Getting a lot accomplished here getting ready for a a bus visitor that i’ll be helping with some maintenance
Driveway alarm link
Diesel heater link
Getting a lot accomplished here getting ready for a a bus visitor that i’ll be helping with some maintenance
Driveway alarm link
Diesel heater link
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I have one of those driveway alarms, anything that moves will set it off,so I put a mighty mule metal only detector about half way my drive. The motion one goes off first and then if someone is really driving up in a vehicle the other one will go off as they come on up the drive , for some reason wasp really like to buzz around it, very annoying. You will find out how much wildlife moves around your place at night.
Watts stay the same in an AC circuit. Search eBay and find some transformers that can step that voltage up to 600 volts, then step it back down at the pad. Your wire will be carrying less current, but the same amount of wattage. That’s what they are doing at the pole.
Do RVs run on 50 amp 220 volt or 50 amp 110V? My RV runs on 30 Amp 110V.
Suggest you install a gate deep enough from the road to accommodate a bus length.
We also had a sensor but found a gate was better for overall limited access especially when we weren't there.
We didn't want to allow anybody to drive up to the house.
You didn't mean 2 legs of 220v. 50 amps each did you? You meant 2 legs of 120v 50 amps each.
Heads up….I have about the same system….had to disable because of the deer tripping the system a dozen times a night
That diesel heater looks like a 5kW model, which would be ~17kBTU/h
Voltage drop is going to be your main issue. My quick calcs show you losing almost 15 volts on that long of a run. Being if you started with 240 that makes it just over 225 volts…. unacceptable. Just trying to help Folks.
Update, to keep your voltage drop under 3% you will need to run 3 # 3 thhn & pull a #8 ground. conductors, use 11/4 pvc minimum, bury 18" . This will allow you to give your bus pad the full 50 amps @ 2.93 % voltage drop. Bury 18 inches deep, use mfg 90 elbows & nipples when you come out of ground. Plug should be GFI, or breaker. Take a 4•4 maybe 4 foot , put two foot in ground, mount your box with outlet. Could go higher. Use some concrete on bottom of that stub post. Now your syleing & safe. This was calculated @ 300 feet 240 volts & 2.97 % voltage drop.Peace…Hugh..
Chicago metro
No nuetral? Just two legs of 120v?
Hey Scott, word of experience with that diesel heater. Use kerosene not diesel. I've got them in my trucks, and a friend has them in 250 semi's. Since changing to kerosene the no start issues have virtually gone away. Much less carbon fouling and plugging in that little burn chamber. You already have it plumbed to a separate tank. No changes required just put in kerosene…
the thumbnail had me rollin with laughter!
@Scott, voltage drop will be about 6% at full current. Twice as much as it should be but very similar to many RV parks lol – thus the necessity for auto transformers.
It's my humble master electrician opinion that you'll be fine 👍
Why not heat with the heat pump??
What brand diesel heater do you run?
💯
Bury the line sooner rather then later the jacket may not be UV resistant. If its left in the sun too long the plastic / rubber will begin to break down. Made the same mistake once with some direct burial low voltage cable. Within a few months the cable jacket began to crack / rubber boots on connectors were disintegrating.
UV rays … pretty damn destructive.
Scott does your mini split AC unit have a heat pump in it ? If not there are ones that have them and there awesome
With all the solar power you have you could use the portable oil filled space heater save yourself some work. I have a huge 2 bedrooms appartment use 2 of them cheaper than the gas furnace sit in here all winter with shorts and t shirt
Scott it's 25 amps each leg of the 220 50 amp circuit you have and 6 gauge wire handles 30 amps so may handle the 50 amps but it will get very hot
Diesel heater essential, I'm on my boat, mid winter in NZ at present, was 1c the other night, boat was 23c…… Ive tapped mine into the primary fuel filter so it sips fuel from the 750 litre main tank…. easy.
Keeping the draw closer to 30 amps will keep your voltage drop a little over 3% which is the recommendation of the code. As Hugh calculated below #3 wire is recommended for 300 ft and the full 50 amp. Glad to see another bus on the pad and a sceniccruiser at that
Don;t screw up like some that wire their own RV outlets. Some are 110 volt, not 220 volt. This would kill someones RV electronics.
@BusGreaseMonkey – check out this fantastic video about the history of the Indianapolis 500, very well done from TheHistoryGuy.
https://youtu.be/D-xzn1nILwM
At 50 amps the voltage drop will be about 12V, taken either from 120 or 240 (240 puts 50A on the two live wires, 120 puts it on one live and the neutral).
That is too much drop and some appliances will have problems.
And it's putting 600W into the cable… 2W per foot. Doesn't seem like much but it will get pretty warm, maybe quite hot in the ground.
You could say it's 50A + 50A = 100A at 120V, but it's still identical to 50A at 240V that way.
Technically you should not try to pull the full 50A anyway, should stay under 80% of the breaker rating… 40A. Pulling a full 50A from a 50A breaker is likely to trip the breaker on thermal overload after a while.
Anyway, I doubt that anyone will be trying to run such high current. I suppose if they are microwaving and toasting and hairdrying with several rooftop AC units running… maybe?
You should record the meter reading before and after to see how many kW/h they actually use. Nothing else is connected, I think?
Hello iam just wondering if I can email you.i just had a couple questions about getting a 4101 1953 thanks in advance. Live your videos
Your videos are to short , love them, just wish there was more content.
Note on your heater burn kersin in stead they will last for ever. I have something very similar in my truck. We call them s bar heater . They do work fantastic just love them
I have have a few of those driveway alarms on my property each set to make a different chime so I know whenever someone isn’t where they are suppose to be
I have have a few of those driveway alarms on my property each set to make a different chime so I know whenever someone isn’t where they are suppose to be
Ahh, the old Tootsie Toy cruiser. Growing up a bus nut in the 50’s, that was about all we had to play with that looked like anything real. I owned 3 of them; wish I still had one left.
Just one question Scott, does it feel like "home" yet, you know, like when one returns from an extended trip to heck knows where, and you 'let out that sigh of relief'??
hi scott wow alot of new changes coming and that you already made i agree with you about the rv furnace and looks like you have more room where is was and it won't get overly hot now with the small one you have that will be alot better for you and kelly also love that you got electricity to lower pad so it's easyiar to work on bus when they come to have a repair done simply amazing scott and the driveway alarm will come in so handy that way both you and kelly will know that somebody is coming on your perperty or to let you know that your guest have arrived to so all and all i really enjoy this video so thankyou very much and until next video i shall say so long for now from Randy from ontario,canada p.s take care both of you and please stay safe out there .
Bury the wire, the earth's lower consistent temp will help the wire with current draw.
I would definitely run conduit, larger than you need, when you go to the trouble of digging the trench. That way you can always upgrade or add or change in the future. #6 wire will never get hot with a 50 amp load, especially sitting out in free air, no matter how long it is. The length merely effects the voltage regulation at the far end. At 50 amp on a 300 ft run you will loose about 12 volts. So 228 if you start with 240. Quite adequately functional.
electric oil filled radiator heaters are super efficient I use them in my camper
Those Webasto/Eberspacher Airtop heaters are quite amazing little boxes, and far more cost effective than one would expect. On a friend's boat the old propane powered heater used to gobble a 13kg (28 pound) at about 25GBP per week just doing hot water and a tiny bit of background heat, the replacement Webasto was lower rated(!) but gave plenty of hot water and heating on about 10GBP a week in diesel.
Maybe for your 2nd diesel heater, get an inline water heater one to use the existing onboard heaters.
I know international prostar semis have them under the bunk floor, they keep the coolant hot to the front heater cores & the ones under the bunk, plus keep heat the engine also.