Remove heater hoses - Thomas Bus Year 2000

[Tzinger]

We picked up a year 2000 Thomas bus with a Cummins 8.3. The bus has a passenger heater and a front heater. I want to remove these, I will use a different way of heating for the bus. Can I simply turn off the heater hose valves at the engine block that feed these lines. Then drain the lines and remove all the hoses and the pump? Or should I consider keeping this type of heating?

[TJones]

I would keep the factory heating set up. It is free heat that would otherwise be wasted. It would take a substantial system to replace heating the bus and defrosting the windows while going down the road.

Ted

[Booyah45828]

I would really think about removing the passenger heaters, only if you can't engineer/build around them. And I wouldn't even consider removing the driver heater/defroster.

[Johnny Mullet]

I kept all my heaters and glad I did.

[cadillackid]

engine heating is the best way to go for being on the road... if your factory heaters are junk then you can replace them wit haftermarket units, however you will still need the coolant hoses to run aftyermarket heaters..

little electric aftermarket heaters are worthless for defogging, defrosting, and heating a bus.. an RV furnace can heat the passenger area.. but of course you would be using your propane whiole driving.. and that wont defog / defrost...


not a good idea to have a fire in a woodstove while driving...


-Christopher

[WIbluebird]

How well do mini splits heat a bus while driving? Just curious as I'm looking into a pair of 12k btu mini splits for my bus, hoping they can do both heating and cooling.

I debated keeping my heaters but I have the really big ones that take up a ton of space inside my bus. Designing the floorplan to accomodate them is pretty unrealistic imo.

[TJones]

Originally Posted by Booyah45828

I would really think about removing the passenger heaters, only if you can't engineer/build around them. And I wouldn't even consider removing the driver heater/defroster.

You can move the under seat heaters to have a little flexibility with your floor plan. They can easily be moved along the length of the bus.

Ted

[banman]

Originally Posted by TJones

You can move the under seat heaters to have a little flexibility with your floor plan. They can easily be moved along the length of the bus.

Ted

That's a good point.
My Thomas bus (different body than the OP's I think...) has a huge floor heater behind the rear wheels -- it's too fragile a thing with the seats removed to leave in what will be my 'garage area'. But it looks like the front half of my bus is heated with a floor duct running along the drivers side. Assuming I partition the 'garage area' from the 'living area' that should be enough to heat it...?

[cadillackid]

Originally Posted by banman

That's a good point.
My Thomas bus (different body than the OP's I think...) has a huge floor heater behind the rear wheels -- it's too fragile a thing with the seats removed to leave in what will be my 'garage area'. But it looks like the front half of my bus is heated with a floor duct running along the drivers side. Assuming I partition the 'garage area' from the 'living area' that should be enough to heat it...?

the Thomas FS65 could be ordered with many heater options..


most common was a left front driver console that included 2 or 3 blowers abd a single heater core..

1- left-side defrost
2- driver heat
3 - ducted heat - whuch ran partially down the side of the bus with vents in it...



the rest of the duct that looks "small" is just a chase for the coolant hoses leading to the rear heater..



the rear heater was an underseat variety with a single core and usually 2 fans.. you can move it inside from the garage area or take it out altogether and loop the lines at the outlet of the driver heater core..



if you are insulating your bus and dont plan to have people riding in the way back during real cold weather you may very well not need that rear heater...


other heaters your bus may have..



right-side Entrace heater.. it will have 2 or 3 motors and a single heater core..(( this whole unit was optional.. if your bus was bought in a very warm climate you may not have the right side system at all..))



1. right WS defrost
2. stepwell heat
3(optional) - aisle-heat..


in my own busses which are just stock insulation .. I need all the heaters (including the rear)when its really cold outside..
-Christopher

[Tzinger]

Thanks for the answers.

1. The rear heater is not going to be used.
2. The front heating and defrosting does not work very well and I am changing things up at the front end.

I an going to have a separate power source for the heating and air conditioning (heat/cool) for the bus.

So, back to my original question on the cummins 8.3. Can i turn off the valves coming from and returning to the engine? Disconnect and remove the line pump?

[WIbluebird]

Originally Posted by Tzinger

Thanks for the answers.

1. The rear heater is not going to be used.
2. The front heating and defrosting does not work very well and I am changing things up at the front end.

I an going to have a separate power source for the heating and air conditioning (heat/cool) for the bus.

So, back to my original question on the cummins 8.3. Can i turn off the valves coming from and returning to the engine? Disconnect and remove the line pump?

Yes, you can shut off the valves for the coolant lines going into the cabin. Most bus shops will turn them off every spring when the weather gets warmer.

On the newer Bluebirds the valves are automatic, they close when the ambient temperature is high enough. But thats only on the T3 style buses (2014+) so nothing that anybody on here would have.