Birdie

[fo4imtippin]

Nice sturdy looking solar panel rails.

Let me know how the power charging goes with panels on opposite angles though cause if they all aren't on the same angle you can have issues.

If you are doing it like that I'd create 2 banks, a right side and a left side bank because only one side at a time will be peak solar power creation at a time with the way you have it laid out. If they are on the same bank and one side is lower, it will lower the other side even in direct sunlight down to the lowest generating cell.

If you separate the sides, then you won't have that problem.

Just how it works.

Currently, they are wired 4 (each side in series) and then paralleled before the mppt. As long as the strings are even, they shouldn't loose much effiency. Obviously 8 panels tilted at the same angle directly toward the sun would be the most efficient. If one string is generating more than the other, they are brought to the average volts and amps from each side. So far, i have gotten 1680 peak watts out of the south facing string (which is higher than 1480 theorical peak. Although they are bifacial panels, theres nothing but shade below them. Either they are more efficient than their rating or i still get some bifacial gain. They typically chug along at about 1400w from 11am to about 4pm, but consistently see peaks over 1500w. This will all change with the sun position and eventually the bus orientation, but very happy with it. I haven't plugged in the currently north facing array to see how poor the performance of that will be in its parking spot. For mobile solar its always a trade off as flat facing panels will almost never be in an ideal position for direct sunlight. They will basically self average but can be in one large string. My method will always have one set of panels or possibly both facing a bad direction. I could also be parked under trees. Luckily my bus has been running offgrid on one string in the sun and running A/C and all my construction loads fine. With no solar, my battery will last 2 days and i have a diesel generator to charge if needed. The nicest thing about the the tilt i have is that they are always clean and don't pool up dirt on them.

 

[nikitis]

Sounds like you wired it right then. Just making sure because so many people do it like you but keep them on the same bank and it causes a huge drop. North panels should be the same if it's a 3rd bank.

you should update your profile pic to the new look of your bus. It's like night and day difference.

 

[fo4imtippin]

TV Mount Bedroom

I had an extra 27in 4k monitor, so i bought a mount and put it above the back bed. It locks to the wall so it wont swing around on during erratic driving.

 

[fo4imtippin]

Seatbelts on Bench seat

I have 4 seatbelts bolted to the seat chari rails. They loop up and can be stowed behind the couch back, otherwise they fall in the crack of the cushions. I have kept 2 out for the kiddos.

 

[fo4imtippin]

Macerator Outlet

I have a macerator pump for my black tank and another for my grey tank. They are permenently plumbed to the tanks and output to a 15ft dump hose. I also have tank sprayers and and a hose cleanout fitting that will wash the hose down when im done. Its a 1in garden hose and i can extend it with any garden hose i want ruined with poop.This all lives in the second battery bay on my bus just above the gray and next to the black tank.

 

[fo4imtippin]

Finished water plumbing

I used more fittings for this tiny bus than i used plumbing an entire house recently. So many elbows and tees needed to keep things tidy and in their raceways.


I have all the water after the pump or the shore hookup going through a 3 stage filter system of 5 micron CTO, .5 micron Coconut, Argonide NanoCeram filter. The water coming out of the tap should be very clean now. Additionally, i have an RO system for drinking water with a UV stage to blast any bacteria that gets through the RO membrane. This system should be able to filter pond water or nasty well water if it comes to it. All of this is run to a marine 11gallon water heater with an electric element and coolant heat exchanger. It keeps water hot without power for at least 24 hours. It seems to be a good system matched with my solar. When i add my generator and diesel coolant heater, ill be able to have unlimited hot water. I added a relay to control the 120v power to my water heater with a 12v switch. I wanted to be able to turn it off without having to crawl under the bed to unplug it or hit a breaker.


One of the hardest parts of the plumbing was that all of this sits right over the flat wheel wells. I had to snake some water inlets, overflows and drains to fit without exposing the openings to flinging rocks and water from the weels. I found some little nooks on the backside of the mudflaps to route most of this through.

 

[fo4imtippin]

Fridge Bracket and Bed fit

I bought a fridge that runs its coils just under the skin on the perimeter of the fridge, so its not safe to drill any new holes. I took the top covers of the hinge mounts and made a bracket to go back and bolt to the hat channels. In addition, the fridge is squeezed between the countertop and the bed frame. I added a removable trim piece to catch anything from falling between the fridge and bed frame all the way to floor.

Bed is a queen, but the shower side is 2inches short on width for a queen, i bought an 8in foam mattress and was willing to cut it down, but it stuffed really well without cutting. There is an access panel at the foot of the bed that i can get to my water tank plumbing and water pump. On top of that we stacked our clothes like a huge dresser drawer. All my clothes fit and my wife's piled a bit higher than the top of the mattress.

 

[nikitis]

Nice to see some updates to your build! Bed area looks clean.

 

[fo4imtippin]

Showers and Toilets

Originally i didnt want a wet bath, but through lack of other options i ended up with one. After having used it, its not as bad as i thought. Worst part is my kids dirty feeting getting the shower floor dirty while using the toilet, but i fixed that with an extra rug.


I used Polywall panels on the side and furred them out beyond the flange by putting zip sheathing underneath them. Every joint was sealed with lexel before adding another layer. On the final surface, everything got caulked with Sashco CleanSeal Active Enzyme. I haven't used it before, but its a water based caulk meant for showers that is supposed to be more mold resistant than silicone. One of the great things about the shower door is that the shower dries really fast with all the airflow it gets.


I ran my pex lines through the wire chase to a surface mount valve and the shower head is mounted to the wall with a hose. I thought showering would be uncomfortable with my height, but it really wasn't that bad.

I added a nautilus retractable shower door. Works awesome, there's about a 1/2in gap at the top to allow fresh air to get sucked in when the exhaust fan is running.

Outdoor shower. I made this so i can stand on the wheelchair lift mesh to stay out of the mud while im showering. Can also stand on the ground. I may make a shower curtain with a hula hoop or something to provide some privacy in the future. I did use it in a very public spot in campground and worked great in swim trunks.

 

[fo4imtippin]

Nice to see some updates to your build! Bed area looks clean.

Thanks. I had to turn on the afterburners to get it "finished" for my first trip, so i didn't have a ton of time for my day job or posting updates here.. Haha.

 

[fo4imtippin]

Stowable Top Bunk

So i ended up with 18ft of camper space. I didn't want to have a convertible dinette and i wanted every bed to fit an adult tall male. All beds are the standard 80". I also wanted to be able to sit on the couch while underway. The bunk bed stows and deploys in about 30 seconds. It holds extra bedding and pillows from the bottom bunk while it is up. Side note, we bought a king size foam 6 in mattress for $120 for all three cushions shown here and cut them to size. The bunk is 30x80.

I bought some stainless bolt latches and some stainless rectangle tube and fastened two tracks to the hat channel to hold its heights. I used 3/16 cable on pulleys to hold the outside up. back before the ceiling, i made square tube brackets to hold the pulleys between the hat channels. There is a block on the bathroom wall and a fixed length cable on driver seat corner. There is no flex or movement with the bed. I have tested 300lb without deflection. The cable hooks to some bolts on the backside of the frame to hold the unit up during driving.

My son only rolled off once during our first trip out. I did leave some holes to add some safety clips between the cable and frame, but we just decided to brave gravity again..

 

[fo4imtippin]

Gear Wall

I have made a sizeable investment in the Rigid Pro Gear stuff. Its real nice because i have left it outside in the boat, on trailers or just on the ground and it stays dry and has a lock hasp. I put power tools in one, bolts, screws and hardware in one, dirt bike parts, etc. I had an old pelican toolbox that i stacked on top of the rigid drawers that is full of my impact sockets, cordless impact, wrenches, pliers, etc. I keep a smaller set of tools in the interior junk drawer for quick things.

The drawers are all anchored to the wall and the lift top toolboxes have on strap from floor to ceiling. I added two of the L tracks right and left for floor anchor points.


Bikes all fit, but we plan to replace the beach cruisers with some folding electric bikes. It would make it a bit easier to stow them. On top of the bikes i set the inflatable kayaks.

I even had a place on the walls for extra extension cords, climbing gear, chainsaws axes, etc. My hiking gear hangs on some loops i put on the rear door.



Not the permanent spot, but tied the kayaks and paddleboards to the passenger side of the roof rack where the other 4 solar panels will go soon.

 

[fo4imtippin]

90% conversion weight

I haven't weighed the bus since the trip home with it. I have full fuel tank and 211 gallons of freshwater aboard. I haven't added any cargo, bikes or dirtbikes. My guess was that i would be at 25k based on my measurements of steel and wood that added to the interior.

Original Weight

Steer Axle: 8,940lb
Drive Axle: 8,720lb
Total: 17,660lb


Post Conversion Weight
Steer Axle: 8,500lb

Drive Axle: 16,220lb
Total: 24,720lb


Difference: 7,060lb


Thoughts:
So i obviously added a lot of steel behind the rear axle. About 2000lb is directly attributed to the large amount of fresh water aboard. I dont see a reason to travel with this much when i have campgrounds or abundant water sources. Probably just 50gallons or so enough to flush the toilets or take a shower.


I was a bit disappointed with the lost peppiness after the conversion. Still fine enough for an RV, but before when i weighed 17k, it would launch past cars at stoplights and accelerate up bridges and stuff keeping up with cars. Now its a bit more sluggish to get up to speed. It does cruise on the interstate about the same as before (but with 6th unlocked a bit quieter and faster). I got 12mpg on the way home from Arizona and now got 11mpg on my first 1000mile trip to the mountains and back. Not horrible for the additional weight.


My ISB is 225HP flashed ECU. I was going to leave it detuned to keep it safe, but now i'm thinking ill drop rv275 injectors, add egt gauge, add boost fooler to the turbo and flash an RV tune to give me more options on the hills.




Heavy things i still have to add in the rest of the build.


4 more 40lb solar panels and brackets (200lb)
1 dirt bike (300lb)
1 42 gallon aux diesel tank (350lb)
1 Diesel generator and toolbox (300lb)




It drives really smooth and it actually seems to take wind from passing semis better with the extra weight. The 3 inch lift and solar panels made it a bit more squirrely in the wind. The front axle handles bumps really well, so i think my shocks and springs are all good and happy that i didnt change that weight much. I have a new steering gear on the shelf to help with wandering and an alignment may help since i lifted everything. At some point when these tires age out, ill upgrade to 10r or 11r from low pros.

 

[fo4imtippin]

First Trip: Mission Accomplished

Obviously no ones bus is 100% done. I booked some campgrounds to get a finish-line to get my bus usable so i could stop making excuses why it cant leave the driveway. I did most of the standard interior conversion from June to October.
I didn't want to book something too elaborate or far away. The bus hasn't been driven more than 50 miles in 2 years so i really wanted to test out the bus part before going too far. Our destination was North Georgia where there is pretty mountains, waterfalls, and within a one day drive. My sister went with us and drove behind us for a car to drive around the area we visited. Hurricane Helene made me reconsider the trip as our state parks were closed until 2 days before our trip. I also didn't want to drain local resources supporting us if they were needed for recovery efforts. I called around before our trip and our area was lightly impacted and back to business. No power outage or supply issues in our camping areas. While we were already gone, they announced Hurricane Milton was going to hit all of Florida, luckily i feared this, and trimmed up our trees and put away all of my yard junk before we left. Luckily Milton wasn't as strong as they forcasted and it shifted south. We didn't end up with any impact to our house while we were gone.



Pretrip testing: I made all the critical features work within 24 hours of leaving. For the week up until leaving, i drove the bus around town on errands to just work kinks out. The only issue i had was a leaky flare fitting from when i ran new PTFE fuel lines. Tightened it up and hosed off the wet stuff below it and no more issues. Also got me used to driving it again and adjusting to the deck extension.


Driving there: I couldn't get our first campground on the day we left and hadn't planned to drive 7 hours straight through, we were going to cracker barrel it or try to book something half way. While we were at our first pit stop at Palmetto State Arms Savannah, there were a ton of lineman trucks there getting their fix on their way home. We discovered there were some cancellations at our state park and they had a few spots open, so we booked them and drove all the way to our first state park. It was amazing the damage that Hurricane Helene did between Savannah, Augusta, and Athens Georgia. There was about 200 miles of power out 10 days after the hurricane. We saw nice houses with 500 oak trees lining their front pastures that were entirely tipped over and ripped out of the soil. Like a 200 mile wide tornado. All the stoplights were converted to 4 way stops since there was no power. Powerlines were all over the road. I hadnt seen any of this on the news and would have gone a different way if i had known. It was my sons birthday, so my wife decorated his couch and we ate ice cream cake in the bus at our stops!

First Spot: Tallulah Gorge State Park
Cost: $40 per night
Notable activities:

1. Gorge Floor Hike
2. Bike ride on rail trail

Second Spot: Moccasin Creek State Park
Cost: $40 per night
Notable Activities:
1. Paddleboard in Lake
2. Hemlock Falls Hike
3. Helen Georgia and Mountain Coaster
4. Trout Fish Hatchery tour

Third Spot: Lake Chatuge Campground
Cost: $30 per night
Notable Activities:
1. Kayak out to island to fish and explore
2. Introduce kids to kickball
3. Gather and split firewood with family
4. 3yr old daughter unicorn rides
5. Drive up bell mountain
6. Golden Eagle Falconry on top of Brasstown Bald

Fourth Spot: Durhamtown Off Road Resort
Cost: $30 per night

This was an added day when i found out everyone had work school off Monday. We were going to hit it on the way up, but didnt want to be near the chemical plant explosion that recently happened. We split the drive home into 3 hours Sunday and 5 hours Monday afternoon. We squeezed in a bit of dirtbiking on Monday morning. I have never been here, but it was huge and we couldve ridden for days and not been bored. We pretty much had all 6000acres to ourselves. My son and i havent ridden outside of acreages before and he did great. I rented a bike since mine was left at home.

Driving Home:
After a full trip i was exhausted and had to crank some music to get me home. Power was still out to some areas we drove up through. I think they aren't getting the usual FEMA money to pay other lineman to help out disaster zones, so the local utilities are working as fast as they can on their own. I did have to stop about an hour from home to repair the plastic skid plate on my sisters car that was flapping in the wind.


What failed or went wrong:
It wouldn't be a camping trip without something breaking. My door latch would sometimes tweak on bumps and the door would pop open, so it got fixed with a ratchet strap to the handle until i got home. And my 12v rv water pump failed on night 5. Luckily i had an extra, so i changed that out and started using shore water inlet. I'm conflicted on whether i should use shore inlet or suck from my tanks. All in all, pretty uneventful as murphy goes.


Post trip:

The family had rave reviews and everyone was comfortable. They wanted to book the next trip ASAP while on the way home. We thought it would be a bit more squished, but everyone had the proper amount of space, even with the third adult sharing with us.
I'm assuming its not just me, but my skoolie is a tourist attraction. When i fuel up or stop for groceries or stay in a campground, everyone is coming by asking for tours and talks my ear off about it. Currently, I'm excited to showcase my work, but i have a feeling it may wear off. Now that its usable, ill have to stay motivated to finish the last 10%, but finally happy my family is able to enjoy it. For now, i have about a week of things to finish on the bus, then i have to catch up on some stuff around the house that i have neglected the last couple months. Then ill be back with a few more projects on the bus.

 

[Kentucky Dreaming]

Thanx for the cool post, dude!!

I love the north Georgia/west North Carolina area. Glad y'all had a good time. Feel for folks in the areas affected by Helene and Milton.

You are doing a tremendous job with Birdie and I'm glad to see that the family is enjoying the fruits of your labor.

Keep the updates coming.

 

[nikitis]

I knew I liked your building tastes.

Out of all the branded tools that exist, the Rigid toolset is the one for me. I got one of their very first battery powered drills, that sucker has built sooo much stuff for me and should be dead but it keeps on kicking. I'm highly impressed with them. My ryobi stuff only lasts half as long. I also like that the first generation batteries still work on the latest generation stuff. I still have an 8 year old battery that still charges fully from them.

The only issue I have with Rigid is sometimes they don't make an item you want. They make less tool types but the tool types they make last forever.

As far as you saying a bus is never done. IMO once you've got that outside paint on, and all the inside rooms are there and functional (Maybe not with all amenities) and you take your first trip, that's a good point to say, version 1 is complete.

You've made a trip now and will know better what needs to be built and upgraded next having used it in a real world experience, and version 2 is now in planning stages.

So what do you have in store for version 2 of your bus build?

 

[fo4imtippin]

Jekyll Island for Christmas

Im trying to log a post for each noticeable project or trip. I'm a bit behind as i had a lot to catch up on after the bus was livable. After our October trip, we spent a few days about 2 hours away at Jekyll Island Georgia. They decorate the whole island and they have good bike trails. The grandparents were visiting and they got a hotel close by.

 

[fo4imtippin]

Spring Break Trip
We were able to plan a combo, forest hiking/dirt biking, and a beach trip.
We went to Blackwater State Forest where we had beautiful weather. Each day we hiked in the morning and then dirtbiked in the afternoon. I also added a folding hitch rack to stretch the tail of the bus even longer. I typically carry this folded, but when i need to haul firewood or dirty stuff, i can just lay it down.

We then went to Fort Pickens in Pensacola.

Our first day was real nice warm weather and everyone loved the view of Pensacola bay from the bus windshield. Then it got cold. Didnt keep the kids out of the ocean.. We went to the Naval Air Museum on oneof the colder days. I had been here as a kid and its still awesome.

 

[fo4imtippin]

First Real Test of buslife. 30day trip.
First, i did have to bust my butt in June, to reinstall the factory engine driven Air Conditioner. I was not about to drive 3000 miles across the south in July with a 12k mini split as my only A/C. That took way longer than expected, but finally did get it all finalized a few days before the trip. We had never traveled this long and everyone was doubtful that they wouldnt be homesick. I did plan the trip a few vacations which made it go fast and not just be boondocking in a forest the whole time.

Secondly, i wanted to weigh in the bus fully loaded with all tools, extra parts, dirt bikes, kayaks and people aboard. Holy moly, i filled this short bus to the brim. After being close to my max weight, i bumped the rear tires from 90 psi to 110psi.
Steer Axle= 7880
Drive Axle= 20300
Gross= 28180

 

[fo4imtippin]

Arkansas Vacation
I don't know that i have ever stepped foot in Arkansas before this trip. I have driven through it and been close many times, but didnt really know how beautiful it is until watching a few travel videos on Youtube. We have always been into hiking and biking, but recently got into dirt biking and kayaking. We had our sights on the Buffalo National River and Ozark National Forest.

Mobile, AL
The trip started out and we were either going to spend the night in Montgomery or drive West further to mobile. We love military history so we decided to see the USS Alabama, a WW2 South Dakota class battleship. We stayed the first night at Meaher State Park. The trip started off with a bang overnight. For some reason i hooked the bus up to water bypassing my tank and didnt bother with the pressure regulator. Well overnight, the PSI must have risen above 100 or enough to blow out the orings on my 3 stage water filters. I woke up to a hiss sound and realized that under my bed was being showered with water. Luckily my one piece floor is somewhat of a showerpan and we were slightly tilted backwards, so while it was a mess, the water mostly drained through the fuel tank access hatch. I emptied the contents of the garage and under the bed and started drying out the matress. After a few hours of lost sleep, we still made it the battleship in the morning.

El Dorado, AR
After the battleship we headed north. The rainstorms were crazy. we were all presoaked as it poured on us during our battleship tour. All our shoes were soaked, bus was damp from the flood the night before and all the towels hanging in the shower and raincoats were all being used. I say this coming from Florida, i had never felt humidity like i did that day in Mississippi. In retrospec, i wouldnt go this route again. Missisippi wasnt bad, but Louisiana had the most horrendus roads. It was pretty funny hitting the Arkansas border and how much nicer they got. We spent our first night at a rest area (not on an interstate) and had some idling diesels nearby. It was perfect as i had to run my generator for the first time as we had crazy power needs and a whole day of thunderstorms. In the morning, we got free coffee and bathrooms and got to look around travel brochures for the area in Arkansas we were going to.
Hot Springs, AR
This was the first checkbox on our 48 state national park bus map. Kids had a great time in the creek next to our campsite. We hiked over the mountain to bathhouse row where we toured some bathrooms that are somehow a national park.

Highway 7, AR
This was some of the most testy driving i have ever done. Never have i had to plan my momentum so perfectly. The grades arent like colorado where they are so long, but they are so steep and narrow. I needed speed to roll up them, but too fast and i would lose control. At one point, i was fearing i was stuck in a halfpipe, but its amazing what the bus can roll up in low gears. I always feel like the leader of the parade when i have a line of cars behind me.
Long Pool Ozark National Forest, AR
This campground was awesome! $10 per night with electric and water. Most of the spots were open. They didnt take reservations and you pay in an envelope. I was curious how it would go since it was 4th of July weekend and theres little to no info online. We unloaded dirt bikes and i went on a 3 hour tour to "find the trailhead". Since i wasnt planning on riding the trails i wore my hiking boots. I ended up catching my boot lace on the footpegs while putting a foot down and i fell on the gravel road and thought i broke my hip. I got up and rode back to camp with a missing footpeg as a broke it in the fall. Luckily, i woke up the next day to minimal pain and other than not being able to sleep on my side, it didnt prevent me from doing anything the whole trip. God is good.
The next day was the 4th of July. The Big Piney River is usually too low by mid june to float or canoe. We were blessed with a long season. We took our inflatable kayaks about 7 miles down the river. We had to drag them a bit more than i wouldve liked and we had to paddle fast to make our shuttle, but i enjoyed the serene river with my son. It was very cool and surrounded by cliffs. The outfitter closed their shuttles the next day for the season as the river got too low. We then went dirtbiking in the afternoon. The next day, i had a cousin and uncle who i havent seen in 15 years come join us for riding. We had a blast. The last day Jonah and I put over 50 miles on our bikes and some of it was pretty hard enduro. We got stuck and exhausted and by the time we got back out to the main trail, we decided not to turn back, but keep going further as it was too much fun.