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09-06-2015, 08:52 AM
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#101
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New Member
Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: New England
Posts: 5
Year: 2004
Coachwork: Bluebird
Engine: International T44E 7.3 liter V-8 diesel
Rated Cap: 33
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I was reading this thread because I have no idea where to go to get started with the electrical on my bus. I am quite adept at the construction and plumbing, but the 12 volt vs 120, solar and shore power, etc, are outside the scope of my knowledge base. I must admit, I sure did get some super big laughs, though! I think I will look at some additional threads or hire an electrician.
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09-06-2015, 08:55 AM
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#102
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Bus Geek
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: Eustis FLORIDA
Posts: 23,829
Year: 1999
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: Freighliner FS65
Engine: Cat 3126
Rated Cap: 15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Suemel1
I was reading this thread because I have no idea where to go to get started with the electrical on my bus. I am quite adept at the construction and plumbing, but the 12 volt vs 120, solar and shore power, etc, are outside the scope of my knowledge base. I must admit, I sure did get some super big laughs, though! I think I will look at some additional threads or hire an electrician.
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I suck at working with electricity.
I have a good friend who is a genius when it comes to the stuff... He's sort of an electrical "savant". He and I will be working together when it comes to anything involving electricity. Friends can make ALL the difference.
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09-06-2015, 12:27 PM
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#103
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Bus Nut
Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 546
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__________________
Don and Mary
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09-06-2015, 02:05 PM
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#104
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New Member
Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: New England
Posts: 5
Year: 2004
Coachwork: Bluebird
Engine: International T44E 7.3 liter V-8 diesel
Rated Cap: 33
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Dond, thank you for posting that! That has given me the guts to try the electrical myself. The way that is written out and broken down makes it way less intimidating. Again, thanks.
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09-06-2015, 03:09 PM
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#105
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Bus Nut
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: Lexington sc
Posts: 482
Year: 1994
Coachwork: carpenter
Chassis: international
Engine: 466dt
Rated Cap: 59
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Don't forget, if your box doesn't have an earth, a bolt through it can become the earth - simply wiure the earth from the inpout to the box then the earth's from your outlets toi the box
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09-06-2015, 08:21 PM
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#106
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Bus Nut
Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 308
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Electricity is one of those things that once you get it you go ahhh it all makes sense now. I took this material science class in college and it took my understanding of how electricity works on a physics level to a whole new category. Then you understand how and why a breaker works and how and why things will arc.
Heres something to keep in mind all metal touching all other metal can share electrons that means that you can prove that an atom of steel at the front of your bus it grounded to your electrical box shares and electron with any other piece of metal, like another RV, hooked to the ground at the hookup.
That is how powerful the sharing and movements of electrons (electricity) is, that is why you really need to understand it before trying to defy the standards.
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09-06-2015, 08:42 PM
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#107
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Bus Nut
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: Lexington sc
Posts: 482
Year: 1994
Coachwork: carpenter
Chassis: international
Engine: 466dt
Rated Cap: 59
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Wow! Who invented the kooky way of identifying live and neutral by having a silver screw and an allegedly brass looking screw?
Much easier just to stamp L for live and N for neutral on the back of the socket!
Anyway, the fruits of my labors so far...
Yup... The main cable is 6-2 so plenty room for expansion as it'll carry 55 amps. The socket is riveted to the side of the breaker box and is the fridge socket. That's wired with 10-2 and that's good for 30A. The socket is good for 20A.
The breakers are 15A.
Plenty safety margin there. The main breaker goes underneath the bus in the cable compartment the hillbillies built that I'll have to demolish and rebuild. It's made of plywood that's badly rotted.
The cable goes through a neat rubber grommet that acts as strain relief and should block critters.
The 10-2 cable is definitely hard to work with but since I only needed a 15 foot roll of it, I'm OK with that!
Aside from two more sockets and the underbody breaker box, the electrics are pretty much completed.
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09-07-2015, 09:56 PM
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#108
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Bus Nut
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: Lexington sc
Posts: 482
Year: 1994
Coachwork: carpenter
Chassis: international
Engine: 466dt
Rated Cap: 59
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Well, I didn't get enough done. I'm sore from being under the countertop in weird contortions.
Both of the remaining socket boxes are fitted. The over code 30A cable is a tricky beast to handle! I've got one length as far as the breaker box but that's as far as it goes. I couldn't find my hacksaw with my flashlight!
I did fit strain relief collars. That was a good suggestion. I'm thinking that by next weekend the electrics might be completed.
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09-08-2015, 12:27 AM
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#109
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Bus Crazy
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Farmington Hills, Mi (Detroit area)
Posts: 1,968
Year: 2000
Coachwork: Eldorado Aerotech 24'
Chassis: Ford E-450 Cutaway Bus
Engine: 7.3L Powerstroke
Rated Cap: 19
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Zephod_beeblebrox2
Do you even have a bus? Have you ever done any electrics? Have you even left high school yet?
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Come on Zaphod. You ask the people of this this most excellent forum for thoughts on your electrical system then inform us that our electrical code is a "kludge" and "ridiculous" and *then* proceed to ignore most of the suggestions given.
What, exactly, did you think was going to happen?
For future reference, it's bad form to criticize a foreign country's technology, especially when it's clear that you don't understand it, then act superior when its poor, misguided citizens point out your (potentially lethal) mistakes. People generally respond poorly to that behavior.
We're generally happy to help but if you act like an ass we're also happy to watch you fail.
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09-08-2015, 12:40 AM
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#110
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Bus Geek
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Stony Plain Alberta Canada
Posts: 2,937
Year: 1992
Coachwork: Bluebird
Chassis: TC2000 FE
Engine: 190hp 5.9 Cummins
Rated Cap: 72
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Zephod_beeblebrox2
Do you even have a bus? Have you ever done any electrics? Have you even left high school yet?
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Who are you again?
I own 3 buses, have taken two of them to level beyond your imagination, and make part of my living doing electrical in homes and businesses.
For the record, I never stepped foot in a high school, and only went to grade school for 2.3 years.
School was a waste of time for me. Everyone was holding me back.
The fact that you asked that question proves you never did any home work on this site before making that dangerous mess your cobbling together.
How many build threads have you read?
Why did you come here from your great country with all the superior wiring methods?
I find your fails entertaining, and great for educational examples of what not to do for the newbies.
So by all means, carry on. I can't believe your still posting.
Nat
__________________
"Don't argue with stupid people. They will just drag you down to their level, and beat you up with experience."
Patently waiting for the apocalypses to level the playing field in this physiological game of life commonly known as Civilization
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09-08-2015, 10:51 AM
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#111
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Bus Crazy
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Farmington Hills, Mi (Detroit area)
Posts: 1,968
Year: 2000
Coachwork: Eldorado Aerotech 24'
Chassis: Ford E-450 Cutaway Bus
Engine: 7.3L Powerstroke
Rated Cap: 19
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Zephod_beeblebrox2
The main cable is 6-2 so plenty room for expansion as it'll carry 55 amps.
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We could have helped you out on this one.
While your installed cable will, in fact, let you do what you say (by tapping one hot leg of a 50 amp RV pedestal plug) it will only buy you an additional 20 amps over a 30 amp system. You could have spent just a little more and installed 6/3 cable, wired the panel and outside receptacle for the full 50 amp two phase service (two 120v hot legs) bought/built a proper 50 amp, 4 conductor extension cord, then picked up one 50 amp to 30 amp adapter and one 50 amp to 15 amp adapter. Then you would be set to take advantage of full 50 amp power (100 amps total), and also 30 amp or 15 amp power with the simple swap of an adapter. As you've built it, you'd have to replace everything upstream of the breaker box to get full 50 amp power.
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09-08-2015, 10:58 AM
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#112
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Bus Nut
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: Lexington sc
Posts: 482
Year: 1994
Coachwork: carpenter
Chassis: international
Engine: 466dt
Rated Cap: 59
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The system is built to take 50A but I'm designing it to take 30A. If I need 50A at some point (heaven knows why) then I can combine two legs at the main breaker which is going under the bus.
I gather 30A is by far the most common supply according to a friend touring the northern US and Canada now.
All my cabling is deliberately over rated for safety.
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09-11-2015, 06:37 AM
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#113
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Bus Nut
Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 308
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When I was on my walk last night I kept thinking about what bothers me so much about these threads (I am posting this in both) is that there are actually 3 reasons that you are eliciting such 3 responses.
There are 2 things when converting anything into an RV that you don’t deviate from accepted practices on, propane/gas plumbing and electricity, because both are very dangerous not just to yourself or you property but to everyone around you. In the event of a catastrophic failure of either system other people namely firemen and paramedics will show up and you have put their lives at risk. People walking by or parked near by could be injured.
As a Buddhist the worst thing one can do is interrupt someone else’s Dharma (their life path) either willingly or negligently. You are willingly putting other peoples dharma at risk because you can’t get a good enough deal on doing the electrics in a safe manner.
As a member of the community I am upset because you ask for advice on how to wire your system and tell us we don’t know what we are talking about. Then continue to work on a system that is going to inconvenience someone else even if it works. The thing about electricity is unless you are making it yourself (solar or a generator) you have to get it from someone else and if you don’t have the way to take it in the form they are trying to give it to you. Then it is going to make both of your lives harder, Because you couldn’t get a good enough deal on doing it correctly.
Lastly as someone who has DIYed things since I was a kid I know one truth about DIY in general. If you are DIYing something to save money there is no room for failure, as it will eat up that little bit you were going to save. So you have to get it right with little or no experience the first time, which is difficult and time consuming. Many things don’t cost a lot because there is a conspiracy to keep it out of your price range but because there are a lot of materials and man-hours involved to create said product. Have you held a coil of 50 amp extension cord its really heavy, there is a lot of copper and rubber involved, and because you don’t RV indoors it has to survive the elements. Those plugs, they are there to keep you safe from 11,000 watts of power that is 14.75-horse power you wouldn’t grab a riding lawn mowers power output shaft but you will grab that plug. You refuse to do it correctly because you cant get a good enough deal on it.
If your life isn’t worth the cost of a $175 worth of cable can I buy you out right now for $350, thats double what you say your life is worth, so you can do all the things I don’t want to do?
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09-14-2015, 08:00 PM
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#114
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Mini-Skoolie
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: NorthEastern Wisconsin
Posts: 34
Year: 1992
Coachwork: Bluebird
Engine: International DTA 360
Rated Cap: 65
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Check out this guy's blog. He makes fun of the people who were trying to help him here.
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09-14-2015, 08:52 PM
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#115
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Bus Nut
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: MB
Posts: 279
Year: 1997
Coachwork: Tomas
Chassis: International
Engine: T444e
Rated Cap: 54
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ErrabundusBus
Check out this guy's blog. He makes fun of the people who were trying to help him here.
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Laughable here.....Laugable there!
__________________
"...Baler twine tie downs goin' down the road
On two bald tires and an oversize load..."
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09-15-2015, 03:57 AM
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#116
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Moderator
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: NUNYA
Posts: 4,236
Year: 1995
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: 3800
Engine: DT408, AT545
Rated Cap: 23 500 gvw
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I see no benefit in allowing this thread to continue while everyone freaks out. If Zephod wants to ignore sound advice when it comes to something that can cause major bodily harm, it won't be in this thread.
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