I shot this train moving deliberately in HDR to see what the final result might be. Sort of like going into the darkroom in the old days and not knowing until you see the image come up in the tray what it will look like. Want to try some more like this.
And, no, this has nothing to do with buses.
We were in Columbia over the weekend for a big party on the river. We took the bus to the Burr Oak Tree, the largest in Missouri for a photo shoot.
This was the first time the bus didn’t really seem so big to me…
More photos here.
The Blytheville (properly pronounced “Bly-vuhl”), Arkansas. Rally, also known as, “The Ghosts of Highway 61 Dixie Tour” was a great rally. Wendy has blogged about it, posted pics and I even took some amateur videos of the antique bus and greyhound parade (to be posted soon). We had a great time and set out for home on Sunday morning.
We decided to step it up a notch and take a different route home. AR 14 across northern Arkansas looked very interesting, but a tip from Scotty at the Ozark, MO Elks lodge pointed us at a less twisty road. On a motorcycle, that one would be heaven, but not so much in a 40 ft. bus. So I selected US 412/US 62 and set an overnight at said Elks Lodge. Sunday was a great drive and the road was plenty interesting enough! Lots of hills and twisties that gave our little DD 6V92 and Allison 4 speed auto a real workout. The bus ran like a champ and we arrived in Ozark, Missouri, a little before 5 pm. This had, to date, been the most relaxed and tension-free trip Wendy and I had taken yet. We were having a great time and the kitties seemed to fall into a familiar routine.
Monday morning we set off for Springfield, Missouri with plans to stop at the Colaw RV Salvage yard and look for furniture. We were getting low on fuel so Wendy scoped out a Flying J near Joplin that also had a dump station. Little did we know then how fortuitous a choice that would prove to be! Colaw’s had nothing that interested us, so we fired up the bus and headed west on I-44 for the Flying J.
Upon arrival, we pulled up to the truck pumps, shut it down and filled the tanks. We needed to dump our black/gray tank so I started it up and headed over to the dump station. We got parked next to the dump station and I shut it down again. However, when I got out to start the process, I noticed I’d stopped a little short and jumped back in to move the bus a little closer. That’s when the unexpected (and unwelcome) happened. I flipped the master switch, pressed the starter button and - SILENCE! Oh, darn, I said, (or something similar) those start batteries are low again. So I enlisted the aid of my 24 volt house batteries and again – SILENCE! Wendy picks it up immediately and wants to know what is going on? I wish I knew. I figured I must be overlooking something obvious, so I checked all the switches, settings, transmission, etc. and gave it another try. Still nothing. OK, let’s give it a try in back – still NADA.
Now we’d just started the engine less than five minutes ago and it fired right up. So, how is it possible that it won’t start now? We’re blocking the very popular dump station at one of the busiest Flying Js I’d ever seen and we’re dead in the water. A world of potentialities flashed through my mind and an unpleasant feeling settled into my belly – Oh no! We might not get home in time for the big game!
Oh well, I might as well dump the tank and take a moment to “SLOW DOWN.” By now, others are getting wise that we have a problem including a Flying J employee. I explained the problem and he immediately called his boss. A few minutes later he came over and suggested we walk over to the Wingfoot Service center and ask for help. Yes, there is a Wingfoot Truck Service and Tire Center at this Flying J. So Wendy heads over that direction to see if she can find a mechanic. I’m not one to sit around waiting for someone else to save my bacon so…
OK, it won’t start, where to begin? At the beginning. I pull out my multimeter and check the start batteries. They are good at nearly 25.7 volts or better. At the rear start panel, I can hear the engine stop opening and I’ve got good air pressure, but I hear nothing from the starter itself. I’ve got good voltage at the starter too. I check all the cables and they look good, clean (sort of), tight albeit a little aged. At this point I’m suspicious of the starter and when the Wingfoot mechanic arrives he immediately goes to the starter. No introductions, no questions, not a word from the guy.
Now, I know there is a simple way to short the starter/solenoid to test it, but right there and then – I just can’t remember which posts to jumper! The Wingfoot mechanic thinks he knows and immediately welds a steel rod across the hot lug and the frame of the bus. Sparks fly and he jumps back. Oh #$%^! He’s letting all the smoke out of my starter solenoid and soon the entire bus if I don’t do something! So I jump in front of him and kick the steel rod until it breaks loose. I’m sure the bus electrical system did not like that and I know my nervous system really didn’t need it either! Stupidly, I immediately inquire if he really is a mechanic! Yes, he assures me he is.
M and me contemplate.
OK, time to reboot, this is not going well. I walk away, cool off, and step back to the rear of the bus. Let’s try this again. The conversation goes something like this:
JDW: Hi, what’s your name? (as I fail to read the name tag on his shirt)
M: Matthew.
JDW: Hi Matthew, I’m Jim and I really appreciate you coming over here to help us. We shake hands. So, what do you think?
M: I suspect the starter.
JDW: That was my thought too. Is there a way to jumper it just to get the bus started? We could just head home and I could fix this tomorrow.
M: Is it a manual or automatic?
JDW: Auto.
M: No way that I know.
JDW: How about replacing the starter.
M: I’m pretty sure we don’t have a 24 volt starter. I’ll go back over to the shop and see what I can find.
Ok, I think I’ve got the rough edges smoothed over a little. He leaves and I’m not sure what to do. Wendy thinks it would be a good idea for me to eat something and, of course, she’s right. So I wolf down half a sandwich and get out the bus wiring charts to have a look at the start system schematic. I get that sinking feeling again, there are just too many possibilities and I’m have a little trouble focusing right now.
By now, Matthew has returned with his manager, Duane, and we try again to jumper the starter. This time, I suggest that we use my jumper cables rather than a steel rod or screwdriver and Duane concurs. Nothing happens – that’s good I guess considering what happened last time! That still points to the starter/solenoid as the problem. Now that I’ve got another set of hands, we check voltage at the solenoid with the start button depressed – 25.6 volts. Conclusion: we need a starter. Duane starts making calls and I ask Wendy to call a local NAPA store to see if they can help us.
Duane strikes out and doesn’t know of a shop in town that rebuilds these things. I think that odds are good there is one, but I have no idea how to find it. That’s when Wendy comes through and saves the day. NAPA can’t help us, but she is persistent and they give her the number for American Battery in Joplin, Missouri. So Wendy is on the phone with Greg at American Battery and I’m scrambling around trying to find the serial numbers he needs from the starter and engine. Yes! He thinks he can help us, but now it’s closing time. Now, Wendy picked up a lot of her Dad’s best qualities and he could charm the skin off a snake. She is still on the phone with Greg and after a few more words he decides he’ll stay open and wait until we can get there with the old starter.
Duane and I remove the starter and he takes me to town in his truck. Greg is waiting as promised, he pulls a starter off the shelf, makes few adjustments, I pay the man, THANK HIM profusely and Duane and I are quickly on our way back to the Flying J.
The new starter goes in.
Well, it turns out we did get home in time for the big game! Can you believe it? Serendipity, a positive attitude and good will seem to follow us wherever we go. We met some great folks, solved the problem and went on down the road. I guess I’d have to say we were lucky.
Now we all know that hindsight is always 20/20, so its a poor choice for strategizing when stuff happens. However, looking back I had some warnings from that starter and as our friend, Wayne Schell, said you need to pay attention because you won’t get many. Oh well, grist for the mill and another lesson learned at the SOHK.
Now THIS is a bus rally! The town of Blytheville has rolled out the red carpet for the buses and everybody we have met, from the Mayor and City Council members, to the people checking out the buses have been friendly, welcoming and amazingly hospitable.
We went to Graceland yesterday and actually, the best thing about the whole experience was the ride in a vintage seated bus. On the way there we rode in a 1960 Silverside GM Greyhound and on the way back in a 1948 Flxible. Graceland reminded me of a cruise ship; lots of slow moving lines and people. GAH!
I think Elvis is making more money now that he is dead than he did when he was alive. And that is saying something! I’m glad we went, but that is one thing we don’t have to do again. Photos on Flickr soon.
Today there was a parade of buses through the downtown. Jim took some video and we will post a You Tube link soon. Right now, we are busy showing people the bus, visiting with old and new friends and eating and drinking.
The depot at night.
It is raining today but that hasn’t stopped anybody from getting out and about and checking out the buses. The weather is supposed to improve, so Friday and Saturday will be stellar bus viewing days.
I posted a few photos to Flickr. Check ‘em out. More photos coming soon.
And if you aren’t already a subscriber, be sure to sign up for Bus Conversion Magazine; there will be lots of coverage and photos there soon.
We arrived in Blytheville after an unusually carefree and trouble-free and nervous-free trip. We stayed in West Plains, Missouri on our first night at the Elks Lodge. This was the second Elks Lodge we had stayed at since joining, but both experiences so far have been great.
We had the Elks parking lot to ourselves with 50 amp service and the first drink on the house because we are Elks. And the drinks were strong! Thanks, Nicole!
We left West Plains and wound through the hilly hillbilly part of Missouri and Arkansas where it seems the people have SO MUCH good stuff that their yards are overflowing. It seemed like lots of folks had Airstream Trailers that might be OK. Hey, they just need a little work. These are interspersed with many storage facilities. I guess, if you accumulate enough good stuff, you must have a place to keep it. Once your five acres are full, that is.
The hills and elevation kept it interesting driving and lots of good experience with downshifting and keeping the RPMs up. Jim actually commented that I was lucky and had the good, fun part of the driving in the hills, but I was glad to get out on the flat and run 65 MPH or so.
Once we arrived at the “staging area” for the positioning in Blytheville, we were shepherded, by Jim Shepard, who worked hard all day long to get the buses into the downtown. The town of Blytheville recently resurrected its Greyhound Bus Station, so the Rally is the way to kick off the event. We scored a sweet spot in the library parking lot which is just opposite the renovated bus station and within close walking distance to the local Mexican restaurant. So we filled up on margaritas and Mexican. So good.
The cats are doing so well, they didn’t even protest too much and today, the second day, when they broke out out of their carriers, they were much more relaxed and Tikita was so hungry! That was all she cared about! They are happy when the engine quits running. Actually, today, while we were in the staging area, and our start batteries were low, we ran the engine for a couple of hours to recharge the batteries and be ready to roll downtown. that was actually a really good acclimatization. By the time we were ready to move downtown, Astrid was just riding out in the open. Tikita just wants food, and Carmella is happy to look out the window when we stop.
The town of Blytheville is doing an incredible job of making all the buses not just welcome, but front and center, and we are just happy to be here.
We have about ten days until we leave for the Blytheville rally in Arkansas. This morning we have about a foot of snow on the ground…and on the bus.
I sure hope this is the last go-round on the winter weather! We have to un-winterize before we head out!
A nice snowy day of basketball and bacon.
If you get a chance to see Mac the Fire Guy do his presentation on RV Fire Safety, do it! He’s a great presenter, he knows his stuff and he is very entertaining.
Be prepared!
To be scared!
He’s also a great salesman – you will buy something from him.
We attended the Escapee RV Boot Camp back in September 2012 in Sedalia, MO. At the time, we planned to be full-time in our bus soon. RV Boot Camp is a 3 day seminar for soon-to-be or wannabe fulltime RV’ers. Some folks also attend as a refresher even if they’ve been on the road for years! There are great presentations on nearly every RV subject. One of the best was Mac’s ‘show’ which included a hands-on demonstration of the proper use of fire extinguishers, practice escapes and real FIRE!
One of the things we learned was that engine fires are a common cause of TRM (Total RV Meltdown). This is especially true in the Class A diesel pusher. Often, the RV passengers don’t know there’s a fire until someone in a passing vehicle starts honking and pointing!
So, I bought an automatic fire suppression system for my engine bay. I also bought a few fire extinguishers for the coach and retired those cheap ABC units we bought at Wal-Mart. See, I told you he was a good salesman.
Just btw, we also learned that many of those extinguishers that are touted as good for all types of fires are filled with a corrosive chemical that ruins the interior of your coach. So, even if you’re successful at fighting an RV fire, if you used one of those ABC types, you’ve just sprayed a highly corrosive chemical all over parts of your bus.
There is another type of extinguisher that uses a chemical that is safe to use and very effective. It works by chemically binding with the carbon atoms rendering the combustible non-flammable. I posted the url to Mac’s site above where you can read all about this new foam. (this not-so-subtle plug for Mac is totally unsolicited and I do not benefit in any way)
Mac demonstrates this in his seminars by standing in a pan filled with diesel and gasoline (that he has just extinguished with this “New Foam”) and tries to re-ignite the fuel with a safety flare! It doesn’t! Later, he sprays the stuff all over his face to show how safe and non-toxic it is. He called it New Foam, but I’m sure there is a more scientific term. If you know about these feel free to comment on the blog! I’m certainly no expert.
Here’s a shot of the kit: a tank of fire suppressant, two heat sensing spray nozzles, some stainless hose and fittings and a mounting clamp for the tank. The small extinguisher on the left will go in back of the LP/AC refrigerator – a lot of fires start there too!
Looking around the engine bay, I thought this spot just above and to the rear of the passenger side access door would be a good place for the tank.
So that’s where I put it!
Mac recommends spreading the two spray heads as widely as possible to cover as much of the engine bay as possible. So I mounted one towards the front of the bay on the passenger side. It’s nearly unobstructed as a totally unobstructed spot was not to be had. The stainless hoses are plenty long, so I had to curl one up and add some supports.
I placed the other nozzle towards the rear of the bay on the driver side, so I had some coverage over the transmission and the exhaust and turbo side of the engine. The material and workmanship is top-notch on these parts. I’m confident they can handle the harsh environment.
This is the best shot I could get of the final installation. You can see the hose for the driver side spray head snaking across the rear bulkhead. The tank can easily be inspected and the gauge keeps me posted on the tank pressure.
Up in the house, I moved the two ABC type extinguishers out to storage bays (use those on other peoples bus) and replaced them with the New Foam type. We have 3 of these small ones – 2 in the bedroom and 1 in the kitchen. I found these bottle holders for bicycles that are the perfect size!
I put a large new foam type extinguisher just inside the entry door aside the passenger perch.
We had been planning a run to Florida for the Arcadia Bus Rally in December. So, the pressure was on to get the generator completed in time for our intended departure around December 19. I think I got it complete sometime during the first week of December.
At the same time I was reworking my generator and bay, the hydraulic levelers decided to go south. Suddenly, one day the left rear cylinder would not retract! So, I set the generator project aside and called TS at Equalizer Systems. They were helpful (eventually) but it took several days to determine that one of the switches on the control panel had failed. Of course my entire system is obsolete and they don’t sell replacement parts unless you want to ‘upgrade’ to the latest generation – a very expensive option. Fortunately, I was able to find a used controller on the internet and quickly scooped it up. It was a different shape and had a different wiring harness, so I had to rewire the controller and remount it. After I got that done, the levelers worked fine and I could turn my attention back to the generator.
That little project set me back another week, so the schedule was getting very tight! I needed to get the genset up and running so I could do some PM on the bus and get it loaded. It takes a few days to get this thing ready for a trip. Well, it all worked out and we departed late morning on our planned day and a huge winter storm chased us halfway across the country. The day after we went through Little Rock, AR they got 10 inches of snow!
We’ve already posted several times about that trip, so I’ll just say that, on the whole, the trip to Florida went great! The MightyBus ran like a champ (albeit slowly – see Throttle Fiasco in a previous posting) and the generator got a workout as well. We had few if any issues until just a few days before we got home.
One night in Georgia, the lights went out – no sorry that’s a song. One night in Georgia, just before we were to retire to bed, Wendy and I both smelled sulphur. I’d been running the generator for several hours, but we just immediately assumed it was propane that we smelled. So, I shut the refrigerator down and closed the valves on the tanks. The next morning, I went to start the generator and – nothing. The start battery was dead? That’s weird, because the start batt is supposed to get charged while the generator runs. So I went into Wal-Mart, bought a set of jumper cables and jump started the generator. I also turned the propane back on to cook some breakfast and we immediately smelled propane again – or so we thought. I shut it all down again and breakfast was completed in the microwave. So, we just kept the propane shut down for the rest of the trip and I had to jump start the generator when I needed to run it. I’d look into it when I got home.
Fast forward a week or so and we’re back home and I finally have some time to look into these problems! I decide to start with the generator start battery and discover that it has swelled to twice its normal size!? Did it freeze after it went dead? So I take it up to my battery guys and they immediately recognize a cooked battery. “How did you cook that battery?” I had no idea, but warranty doesn’t cover that and I’m out another $90 for a start battery.
When I get back home, I hook up the new batt and fire up the generator – whoa!!! The generator charging system is putting out 17 volts! That explains the cooked battery and (as someone gently pointed out to me on the bus forum) cooked batteries can smell a lot like propane! Hmmm…
Now, the old generator charging system was a rectifier and a magneto so that came along with the little Kubota when I built the new generator. However, when I called TS they tell me that I can’t have both! One or the other but not both. Well, I know this is the way it was wired at the factory so I don’t know what to say about that. However, they were able to point out that there’s no adjustment and it either works or it doesn’t! So I either start replacing obsolete parts (if I can find them) or (as they said on Monty Python) do something completely different.
I decide that a dedicated charger wired into the generator output is the way to go so I head back to my battery store for a suitable charger. We find the perfect charger for the Optima battery and they even rewire it so I can plug it directly into my battery connection. Cool, now I just have to wire it in and I’m on the next problem. Not so fast! That new charger has ‘Start” button on it? What? That won’t work because I need a charger that requires no human intervention! So, I head for home empty-handed and decide to use an old 10 amp charger I have sitting in the shop.
It was a simple task to simply bypass the rectifier and magneto on the generator. So I add a breaker to my generator sub-panel and wire in a receptacle. In this shot you can see the charger, the receptacle and the 12 volt leads exiting my inverter bay. So, when the generator runs, the charger charges at an appropriate voltage and my battery should stay happy for a long time! Of course, nothing is ever simple and I notice that even though the charger is Off, there’s a small parasitic load on the battery for a stupid LED! I disconnect everything and give myself few days to think this over.
I probably could have solved this with a diode on the 12 volt lead, but I really don’t know much about diodes and besides I found the perfect little 120VAC relay at Grainger’s for $20. So, I open up the charger, wire the relay coil into the 120vac side and the contacts into the 12vdc side, close up the charger case and VOILA! Problem solved.
I start looking for a propane leak next. Except, there isn’t any leak! I mean I tried everything I could think of to run down a leak and found NADA! No leak. I even pressurized the entire system, shut the tank valves and let it sit for 24 hours. When I came back – I still had pressure in the system. So, at this point, I have to conclude there was no propane leak. That sulphurus smell was me overcharging the start battery on the generator. Moving on…
When I trashed the old generator control box, there was this nice hour meter in it. So I decided to use it for my new generator. I just cut the meter out of the box and using the same sheet metal screwed it to the roof of the gen. bay. The wires for it were already in the new control box so connecting it up was a cinch. I’ve got another one up in the house with the remote start.
I also noticed that the generator bay got super dirty on the Florida trip. Those air intake holes in the bottom of the bay are directly behind the right front steer tire. So a lot of road grit, water and dust got thrown up into my new generator bay. This will not do!
So I took some leftover plywood and build a couple of vent doors. I have included a few pictures of that project below.
The last little job was to add a couple of cutoff switches. I wanted to be able to disconnect the generator start battery so I used a Blue Sea cutoff switch I had lying around in the shop. Since I had two of these switches, I decided to also install a cutoff for the 12 volt power to my slide- out room and the hydraulic leveler systems. Here’s a quick shot of those two in the inverter bay.
So, the Mighty Bus is ready for its next big adventure! Where to I say?
One of the big problems with the old generator setup was the thoughtless way it was shoved into the bay. Sure, I could change the filters, but maintenance on the radiator, radiator hoses, fan belt, water pump, magneto, exhaust, etc. was impossible. It was also very clear that wholesale removal was going to require major surgery on the outside of the bus and the bay door. So, faced with just that situation, I decided I’d try to do better.
Originally, I wanted the generator on a slide-out tray, but even the lowest profile slides put the unit too high in the bay to clear my A/C lines and other hoses and wiring. That is, to the best of my ability to guesstimate. So I gave up that little convenience. As it turns out, a slide-out tray would actually be of little use as the exhaust, fuel lines, battery cables and other ‘umbilical’s’ would have to be removed before it can slide out anyway which is exactly the same situation I have now with my solution. Some have used the old A/C evaporator bay that is amidships behind this bay for a slide-out, but I had my house battery bank in there and I couldn’t retrofit a slide under the batteries.
I thought a better plan was to mount the generator, radiator, etc. on a single platform of ¾” plywood and then slide the entire unit into the bay. That way, I reasoned, if I ever need to pull it out I can get it all in one take. So that is how I proceeded.
First I cut a piece of plywood the exact dimensions of the bay opening. I figured if I can arrange all of the parts on that platform, it would surely all fit into the bay albeit very tightly. Almost!
Here’s a shot of the plywood platform with my louver at one end. In this shot I’m cutting the front opening for the air intake. The generator head will sit immediately above this hole.
This is another shot of the platform under construction. While it looks simple enough, figuring out where to place the components and cut the holes took many hours of drawing, measuring and simple trial and error.
Now the generator never actually overheated in its old configuration, but it always looked to me that proper ventilation was more like a ‘hope and a prayer’ than anything remotely scientific. The PO relied on a little four blade fan to cool the radiator and generator head! I wanted a bullet-proof design with a dedicated cooling fan to ensure adequate air movement – not just for the radiator, but the generator head as well. I have to Thank! Justin at Wrico International for his generosity of time and expertise. He coached me through my various options and helped me come up with a workable plan. The solution was to mount the radiator flat and attach a large squirrel cage fan atop.
The radiator sits directly on the louvered vent and I was able to use the original fan shroud as a platform for the electric fan. The radiator is cushioned in black foam extrusions and mounted such that the front corner is just an inch higher than the back corner. I figured this would make ‘burping’ the system easier. You can also see in this picture that it is a TIGHT fit to get the generator and the radiator on that plywood!
The old fan shroud made a perfect mount for the fan and here you can see I used simple aluminum angle for attachment.
Finally I’ve got something I think will work and in this shot I’ve mocked up the placement of most of the components. I’m ready to put it all back in the bay! Yeah! Notice that the generator is sitting flush at the right edge of my plywood platform? Oops!
The day has arrived and I’ve made arrangements with my friendly Kubota dealer. We load the new generator into the pickup and Wendy heads out for Louisburg, KS. I jump in the bus and off we go. I was really excited and anticipating that moment when a good plan all comes together!
Randy (right) and his crew get the genset out of the truck and we gently walk it over to the bus.
After months of hard work, countless hours of planning, measuring, drawing and research the moment has arrived! Oh #%$&, it doesn’t fit??? How is that possible? But I thought of everything! Not. Really, it would not fit. There was nothing to do but load it back into the truck and head for home. Back to the drawing board, as they say. I was disappointed and humiliated at such a major FAIL in front of these professionals. Randy, on the other hand, knew just what to say; “it’s just a minor setback, that’s all”.
It turns out, my mistake was simple enough – I wasn’t thinking in 3 dimensions! The generator feet were mounted flush to the front edge of my platform, but the head of the generator extended another inch beyond! So, the head was hitting the edge of the bay door and there was no way to ‘fudge’ it an inch.
Back at the shop and I’ve taken it all apart and moved the generator in inch
rearward towards the radiator. Now things are REALLY tight! In this shot you
can see I had to set the generator an inch back from the edge so the head will
just slip past the bay door frame.
A few days later and we’re back in Louisburg. A perfect fit!
This time installation goes without a hitch. Finally! Like I always say, “it’s good to have a plan, but I love it when a plan comes together!”
Since the exhaust header is on what is the ‘back’ of the engine, the exhaust pipe has to exit through the floor of the bay and in very close proximity of the back wall – all nicely covered in “Sound Down” insulation. So I found a company out east (InFab Refractories Inc.) that would custom make a heat blanket for the exhaust pipe.
In this shot I’m wrapping the exhaust pipe with the custom made heat blanket – complete with hook and loop closure and some stainless wire to keep it all together. After I get it wrapped and wired it gets bolted to the engine before I put the radiator and fan in place in the bay.
It took me a couple more days to get it all tucked away, but I think it came out very nicely. The fan is wired directly off the generator output (through a subpanel and breaker). When the generator runs, the fan runs and I’ve got a two-speed switch if the weather is cool. Best of all – It works!
Final installment coming up: Generator Redux – A Few Final Adjustments
