Here are my quick and dirty plans for my new RTS Series 50 I won on EBay...

[Kevin Warnock]

Hello,

So, I am the proud soon to be owner of that RTS Series 50 bus I asked about last week. We are waiting for the title to arrive back from the lien holder. But that will certainly arrive soon, and I will be able to pay for the bus.

In the meantime, I am planning to do a quick and dirty conversion to use this summer with my girlfriend. I will transfer the following items from my current MCI 5a conversion I've had for 5+ years:

Trace SW4024 inverter
4 Trojan L16H house batteries
Espar diesel air furnace
NovaKool 24 volt compressor fridge
100 watts at 24volts solar panels
MotaSat Internet dish and modems

I will put back the original propane fridge, leaving the bus just as I bought it, with no inverter, but a solid generator, which I will leave as it's too big, and air cooled and thus NOISY. The bus still has the original two propane heaters, so the bus is a competed conversion I can sell on EBay, just with no inverter.

I will need new water tanks, furniture, a water heater, shower, toilet, AC and generator.

I have the following items in my garage:

Honda EU1000i
Panasonic 5000BTU window air conditioner
Hitachi MiniSplit 9000BTU still in box unopened
New water pump
New macreator pump
Tons of pipe fittings and numerous other small parts left over from last bus

For water heater, I am thinking about this one:

http://www.excelonlinestore.com/servlet/the-(2)-GAS-Appliances/Categories

It's ventless, and runs on 2 D batteries and propane. I can see how it would be OK to go ventless, as I take short 1 or 3 gallon showers, as I only boondock for 99% of the time. The unit is approved for RV use, and is small and cheap, at $299. I would put it in the bathroom or kitchen. I see these in Asia all the time, in hotel bathrooms.

For the generator, I plan to use the Honda. I will make a sound enclosure with baffles and 110 volt muffin fans and sound foam. I think I can quiet it down a lot, and run it all the time at 200 to 800 watts output, which I can control by settings on the inverter. This way I can keep the house batteries charged, and be able to run the Panasonic window air conditioner all night long (any ideas how to mount this? I'm thinking by the window, and just open the window at night when in use), as it only consumes about 500 watts when running. I can even start it on the Honda alone, unaided! But since the inverter will sync to the Honda, I will have thousands of watts of starting power available. I plan to get an external gas tank for the Honda ($99 online), which allows days of non-stop use, and I think I can add a bigger fuel tank to go much longer. Who knows how the Honda will like continuous operation, but I see street vendors use them in San Francisco 8 to 10 hours a day, everyday all year, so they must be reliable, at least with part time use.

To run the Hitachi mini-split, I may have to get a Honda EU2000, since it needs 9amps according to the specs. But the Panasonic takes less power than the spec sheet by a lot. I measure it with a dedicated watt/hour 'What's Up' brand meter. So the Hitachi may be able to run on 800 watts, which is what I can get out of the Honda EU1000. Or, if the Hitachi takes 1,000 watts, I can rely on the battery bank for the extra 200 watts for hours at least, knowing I'll fill the batteries back up when the sun goes down and I can switch back to the window unit or no unit at all. I won't ever be in the bus all day and night anyway, so there will be plenty of times where the Hitachi will only be on a few hours a day.

I plan to devide up the bus space so I don't have to cool the whole bus at once, and I will spray foam the bus generously before I get started, so it will be very well insulated. I really want to make this work with a small generator, as I already own it, and I want to keep fuel costs low. My old Onan 6500 gas generator could burn $20+ of fuel a day run all the time. That's $600 a month! The Honda might only use $5-$10 a day, and will be so much quieter. Also, it will be so easy to install the Honda (26lbs), and I could carry a spare if I wanted to, since they are cheap.

For the furniture, it will be Ikea off the shelf stuff, with Ikea 'pergo' for the floor and maybe even the walls and ceiling ($1.50/sq. ft.!). Porta potti for the toilet, so I don't have to put a vent through the roof, and so I can dump in any gas station toilet or home toilet. I will dump the gray tank via a garden hose connected to the macreator pump. I will cut no access panels in the bus sides. All the water tanks will be inside the bus, so I don't have to cut any holes in the floor, or build bays. Remember, I need to be on the road camping by June. I will use boat bilge pumps to drain the shower, lavatory sink and kitchen sink into the gray tank, probably to be under the bed in the back. The bilge pumps are cheap, and it will make the bus really well winterized, which is important, as I plan trips to Tahoe during ski season next winter. I will keep the back door with its wheel chair lift, as it's a pain to remove, and someone may want it later. I will store two bikes vertically hanging by their front wheels in the rear step area, side by side. I can just open the rear door and lift the bikes off their hooks. I may need to bungee cord the bikes or put pillows between them to keep them from swinging. I will make a small closet enclosure around the rear door area big enough to enclose the bikes. This will keep the bikes safe and easy to get to, and the bus will appear fully stock to most people. I will have it painted asap so as not to annoy the neighbors, though it looks pretty good now... no dents or rust.

In my current MCI bus, I put the inverter and battery system on a jerry bed slider platform, and didn't hardwire it to my current bus. It's all plugged in with 50 amp plugs, so I can pull much of the electrical system out in 30 minutes. I did this on purpose because I knew I would upgrade my bus some day. I still have to put a breaker panel in the new bus, of course.

Everything will be in the bus but the generator and propane supply. I have a power battery box vent controlled by the Trace, and the green plastic battery box sold by backwoodssolar.com. It has a lid that sits on top with a flange. I figure if I vent through the bus floor from the top of the box and over and down, using the power vent to guide the fumes out, it will be safe to have the batteries inside with me. I will duct tape the lid all around, so it will be an airtight seal, with the inlet and outlet pipes going through the bus floor to the outside. So the batteries really won't be technically inside at all, as it's a sealed system. The Trojans are too tall for the bay area in an RTS anyway, and they cost $1,000 and are still pretty good, though not as good as when I got them 5 years ago. Any way to 'rejuvinate them?' Also, I want them to be heated and cooled, as I hear batteries don't do well when freezing, like they will be in Tahoe if I camp in the winter there. I like the idea of having room to work on everything standing up in the bus. Note that I am OK with losing space in the bus for all this stuff. I had a 35 footer before, which was more than enough space. So even if I take a full 5 feet of space for this stuff, I will be fine, and I don't think it will take that much space at all, given I have almost 7 feet of height to work with inside.

For the kitchen stove, I plan to use a 20" wide propane home floor model range, which are only $200 locally (well, $200 for the natural gas version, but I be the converter kit is $25 extra). I will get a much larger oven than an RV range, and for $300 less. I know they are reputed to fly apart in a crash, but I don't see how they could more so than an RV stove. They are pretty well built, and I could add some more screws and bolt the unit to the floor. I really want to do this cost effectively, and using normal house appliances seems like the way to go. Since this is a safety issue, I really would like your comments on this part of my plan.

Anyway, these are my rough plans. What do you think? I will have paid help to do this in time, a handyman type person who loves busses and has worked on converting a few of them already.

Thanks,

Kevin

[pvcces]

Kevin, put a desufator to work on those L16 batteries. After a month or two, you should be able to tell the difference.

By reducing the internal resistance of the batteries, the discharge voltage is raised and the recharge voltage is reduced until they are fully charged. The overall effect is greater efficiency.

They do work, but there are a number of different designs available, so pay attention to the features when you pick one out.

For what it's worth.

Tom Caffrey

[TomC]

The only thing I would recommend would be to go with the 2000 watt Honda.  Then if you find that you need even more power (like running both A/C's at the same time-which will work if the bus is insulated well) you can just add another 2000 watt Honda since they are inverter technology and can interface with each other.  Personally, I'd go Diesel, but then again everything I own is Diesel.  Good Luck, TomC

[Happycampersrus]

Kevin,

Were do you live??

Why do you no longer want the MCI??


Dale

[Busted Knuckle]

Kevin,
Why do you no longer want the MCI??
Dale

Ever heard of upgrading? That'd be my guess!  Newer, bigger, modern engine, better, fuel economy, easier parts access, etc.
BK 

[Kevin Warnock]

These are my reasons for upgrading:

My current MCI looks bad, with hundreds of dents and dings, peeling paint, and rotting seals on the windows. It's frankly an eyesore. The quote to reskin it approached $20K with new windows. The reskinning company advised me to buy a new shell and move the conversion parts over.

The Series 50 with proper 4.11 gears is almost certainly going to get much better mileage than the 6-7 I get with the old bus.

The RTS has enough headroom for me. I'm 6'2'' and I was always hitting my head on the roof airs and room deviding door in my MCI.

The MCI interior was dated and worn.

The MCI just looks old and not too hip. The RTS looks like a modern current bus, and once painted, will very much look almost new to most people. I want to be able to roll up and dry camp almost anywhere, in big cities, without the police being called to knock on my door. The RTS is going to look so good, I think people will not feel homeless people have set up residence in their neighborhood, so will not call the cops.

I bought my last bus already converted, so there were things I didn't like. The new one will be done my way, and that's worth something.

I will be able to buy oil at any truck stop, finally!  Instead of hunting it down at specialty shops like it is a fine wine!!!

I want bus air. This RTS is almost new. It's a true 1994, and it was placed into service in late 1995. It was a California bus in Central California, so the air was used all the time. My mechanic said the freon pressure is very strong, and that he can recharge it for only $200. I have had too many unpleasant drives when it was 100 out and my two roof airs couldn't keep up. My new bus air should be able to keep up no matter how hot it gets. I'm preparred for global warming on a massive scale... lol

Does my wanting a new bus make more sense now?

Kevin

[TomC]

The RTS is a probably the stoutest and best made transit.  I would have used it myself except for one big minus.  The walls really curve in to the ceiling impeding on inside room.  I know Geoff (in Prescott, Az) was swearing at the walls when he went to install the refrigerator and discovered how far out into the isle it would protrude.  If you can live with the curved walls, then you'll have a great bus.  Good Luck, TomC

[jeepme]

I'd like to do the same setup with a honda 2000.  If they just made a remote start it would be an ideal setup for boondocking with some airconditioning. I'd make sure the gens exhaust was routed right and I had a co detector inside. Common sense I know.
Don't those rts buses have some room underneath? I'd at least design where you could move, batteries, tanks, etc down below at some later date.
Looking forward to seeing some pics

Jason
4104

[TomC]

I know the RTS's have room underneath. Mine has 22" from the bottom of the floor to the bottom of the body skirt.  Most old and new look GMC's, Flxs, Gilligs, Flyer, etc have room under the floor if they are standard height floors-not low floors.  I was able to fit all that I need under the floor of my bus- 85 gal gray tank, 45 gal black tank, 20 gal propane tank, 2-8D deep cycle batts, 10kw Powertech Diesel genset, storage that measures 99" wide x 22" tall x 66" long for 83 cu ft of storage, plus another 8 cu ft behind the right rear wheel that was the A/C equipment-total 91 cu ft.  After installing all the tanks, workings, gensets, I wonder how much open space everyone has leftover?  Good Luck, TomC