I would suggest that the bolt should enter from the top. If the nut became loose and fell off, the bolt "may" still be there when you notice. Very creative, artsy, beginning but you didn't end with the same theme. I am sure that took a lot of time to edit. Very well done!
Wow, that is nuclear apocalypse quality... I can see the movie now: The scene opens from the air, your bus is visible in a parking lot, a nuke goes off obscuring your bus with dust and debris in the air, as the dust clears buildings are gone, trees are just short stubs, the paint of your bus has been stripped off, there is nothing left of the people around you but smoking empty shoes... but, the solar panels, (which automatically slid closed when the dust obscured them) are still whole. Everything is quiet except for the sound of the linear actuators sliding the panels out... smooth as silk...
For those bottom panels all you need to do is bolt through the bottom flange of the module into the aluminum bracket. Those panels are designed to withstand 150MPH winds using just 4 mounting bolts.
Seriously overengineered. I suspect the only way you'll 'loose' a solar panel is if the bus is on its roof sliding down the highway. Anything worth engineering is worth overengineering.
The roof template was a really great idea. Can you imagine how many times you otherwise would have climed the ladder, fitted, adjusted, repeated,... would have been a great workout though ;-) Great progress, great teamwork. Thank you for making these videos.
Thank you Freddy - I had a few people think it was a waste of resources but I would do it again in a heartbeat - best $20 I ever spent. Plus we don't even have the bus with us to climb up on anyway (it is in Mexico still being painted). Thank you for following along - we are getting there - slowly but surely.
Great work you might be going a little overboard with the bolts two in the top two in the bottom make sure that they have the nylon locking nuts and you'll be good to go
Thank you Jeff - it might be a little overkill but I think it will hold :). All the hardware is Grade 8 - with nylon locking nuts so we should be good to go there. Thanks for tuning in
I use bolts put in horizontally to keep my panels in my rack. I also use locking nuts to keep them from backing out due to the vibration of the roads. (I drive a lot of washboard country roads. ;) )
There is aluminum welding rod out there only need is a nap gas torch to weld there are youtube video out to show how to do it. to may bolt One bolt 1/4 bolt have a sheer breaking point is 400 lb you could use stainless pop rivet .
thanks akdisney - Funny you should say that. A couple of nights ago Michelle asked the same question: "Why didn't we rivet these?" ... I was like ... "hmmm ... dang it - yes, we should have". Supposedly this glue has a bonding strength of over 700 psi so even just glue should be sufficient.
You guys are doing an AMAZING job! Wish I wasnt in VT as ide love to come meet you guys and lend a hand! Family projects like this will be memories that last forever.. not to mention how much more you all will appreciate you new "home on wheels" because you built it yourselfs!
Thank you for the kind words Todd - We Love to have the kids pitch in as much as we possibly can - it also makes them feel like they "own" some of the projects. LOL - maybe you should feel lucky you live so far away - this thing is A LOT of sweaty work!
Thanks dprider - That is the hope! If we do need to replace them - I think we will just unscrew the sliders and just buy new aluminum angle ... we are considering them "permanently" fixed. Today Michelle was looking at our brackets and said: "why didn't we just rivet these in?" ... she had a great point - we should have riveted them in. Oh well ... maybe on the next design :)
Excellent work and set up Juan, there is no doubt, this thing is built like a tank. So here is my suggestion......Will these panels be of the same size 2-3 years down the road? Why? Well if one does break or screw up.......can you get another the exact same size to fit? If not.....you have another problem. You built this thing with no room for play.....So it could be a problem if you need to change one out. If, the answer is no, then you may consider getting one extra and store it in a safe place to have for a replacement. Yes, I know it is expensive.......But what are you going to do if it does happen? Just a thought.......
Hi MrMudstud - Thank you - The thought of damaging one has crossed my mind a few times and I really wish I would have bought a couple extra when I found these. I continue to keep my eyes out for them and I will probably stumble across them again - In which case I will be buying a spare or two - maybe even store them here in AZ. We will likely be passing through at least a few times a year when we finally get on the road.
Leaving us in suspense. Will the glue work? Tune in next week! 😄 Happened to bump in to a video of a food trailer that uses a similar solar mechanism to yours.. ruclips.net/video/MFIE-Tf6YGU/видео.html
Thanks Bill - LOL - I am pretty sure the glue will work :) . I watched the food trailer video - very cool. Everlanders have a really good one too: ruclips.net/video/2Y1UW_NVDfE/видео.html and ruclips.net/video/EzU4ihBbf3g/видео.html
Hey guys only came across your channel this week. The frame and clamping looks great. However I do have concerns over the sliders being able to deal with the harsh environment of living on the roof and dealing with wind gusts . Might I suggest a sliding system as used on fire engines. I work with a company that make the pull out drawers and decks that hold all the Heavy equipment . We use them to make a 100% Pull out system for pick up trucks. vimeo.com/259774513. It can take over 600lbs in this configuration . And is designed to work in the wet and inhospitable weather both hot and cold. I have seen metal awnings bent and wrapped back over vehicles in high and gusting winds. This may be overkill but I have always built to prepare for the worse , especially when it’s sitting 10 to 12 feet above ground, and needs to be fit and forget. Check out www.cvrollers.com
Wow! those sliders look like the real deal!! I didn't see a price listed on the site but I would assume they would likely cost more than we spent on our entire solar array.
LOL - this literally made me laugh out loud. We got a new canopy now that is bigger - this poor thing got blown over our house and landed in the side yard 2 days before we hung all the parts from the arms.
What is your output power on that panel where did you buy it also your rack system is perfect for the project that I'm working on makes me want to tear mine back apart build yours I would like to purchase a set of plans from you Homer respond if you have time
Hi Homer - The panels are Sunpower E20 - 435W panels, my total power output should be 8*435 = 3480 Watts. I don't have any formal build plans but I did document the entire build here and on the blog posts that go with each video. The framework itself was built completely around the panels so you would need to alter the build slightly depending on the panels you chose.
@@BeginningfromthisMorning I thank you sir for your input and that information kind of like me project start with a small thing and start building around it and they tend to grow well-designed meticulous in detail I like it well done Happy Trails and good traveling to you and your family be safe
LOL - yes - Dominic coming into the shot! The kids are so used to us filming now that is kind of part of our life at this point. Funny thing is he took the opportunity to go around and make faces at me behind the camera (you'll notice I get a little distracted about 30 seconds later)
Necessity is the mother of invention. I don't think you overbuilt one bit wind forces can get mighty strong. Juan you have become very good at welding Michelle and the crew have come a long way it seems they dig right in. Love the way this looks and your forward thinking. Any word how the painting is coming along? V/R Ed :-)
Thanks Ed - I would rather err on the side of overbuilding for sure. The winds can be EXTREMELY strong - I saw a few videos where Semi-trucks got blown over!! Painting is coming along very well with one exception - it keeps raining so they can't get the paint on the bus. They have stripped it all the way down to bare metal, sealed all the seams, made a few repairs to some of the panels - then built it back up with 3 layers of heavy primer + sanding and smoothing. All that is left is spraying the color ... but they have to wait until it actually stops raining! Thank you for your kind words and encouragement. This ridiculous project was either going to rip us apart or shove us together and thankfully it has shoved us together and been a very good thing for our family.
That was a great video! It looked like you all were having fun doing it even though it took a long time to get it all done. Congratulations on the quality of your building skills getting so dialed in that all four racks stacked on top of each other with no extra fiddling! That's a whole bunch of practice there. And we appreciate the time it took to edit the montage onto the down beats of the music... oy. We love getting to see your updates and are glad we're following along. :)
Thank you Ronin and Marie - we are getting there slowly but surely. Our bus is still in Mexico getting painted (all these monsoon storms are preventing them from painting it but at least it is prepped and ready to go when there is a break in the weather). We had to do something to make all the building interesting - it was mostly just us pouring sweat outside welding for 8-10hrs per day - nobody wants to watch that ;). You guys look like you are making great progress on your bus as well! Keep up the good work!
Great presentation, how long did it take to do the time lapse? Sides are way over kill, not a bad thing, I would put a couple on the ends. How is the bus painting coming? any pictures? Might be worth investigating powder coating the rakes, too late in the process? Nice progress. We are in the middle of moving, no projects other than that for a while (dragster engine is broke and am working on that). Glenn
Hi Glenn - thank you very much. The time lapse was done by rigging up the tripod and balancing on a latter while Michelle pulled the pieces one by one while I snapped the pictures. I accidentally got her foot or hand in a few of them so we had to redo some of the shots! We had to do something to make it interesting ... we spent most of the time just building stuff. Did you guys settle on a new house? I know last time you were looking at a house with a couple of barns - sounded REALLY interesting. I saw the videos and post of the dragster with a smashed dime on the cylinder - did you guys get to the bottom of that?
Our house is sold (above asking, no contingencies, had many offers). We are supposed to close on both houses on October first with a 10 day over lap (rent back of the current house). There will not be many videos for awhile. We have come to the conclusion that a piece of the intake that was machined was left in the intake when the engine was assembled (by the engine builder (he is having a tough time accepting that)). We were very lucky in very little damage, two bent valves. Head is at a local machine shop to have them fixed. The racing season is shot. may get out one or two more times. Glenn
That is great news on the house - terrible news on the dragster! Considering the size of the chunk of metal I saw in the pictures the amount of damage seems pretty small. I am praying that you feel better and things go smoothly with your new home.
I think the rubber could wear off or fray with weathering due to constant sun exposure, and then the entire solar panel will become loose. You'll have to check the solar panels often to make sure they're tight and securely bound between the rubber. I don't think I would add any rubber to the solar panels braces since the whole thing sits on metal rails anyways. It could be more dangerous if a brace become loose (with a bolt dangling and rattling) than to worry about metal iron/aluminum binding?
Thanks x86cowboy - we intentionally made the "bed" about 1/8 of an inch too big on all the sides to accommodate some rubber we will be lining it with so hopefully that will work well to isolate the two metals. The rubber we are using it intended to be used outside so I hope it will last for a bit before getting destroyed by the sun. We are somewhat in the "idea" phase of this part still - we will try to come up with something.
Cool. No problem. Keep us updated, I only mentioned the rubber wearing out because Greg Virgoe (mechanical engineer) another van builder, called and asked a manufacturer about adding "rubber" to his brace between a gray water tank and a holding brace. The Manufacture said under no circumstances should you add rubber on an RV between the brace and the tank because rubber will wear out and the tank can become loose without the operator knowing. I believe it was the Q and A video he posted recently on his Greg Virgoe YT channel.
Well, the rubber between two surfaces doesn't see much sun :o). The trick is to keep the pressure on the seal tight and thereby prevent vibration and thus wear on the insulator/seal. A thin layer will last better than a thick layer, actually . Silicon rubber should easily outlast the panels if the bolts are nice and snug . Other materials could be used, such as ptfe or a sheet of nylon, but I really don't think it is necessary. Rubber gaskets have been used in engines for decades, after all. Besides - there wont be much corrosion, as there will not be much electrolyte present (only rain with rare additions of salt), not often (I suppose camping in pleasant climates will be the plan) and only over a small area (the "noble" iron is painted, after all). And aluminum and mild steel is fairly close nobility-wise. I suspect I would not even care to put anything besides paint between the two metals, but I would consider to use nylon washers between bolts/nuts and frames, however, as this is where the corrosion usually occur - if any.
I would suggest that the bolt should enter from the top. If the nut became loose and fell off, the bolt "may" still be there when you notice. Very creative, artsy, beginning but you didn't end with the same theme. I am sure that took a lot of time to edit. Very well done!
Thanks Dennis - I had to make it a little artsy ... it was more of a "production" time for a couple of weeks ... Thank you for the kind words.
Wow, that is nuclear apocalypse quality... I can see the movie now: The scene opens from the air, your bus is visible in a parking lot, a nuke goes off obscuring your bus with dust and debris in the air, as the dust clears buildings are gone, trees are just short stubs, the paint of your bus has been stripped off, there is nothing left of the people around you but smoking empty shoes... but, the solar panels, (which automatically slid closed when the dust obscured them) are still whole. Everything is quiet except for the sound of the linear actuators sliding the panels out... smooth as silk...
LOL - quite the narrative Joey! The bus is not even done being painted and you are already talking about stripping it off!
For those bottom panels all you need to do is bolt through the bottom flange of the module into the aluminum bracket. Those panels are designed to withstand 150MPH winds using just 4 mounting bolts.
Seriously overengineered. I suspect the only way you'll 'loose' a solar panel is if the bus is on its roof sliding down the highway.
Anything worth engineering is worth overengineering.
Thanks Scott - I am not an engineer so I tend to want to overbuild "just in case".
The roof template was a really great idea. Can you imagine how many times you otherwise would have climed the ladder, fitted, adjusted, repeated,... would have been a great workout though ;-) Great progress, great teamwork. Thank you for making these videos.
Thank you Freddy - I had a few people think it was a waste of resources but I would do it again in a heartbeat - best $20 I ever spent. Plus we don't even have the bus with us to climb up on anyway (it is in Mexico still being painted). Thank you for following along - we are getting there - slowly but surely.
It's good to see the family getting involved. Memories that will last a life time.
Thanks Mark - the kids are always very excited to pitch in!
Great work you might be going a little overboard with the bolts two in the top two in the bottom make sure that they have the nylon locking nuts and you'll be good to go
Thank you Jeff - it might be a little overkill but I think it will hold :). All the hardware is Grade 8 - with nylon locking nuts so we should be good to go there. Thanks for tuning in
I use bolts put in horizontally to keep my panels in my rack. I also use locking nuts to keep them from backing out due to the vibration of the roads. (I drive a lot of washboard country roads. ;) )
Loving the journey so far guys, your like machines....lol . Your attention to detail is second to none. 💚🙏👍🇬🇧
There is aluminum welding rod out there only need is a nap gas torch to weld there are youtube video out to show how to do it. to may bolt One bolt 1/4 bolt have a sheer breaking point is 400 lb you could use stainless pop rivet .
thanks akdisney - Funny you should say that. A couple of nights ago Michelle asked the same question: "Why didn't we rivet these?" ... I was like ... "hmmm ... dang it - yes, we should have". Supposedly this glue has a bonding strength of over 700 psi so even just glue should be sufficient.
well Michelle and me think alike
Great production crew. Just keep them well fed, you are making lifetime memories.
Thanks Randy - The kids LOVE helping out. We try to involve them as much as we can.
You guys are doing an AMAZING job! Wish I wasnt in VT as ide love to come meet you guys and lend a hand! Family projects like this will be memories that last forever.. not to mention how much more you all will appreciate you new "home on wheels" because you built it yourselfs!
Thank you for the kind words Todd - We Love to have the kids pitch in as much as we possibly can - it also makes them feel like they "own" some of the projects. LOL - maybe you should feel lucky you live so far away - this thing is A LOT of sweaty work!
That 5200 is very tenacious stuff. Hopefully you won't have to remove any of those brackets again!
Thanks dprider - That is the hope! If we do need to replace them - I think we will just unscrew the sliders and just buy new aluminum angle ... we are considering them "permanently" fixed. Today Michelle was looking at our brackets and said: "why didn't we just rivet these in?" ... she had a great point - we should have riveted them in. Oh well ... maybe on the next design :)
Beginning from this Morning You could do both...rivet and glue. You will never have to worry about that part even flinching.
Snap, snap, bye! snap tracks suck.....
Excellent work and set up Juan, there is no doubt, this thing is built like a tank. So here is my suggestion......Will these panels be of the same size 2-3 years down the road? Why? Well if one does break or screw up.......can you get another the exact same size to fit? If not.....you have another problem. You built this thing with no room for play.....So it could be a problem if you need to change one out. If, the answer is no, then you may consider getting one extra and store it in a safe place to have for a replacement. Yes, I know it is expensive.......But what are you going to do if it does happen? Just a thought.......
Hi MrMudstud - Thank you - The thought of damaging one has crossed my mind a few times and I really wish I would have bought a couple extra when I found these. I continue to keep my eyes out for them and I will probably stumble across them again - In which case I will be buying a spare or two - maybe even store them here in AZ. We will likely be passing through at least a few times a year when we finally get on the road.
Leaving us in suspense. Will the glue work? Tune in next week! 😄
Happened to bump in to a video of a food trailer that uses a similar solar mechanism to yours..
ruclips.net/video/MFIE-Tf6YGU/видео.html
Thanks Bill - LOL - I am pretty sure the glue will work :) . I watched the food trailer video - very cool. Everlanders have a really good one too: ruclips.net/video/2Y1UW_NVDfE/видео.html and ruclips.net/video/EzU4ihBbf3g/видео.html
Hey guys only came across your channel this week. The frame and clamping looks great. However I do have concerns over the sliders being able to deal with the harsh environment of living on the roof and dealing with wind gusts . Might I suggest a sliding system as used on fire engines. I work with a company that make the pull out drawers and decks that hold all the Heavy equipment . We use them to make a 100% Pull out system for pick up trucks. vimeo.com/259774513. It can take over 600lbs in this configuration . And is designed to work in the wet and inhospitable weather both hot and cold. I have seen metal awnings bent and wrapped back over vehicles in high and gusting winds. This may be overkill but I have always built to prepare for the worse , especially when it’s sitting 10 to 12 feet above ground, and needs to be fit and forget. Check out www.cvrollers.com
Wow! those sliders look like the real deal!! I didn't see a price listed on the site but I would assume they would likely cost more than we spent on our entire solar array.
Sunpower should be paying you for either having mentioned them or for the plans for mounting racks or ?
LOL wouldn't that be nice! We are actually pretty big fans of SunPower - the panels have been great!
Nooo! Yellow canopy! RIP sweet prince
LOL - this literally made me laugh out loud. We got a new canopy now that is bigger - this poor thing got blown over our house and landed in the side yard 2 days before we hung all the parts from the arms.
Absolutely fantastic!
Thank you!
What is your output power on that panel where did you buy it also your rack system is perfect for the project that I'm working on makes me want to tear mine back apart build yours I would like to purchase a set of plans from you Homer respond if you have time
Hi Homer - The panels are Sunpower E20 - 435W panels, my total power output should be 8*435 = 3480 Watts. I don't have any formal build plans but I did document the entire build here and on the blog posts that go with each video. The framework itself was built completely around the panels so you would need to alter the build slightly depending on the panels you chose.
@@BeginningfromthisMorning I thank you sir for your input and that information kind of like me project start with a small thing and start building around it and they tend to grow well-designed meticulous in detail I like it well done Happy Trails and good traveling to you and your family be safe
Everything is looking good.
Thank you Jerry - it is starting to take shape :) - now if we could just get our bus back from Mexico ....
@7:35 - ABORT ABORT ABORT! Haha
LOL - yes - Dominic coming into the shot! The kids are so used to us filming now that is kind of part of our life at this point. Funny thing is he took the opportunity to go around and make faces at me behind the camera (you'll notice I get a little distracted about 30 seconds later)
Perfect build, perfect music, perfect production! Kudos! Brilliant (again)! Henry Ford would be proud, he made America great don't you know.
Thank you Rex! Thanks for tuning in
Necessity is the mother of invention. I don't think you overbuilt one bit wind forces can get mighty strong. Juan you have become very good at welding Michelle and the crew have come a long way it seems they dig right in. Love the way this looks and your forward thinking. Any word how the painting is coming along? V/R Ed :-)
Thanks Ed - I would rather err on the side of overbuilding for sure. The winds can be EXTREMELY strong - I saw a few videos where Semi-trucks got blown over!! Painting is coming along very well with one exception - it keeps raining so they can't get the paint on the bus. They have stripped it all the way down to bare metal, sealed all the seams, made a few repairs to some of the panels - then built it back up with 3 layers of heavy primer + sanding and smoothing. All that is left is spraying the color ... but they have to wait until it actually stops raining! Thank you for your kind words and encouragement. This ridiculous project was either going to rip us apart or shove us together and thankfully it has shoved us together and been a very good thing for our family.
👍👍응원합니다 👍👍🇰🇷
감사합니다
That was a great video! It looked like you all were having fun doing it even though it took a long time to get it all done. Congratulations on the quality of your building skills getting so dialed in that all four racks stacked on top of each other with no extra fiddling! That's a whole bunch of practice there. And we appreciate the time it took to edit the montage onto the down beats of the music... oy. We love getting to see your updates and are glad we're following along. :)
Thank you Ronin and Marie - we are getting there slowly but surely. Our bus is still in Mexico getting painted (all these monsoon storms are preventing them from painting it but at least it is prepped and ready to go when there is a break in the weather). We had to do something to make all the building interesting - it was mostly just us pouring sweat outside welding for 8-10hrs per day - nobody wants to watch that ;). You guys look like you are making great progress on your bus as well! Keep up the good work!
You guys are awesome. As they say “Necessity is the mother of invention” or something like that. Some great ideas.
Thank you Average Joe - The plan is starting to take shape and we are getting a lot better at building stuff :) . Thanks for tuning in.
I really like how this is going...looks to be very sturdy & safe!
Thank you Gregory - it is finally coming together.
Great presentation, how long did it take to do the time lapse? Sides are way over kill, not a bad thing, I would put a couple on the ends. How is the bus painting coming? any pictures? Might be worth investigating powder coating the rakes, too late in the process? Nice progress. We are in the middle of moving, no projects other than that for a while (dragster engine is broke and am working on that). Glenn
Hi Glenn - thank you very much. The time lapse was done by rigging up the tripod and balancing on a latter while Michelle pulled the pieces one by one while I snapped the pictures. I accidentally got her foot or hand in a few of them so we had to redo some of the shots! We had to do something to make it interesting ... we spent most of the time just building stuff. Did you guys settle on a new house? I know last time you were looking at a house with a couple of barns - sounded REALLY interesting. I saw the videos and post of the dragster with a smashed dime on the cylinder - did you guys get to the bottom of that?
Our house is sold (above asking, no contingencies, had many offers). We are supposed to close on both houses on October first with a 10 day over lap (rent back of the current house). There will not be many videos for awhile. We have come to the conclusion that a piece of the intake that was machined was left in the intake when the engine was assembled (by the engine builder (he is having a tough time accepting that)). We were very lucky in very little damage, two bent valves. Head is at a local machine shop to have them fixed. The racing season is shot. may get out one or two more times. Glenn
That is great news on the house - terrible news on the dragster! Considering the size of the chunk of metal I saw in the pictures the amount of damage seems pretty small. I am praying that you feel better and things go smoothly with your new home.
I think the rubber could wear off or fray with weathering due to constant sun exposure, and then the entire solar panel will become loose. You'll have to check the solar panels often to make sure they're tight and securely bound between the rubber. I don't think I would add any rubber to the solar panels braces since the whole thing sits on metal rails anyways. It could be more dangerous if a brace become loose (with a bolt dangling and rattling) than to worry about metal iron/aluminum binding?
Thanks x86cowboy - we intentionally made the "bed" about 1/8 of an inch too big on all the sides to accommodate some rubber we will be lining it with so hopefully that will work well to isolate the two metals. The rubber we are using it intended to be used outside so I hope it will last for a bit before getting destroyed by the sun. We are somewhat in the "idea" phase of this part still - we will try to come up with something.
Cool. No problem. Keep us updated, I only mentioned the rubber wearing out because Greg Virgoe (mechanical engineer) another van builder, called and asked a manufacturer about adding "rubber" to his brace between a gray water tank and a holding brace. The Manufacture said under no circumstances should you add rubber on an RV between the brace and the tank because rubber will wear out and the tank can become loose without the operator knowing. I believe it was the Q and A video he posted recently on his Greg Virgoe YT channel.
Well, the rubber between two surfaces doesn't see much sun :o). The trick is to keep the pressure on the seal tight and thereby prevent vibration and thus wear on the insulator/seal. A thin layer will last better than a thick layer, actually . Silicon rubber should easily outlast the panels if the bolts are nice and snug . Other materials could be used, such as ptfe or a sheet of nylon, but I really don't think it is necessary. Rubber gaskets have been used in engines for decades, after all.
Besides - there wont be much corrosion, as there will not be much electrolyte present (only rain with rare additions of salt), not often (I suppose camping in pleasant climates will be the plan) and only over a small area (the "noble" iron is painted, after all). And aluminum and mild steel is fairly close nobility-wise. I suspect I would not even care to put anything besides paint between the two metals, but I would consider to use nylon washers between bolts/nuts and frames, however, as this is where the corrosion usually occur - if any.
Claus Jellinggaard Or just use slick plastic(the kind they make furniture sliders out of), which would last years, even in the sun.