It feels amazing to have returned from my deployment. Two months of training followed by a six month trip to the United Arab Emirates really got me itching to finish the bus. I can’t believe that it is finally over and I’m so happy to be settling back in with friends and family.

The bus actually handled the 8+ months very well with only a few small leaks from the rear windows, which were essentially just sheets of plastic over metal holes. Some of my flooring needs to come up, but I’m not worried about that as I have a TON of leftover gym flooring. Other than that, there really wasn’t much that needed work. My plan is to get to the floor next month after I finish the structure for the forward section of the bus.

So I’ve started a few projects over the past couple of weeks back. I’ll describe them and post some pictures as well.

Fan-Tastic Installation

I installed my Fan-Tastic last week, and I couldn’t be happier about it. It’s one of those things that you think you can live without… until you have it. Fan-Tastic has been making ultra-high-efficiency fans for RVs for a long time and their product really changes the living conditions inside the bus. I purchased a model that has a reverse capability, which is new for the lower-end model, but also really nice for when it’s cooler outside than inside. The Fan-Tastic can circulate approximately 980 cubic feet of air per minute. That means that the bus’ air will be fully swapped out every 2.5 minutes. After testing, at noon on a 100º day, the internal temperature of the bus was a balmy 85º which is a huge difference considering I don’t have an air conditioner currently.

First I removed the sheet of metal that I had in place that covered the emergency escape hatch. I didn’t want to cut it in place on the roof, but I did want to make sure that everything lined up correctly, so I measured the fan in situ and then removed everything. Using an angle grinder with a thin metal cut-off wheel, I cut the 14”x14” hole and made slight adjustments to make sure that it slid in flawlessly. I reattached the sheet of steel to the roof of the bus using butyl tape, caulk, and metal screws and added the Fan-Tastic. The fan needed to be screwed in as well, so I used plenty of caulk to line the entire edge of the fan as it attaches to the steel. Once that was in place, I tested it using a 120V AC to 12V DC converter and a very rudimentary (but safe) wiring setup. At this point, I can’t finish the next step of finalizing the installation until I’ve got the ceiling installed… which by the way is next!