Let the saga begin

[Kevin]

Hopefully a good cleaning will do the trick for you Jordan.

As I mentioned, I like the warmth of carpet under my bare footsies, particularly during winter months. Kathryn's answer to that is strategically placed throw rugs. I also think carpet helps to "quiet" the home... as in less echo-ey, etc.

I am somewhat amused but not at all surprised to hear of the radically differing viewpoints posted here regarding the subject because wifey and I have been arguing back and forth about it for the past 26 years! 

In our case, since we have lived in basically fully-carpeted homes for the course of our partnership, I have recently agreed to try the (in her opinion) "proper" method of flooring a home. Hardwood for sitting (living), den and dining rooms and tile for kitchen, bedrooms and bathrooms. Believe me, there will be plenty of throw rugs for Kev!

At any rate, please keep us all posted on your bus adventure! Keep practicing your shifting and, I'm guessing there's plenty o' room at the airport to set-up some cones  for practicing your sharp turns and back-up exercises, right? Enjoy, that's the main thing! You are somewhat of a unique Bus Nut due to your youth. I was about 37 when we bought ours. You will learn to love it. Trust me!

Cheers,
Kev

[jordansinthesky]

Kevin, thank you!  The whole carpet thing is getting a little out of hand if you ask me.  Maybe all these carpet people should start a new thread.  I honestly think a pro cleaning and the use of a decent vacuum and an air filter will keep me just fine.  I really don't want to replace the carpet unless I ABSOLUTELY have to, because I just don't see getting all the furniture out without removing the windshield.  I will have more updates on the bus as soon as I can, but am working insane hours right now.  Thanks for all your help folks.  Happy bussin'

[jordansinthesky]

Hey busnuts, sorry I haven't been keeping yall updated, but life is extremely busy down here.  My status is that I am moved into the bus with electrical and water hooked up.  My propane is currently off because it leaks and I need to find time to track the leak down and replace/seal the fittings.  All appliances are running good so far.  I did find a significant leak under the bathroom sink, and will just have to avoid use for now until I get it fixed.  Lot's of little things that need fixing, and I'm trying to not get stressed/freaked out by prioritizing.  I am planning a trip to a Cardinals game as soon as I get some time off.  I have a couple questions though:

1. What is the best/cheapest (not usually the same thing) to keep the tires on as I am going to be parked the majority of the time?  Do you recommend putting the bus on jacks and deflating/covering the tires to save them and the airbags?

2. The entrance door on the bus lets in LOTS of cold desert air at night.  It seems to have a nice newish seal on the door, but the door doesn't sit up against it.  I'll try and get pics/video.

3,4,5,6,7, and on to infinity coming soon!

[Tenor]

I found that window air conditioner foam from most hardware stores worked in the bottom of my mci 7.  It is about a 2 inch square foam.  Collapses nicely.  I used double sided tape to keep it in place.  For the sides, I just picked up some smaller household door seal that had adhesive on one side.  It worked great.

Glenn

[happycamperbrat]

Good question about the tires. I asked something like that awhile back and was told that it is best to keep them on the bus (covered to protect them from uvs) and use them. Apparently the chemicals in them dont do well sitting in storage. In my 6v92 manual it says a million things that I would have to do to the engine in order to get it ready for storage, so many that I just said What the Heck! Im instead using my bus and putting some mileage on it at least once a month.

[jordansinthesky]

Yeah, I plan on putting 50-100 miles on the bus in order to not have to store the engine/tires.  I was thinking of parking it on some 2x6's to keep the tires out of the dirt, but I want to make sure this is ok.  I have seen products for this, but seeing how i'm making <20k a year, I'm trying to be frugal...

[bevans6]

My personal scheme for parking the bus is to stop it, turn it off, and walk away...  Probably I should do more, but that's what I do.  If you are in the south, covering the tires and making sure they are aired up properly is probably all I would do, if you are going to run it from time to time.

Brian

[Dreamscape]

This is what I do. Cover the tires and park the bus on 2x6's to keep them off the ground, gravel is OK, dirt is not. I only did the back to level the coach. I bought my tire covers on eBay, bought and installed some grommets at the bottom corners using bungee cords to keep the wind from blowing them off. It gets windy here in West Texas.

Depending on your incoming water pressure, you might want to get a 35# water pressure regulator. Install that at the source to your hose. You can get this at WM even.


Have fun and find the time to fix the leaks!

[jordansinthesky]

2x6's it is, and I beat ya to the regulator issue.  Leak fix time tonight, got me my squirt bottle and some soapy water. 

[jordansinthesky]

Found the/a leak.  Luckily it is right at the connector from the flexible hose to the tank itself.  See pics.  Gonna try and get to town to get one tomorrow and hopefully will have hot water tomorrow night.  Still haven't showered in the bus yet.

[Charles in SC]

As to question 2, I always thought an inflatable door seal would be kind of kool. Some aircraft have these.

[jordansinthesky]

I have a new, serious problem.  It has to do with the inverter, but I'll start with the problem that I am electrically handicapped, and have almost no understanding of how this bus is set up.  I have a trace 2500 inverter that has the controller inside and is hooked to my bank of four 6v batteries (making 2 12 volt?).  When I am not plugged into shore power, and have the generator off, I get power to the outlets in the coach.  Does this mean that these are just hard wired to the batteries?  Now when I plug in shore power, my trace controller shows 'ac present' and I can run everything with the inverter off or on.  I figured I would run things with it off, keep track of my voltage, and just turn it on as needed to keep the batteries up. ( I am full timing remember).  Wellllll, yesterday morning I woke up to a red error light.  I went and looked at the inverter itself, and it said overload.  So I turned everything off in the bus, and checked.  It still said overload.  I turned the inverter off and went to work.  I get home, and it simply won't turn on now.  The manual says to press the power button twice to reset, but this doesn't work.  I still show 12 V. coming from my batteries, and AC power coming from shore, but the inverter won't turn on, and therefore I'm not getting power to anything.  Is there a way to skip the inverter and just have shore power run everything?   I am totally lost here and could use help.  I'm really hoping I don't need a new inverter, because I am low on $$.  If I do, what are some to look at?  I have a 30 amp coach with basically 2 12V house batteries.  Thanks for reading.

[Kevin]

Hey Jordan,

I too am about as clueless as can be regarding electrical stuff, but also have a Trace 2500 watt inverter and four 6 v (house) batteries in my GM '04.

When you say, "when I'm not plugged into shore power/generator off, I get power to the outlets in coach" I assume that you have manually switched on your inverter, yes? That is what I must do in order to get 110 v to electrical outlets.

Far as I know, when plugged into shore power, 110 v outlets are powered directly from shore power and the inverter simply functions as a battery charger for your (4) house batteries.

Someone who actually knows about this stuff will chime in soon enough... Sorry I can't be of more help, but I am curious and interested.

Kev

[eddiepotts]

Jordan, I would start a new topic on this. You have a good question that is going to get lost in this subject line. You may also get more people to read it that can help.

[NewbeeMC9]

A old guy once told to always park on pieces of wood to electrically isolate your tires from the ground.

He also liked the stuff from camping world that you coat your tires with. He would put 10 years on his without blowout or checking.  He would get knew ones if they checked.