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Converting emergency hatch for AC
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AC frame welded in
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Eagle
buses (indeed all public buses have emergency exit hatches. I had decided to
install roof air conditioning unit (as opposed to basement type AC) and had a
real design problem. Eagles have a center rib in the roof that is very hard to
work with. We debated long and hard about using the emergency hatch opening,
but decided it would be the best option. I had to reduce the opening to 14 X 14
inches. I cut back the roof skin to the roof reinforcing ribs. I then welded
in square tubing to reduce the opening to the desired size.
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Inverter and bulkhead
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Breaker box and transfer switch
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In each
of the three bays under the passenger area, I installed plywood bulkheads. In
order to do this, I welded tabs to the existing frames and then bolted the
plywood to the tabs.
In the
left picture you can see the Trace 2512 full wave inverter mounted along with
the 400 amp breaker for the battery feed to the inverter. This inverter
furnishes 120 volt power to the motorhome from a bank of batteries. When the
bus has 120 volt power available (either shore power or generator), it then
becomes a very powerful and sophisticated battery charger for the supply
batteries.
In the
picture on the left, the main breaker box is installed as well as the transfer
switch. The transfer switch controls the switching from shore power to
generator so that the switch is made cleanly with no chance of mixing the two
sources.
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Opening for gen. radiator
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Gen. radiator intake and deflector
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August 2002.
I started working on the generator
and radiator boxes. Shown in the photos above are a couple of photos of the front bay and
the opening that was cut for the intake to the radiator box. The shape of the
opening was dictated by the front bay frame geometry. Because the opening is
exposed to wheel debris, I welded in deflectors to keep most of the material out
of the radiator box.
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Kool Seal on the roof
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December 2002. In
late December I spent quite a bit of time working on the single piece front door
and filling/sealing the roof for the air conditioners. I used Kool Seal material
to seal roof. I also removed the right side destination marker and filled it in
with sheet aluminum. Also I continued work on Generator box. Shown
in the photo is a scaffold that I built. It was first mounted on the top
of my Jeep Scrambler to help me build my shop (21 feet at the peak). I
then converted it to use while working on the side and roof of the bus.
2003. Up to
this point in the documentation, I have been logging the work as I got a chance.
Well, a whole year has gone by and I have not done any updating. So, we
will just jump into a discussion of some of the major projects that have been
accomplished in 2003.
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Generator compartment
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Remote generator radiator
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Remote generator housing.
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Earlier on this project site, you can see the preparation
work for the generator housing and remote generator inlet (in the front
bulkhead). In the pictures above, you can see the generator sitting in the
fabricated compartment without the front cover. The housing has two layers
of plywood separated by 1/8 inch lead sheet. Inside the housing is covered
with noise reduction material from Wrico. The unit has rather low noise
output. The small squirrel cage fan in the right side of the left photo
delivers air to the generator and also cools down the compartment through
outlets in the floor.
The remote radiator has a large squirrel cage fan that runs whenever the
generator is operating. It is large enough that it draws about 10 amps at
120 volts, and
really moves the air. The air is drawn in through the bulk head opening
(shone earlier) and dumps out the bottom of the bay through a louvered opening
that directs the air to the rear. The radiator housing is designed such
that air cannot bypass the radiator. It seems to do an excellent job of
keeping the water temperature down.
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Stripping paint
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After paint has been removed from siding
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One of the major changes to the exterior was
removing the white paint from the beautiful aluminum shiplap siding. In my
mind this siding is what give the Eagle its classic look. For
some reason the Houston Metro fleet ordered their Eagles with the aluminum
painted. I used aircraft paint stripper and a high pressure washer.
It took several coats, but the end result is pretty darn good as witnessed by
the photo on the left.
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Updated bay wiring
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Interior electircal panels
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Partially completed high voltage box
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The bay wiring has really grown complex. In
the photo at the left, the main breaker panel is in the center of the photo.
The transfer switch is in the upper right and the main breaker for the 50 amp
service cord is in the lower right. The junction box to the left of the breaker
is wired between the input power from the transfer switch and the input to the
breaker box. It is used to hook ammeters for each leg of the service in
series with the lines. The ammeters measure the load on each leg of the
240 volt service to permit monitoring the balance of the system when the
generator is supplying the power. The breaker box to the left of the
junction box is the "main" breaker for service from the inverter to breaker panel
for the inverter fed circuits (located
in the interior of the bus). As you can see, I really fell in love with
"smurf" tubing for protection of the wire cables (I also used it to
protect some fuel lines as well). I used stranded "marine"
wire (Coast Guard approved) for both the 120 and 12 volt circuits. I still
have to secure all of the smurf tubing.
In the middle photo, the low and high
voltage panels are shown. Each service has it's own box in order to keep
the low and high voltage wiring separate. The box behind the low voltage
panel is a commercial unit while the box for the high voltage panel is custom
made in order to fit in the space available (right photo). The high voltage (120 volt) panel is for all of
the circuits supplied by the inverter. Both the low and high voltage
system use marine type breakers. The gages on the high voltage panel
(upper) are three sets of ammeters and volt meters. Two of the sets of gages
measure the total system loads, while the third set measures the current and
voltage of the inverter loads. The low voltage (12 volt) panel contains
the controls for various systems such as generator start/run/hour meter,
inverter controller, tank monitors, Aqua Hot, and interior lights (mostly 12
volt).
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Insulated exhaust maniford
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The engine compartment was lined with ultra-high
temperature resistant material. The bottom of the bed support was lined
with the same material and covered with sheet steel. In addition, a significant
part of the exhaust system (including the exhaust manifolds were wrapped with a
"wet blanket" form of the same material. The insulation material was then
covered with a special high temperature foil material to protect it. This
insulation process was done for two reasons. First of all, it would
greatly retard penetration of fire into the bus if an engine fire was
encountered. Secondly, it greatly reduces the heat radiated into the
bedroom of the bus.
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Bottom of aux. fuel tank
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Aux. fuel tank and water tanks
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Water tanks and plumbing
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I decided to have a separate fuel tank for the generator and
Aqua-Hot heating system. This would assure that I would not run the main
(engine) tank low on fuel and would also allow me to better monitor fuel usage
for the various components. The tank is made of 1/8 inch steel plate.
It is TIG welded on the outside and MIG welded on the inside to assure good
filleting on the inside for strength. It also has baffles weld in to
minimize fuel slosh. It holds 40 gallons of diesel fuel.
The fuel tank is shown mounted in the rear bay behind the water tanks.
For
the water/gray/black water tanks, I bought rotomolded polyethylene tanks. I got
them from:
http://www.ardemco.com. I recently went to their website, and was
disappointed. I thought they would list the hundreds of sizes available, but
they don't seem to have that information. They advertise in BC magazine and I
would recommend you support them if they have what you want.
Ardemco has two levels of the tanks. I chose the thick wall. They will put
fittings anywhere you would like them (I had extras installed and was glad that
I did).
For my Eagle, I got the following tanks (they fit very nicely and give me a
very good balance of weight vs length of boondocking):
Fresh water: B300, 135 gallon, 76 X 28 X 16
Gray water: B204, 95 gallon, 76 X 27 X 11.5
Black water: B299, 85 gallon, 76 X 28 X 10
These tanks cost a bit over $1000 in 2001. A bit costly, but they fit so
nicely and I got product that was designed for the application (and proven in
thousands of applications).
We can go for well over a week with these tanks while using normal RV usage.
The passenger side view (middle photo) of the water/gray/black
tanks shows the dump connection of the gray and black tanks. This
connection is designed such that the gray water floods the black tank after it
has been drained. This helps clean out the black tank. The driver side view of the tanks shows the drains for both the
gray and black tank. In practice the gray tank drain will not be used,
because of the process described in the previous paragraph.
The photo in the right also shows the Manabloc
plumbing manifold. This system puts each water outlet (both hot and cold)
on it's own valve and line.
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This is not good!!
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Engine and Voith transmission
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New radiator and repaired shroud
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In July and August of 2003, I really put in a lot
of time on the bus getting it ready for our annual trip to Bonneville Speed
Week. Part of the effort involved a trip to Denver to have the State
Patrol inspect the bus to confirm that it qualified to be re-titled as a
motorhome. A second trip to Denver was required to get the emission test
done (full dynamometer test with a requirement for 20% opacity). During that
trip I also had new aluminum wheels and tires installed on the front.
Everything was going well until just before I got home.
The Voith transmission electronic control system
failed. This was at least the third time I had problems with the
electronic system. The Voith is a strong transmission, but it is no longer
made and the electronics are very complex and almost impossible to trouble
shoot. I had been worried about the transmission and had planned to change
it some day. Well that day came sooner than later. That very large
tow truck had no problem towing the bus, but it was sure embarrassing since all
of the neighbors were outside when I came home behind the hook.
The middle photo shows the engine transmission
cart that I built to remove the drive train. I ordered an Allison
HT740 transmission. It was the typical transmission used in these busses.
It has a manual control an is almost bullet proof. I chose not to rebuild
it, as the supplier assured me that it is a good working unit - I sure hope so,
since pulling the engine/transmission is no fun.
While I had the engine out, I thought I would
have the radiator rodded. Well, that was wishful thinking. The fins
were loose on the tubes and the technology was a bit outdated. I now have
a new radiator and a receipt for over $2,000! I had had some cooling
problems pulling the hills around the house, so that should go away. When
I pulled the very large radiator (over 200 pounds I would guess), I found that
the shroud was in pretty bad shape. I fiberglassed the shroud to repair
and reinforce it. I also replace the belts that drive the fan.
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