|
See if it has a modern switch mode 12v supply/breaker panel - the giveaways are that the new switchers look basically like giant PC power supplies, sometimes without cases; the old linear ones invariably will have a big heavy transformer about the size of a sixpack. Strong recommend to update the panel; I ripped out our old poo poo and replaced with a 60 amp Progressive Dynamics charger/fuse block/120v breaker panel and i have not thought about it once over the past 20 months of 24/7 living except for when we run two heaters on one circuit and pop the breaker.
|
#
¿
Apr 10, 2016 08:18
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 16, 2024 22:20 |
|
|
Advent of switching power supplies was some time in the past five to ten years, that's why I say check first as even I couldn't say for sure what you have given the era. My '89 was a no-brainer Swap is simple, hook up your 12v line to the battery, all the 12v circuits to the fuse panel, then the 120 circuits to the breaker panel - mine came with a 4-bay breaker panel so we used 8 mini breakers, then done. BIggest annoyance is dealing with all the stiff copper 120 wiring.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 11, 2016 01:18
|
|
|
Uhaul vehicles and trailers are lowest-bidder dogshit garbage. I wouldn't be surprised if they were made out of pot metal sand-cast in some guy's back yard. They're not paying for the gas to move it, why should they make it light? There's a reason that 55mph sign shows up in your mirrors
|
|
#
¿
Jun 1, 2016 01:24
|
|
|
I think you're underestimating heating/cooling needs. That being said, investigate mini split HVAC units. They run off 120v, are roughly twice as efficient as the classic rooftop Coleman, and bonus! Because you're not installing them in a home that has to pass code, you don't have to hire an HVAC dude to do the trivial task of hooking up the two refrigerant lines.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 5, 2016 03:48
|
|
|
For a point of reference, we've done two winters in Colorado in an old rickety Class A now. The first year we had 1x 1500w heater and kind of died a bit, we had to run the gas during the worst cold snaps (48h of oh -10F to -15F; we chewed through a 20 lb propane bottle in 36 hours). This past winter we did a lot better, we had 2x1500w heaters and the winter was a bit milder and we never turned the gas on once. Basically the problem is that for extreme temperature excursions, you end up spending SHITLOADS of energy; milder climates and the spring/fall seasons you have almost no energy cost. So, uh, bank some heat money in September.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 5, 2016 21:20
|
|
|
Hausbus is 100% half inch pex and i can assure you it is tough as poo poo. All of our lines froze solid a couple times the first winter, no splitting or leaking.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 28, 2016 21:44
|
|
|
A-frames seem cool as poo poo, get one so we can look at all your sweet pics and be jealous. I wouldn't do a popup in Louisiana. 1: Rain, as you mentioned, 2: Uhhh they kind of have a meth-lab-in-the-woods rep, if you care about appearances. I really don't but thought i'd mention. depending on front profile a light camper will probably pull you down in the 16mpg range, just spitballing, with a v6? It's going to be working hard when you're accelerating/climbing; should be ok on the flats.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 29, 2016 03:31
|
|
|
Well, we made it over two years! The park has been slowly edging out the RV dwellers, and we're like one of the last five left. Rather than leave our fate up to their hands, we decided to get a little place for the winter, and found a cute little 500 square foot + 200 sf shed cottage in a very convenient part of Denver for a song. Tomorrow we get keys and start uh, i guess buying some Ikea furniture? Heh. We'd keep it up but it's time for a break. Wife wants unlimited hot water and a good heater. I want to play radio not cramped up in the front seat of the bus all the time. If it weren't for that and the park situation in denver (real estate bubble means mobile/rv parks are turning into mobile only parks, and mobile only parks are being bought and razed for apartment blocks) is DIRE. We simply can't find another long-term place within an hour of our jobs. Plan is to get outdoor storage for the bus, tarp it over the winter, when the snow starts to melt we'll shine it up a bit and then phase 2 starts - buying a few acres in the foothills to park Hausbus in her final resting spot and serve as our starter cabin. Holding out to make sure she has a good view.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 17, 2016 10:39
|
|
|
We ended up using a window a/c unit in the rear escape window as the overheads are too loud and burn out motor start caps, and we also just used ordinary boring electric space heaters for 90% of the winters. Mainly because power was included in the rent here, heh. #1 best $100 i spent on it was getting a Hott Rodz electric conversion kit for the gas water heater. Replaces the drain plug. STRONG recommend, made it easy to just leave the water heater on all the time. pulls ~400w, goes from winter near-frozen to piping hot in 3h and then can keep it there forever
|
|
#
¿
Oct 18, 2016 01:09
|
|
|
welcome to our new thread residents! Please remember to chock your wheels and we suggest if you are staying in the thread over winter to put up skirting, as it gets cold around here. Skoolies are fun as gently caress but you have to roughneck it. Most parks won't take any sort of DIY or conversion job. Which sucks, because if I ever got some weird inheritance windfall i'd _totally_ buy a miled-out accordion bus from RTD or something and turn it into an insane RV, the whole back section would be a big rear end bedroom suite
|
|
#
¿
Oct 18, 2016 19:04
|
|
|
It happens. Hausbus is an '89 so we are suffering from delamination pretty badly. It's such a solid chassis though, i mean, P30 with a 454, that'll go forever. I'm thinking of actually doing it right next year while she's in storage and pulling the side skins off and re-plying the inside this summer. It'd be a huge amount of work but I dont want to scrap this thing just because some idiot EPA poo poo 30 years ago.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 19, 2016 03:28
|
|
|
If i do all this, i'm going straight cowboy, ripping out the lovely Coleman roof a/c units, replacing with vents, and installing a two zone mini split. You seen the efficiency numbers on those things? Twice as good as the Coleman trash. You can get more BTUs than both a/c units together, with the power draw of one. That means no two-circuit poo poo. Plus, they're heat pumps too, so as long as it's not fuckoff arctic temps, you get heat in winter too. Oh and since it's not a dwelling that is bound by building code, you can self-install mini-splits legally in RVs! Was thinking of just tucking the exchanger underneath, back under the bedroom. Lots of wasted space back there. $700 or so from glorious China. I bet I could sell the colemans for $150 apiece to defray
|
|
#
¿
Oct 19, 2016 05:44
|
|
|
im seeing ones in the 10-12 range for decent prices. for comparison, standard coleman is around 8, so maybe it's not double - 50% increase or so. Still a huge jump and in the limited-current RV scenario, the benefits are manifold
|
|
#
¿
Oct 19, 2016 05:56
|
|
|
Hell yeah, nice. Right away I put new vent lids on and added the weatherproof vent covers over our bathroom vent, strong rec - lets you crack the vent 24/7 rain or shine, which helps in the shitter
|
|
#
¿
Oct 19, 2016 21:27
|
|
|
does this go in here or osha thread
|
|
#
¿
Oct 20, 2016 13:20
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 16, 2024 22:20 |
|
|
Time to (temporarily?) check out of the thread. We decided that Hausbus was too clapped out to keep living in without some big rehab (fuckin wall delamination) so we sold it to a homeless family for $1 currently living in a popup camper. Big step up for them, and a big monkey off my back. The Denver parks are closing left and right, some even being bulldozed for ~high density apartments~, so it was a dimming light anyways. And we found a great brick-and-mortar place to stay in for a year or two at a good price and location. If we get back in the game, it'll probably be on our own property and will definitely have slides. But really at that point we may go for a cabin and then have a small tow-behind for weekends down the mountain.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 17, 2017 23:26
|
|