Chuck's not so excellent adventure.

[chuckd]

Decided yesterday to come home early from Montana.  I have a terrible cold and the wind in Bozeman is messing up the skiing.  So off I went.  I was going to give a glowing report on my little adventure, but then it got interesting.  First off the bus itself is running very well, the heaters work so I am comfortable, and other than a clearance light out nothing on the bus needs fixing. 

Now lets talk gen set and Chuck's absolute stupidity.  I have been running the gen set at truck stops and over night.   Last night turned it on about 8:00, got up at midnight to start the 6V92, then back to bed after I shut the main engine off.  I woke up at 4:20 and decided to sleep until 5:00.  At 4:50 I woke up sensing something is wrong.  I looked over at my cell phone and the charger light was off, I could not hear the genset, and looked down toward the cockpit and saw lots of smoke.  I quickly pulled on my clothes, got out of the bus, and checked the bay doors of the gen set engine and the gen set it self.  Both doors were cool, I opened the Perkins door and the engine was it's normal warm state, opened the other door and that was the source of the smoke.  I believe I have fried the transformer that we just fixed.  Can't tell for sure will do more of a post mortem when I get home.  But the thing that scared me the most, and what I did horribly wrong, is the smoke alarms did not work!  My fault for not checking them.  So guess what all new alarms are going in, and no more slovenly up keep on them.  I was lucky.

The whipping may begin.

Chuckd

[wal1809]

Thank you for sharing.  Just because I read this I am going to go and get two new ones for the bus.  It has been in the back of my mind for a while but God willing and the creeks don't rise I will install them this weekend.  Another thing, my fire extinguisher is at the front of the bus by the co-piolt chair.  I am getting another for the bedroom.  My genset is in between the bedroom and where the fire extinguisher is located. That is stupid.

[kyle4501]

Any trip that you make it home is a good one.

Any trip that you make it home on time is a great one.

Any trip that you make it home on time & can reuse the bus is an EXCELLENT ADVENTURE!

Sorry to hear you have stuff to fix.
Glad to hear it is minor in the grand scheme.

Thanks for the reminder of how you never know when you're gonna need a smoke alarm!

[Gary W]

Chuck I bought a  Engine and Generator fire detection system from Jim Shepherd a few years ago. It monitors the temp in the generator compartment and engine compartment when they are running.  It has both visual and audible alarms. Great for peace of mind.

Gary

[boxcarOkie]

They (those in the know) say you are supposed to change out the batteries, when you set the clocks ahead or back as the case might be.  I never thought of one of these appliances to just quit working, that is kind of scary.  Fire extinguishers should be handy and numerous (we have four) and I have been told they need to be checked at least once per year.

I used to ski, until I blew out my knee, and two surgeries later I figured it out.  You are no longer a skier.  I envy you, sounds like a good time other than the one mishap that is.

Thanks for your well written post. 

BCO

[artvonne]

  Making it home in once piece with your wallet intact is the key. I will always prefer fixing things here at home with my own labor in my own time, than being in a jam and having to pay for on the job training. Kinda like seeing Memphis Belle making it back. She might of been in bad shape, but she made it back.

  Not making it back, or worse ills, those are bad adventures.

[Jriddle]

It is like flying. If you can hear the ambulance coming you made a good landing. Moral is some trips are better than others.

John

[Fredward]

(Glad you're OK) but I'm a little confused. Was this just a random failure or did Chuck do something wrong to cause the transformer fry?
Fred

[buswarrior]

The environment in a bus conversion can be very hard on smoke and CO detectors.

Many we use were intended for in a house.

Wild temperature and humidity swings and vibration are rough on them.

Change some batteries and periodically treat yourself to fresh units.

Thanks for the reminders Chuckd!!!

happy coaching!
buswarrior

[chuckd]

Fred:

This was not a random failure.  I have had an issue with a large power transformer over heating.  We replaced this transformer to the tune of $940 and tested it for about 20 hours without an issue.  Well after about 16 hours it looks like it has failed again.

Chuckd

[TomC]

What is this transformer used for (I don't have any type of transformer-sans the 2,500 watt inverter)? Good Luck, TomC