Really basic questions

[PRZNBUS]

Hello to everybody. Having never owned an RV in my life, I've undertaken the job of converting a 1986 MCI MC9 I recently won on a bid from our county. I'm going to have a ton of really stupid question in the near future so brace yourselves.

1st, what side of the bus should the holding tank drain be on?

2nd, what size holding and fresh tanks would you recommend? It won't be our primary residence.

3rd, I plan to remove all the OTR AC and possibly heat. Is this stupid? The wife and I like it cool anyway.

4th, I plan on using smaller sized residential appliances. How do I keep the fridge cool while on the road. I saw something about a battery bank which can be charged by a generator and or solar.

5th, probably going to slap a couple 15,000 AC's on the roof. Is two enough?

6th, I like the idea of an Onan QD generator. How big do I need?

This is just the starter questions. If anybody is going to be in the Black Hills of SD, I'd love to look at your rig and hopefully get some pointers for mine.

Bruce

[bottomacher]

Bruce, you should get familiar with the archives at this site. Every question you asked has been answered, or at least argued, to death there. One thing we've got here is pros and cons. After you get some basic knowledge, you'll find your questions will be different, and more specific to what you are trying to accomplish.
Good luck.

[kyle4501]

1 - I'd put the tank drain on both sides - nice to have the choice.
2 - I'd put as big a tank as you have space for - you don't have to fill it before dumping, but if it is full, it's kinda hard to put any more in . . .
3, 4, 5 & 6 - I have a 12.5 KW diesel gen in a quiet box, so elec appliances are easy to run while driving down the road. 2 roof airs are a good start, you can always add more later if needed.

As for the size gen you need in your coach, you will have to add up all the elec loads to know your minimum requirements.

Good luck

[luvrbus]

Removing the bus air you will need more than 2 roof airs for driving, a 40 ft bus 3 is generally the minimum with a 12.5kw generator and don't forget heat and altitude has a great affect on generators they lose engine power and output so don't undersize to save a few bucks or it will come back to haunt you BTDT

[TomC]

On my 40ft transit (which has big windows) it did not have over the road A/C since it was a Portland, Or bus. It did have the big heating evaporator that I mounted inside with 2-14" radiator fans to power it-mucho heat!
I have 3-13,500btu roof top A/C's that cool the bus very well (also have 2.25" of sprayed foam insulation). 2 of the A/C's is usually all I need running down the road. If it gets above 110, then I'll kick on the third A/C. My 10kw gen runs all three easily with juice left over. Good Luck, TomC

[Scott & Heather]

No one has specifically said this, so I will. My single biggest (seriously) regret converting our MCI-9 was removing the OTR heat. Don't do it. It doesn't bet you anything except some scrap $$ and it's not worth it. If you ever have to drive in the cold or cooler weather, it's literally impossible to keep the coach warm with just drivers heat or your propane furnace.


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[sledhead]

I second the don't remove the over the road heat . I have radiant in floor heat that I use when it gets cold but it takes time for the floor to warm up so I turn on the bus heat for the first 1/2 hour or so then we are fine with the floor heat .

dave

[Charles in SC]

The only things that I will add to what has been said is that it is worth the price difference to get the a/cs that are the energy efficient ones. What ever generator you get you will be glad if you get the kind that changes speed to adjust for the load instead of one that runs wide open all the time. I have an Onan Quiet diesel 8000 and have been very happy with it. I have 3 13,500 a/cs and an electric water heater. In South Carolina it is a lot hotter than South Dakota but I get along on even the hottest days with only two airs running. I did not add any insulation to my conversion.

[bevans6]

When I joined the bus community, I literally read back to the beginning of this forum, looking at every page and picking the topics that interested me.  Took about two months.  Keep the OTR heat, lose the OTR AC (unless it happens to actually work), two 15K rooftops might work depending on where you are and what your climate is like, 4500 - 6000 watt generator if you have those AC units, get a 4000 watt inverter and run it from the bus alternator to run those AC units on the road and any appliances, make a decision about all-electric or traditional propane RV fridge and stove and such, then work that out.  Learn basic electricity and you will know how to size a battery bank for your application.  Tank drain and fill is on the driver's side at every camp site, fill station, dump station everywhere, so put that on the driver's side unless you like to reinvent the wheel.  I have 100 gallons of fresh and 100 gallons of combined grey/black, your needs may vary.  Do your research, understand the issues, learn how electricity works and then ask questions from a base of knowledge.  Collectively we know everything there is to know about converting a bus, but you have to learn what questions to ask when, and how to interpret the answers to make them relevant to you.

Good choice, btw, I do like a nice MCI! 

Brian

[Lin]

You asked what side the tanks go on.  As has been answered, the dump valve needs to be on the driver side.  You can put a second dump valve anywhere you want, but it is not necessary.  A long dump hose will take care of any really odd situations.  Just to be sure though, if you were really asking about the tank location and not the valve location, there may be some planning needed there.  For one thing, it is much easier to plumb a trouble-free toilet if it is directly above the tank.  For a large tank, like 100 gallons, it is best to have the tank run from one side to the other for weight distribution.

If you have no experience with RVing, you might want to visit several RV dealers or shows to get a good idea of what you like.  You could even consider renting an RV for a bit to see how things work and what you do and don't like. Aside from the vast amount of info you can get here, reading material from RV tech sites can give you a lot of help getting the logistics of the various systems down.

Regarding the AC units, we get by fine with 2 but our bus is 35 foot.  Anyway, 2 is the minimum since you will need one up front (as far forward as you can get it) and one in the bedroom.  Ours are 13500 btu units, but I would rather have a 15000 btu unit for the front.  We could do with an even smaller bedroom unit though.

[luvrbus]

The largest Onan made for a RV is 12.5,I was in a Onan class and they recommend a generator use only 70/80 % of it's loaded rated capacity for fuel efficiency and long life , only use 100% power under emergency or short term use.

I live in the desert of AZ and a 8kw Onan will not run 3 roof tops here in July and Aug,TomC says his 10Kw will but that is a rare case here, so do your home work and ask questions from Onan/Cummins and not the dealers all they are after is a sale

FWIW Onan will not ship direct to a RV manufacture till they furnish Onan with a load chart I thought it was a good idea on their part  now the dealers are a different ball game     

[Lee Bradley]

As long as you're on basic questions.

Roof top, basement or min-split? I have an invertor mini-split with a 9,000 btu in the bedroom, 12,000 btu in the kitchen/living room and 18,000 btu above the driver. My Cityliner has most of it windows still in and the front is mostly glass. Just running the front unit while driving, keeps the bus very comfortable. I run it off the bus alternator/4 6volt AGM 390 amp/hr batteries through a 4024 Trace inverter and a 120 to 240 volt transformer to supply the 240 volts for the mini-split system. Running the bedroom unit to keep 70 degrees in 90 degree weather will draw the battery pack down to 1/2 charge in 8 hours.

[sledhead]

Hi Lee
how big is your 120-240 transformer and much power does it use ? as when I up grade my 120 v split I have now it would be nice to have only one outside unit with 2 or 3 inside units . is this how you have yours set up ?

thanks   dave

[Lee Bradley]

Hi Dave,

I bought a 5,000 watt transformer. I don't know how much power it using but I have had no problem running the 24,000 btu compressor unit and three evaporator units plus two condensate pumps. I was able to use a gravity drain for the bedroom unit.

Lee

[ol713]

  HI;
     My 2 cents worth is if the AC works,  keep it.  If the AC does not
     work,  take it out and don't fix it.
                                             Merle.