In the spring of 2022, it seemed like more and more of our campsites were more than just a smidge unlevel. Maybe it was just us, or maybe we were all of a sudden now more sensitive to it. One thing was clear, we really wanted a leveling system that
Creating a Convertible Office Space in the Bus
One of the more challenging parts of building the bus was coming up with a place for Juan to work. When we decided on an old 35' bus rather than a more modern 40' or 45' bus, we knew there would be some sacrifices made in order to fit our
Bus Automation Wiring for Lights Part 2
In our previous installment of our bus automation system, we space planned and installed most of the major components for controlling our lights as well as wired and tested the outputs for the lights. It is now time to share the input side (buttons to control the lights) as well
Bus Automation Wiring for Lights Part 1
In our previous installment on bus automation, we had figured out how we were going to dim and control our lights using the ESP32 processors and some MOSFET boards we sourced from Amazon. We couldn't really use anything "off the shelf" (designed for home use at 120V AC) because we
Propane Install and Testing
It was finally time to install the propane system in the bus. We have had the water heater installed for almost 10 months, but with the hottest summer in Arizona history this year we were not in a hurry to hook it up. Many times during the summer, the water
Nissan Leaf Battery 3 Year Post Install Checkup and Capacity Testing
The time had come to do a little maintenance on our Nissan Leaf battery. We slid our battery into the bay on October 22, 2017 - well over 3 years ago! I am happy to report that the performance of the battery and solar system has exceeded our expectations. That
Water Supply Part 3: Getting Water To the Pump
In our last episode we installed the filter housings as well as the water inlet. In this episode, we are going to focus on getting water from the tanks into the water pump.
When we designed our water tanks we had no idea what pump we were going to use.
Water Supply Components - Part 2: Water Filters and City Water Inlet
After Installing the pump, water heater, and manifold, we continued the work on the other side of the bus. In this installment, we will focus on water filtration as well as the water inlet.
With the filter housings, we have again selected parts that are more suited for a house
Bus Automation: Testing Out What We've Learned So Far
Warning: Seriously nerdy stuff lies ahead. Proceed with caution.
This week we have an update on our "bus automation" project. Last time we introduced the technologies that we were exploring as well as some of the hardware we intended to use for experimentation.
I spent some time configuring and learning
Paint Update and Bus Automation Intro
Paint Update
As many of you recall, we dropped the bus off to our painter in Mexico in mid-June to get painted. Mexico has had very heavy rain in this last monsoon season. This is very good for Mexico - very bad if you want to get a bus painted.
Mexico or Bust! Getting Our Bus Painted in Mexico
We have known that our bus would need to be painted since we bought her about a year and a half ago. What we didn't realize was how expensive it would be. If you have been following along with the build, you know that we are a "DIY" type of