Thinking about a Bus/RV

[Ted]

Random thought of the day - I'd rather take a ride in your bus than in either of the two current US spacecraft, let alone any from any other country.

I appreciate the vote of confidence.

Re the air leaks, it would be cool if it were possible to fill the air systems up with orange smoke and fix all the leaks at once. And if anyone working at a spacecraft company uses that idea, I expect a coupon for a steak dinner at my choice of eatery.

I'd imagine you could do something like that. I have a couple of known air leaks that I just haven't gotten around to, which are on the auxiliary side. When I first got the bus, it leaked fast enough that it wouldn't pass a DOT check if I ever got stopped. Of course, I don't think RVs normally get that treatment, but that rule is there for a reason.

Now, while it's not the best sealed system in the world, I've had it in the shop with the air suspension at max for a month. The right rear will bleed down after a few days like this, but the left rear and the front are still aired up. For all I know, these couple of air leaks I've found and am addressing may fix that - we'll see. The front and rear air tanks will hold air overnight, going down from 120 PSI to about 75-80. I've seen them go a few days before emptying altogether.

With an air system, "some seepage is normal". But ideally my goal is that the air suspension won't bleed down, at least not quickly enough to require regular adjustments.

All this talk of the air system reminds me. Another thing I did was replace the air dryer filter. To do that, I had to empty the air system (which I'd filled up to raise that one corner that goes down so I could put my jack stands under the bus). I then needed to empty the air out to remove the air dryer filter, so I drained several of the tanks (which was due anyway). The "wet tank", which is the tank directly off the air compressor, had basically no liquid in it at all. Previously (before replacing the air compressor) it would have an oily-watery gunk in it. I already knew the air compressor was bad and needed replaced, but it's nice to see that cleared things up. I'm pretty sure that air dryer cartridge had gotten clogged up after the only 10,000 miles or so it had on it because of that, so I expect I'll see the air system fill up quicker.

 

[Half Fast]

Okay, Ted - enough of this stuff. You have more important matters to consider. When's the RX7 going to be entered in a race?

 

[Ted]

Okay, Ted - enough of this stuff. You have more important matters to consider. When's the RX7 going to be entered in a race?

This is probably our last RV trip of the year, unless we do something over Christmas. I don’t have any major/required projects on it left - just a number of little items that are varying degrees of deferrable depending on how much they bug me. Of course, we’ll see what happens on this trip - we usually find something to add to the list. The biggest thing is I want to replace the rooftop ACs with quieter and more powerful units, and that’s not a big project.

So, the plan this fall is to get my wrenching time focused on progress on the Cobra and RX-7.

When I look through the big items I did on the last bus, they either don’t apply to this one or are things I don’t want. For example, I’ve decided I don’t care about adding solar on this bus. The interior doesn’t require a redo. I’d like to do electric fans, but seeing as this one has a clutched fan and manages its temperatures so well it’s not worth it to the same degree as it was on the last bus. This is just a better product all around, so it’s been more of that first year “catch up” than having to re-engineer the dumpster fire from scratch.

 

[Ted]

I got the bus out for a test drive this afternoon before we head up to 6Y9. Despite not having done anything that should've impacted horsepower, it does feel like it was a bit more responsive and peppy than I recall. Given that it was 95F out, that really doesn't make much sense. The only thing that I can think of is I was driving it without the Jeep attached and it's fairly low on fresh water (and empty on grey/black tanks).

But, everything worked well, and the sound deadening I did for the generator inlet air is definitely working. The generator was noticeably quieter than before, which is always a good thing.

While airing up the bus from the tank I do think I found another air leak I should look into. Once again, something that I'm not worried about for the trip, but something I've added to the list. Whack-a-mole.

 

[Matthew]

In my pre-retirement days the products we built used the push-fit air connectors, it sounds like what you have. Leaks, when the hoses were properly inserted, didn’t seem to be a problem. But with age the hoses would lose some flexibility and not seal well, or poor routing would pull on the hoses. I’d see 20yr old equipment with tight air connections and brand new with leaks, though, so there isn’t always a correlation.

My favorite problem was the guys that installed the air lines were pretty much left on their own. So they routed however they felt was best and rarely labeled the hose ends. So we always spent at least a day swapping hoses until things operated properly.

I hope your bus is plumbed a little better.

 

[Ted]

In my pre-retirement days the products we built used the push-fit air connectors, it sounds like what you have. Leaks, when the hoses were properly inserted, didn’t seem to be a problem. But with age the hoses would lose some flexibility and not seal well, or poor routing would pull on the hoses. I’d see 20yr old equipment with tight air connections and brand new with leaks, though, so there isn’t always a correlation.

My favorite problem was the guys that installed the air lines were pretty much left on their own. So they routed however they felt was best and rarely labeled the hose ends. So we always spent at least a day swapping hoses until things operated properly.

I hope your bus is plumbed a little better.

For being a 23 year old bus, really the leaks on it aren't terrible. But there are some folks with them tight enough that the things will hold air for weeks at a time (as in, down to the tanks holding air - not just the airbags). I'm not there, and that part is ok. But audible leaks I want to make sure I avoid at any point.

Overall, the plumbing is pretty good on this bus. Prevost did a good job.