Our Rig

[travelinwith]

I figured I would show some pics of our rig Farold that my 13 year old son and I converted in 1 month (14 days of concentrated work). We decided to name the Skoolie Farold because the name means Powerful Traveler.

I bought this bus 3 years ago and after spending the summer in our 35' park model at our seasonal campground we decided we wanted to extend our summer by traveling south for about a month so the work began.

We have been on the road for 21 days and everything is going great. I am getting about 11 mpg average. We also installed a 45 watt solar panel array about a week into our trip.


We did a little touch up painting but still have some work to do on the outside. We figure we will tackle that project next spring when the weather is a little nicer.

Here is a pic of the the couch and cabinet at the front of the bus. Under the couch is the electrical components that are shown in pics later.

Here is a pic of the kitchen area.

Another pic of the kitchen area

Here is a pic of the right side bunk. The bunks fold down to make a seat while traveling on the road. Pic of the bunk folded down is below.

Another pic of the right side bunk.

Here is a pic of the left side bunk.

Here is a pic with the left side bunk folded down and the seat belts out.

Another pic of the bunk down.

Here is a pic of the bus looking forward from between the bunks.

Pic of the toilet. There is a little dust on the lid. I suppose I should have cleaned it before I snapped this pic but I was anxious to share the work with you all.

Here is a poor pic of the shower but you get the idea.

Here is a pic of the master bedroom, what you can see of it anyway.

Gotta have a TV in the bedroom

This is a pic of the breaker box and battery charger under the couch. I have the battery charger wired into the breaker box so when we are not plugged in I can trip a breaker to shut it off.

I currently have three deep cell batteries and a 3000w continuous and 6000w peak power inverter. I have cables with shut off ran from the bus batteries so when we are on the road we can use the bus’s alternator to charge the batteries also.

The holding tanks are my favorite creations. I took two 55gal barrels and cut them in half vertically, butted the two pieces together top to top and welded 16 gauge sheet metal to the top. I have one for black water, which this one is and one for grey water which is pictured below.

Here is a pic of the grey water tank. I priced 35 gal plastic holding tanks online and found they were around $200 – $250 each plus shipping. I have about $75 invested in both tanks between the two 16 gauge steel sheets I had to buy and the welding wire.

I hope you enjoy the pics of our project.

[chuckinthebus]

Well done. Safe travels and Happy Camping.

[denochs]

You get the handyman award for all that ingenuity. Be careful not to overload her and travel safe.

Dave

[Dogpatch]

Very cool!

[Walter5555]

You guys did a very good job.
Be safe.

[sam-3]

Thanks for sharing the pictures. I really enjoyed them. Great restoration job. Many safe and happy adventures. Post when you get the exterior painted.

[sdennislee]

Nicely done. Happy travels

[GreaTOne65]

Nice job, looks well done! Good luck, and have fun!

[imorton]

Cool setup and a very interesting rig

My only comment would be the batteries right next to a 3000w inverter. You do know that battery and inverters shouldn't be next to each other (explosions)

Just thought u should know and maybe try to separate them before an accident happens.

I hope you have a 300 amp fuse in between the inverter & batteries for protection?

Just my thoughts for your safety, IAN...

[travelinwith]

Thanks for all the great comments, I appreciate it.

Originally Posted by imorton

Cool setup and a very interesting rig

My only comment would be the batteries right next to a 3000w inverter. You do know that battery and inverters shouldn't be next to each other (explosions)

Just thought u should know and maybe try to separate them before an accident happens.

I hope you have a 300 amp fuse in between the inverter & batteries for protection?

Just my thoughts for your safety, IAN...

Yeah, the batteries were only there temporarily. I had them setting there just for testing purposes and to take the pic. I do not have a 300 amp fuse though. I have the battery cables securely ran so hopefully it shouldn't be an issue. I have never even seen a 300 amp fuse before. I will have to look for one.

[imorton]

Originally Posted by travelinwith

Thanks for all the great comments, I appreciate it.

Yeah, the batteries were only there temporarily. I had them setting there just for testing purposes and to take the pic. I do not have a 300 amp fuse though. I have the battery cables securely ran so hopefully it shouldn't be an issue. I have never even seen a 300 amp fuse before. I will have to look for one.

I've done quite a few 3000w inverter installations, so I am just trying to help you out here. You may already know about the tips that I have below:

All DC circuits in auto, RV's, boats, plane etc... have a fuse in the circuit to protect from a short (a short in a DC battery can weld metal/burn/ cause fires.)

* You want to separate the compartments where batteries and inverter reside. When charging batteries, hydrogen is very explosive, so think safety, don't want to ruin a fun trip.

* The battery cabling has to handle the max load rating, EX: 3000w = 4/0 awg stranded copper wire with a 300 amp fuse inline between the positive and inverter. Looking at the photos, I would say your cables are @ 4 or 2 awg size. Good for @ + or - 100 amps if my memory serves me right. You can google wire/current carrying capacity.

* If you don't want to spend the money, you could get away with a 200 amp fuse, especially if your cabling isn't large enough (verify what your cabling can handle amp wise), yet the max load you can pull from the inverter with a 200 amp fuse would be @ 18 amps AC instead of the the 25 amps AC that 3000w would give you.

* 18 amps would likely be enough for one item at a time like the toaster, or coffee machine, or microwave, or hair dryer, etc... and you may have enough for a little room left over. Either way, an inverter is for low drain longer duration, or higher current for short periods.

Don't drain the inverter batteries too far (beyond 50%) since you don't want to kill/overheat your bus alternator.

Just a few things that I thought I would share with you.

Again, I think you have a cool rig, and since you can see from my Avatar, I like unusual and rare RVs

Safe travels, IAN...

[Bruce C]

Well done and with alot of thought. Have safe trouble free travels. Nice interior!

[travelinwith]

Originally Posted by imorton

I've done quite a few 3000w inverter installations, so I am just trying to help you out here. You may already know about the tips that I have below:

All DC circuits in auto, RV's, boats, plane etc... have a fuse in the circuit to protect from a short (a short in a DC battery can weld metal/burn/ cause fires.)

* You want to separate the compartments where batteries and inverter reside. When charging batteries, hydrogen is very explosive, so think safety, don't want to ruin a fun trip.

* The battery cabling has to handle the max load rating, EX: 3000w = 4/0 awg stranded copper wire with a 300 amp fuse inline between the positive and inverter. Looking at the photos, I would say your cables are @ 4 or 2 awg size. Good for @ + or - 100 amps if my memory serves me right. You can google wire/current carrying capacity.

* If you don't want to spend the money, you could get away with a 200 amp fuse, especially if your cabling isn't large enough (verify what your cabling can handle amp wise), yet the max load you can pull from the inverter with a 200 amp fuse would be @ 18 amps AC instead of the the 25 amps AC that 3000w would give you.

* 18 amps would likely be enough for one item at a time like the toaster, or coffee machine, or microwave, or hair dryer, etc... and you may have enough for a little room left over. Either way, an inverter is for low drain longer duration, or higher current for short periods.

Don't drain the inverter batteries too far (beyond 50%) since you don't want to kill/overheat your bus alternator.

Just a few things that I thought I would share with you.

Again, I think you have a cool rig, and since you can see from my Avatar, I like unusual and rare RVs

Safe travels, IAN...

Thanks for all the great information. And thank all of you for the nice comments.

[BichonLover]

On the bedroom walls, is that a vinyl or laminate product, or is it real wood?

Have a similar question re shower walls and the bathroom's interior wall -- is that sheet vinyl?

The restoration looks great! Hope you and your son enjoy the bus to the maximum. :-)