Wednesday, August 28, 2013


BUSY MONTH


The past month has been a busy one, both with the Bus and recreationally.  The next system to install was water and sewage.  With over a hundred parts and pieces needed to complete the job, I decided to ask Barry and Marge if I could park the Bus at their hardware store and just pick parts from their inventory as needed.  They agreed.  

I drew up the layout for both the drain system and the water supply system.  The drain side is donemostly with standard PVC parts with a few Fernco rubber fittings thrown in to allow for vibration.  The supply side is done with PEX. Barry placed an order for items that they didn't usually carry - like the two  PEX manifolds, blue and red PEX line, cutting and crimping tools, and extra fittings that they don't usually stock.  The bus took up their overflow parking area and was twenty-five feet from the front door.  I pull a part I thought I needed, and if I installed it, I saved the package or price sticker in a cardboard box for tallying at the end of the day.  Overall I spent the better part of four days at the store. A bonus was that Marge and Barry invited me to sit with them for lunch in the back of the store.  Marge fixes great lunches!  When business was slow Barry would come out and help with the project, pointing out my mistakes and adding overall efficiencies to the system.  The only disadvantage to parking at the store was the tourists.  About five a day on average would ask to tour the Bus; resulting in a 10-30 minute break depending on their level of interest.  The finished product is pretty impressive, if I do say so.  Holding tanks, drains, supply manifolds and lines, drinking water filter, electric water heater, and city hookup all in a compact layout within the rear cargo bay.  Hookups include the water heater, toilet, bathroom vanity, kitchen sink, dishwasher, shower, and washing machine.  Drains include vanity, toilet, sewer vent, dishwasher, kitchen sink, washing machine, and drain lines for the two air conditioners.  

Ah, the two air conditioners.
 They are 110v mini-split air-to-air heat pumps.  I chose this setup for several reasons.  First, I didn't want anything on the roof.  We wanted the Bus to look like an original 4104, not like a motorhome.  The mini-splits place the compressors under the floor in a utility bay, while the evaporators are hung inside the Bus.  Second, being heat pumps, they both cool and heat.  They're very quiet compared to roof air.  In fact they are very quiet, period.  They're also very efficient with variable speed condenser motors that eliminate
heavy current draws on compressor start up.  A remote control operates both units and a setting of 72 degrees Auto resulted in a constant temperature in the Bus during mid 80's days and low 60's nights. They're supposed to keep things warm with temperatures as low as 20 degrees, but we hope we don't have to test that.  Once I got them installed I needed a pro to purge the lines and complete the hookup.  Wayne Neil did a great job and, after a few miss-starts getting adapters to fit the system, we turned them on and they worked flawlessly.











I took a break for a week and went with my two sons and daughter-in-law on a backpacking trip to Yellowstone.  We spent five nights in the backcountry of the southwest corner of Yellowstone. We had the rare experience of watching a wolf pair trot across the expanse of Bechler Meadows. They were huge, and we were in such awe and surprise, that we took no photos.  Lots of spectacular waterfalls.  Back from Yellowstone, Teri and I returned to the bus rally we had attended a year
ago in Clio, MI.  Renewed some old acquaintances and made some new ones. 

1 comment:

  1. Great story thank-you Gordie

    https://www.facebook.com/SmokedMeatBonnie

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