Inverter/charger/switch question

akroyaleagle · October 10, 2014, 03:36:26 PM

Clifford,
I bought them in Phoenix. I can't remember what I had for lunch. I'll look it up in the receipts and get you an answer later.
I did not know they could be rebuilt. Good to know!

Eric,
You've gotten a lot to think about.

I don't understand a 5' bedroom. A queen is 60" (5") wide and 72" to 80" long.

Hopefully 6 of the 8 folks are of diminishing size. That sounds challenging. Would fold down bunks work?

As others have said, depending on insulation, and choice of areas, It will get hot. If you plan on 3 or 4 ACs, you need a 10K generator or larger.

When we're travelling, I can cool ours fine with the front air. I just close the pocket door behind the kitchen. I run that air off the inverter. I have a driver air setup but haven't needed it enough times to get me to install it. The few times I have had dyslexia and found myself in the desert southwest other than in the winter, I have had to run both airs. Even then it was marginal and the generators heat up if you drive over 55mph due to the low pressure areas.

DO NOT GO TO THE SW IN SUMMER! The last time I was at Cliffords, it was 122 when we left Yuma and after my truck sat for a few hours, it was 138 in the truck! I was in a pickup though. Doyle stayed in the AC in his bus in Cliffords shop.

My generator is 18 years old, including 8 years of full timing and doesn't have but a few hundred hours on it. Those hours were put on a hundred or so at a time when we were parked somewhere.

In my opinion, a side aisle creates a lot of space that could be used for making other rooms more roomy. Now if that side aisle could accommodate 6 fold down bunks.......

Debo gave you some great recommendations.

I think I would gather up some large cardboard boxes and mock up my ideas to see how they fit.

I have seen coaches with sleeping setups in the bays for kids. They were entered and exited through cut-outs in the floor. 12v fans and windows with screens. Inside bay door latches too. The ones I have seen though, the people said the bays were unoccupied when travelling. I wouldn't let kids in there either. I have seen commercial buses with driver sleeping quarters in the front bay that one driver slept in while the other drove. These were entered from inside the bus also.

I believe you are limited by your imagination, (and resources), There are a lot of folks here to help.

Analyze their input, think it through, and "Git er Done"

bevans6 · October 11, 2014, 06:49:16 AM

I would have at least 4K of inverter to run two AC's on the road, an 8KW generator to run four AC's parked, and I would tow a 20' travel trailer.

Brian

robertglines1 · October 11, 2014, 08:11:08 AM

I reread your post.. Have you considered just buying fuel for gen set? Do the math and see how much fuel you can buy for cost of battery bank and inverters. 4000 watt pure sine wave--2500$ Battery bank 6ea at 250= 1500$ total around 4000$ plus you will need to replace batt--say 5 yrs. 4000 divided by 4$ gal fuel= aprox 1000 hrs running time. Also most roof tops require 15 amps to start each=1900 watts for each. Also most inverters are rated as surge and not continuous. Example a 4000 watt might only have a 3600w continuous operating ability not enough to start 2 ac at same time and would be marginal to keep running without any thing running. A refrigerator will keep ice cream fairly hard for 6-8 hrs disconnected with door shut. Mine does. If you have LP refrig then no problem. just a observation to think about. Bob Ps deteriorate with age whether used or not

daddyoften · October 11, 2014, 04:16:49 PM

Yeah, once we get it home, get time to work on it and then remove all the parts and pieces included with it we can have a clean flat floor to play with, lay down tape, put up sheets/tarps and cardboard.

The reason for the side isle and 5' bed room is as follows; if we went with a middle isle and placed the bed long ways like most then the bedroom would be at least 7'. This would give us 6" or so at the foot of the bed and standing room on the side of the bed but we would loose about 2' of linear room. Plus the bunks wouldn't have any privacy and the floor would have to be kept clean all the time. The bunks would still use 6' of linear space. Then we wouldn't have the tallest roof space for the stack-able or fridge. With a side isle we can set the bed sideways and only use 5', have standing room (limited head space) at the foot of the bed and just crawl into it. The rear of this bus has a fiberglass cap over the engine which we can use for cabinets. We can also have a separate door for the bunk room and the floor can be a mess if need be. This will also let us use the tallest roof line for the stack-able w/d and fridge.

Roof raise; The PO gave us volumes of bus conversion magazine's from the early 90's. These are pretty cool to look through. They were doing roof raises back then on ANY bus. But with the stressed-skin construction that the 4107 uses this can cause problems. I have done research and I'm not going to go there with this structure. We are looking at only using this bus for a few years so we can look at a better coach later and look at a raised roof for that one.

Pulling a TT; See above about the stressed-skin construction

They aren't structurally sound for heavy tongue weight and can rip the engine compartment off.

The basement sleeping arrangements sounds interesting but doesn't sound very safe for little kids, the one's we are taking with us range from 3yrs to 13yrs old. Plus with that many little one's we need as much storage space as we can afford. I'm even trying to figure out what to put in the wasted space from raising the floor level up front and the spare tire compartment.

Back on topic.....

All the "good" inverters I'm finding all include the charger and switch. I like the idea of the all built in one unit but also can understand the if one breaks you're screwed problem. I've learned not to do the built in DVD player in the TV thing. I will need to sit down with the DW and discuss our travel intentions and situations along with energy use to figure out how to power it all. I'm definitely leaning towards 3 a/c's and working real hard on insulating the "house" as much as I can. Maybe even doubling up the ceiling depth where I can to double up the R value. The floor is ok but I think I'll take it up and insulate there where I can as well.

Eric

bevans6 · October 11, 2014, 06:10:38 PM

"Pulling a TT; See above about the stressed-skin construction Wink They aren't structurally sound for heavy tongue weight and can rip the engine compartment off.""

Most GM's can handle a 5K lb trailer without too much problem, with an appropriate hitch. I did think about that before the suggestion. The undercurrent is that 8 people full time, or even longish trips, in a bus is a fate I would not wish on anyone but my worst enemy. Two weeks is about as long as I could imagine... Weekend camping trips would be pretty cool, though.

Brian

eagle19952 · October 11, 2014, 06:16:45 PM

Quote from: bevans6 on October 11, 2014, 06:10:38 PM
The undercurrent is that 8 people full time, or even longish trips, in a bus is a fate I would not wish on anyone but my worst enemy.
Brian

I take it you have no desire to be a rock star ...

daddyoften · October 11, 2014, 07:11:50 PM

I have read not to load the rear hitch past anywhere from 300-600 lbs. Hmm, I'll take more input though, but that point only matters for me in the idea of hauling a light motorcycle on the hitch sideways. Otherwise we are already flat towing a medium wheelbase high roof sprinter. But I would like to know more about towing capacity for a trailer as we might from time to time tow a cargo trailer if it will do it safely.
As far as enough room for all of us... we are a closer family, we home school and, as odd as it sounds, we actually like spending time together, ;-) lol. We are planning of only using the bus for essentials and spending most of our time outside.
And as far as a rock band.... I'm just retiring from a local rock band and I'm selling my complete drum set gig ;-)

eagle19952 · October 11, 2014, 07:59:48 PM

you might consider a tow dolly equipt with a motorcycle platform.

ps. i have found based on cost to modify and fuel, that it is more cost effective to drive the toad behind the bus, my wife does that for us.
i do haul a 14 foot trailer often also behind our Eagle.

Oonrahnjay · October 12, 2014, 06:02:28 AM

Quote from: daddyoften on October 11, 2014, 07:11:50 PMI have read not to load the rear hitch past anywhere from 300-600 lbs. ...

My bus has a frame (so it's no fight I got a dog in) but I think that's "tongue weight" -- the actual downward force on the hitch. The weight you can pull is much higher. But I think that you're wise to be wary so consider all the factors and get advice from someone who has worked this out.

dbldragon · October 13, 2014, 09:02:09 PM

A bit off original topic but was brought up about side versus center hall. My mind says that a side hall or a split bath in center as a lot have, have the same usable space if the doors in the hall are of the same size.
I have also used boxes and 1x3 scrape wood to frame in walls and kitchen .I did the tape on floor first.I have gotten to a 28 " hall.
Also interested in tongue weight for a hitch on a 91 102a3 .I was thinking of loading a 2 motorcycle platform .2 500lb bikes. Or worst case one front and one rear .

solodon · October 14, 2014, 04:52:28 PM

Seems to me that 2 500 lb motorcycles on a platform would be the same as a 1000 lb tongue weight. A small trailer with the bikes on it could have a tongue weight of only 100-150 lbs and be much more acceptable. Don

Oonrahnjay · October 15, 2014, 05:45:38 AM

Quote from: solodon on October 14, 2014, 04:52:28 PMSeems to me that 2 500 lb motorcycles on a platform would be the same as a 1000 lb tongue weight. A small trailer with the bikes on it could have a tongue weight of only 100-150 lbs and be much more acceptable. Don

Yes, exactly. Some people don't like trailers ("touchy"- you have to keep checking on them all the time; you have to disconnect to back up; how will you pull a toad; items aren't secure from weather and theft/vandalism, etc. -- and these are all valid concerns), but you're absolutely right about this.

bevans6 · October 15, 2014, 06:07:56 AM

Bikes on a rack have the load cantilevered out from the frame, so you need to also calculate the torsional load. It is in no way similar to a dead weight on a hitch ball. Also, a rack strong enough to hold 1,000 lbs of bikes is going to weigh 500lbs or so anyway. Just advising to get your slipstick out and do some engineering on this.

Brian

dbldragon · October 15, 2014, 08:24:07 AM

I realize carrying bikes would be heavy but easy for getting to track days and makes unit a lot shorter than with a trailer. We do have a small trailer that can carry bikes. Backing a trailer less than half the size of tow rig can be challenging,empty 10' boat trailer behind long box crew cab for example.

yvan · October 15, 2014, 10:22:47 AM

I have a customer with a stick and staple 45 foot pusher motorhome, he hauls his toys in what he calls his garage, a 26 foot stacker race car hauler, in it he has 2 road bikes, a side by side ATV a Zodiac and his M3 BMW. He lives in his SSMH 8 months out of the year.