A Side Project

I try to do little side projects to help earn my keep here while we wait for the bus conversion to conclude. When I first got here, I reinstalled the pump timer that I had first put in two years ago. The well pump had been replaced and the timer never hooked back up so I rewired the pump circuit to put the timer back to use. Otherwise someone had to go out to the pumphouse and turn on the water on and off twice a day. It's easy to forget the times involved and the timer takes the guesswork out of it.

After I had built the solar array for the bus, I had one solar panel left over. I proposed that it could be used to power a ventilation fan for the tack shed. Everybody liked the idea so hunted about for a suitable fan. I looked in the local flea market on Saturday but they didn't have a single fan, much less one I could use. I wound up going to AutoZone and buying an electric radiator fan. It fit perfectly for the space I had to work with so I cut a hole in the roof of the storage container and mounted the fan.

 Some time ago, a roof ventilator had been found on the side of the road, brand new in the box. It's one of those roundish whirly things that vents by the action of the breeze. I mounted that on the outside of the hole in the roof. That way any breeze would act to vent the enclosure when the sun wasn't out.

I mounted the solar panel on its old frame and mounted it on the roof, running the wiring through an existing hole in the side of the container. The output from a single panel is close enough to the power requirements of the fan that I didn't need to add a controller to the circuit. It works like a charm and significantly reduces the temperature inside the container. There's an inlet hole in the side of the container that is always in the shade to draw in cooler air.

I went down to the bus last night to start the wiring. I had gone into town earlier in the day and gotten the batteries and other bits that I would need. For batteries I went to BatteriesPlus and got two Trojan 6 volt deep cycle golf cart batteries. They will be wired in series to get 12 volts and will be charged by both the solar panels and the engine alternator when we're under way. The alternator is a 265 amp oil cooled model. It looks as big as a five horse motor.

I managed to get the refrigerator all wired and we tested the electrical parts of it to make sure that was good. I also wired up a couple of fused distribution panels and a charging center for each end of the living space. They each have cigarette lighter sockets and USB ports so that we can power and charge our laptops and phones on the trip. I still have to install the batteries and the isolation solenoid and mount and connect the solar parts, both panels and controller.

Most of the windows have curtains now. The bunks are about done and a stove has been found. Work on plumbing, both gas and water is continuing. I'll do more wiring when the plumbing gets a little more wrapped up. We're doing womething different for hot water. We have an on-demand, propane fired water heater that is portable and will be deployed when hot water is desired. It will be stored in a lower bay while under way and then retrieved and hung on the outside of the bus and plumbed into the water circuit when we want to shower. Otherwise, only cold water will be supplied to each of the faucets. It's certainly a different approach and if it doesn't work as planned, we will have enough plumbing supplies along to make changes on the road.