Freakishly Happy

Today I started by redoing some of the connections from yesterday of the battery bank.  I also put on some stabilizers.  I built a 3 channel 6/6/6 gauge wiring harness to carry power from port to starboard and drilled the holes and put it in.  A new fuse panel on the starboard side on our wall of panels hosts connections for the fridge, a power outlet and a distribution box.  The distribution box is located in the bathroom and can distribute to any switched low-watt DC stuff.  Currently it is connected to two new vents (removed our vent stacks and put on some nice powered vent caps).  All in all, a very productive day.

Tonight I updated our electrical system.  I added a couple more Deka 8A8D batteries (12V / 245 AH AGM) so now we have a total of four.  I also installed a DC breaker (I was using a fuse) in a nice housing and also installed an advanced DC monitoring system.  The DC monitor will work with the charger to more accurately charge the batteries, and also give us a better idea of how much amp hours we have remaining (not just by a voltage measurement.)  But the best part of the updated system is that we are now ready for solar.  All we need is some panels, a way to mount them, a combiner box (circuit breaker type thing) and a MPPT charger.  But don't worry, I think we'll wait until we're on the road for that, given what else we have to do.

Joni and I spent the day helping our friend Stuart put on a living history program for his elementary school.  We taught kids woodworking in the year 1861.  They were able to drill holes, saw and hammer and we made some nice boxes for carrying things, all using hand tools of the era.

With the updated electrical system and some other odds and ends in place, here is the updated list:

1. Water Plumbing
   1. Install Water Tanks
      1. The tanks have been ordered and are on the way.
      2. Design cage: Measure the tanks precisely and design a metal cage to hang them from.
      3. Buy or acquire metal for the cage.
      4. Weld cage
      5. Add tank heater (Need to order)
      6. Add tank level sensor
      7. Insulate Tank.
      8. Mount cage to bus
      9. Install outside plumbing access points (ordered)
      10. Install lines to tanks
      11. Install heaters on lines (Need to order)
      12. Insulate lines
      13. Mount tank inside cage
      14. Fill and test
   2. Install Tank Gauge
      1. Mount Gauge on Interior Wall
      2. Wire 12VDC to Interior for Gauge
      3. Wire Sensors from Tanks to Gauge
      4. Wire Heaters from Tanks to Gauge
   3. Donate old water barrel to Ryan's Liquor Enterprises
2. Kitchen
   1. Upper Cabinets
      1. Finish window sill
      2. Finish window trim
      3. Install upper shelving (need to buy lumber)
      4. Install 12VDC to range hood
      5. Cut hole for range hood outside vent
      6. Mount range hood
   2. Lower Cabinets
      1. Finish Bay Drawers
         1. Design drawers
         2. Acquire Lumber
         3. Build Drawers (plane, chop, join edges, biscuit & glue, sand, wax & oil)
         4. Mount Drawers
      2. Face Drawers
         1. Match wood, join wood, cut, edge, plane, mount
      3. Drawer locking component (to hold drawers shut while driving)
      4. Contact paper drawer bottoms.
   3. Refrigerator
      1. Run 12VDC wiring to refrigerator
3. Living Room
   1. Finish window trim (including sills)
   2. Install Library Shelf
   3. Install automotive wiring channel
4. Cockpit and Entrance
   1. TV and Media Cabinet
      1. Design & Acquire wood and parts
      2. Build
      3. Wire
      4. Mount
      5. Trim and Face
   2. Install handrail
   3. Refinish metal flooring plates
   4. Rivet metal flooring plates in place
   5. Design & Install slate fencing
   6. Design & Install slate
   7. Rework front door
      1. Install and shape hole and bar guides for easier close
5. Sink
   1. Install Electrical for Counter
   2. Window sills and trim
   3. Shelf
   4. Install Water Purifier
   5. Install Sink Brackets and Holders (plumbing)
6. Port Closet & Starboard Closet
   1. Build Drawers (plane, chop, join edges, biscuit & glue, cut, sand, wax & oil...)
   2. Install Drawers
   3. Contact drawer bottoms
   4. Face Drawers
   5. Install Electrical
7. Toilet Closet (TC)
   1. Window sills and trim
   2. Shelving
   3. Lighting
   4. New Ventilation System (ordered)
   5. Wiring for new vents / current 12VDC vents
8. Bath
   1. Window sill and trim
   2. Towel hooks
9. Propane System
   1. Bracket all piping (secure for travel)
   2. Replace appliance hoses with RV safe (vibration safe) hoses. (ordered)
   3. Mount gauge on tank and wire to interior wall
   4. Rewire emergency shutoff / detection system to different interior wall
10. Exterior
    1. Design and order under body storage bays. (Have quote request out there)
    2. Install storage bays / organize storage
    3. Paint Bus
       1. Preparation
          1. De-Goo
          2. De-Silicone
          3. Power Wash
          4. Mineral Wash
          5. Tape
       2. Prime
          1. Roll on
          2. Wet sand down
          3. Repeat
       3. Paint and Top Coat can be done on the road...
    4. Door for propane access (currently a hole) [Measurements are 18" wide x 11" tall]
    5. Design Bicycle Storage...?
11. Obligations
    1. Clean Shed
       1. Unpack Boxes
       2. Give firewood away
       3. Recycle metal and extra parts lying around

Hello All,

This past weekend I spent a day bringing the site back to life.  All of the software that runs the site is patched and up to date (security holes...), all of the previous spam is hopefully removed and the spammers banned, and all of the previous posts that had failing images are fixed.  If you find any spam or anything that is broken, please let me know so I can get it removed and/or fixed.

In most of the previous posts, the image was stored in the wrong location and it was as easy as moving its reference.  However, In a few of the previous posts, the actual post had to be edited to fix the link to the image.  For these posts, they may show up as unread and if you have a registered user, you may have to read them again if you follow "Unread / Updated" block on the upper right.

After our last post (a year and a half ago) we spent some time in Thailand and Japan, followed by wintering in Vermont in an apartment.  2009 was a year of agriculture (farming / canning / gleaning / fermenting / etc...), and we moved back into the bus in June of that year.  It is now new the end of May 2010, and we are working hard at getting the bus (2.0) put together for traveling this year.

A lot of people here and in Iowa have been asking when we are going to be driving again, so I thought I'd revive the site as a means of communicating what we are working on and how close we feel we are to leaving.  We want to be in Iowa on the 28th of June for a wonderful friend of ours and her wedding.  If we feel the bus isn't ready by then, we'll take a car out.

As for what happened over the past year and a half.  There may be some updates for those but it's hard to play catch up when you're so busy, so for now, just plan on receiving new updates / new information and we'll hopefully fill some of the holes as we go along.