somewhereinusa

I just finished and installed a mirror/makeup cabinet for mumsywumsy. It features dimable LED lights using a hall effect switch to turn on the lights. It is also hinged since it's pretty close to the wall in driving position. It's really hard to get a decent picture because of all the mirrors so, here's a video. mirror_cabinet.mp4

Having had various brands of battery operated tools only to have the battery made of unobtanium when it needed to be replaces. I have pretty much switched to DeWalt 20V. I've had good luck so far and don't have to buy a complete kit every time. Their chainsaw is awesome.

The hydraulic one is $3700, electric is $3000. I don't think that includes the custom built part that attaches to the car. It weighs 128 lbs. And you still need an auxiliary brake system. Looks like you could easily exceed 1000 lbs hitch weight. Front wheel drive or 4 wheel drive with lockout only. I don't see any pluses.

I love my Shaper Origin. I occasionally need a printed circuit board for some project or other. In the past I have etched them with acid. Messy and time consuming. I would draw the picture, print it with a printer, heat transfer that onto the board then dunk it in the acid solution which would eat the copper layer off. Then I would have to very carefully drill all of the holes. With the SO I still have to draw it up. There was a bit of trial and error before I figured out cut settings. The last one, the top one in the above picture, took about ten minutes. This method puts the holes exactly in the right places. Accuracy is exceptional for a hand held tool. That board is less than an inch tall. This is a few of the mistakes, as you can see I can even cut the piece out.

I'm having fun with it. The speaker grill on the first page of this post was done with it. I love working with walnut. The speaker grill started as a log in a back field. The wood for that one I sawed into a piece small enough to fit in my band saw with my chainsaw. I had to make a sled that would carry an 8 ft log to cut it into boards. The wood I have now was cut into boards for free at a local steam show. I got a lot of good wood out of what was left after the timber buyer got what they want. When did I ever have time to work for a living. 😎 As a cross country truck driver one year I only slept in the bed at home 39 nights.

Playing with walnut and my Shaper Origin. Bad weather is starting to set in so I'm spending more time in the shop. I just finished some new LED light fixtures. This is 43" long. Detail of fixture. Bracket detail. Next project is a makeup mirror/station cabinet for DW out of walnut. D ick

Richard great looking coach, I like the older ones that were converted and hardly used. I'm in Genoa City doing event photography 3 or for times during the summer.

Well, some of my things are really inefficient. I bought the boiler and pumps new off of ebay for a VERY good price. But, they are 24V so I have to take 120VAC from the inverter and convert that to 24VDC for the heat. I don't know about 3/8 I've not seen the aluminum panels for that size. I used the aluminum in as many places I could get it. There are a few cold spots on the floor they are where there is no aluminum. The flooring is 3/4 plywood with a plastic coating on each side. Floor is warm in below 0° temps. The pex is laid into 2 inch styrofoam insulation and 3/4 plywood on top of that. I'm only 5' 8" and mumsywumsy is shorter, I still have plenty of headroom. I've seen discussion of cooling that way before. Seems condensation might be a problem and may be more trouble to build for the cooling gained. I have mini split AC for that. Works quite well.

I drove cross country semi for 20 years. Only the last few years did I have a "truckers" gps and they are grossly wrong. I tried 3 different brands and all have their problems. If you stick to interstates , unless clearly marked, all underpasses are at least 13 ft 6 in. We hauled specialized and regularly went into residential neighborhoods. Don't obsess over it and PAY ATTENTION, most but not all places that are under 13' 6" are clearly marked. I've been in more places that I had to back out of because I couldn't make a turn than any low clearance problem. D ick

In response to a private message about my heat, I'll answer here in case anyone else might like to see. Since no one told me I couldn't do it this way. My boiler, hot water heater and 2 manifolds are 3/4 inch. The manifolds, supply/return are 1/2 inch out. There is a pump in each of the four heat loops that are controlled by the thermostats. All of the loops are1/2 pex. I routed the traces into 2 inch styrofoam, I think, on 3 1/2 inch centers. The spec for 1/2 pex calls for 4 inch but, I cheated a little. The pex is laying in the aluminum plates and the 3/4 floor is directly on top of that. The flooring is something I found in one of the RV surplus stores, 3/4 inch with some sort of plastic coating on both sides. I earlier posted a picture of the piping. Here is after the floor was down. In process of laying the tubing. The manifolds, zone water pumps and relays. This is the Espar boiler, green box on left. The system is built basically like a automotive cooling system with a tank, gray box in center and a catch can. With overflow, that could have been much smaller. The marine water heater is behind the boiler. This compartment is above the engine in the rear. Since I had no idea how well, or if any of this would work. I also put a automotive type heater with blower in each zone. The driver compartment uses the original bus heater core as well as two smaller ones blowing on me. I am quite comfy down to about 10°. I haven't tested it any colder while driving. At below 0° sitting still, from a cold start I can get it nice and warm in about an hour at witch time I turn off all of the blowers and the floor will maintain. D ick

I'm not sure what you are asking. I'm not totally sure about how an Aqua Hot is plumbed but, I can't imagine that it heats domestic water without a heat exchanger to separate the "cabin heat" water from the domestic water. This valve goes in the domestic water just before the point where the water is to come out. I built my own hydronic in floor heat. Here is a simplified diagram. There are actually 3 separate "water" systems. The engine antifreeze, poison; the heating antifreeze, not poison; and domestic water. I used a marine water heater that also has a 120VAC element in it. If the engine is running I get cabin heat and domestic hot water. If the boiler is on I get cabin heat and domestic hot water, also the engine is kept warm for nice "summer" starts. If neither is running I get domestic water from the 120 VAC part of the water heater. Theoretically I could get cabin heat from the water heater but, it's not nearly big enough. This system has served me well even at temps below 0° D ick

Since I really only wait for warm water in the shower, I'm just installing it for the shower. The temp sensor is mounted just before the shower faucet. I have a water manifold and it's a bit of distance from the manifold to each faucet. I would need three of these to be totally efficient. Nothing will come out of the shower until the water is water is warm enough. Theoretically if you took long enough taking a "Navy" shower it would cool down enough , since the cold faucet is still on, to get a cold shower. I don't think this would be a problem though. Hope that makes sense. D ick

Here's something else I have all the parts for, just need some warmer weather to install. It has always bothered me about how much water is wasted when waiting for the shower to warm up. This valve along with a temperature sensor will divert the water back to the fresh tank until the water temp gets warm enough. wiring diagram

At the request of jleamont here is an explanation of the control for awnings, door lock, and lights that operates from my smart phone. The basic components are Ardoino Uno or Nano, I've used both. A bluetooth receiver, 8 gang relay and a voltage regulator. The whole project started when my son sent a picture of a device he wanted to use to unlock the door on his MCI. It was a 8 relay bluetooth device, no programming and needed a voltage regulator. It was over $100 and was in China. I said I can make that cheaper. I'm not really a programmer but, mostly I can coble something together that works. I researched a lot of apps for bluetooth control but, I couldn't get any to work. Finally I found this one, available on playstore. pfod app. He was very helpful in getting my setup to work. This is a picture of the first one The second one I built for myself uses a Nano A video of early testing, I hadn't labeled the display on phone yet. This is the second one mounted in my bus. Screenshot of what I see on my phone. All of this actually resides on the microcontroller. If you have the pfod app on your phone and know the name and code to pair to the bluetooth receiver you would see the same thing. The one for my son doesn't have the lock door since to lock it you just close the door but, it still uses two of the relays. I have an awning on both sides, it was cheaper than window awnings for the left side. I tried using a timed extend/retract but, it seems it takes a different amount of time EVERY time for the awnings to work. The way it is now you have to hit the extend/retract button a second time to stop. I'm still trying to figure a good way to sense when the awning is in/out. 😖 Because bluetooth don't work through metal very well I mounted the receiver in the front windshield. This is the door lock and it's controls. I can be operated with a key, RF keyfob or the phone. It is a linear actuator that goes through the door jamb into the door. Basically an electric dead bolt. I've been using this for about tw0 years now and it works great. Not counting one winter of research, coding and building I have about $35 in each one. 😎 I see the video link don't work, I don't know how to link to it.

Everyone calls me _ick

Thanks, It's a 1991 with a 250HP 3116 Cat. It will run 70 but, I generally run 60-65, speed gets expensive. It was a school activities bus in SE New Mexico, didn't do the stop and go pick up kids thing. From what I understand it did mostly longer trips. ****

New to this forum. After my first post on another topic it was pointed out I haven't been active. I probably don't fit in with most here. Looking at pictures of early FMCA rallies, I probably would fit in with them must fine. My coach is a former school bus, a Bluebird 40 ft diesel pusher. Everything in it was designed and built by me. It has 4 zone in floor hot water heat using an Espar boiler. Front and rear mini-split AC. I have roughly 100 gl fresh, 70 gl grey and 30 gl black tanks. The electric door lock, flag and door light and power awnings on both sides are controlled with my phone as well as with switches inside. All of the interior lighting is LED with many built by myself all are controlled by wireless remote. It has 50 amp capability but, I can run pretty much everything including AC on 30 amp. Except for heat, witch is diesel, everything is electric. Induction cooktops, convection/microwave oven, and fridge. With a 3000 watt sine wave inverter most everything will run if not plugged in, just not for long without running engine which has a 320 amp alternator. Larger house battery bank is in the planning stages as is solar power. Camping with my brother, that thing is tiny. Lights over kitchen counter. Solid walnut speaker grill, started out as log in my back field. Kitchen Heat before flooring. Still have a lot to do, like cabinet faces and doors. Everything works, some better than I expected. I still have a lot to do but, we are enjoying it. **** It looks like the forum doesn't like my name witch is the common short form of Richard.😎

My main reason for joining FMCA was the insurance rate was cheaper through them as long as I insured all of my vehicles through them. When I got my insurance bill this year it had gone up 36%. Did some shopping and my old ins. co came in at less than last year through FMCA. My RV is a bus, designed and converted by myself. I know how it all works, the chassis is over 25 years old and, there is not likely to be any recall, or technical problems I can't handle. Much of the conversion is done with non "RV" parts, much of which I think are cheap plastic parts. I like gadgets as much as the next guy. I can lock and unlock the door, control the awnings(both sides) and turn on my flag and entrance lights with my phone. I have four zone hot water heat in the floor and mini split ACs. Even with the discount Michelin tires are still too expensive. I was planning on going to the National rally in Indy last year. When I saw how much it was going to cost, even though it was only 100 miles away I passed. Just too much money to see more expensive things and really expensive RV's. I scan through the magazine when it comes but, it too is about selling stuff, tech problems with the fancy systems. Now including towables. I do belong to one local chapter but, many of their rallies are joint with a non FMCA group with the same interests. Other than driving the bus home if something were to happen to me, and I have to be more than 100 miles from home, what other benefits are there to me? ****