selected this chain opener. I just have to make a couple of brackets to mount it. Of course, that has been on my list for a long time...

I know many don't care for the electro-gizmo bit but this is my bus, my thread and I get to do what I want!!

[Brewerbob]

Originally Posted by Mountain Gnome

Headed south to GA where I can work on my bus' buildout. Day one I was eaten by mosquitoes. Opened the doors and windows in my mom's house for fresh air, and they all swarmed in. They got in my bus, and ate me while I slept.

That's what I'm used to.

Went to a weekend festival in Wisconsin. No bugs.

When? WI can be miserable. Worse than GA even. If after a frost it's fine but dead of summer, forget it.

I put the curtains up with magnets as a temp solution until I came up with a solid plan for the interior build, but they work so well, they are now my long-term plan. That is why I think the screen solution may work OK. But getting the screens to stay flush would be the trick. I was thinking last night of thin pieces of steel sheet metal flashing between each window covering the aluminum frames would allow the magnetic screens to work well, and seal out the bugs.

How about a slotted piece of metal permanently attached? Think very long 3 prong "fork". Slide the screen roll down the slot then magnet the top and bottom to keep the wind from billowing it.

[cadillackid]

when I went to pick up my superior in oregon this summer.. end of july.. i was amazed at the first 1000 miles or so i drove from portland on in. that I had almost no bugs on the windshield.. that time of year back east in 100 miles you got so many you cant see... I sat outside the bus more than one evening working and never got bit at all by any mosquitos.. too bad im into city life and not wilderness as it was nice to not have to slather myself in bug spray to sit outdoors on a warm evening.


-Christopher

[joeblack5]

Wow, JD is that a "push" chain like used in modern cvt transmissions?


I have have the same style windows and that would be to cool.
Are you planning in making a small hole in the insect screen?


Hope we will meet beginning 2019 when we are floating in your area.


Johan

[o1marc]

Pop rivets help hold velcro in places it wants to slide from.

[joeblack5]

looked it up , super cool,



To bad that i have my insulating shades close to the window. May be I can incorporate air cylinders in hidden in the window frame



Thank for sharing and grabbing my attention.


Later Johan

[JDOnTheGo]

Originally Posted by joeblack5

Wow, JD is that a "push" chain like used in modern cvt transmissions?

It is a push chain but I'm not sure where else it's used. Took me a while to wrap my head around the concept though!!

Originally Posted by joeblack5

I have have the same style windows and that would be to cool.
Are you planning in making a small hole in the insect screen?

I think so. The motor will mount a few inches "inside" the window/screen so I think running the chain thru a very small hole is the way to go.

Originally Posted by joeblack5

Hope we will meet beginning 2019 when we are floating in your area.

That would be great Johan! Looking forward to it!

[joeblack5]

JD, did you order and get the window openers in? Curious what design they really are. Found also some push chain design that work like a zipper, so two in itself flexible sections that zip together and then become rigid.


Cool stuff.
later J

[JDOnTheGo]

I've had it in hand for six months or more Johan - just no time to mess with it. Good thing I simplified my life a few years ago!!

I'm not exactly sure how to describe the chain but the links are such that it can only bend to one side. It seems like a fairly strong device. The two negatives that I can imagine are not pulling closed with enough force and pulling from only the bottom-center. The windows are rather wide (44", off the top of my head) and had two latches (at the bottom) from the factory. Btw; the OEM latching system on my coach is fine for an emergency release but totally wrong for a 'house window' that I am trying to hide inside a frame AND have reasonably easy access to open/close.

[joeblack5]

The windows in ours have an emergency release handle on the side and that actuated two locking slides in the bottom with a cable. Similar to yours? The emergency handle was in the way of the insulating blinds so I changed the design a little but it is a pain to deal with. Probably will cut them out and see if I can actuate the actual locking system in the lower "sill" frame directly. I would think that your linear actuator has enough holding power to keep the windows closed even without a locking mechanism.


Later J

[JDOnTheGo]

Words usually fail me so let me try some photos.





Each window has two latches on the bottom. Both latches are connected to a piece of aluminum/plastic that is the lever. When flipped up, the latches are released and the window can open. When swung closed, the latches catch but pushing the full width 'lever' down fully locks it closed.

Make sense??

[Brewerbob]

Originally Posted by JDOnTheGo

Words usually fail me so let me try some photos.

Camshaft is the word you're looking for.

[abwetzel63]

Potentially silly question on the SatTV antenna. Since you were worried about the height of your bus, would it have been possible to mount it on a platform sticking out of the back of the bus, where the antenna only sticks up a tad, or would that block the signal too much?