BCM Community
Bus Discussion => Bus Topics ( click here for quick start! ) => Topic started by: Dreamscape on June 07, 2008, 06:50:44 AM
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Ladies and Gentleman,
After reading all the posts regarding generator exhaust fumes, I thought I should plan for one on ours. Before I get to the paint stage I was wondering what kind of bracket you installed on your coach for securing the upright pipe. Also what kind of piping did you use, single or double wall? Mine dumps on the driver side, in front of the drivers. I'm sure it must be pretty simple, just need ideas please. Pics would be nice too. ;)
Thanks,
Paul
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Hey Paul,
I was looking at the same subject not long ago. The ones I saw that I like, had a small easy to move brace above the baggage compartment. Some used wire, or small chain. I may have photo to send you. However, they are on my puter, with is on the otherside of the bay and I want have it till Monday.
I'm sure someone will reply that actually has one by then.
Bill
Tampa Bay
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Thanks Bill,
Monday is fine, I'm just bored sitting in a motel room in Phoenix AZ anyway. ;)
Gives me too much time to think of what I want to do on Dreamscape. ;D
Hope all is well with you guys,
Paul
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Paul I made a small tripod that sits on the ground right where the elbow comes off the generator pipe. it folds up pretty neat when not in use and holds the up-pipe stationary. This way there are no brackets, chains, bolts, etc. protruding from the side of the coach.
Also in my case, I usually set it up before the bus has gone completely down. If you make the legs of the tripod where are sort of springy, it kind of makes it self adjusting! This works good on pavement or the ground, but usually on pavement I have full hookups and no generator!
I bought the stack which is really a mast from Radio Shack and it comes in 3 sections. I use two of them to get above the roof line. These also store in the bay very easy when taken apart!
BS
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Paul, the way mine is made(my generator is in the front bay) I come straight out have a long radius 90 bend run it down the side of the coach for 12 ft like the side pipes on hot rods.When I need it I undo 2 clamps swing it up I and have a bracket under the bus to hold it straight up and some chrome wire mesh that attaches to pipe with wing nuts so no one will get a burn.Advantage is it takes no storage space and easy to setup. the key is to get the 90 where it turn easy but not to much play.Any muffler shop can do this for you.Its under the bus as you know not where you can not see it anywhere expect the exhaust tip one other thing I use Victaulic coupling to make my brackets no nuts or bolts to worry with
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NOW! You come to Phoenix....LOL Couldn't come while I was there...... :o
Anyway, the stacks I like, were always cool to the touch... I know I took photos.
Bill
Tampa Bay
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Yea Bill every time he comes to Phoenix I am leaving no one comes to AZ in Jun,Jul, and Aug
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Paul,
Where are you in Phoenix?
Bill
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Staying at Holiday Inn Express on University Dr.
One more question, can I run the exhaust in the same pipe with the exhaust from the Pro Heat?
Thanks to all for the comments so far. Good ideas everyone!
My exhaust currently runs from the front bay drivers side back to the drive axel, dropping down and out.
I have no control over where I go, most people avoid this area in the summer, don't blame them. It's gonna be another hot one. :'(
Paul
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Paul,
If you have free time, go up and checkout Lake Pleasant. It's about 10-15 miles North of Phoenix. Look it up on the mapquest.
Go to the marina, have lunch.
Bill
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Bill, which end of the Lake is it?
Nevermind...........Road Trip........Thanks
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Paul,
17 North to 74, go left, about 10 miles look for the signs to the marina. I took the bus up there for the weekend once. Was nice. The floating marian has room for 600 boats.
Road trip,
Bill
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Paul who may or may not want to see it but the WALL is in Payson this weekend about 1 1/2 hrs from you
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Clifford, Not sure what the WALL is? Thought you were going to Texas today. Plans change?
Bill, Drove to the Marina, the restaurant is closed to the public, private only. Bummer. So I went and had a burger at some Western place that was on the way back. Oh well, nice drive. Lots of boats heading up there.
Only 99 today........But it's a dry heat, right? ;)
Paul
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The WALL is the VietNam War Memorial (traveling replica of the memorial in DC). We saw it in Springfield, IL in May. Very moving when you see the names of school mates & friends.
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I got to spend a little time in Phoenix. Whenever I had the opportunity I went out to the Salt River for a little tubing. Take LOTS of sunscreen. If not you can do the same lobster man imitation I did. If you spend a lot of time there, invest in a round cooler and rent the extra tube for it, sure it nice to have a cold beverage whilst enjoying the view.
Frank
http://www.saltrivertubing.com/
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SR, Thanks but No Thanks on the Salt River. I plan on staying white.
The Wall, OK now I understand. I bet I have some buddies from my stint in the Army on there.
Thanks Guys for some ideas. I lived here about 16 years ago and frankly just didn't like it here. The place sure has changed.
Now how about those generator stack ideas?
Paul
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I thought a big reason to use the larger pipe with the air hole is to prevent excessive backpressure on the generator?
I like the idea of a long muffler pipe as it would be easier to make and attach. My main concern would be folks burning themselves on it.
I really need something as I don't want to kill someone when boondocking at rocket launches with large groups of RVs and tents. My travel trailer had a gas generator built in and a tenter set up next to me on the gnerator side. I warned them about the generator mainly because of the noise, but they set up anyhow. I never thought about the CO back then.
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My generator exhaust terminates just in front of the drive axle on the driver's side (under the back of the rear baggage compartment). I made my vertical stack by adding a 2' length of exhaust tubing to a 90 degree exhaust sweep. The sweep fits over the generator exhaust on the bus. I took a length of 3" PVC pipe and centered the 2' section of exhaust tubing inside one end of the PVC using screws through the PVC (2 sets of 3 screws spaced 120 degrees apart, one near bottom of the PVC pipe and one set near the top of the section of exhaust tubing). The PVC pipe is long enough to extend above the top of the bus several inches. I added a bracket near the top of the PVC pipe to hook on the drip rail. To make it easier to store, I cut the PVC Pipe in half and added a standard PVC connector.
With the larger diameter of the PVC, the hot exhaust gases going up the pipe (heated gas rises) tends to pull cooler air in at the bottom. This cooler air does 2 things, it helps dilute the concentration of the exhaust gases and keeps the PVC pipe cool. The hottest spot on the PVC pipe is where the 2' section terminates. I have never seen this spot hotter than 104 degrees (checked with a laser temp gun) Walking by, I usually grab the pipe at this hottest spot to check temps. It has never been hot enough that I could not keep my hand on it. Jack
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Jack,
I like your idea a lot. Sounds simple but effective, and sure beats the higher retail price for what accomplishes the same thing.
Can you do me a favor and post a pic showing the exhaust sweep with the PVC connection and also maybe a pic of the upper hook on the drip rail?
Thanks,
Paul
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I have been using two sections of aluminum gutter with an elbow on one end. The advantage is that there is virtually no weight to it, and it comes apart easily for storage, and when together it is over the roof line.
I anchor it to the bus with one small piece of angle attached to the gutter and one hole drilled into the body of the bus at the belt line that I tapped for a 1/4 X 20 bolt. Right now, the lower end just sits over the exhaust from the generator, but I will be adding another bracket lower on the gutter to keep it suspended so it does not touch the generator exhaust, that way it will not resonate as much noise through the gutter. But even now with the gutter sitting directly on the exhaust pipe the noise is not very loud.
Like jack said, it stays cool because it is over sized compared to the generator exhaust it helps to keep it cool because while while the exhaust is heading up the pipe it is drawing cool air in at the bottom along with it keeping the temp. down.
Jim
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Paul,
Here is the sweep in the bottom of the PVC pipe and the upper bracket that attaches to the drip rail. I made the bracket from a couple small scraps of aluminum angle and a couple buck rivets. It is attached to the PVC pipe wth a hose clamp. This allows use to adjust the bracket to allow use on someone else's bus which has been done a time or two. Jack
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Paul,
Here are a couple more photos of the stack. One shows the stack in the storage rack in the center baggage compartment and the other shows in in place on the generator exhaust. Jack
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Jack, what did you use to center the exhaust pipe inside the PVC pipe?
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I used 6 #14 SS Sheet metal screws through the PVC pipe with the tips of the screws against the short piece of exhaust tubing. 2 sets of 3 screws, one near the bottom of the PVC pipe and one near the top of the piece of exhaust tubing. Each set of 3 screws are space 120 degrees apart. Jack
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Jack,
Thank You so much for providing the pics. That is a big help.
Good job and very simple.
Now I have a much better idea to fabricate my own.
Paul
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I just got my camera out and took these pistures of the way some one did mine. Any you can see the tail lights I have just got installed for a test fit and to get an inspection so I can move it around some.
If you look you will see how they made it in 3 pieces and they fit in the bottom of the bus very well they even have thier own case to travel in.
Sorry I lost my power when I started posting this post
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Jack,
Just to confirm, the 2" pipe only extends a short ways into the PVC pipe, the rest of the distance is just plain PVC. What size is your genereator? Mine is a 13k. I'm trying to assess how much heat I'm dealing with. Sometime ago I talked with Dick Wright about this and he was very concerned about the heat issue, stating that the exhuast gas temp would be close to 400 as it leaves the generator. I do have a muffler, and about 5 feet of 2' pipe before it would go into the vertical stack, so it could get some cooling before going up.
I am wanting to install a permanent stack inside the bus. Using something much like yours, but one that is permanently installed and using just 3" PVC would make that process a lot easier for me.
I suppose that doing this I am concerned about leaks, and the possibiility of getting carbon monoxide inside the coach, but thats what being careful as well as using a detector is for.
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Jim,
The section of exhaust tubing that attaches to the sweep on the vertical stack is about 24" long. The rest of the PVC pipe is open. Our 10 KW/ 3 cylinder Kubota powered generator is located in the OEM AC condensor compartment behind the front wheel on the drivers side. The 2" exhaust pipe runs under the bus to the rear of the rear baggage compartment where a 90 degree sweep attaches to a small automotive muffler. The chrome exhaust tip that sitcks out from under the bus is attached to the outlet of the muffler. Jack
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Paul, For what it is worth here is my story! I built a system very similar to Jacks after asking for this same information a few years ago. We have an Onan 10 KW, the exhaust is about 1 1/2" diameter and the PVC pipe used is 3" schedule 40. The first time we used it was in Albuquerque (alt. 5000" +), very warm day and probably had the water heater and two air conditioners running simultaniously. The PVC became soft and did bend some after running for a while. I have tried it after that with only 1 air conditioner and not much else running, it did not get soft at that time. We have not had the need to use it often so the results are limited to these few times. Hope this helps, Denis
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Thank You Everyone for the replies. They will be most helpful when I design ours.
We have an older 15 kw Onan. I know it will not get used all the time but I also know we will use it on occasion. The first thing I will do is fire the ole gal up and let her run for a while and use my temp gun and measure the temp at the exhaust outlet. This will help me determine what kind of piping to use.
Y'all have given me much to consider and all good ideas.
I have a much better understanding on what I should look for and how to do it.
Paul
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Paul,
If I remember correctly, the temp of the metal sweep on the bottom of the stack reached about 130-140. Jack
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Thanks Jack for the added information.
I will be in Orlando starting Sunday for a week then onto Europe to install a robot. So it will be awhile before I can check it out.
I'll post results when I do the test.
Thanks again,
Paul
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I threw a temporary one together out of stuff I had laying around my workshop and it worked so well I never changed it. I used an EMT seal tight connector on the exhaust pipe and a 90 degree 1 1/2" EMT pipe into it. I had a 5’ and a 3’ section of double wall 4" exhaust vent pipe (the type for gas hot water heater I believe) that can be assembled/disassembled by sliding the locking rings up and down. I just used a hose clamp to attach a hook to one of the pipes and added some padding to it to dampen any vibration that might get transmitted from the pipe. My stack simply hangs from the rain gutter loosely over the 90. I wrapped the tip of the 90 with exhaust wrap to dampen any vibration that might get transmitted to the stack. The entire thing goes up in less than 30 sec. It works beyond any of my initial expectations and because it is double walled, does not get hot.
Just another way,
Laryn
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Two more:
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Hi Laryn,
Geeez, I hadn't thought of using EMT. That is another great idea.
Good job! Us busnuts are a resourceful group, aren't we! ;)
Great pics too.
Paul
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I sort of followed the lead I found here:
http://www.rvsupplywarehouse.com/product/detail.cfm/pid/2865
Difference is that I used 4" fiberglass pipe for the stack - 2 pieces that screw together. Everything else is common parts from the hardware giant, including the 2" long bend piece of galvanlize conduit for the bottom.
tg
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How expensive is fiberglass pipe for this application?
I buy fiberglass tubing for my rocketry hobby and 4" costs $20 a foot. The tolerances for the rocket tubing are certainly much higher than for plumbing pipe.
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I couldn't begin to know where one could find it elsewhere but I lucked out. While I still lived in Anchorage I found a supplier that had some salvage pieces that had been rejected by a sewer contractor. I bought a 20' stick that had been damaged in the center part but had a good hub on one end and a good male thread on the other. $60 and they even cut it to give me the two end pieces at about 4-1/2 feet each.
tg
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I have some 3" shop exhaust hose that I used a plumbing reducer to fit over the exhaust pipe to vent the generator when I would ran it in a warehouse it was once stored in. I thought that I would just use the same hose by hoisting it up the side of the bus when I needed it. Is that too low class?