#8 BUILD PAGE ONE....17 MARCH, 2024

 WHAZAMMO & THE GILLIG

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Finally got all the debris out of the way (seats, brackets, strange "what izzit" things, it's falling off anyway stuff), and we are down to an empty carcass or cave... this is best figured out by doing a complete cleaning before you start laying in and covering up animal hair, body excrements, dead skin, disease, viruses in hibernation, discarded drugs, fungi, yuck, and other bad mojo stuff hiding in a 20 year old city bus...  the best part of this is the smell removal and a close up visual inspection of everything as you clean/disinfect.                                                                           

Broken welds, loose-missing fasteners, rotted seals, rust, unneeded holes, glass and weather stripping, "daylights",  bad wiring, braces missing or needed, all become "knowns", before you get too carried away with fixing what you found, this is a great time to mentally visualize and walk through what you are planning to build, and a first guess at "how".

THE GILLIG: I was impressed, we found six or so floor bolt holes that will need butyl caulking, saw where three water leaks ended up (and found the window source), I found a rolled-up $20.00 bill inside a side rail !! and see where this entire overhead air duct will have to be taken apart and disinfected from 15 years of street people riding the bus... all in all the 15 years of body oils, shoe-carried stuff, and stench went away quite easily.    Then, I began thinking about the layout, nothing is going to work per my sketch... which was figured around past experience with high-floor busses ... this low floor is "low", and a new approach will be needed.

I began laying out my rough grey water and toilet drain line system... remember I am "not" building for boondocking...so, no holding tanks (which is a good thing because there is no place for them on a low floor bus) you would have to do a 12" raised floor add-on to accommodate tankage.   Well, as it works out you need that raised floor for plumbing and wiring as well, this bus has 16 " round clearance.

Along with my hatred of holding tanks, propane, raised floors, hidden pockets (bilges), places I cannot see and inspect, are all verboten in my world... but, I am in trouble here... the toilet is impossible, the floor is so low to the street there is no room for a 3" conventional outlet, unless I somehow go through the side of the skin, with a pump, or raise the toilet up.  the shower, sink (s), dish washer, clothes washer, grey water lines are all in trouble too...

So, outside, and looking under the bus, it all becomes worse ! there are no side spaces between the skin and frame... no pockets for anything.   This impacts my electric as well, "completely" different and compact-efficient design... but "not" suitable for RV motor coach building/conversion.  

RETHINK TIME !

After cranking up the Cummins, building up the air, and sitting in the air seat making those "1st gear"-"2nd gear"-"3rd gear" noises awhile, then shutting down and doing the burning Sage stick ritual blessing/cleansing, and sitting on the floor inside the Gillig listening for voices... I figured out that "only" an Incinolet toilet will work here ($3,000.00 worth), and that the grey water 1 1/2" galley sink/dishwasher drain will simply have to go obscurely alongside the interior dinette wall to the washer-dryer cabinet "T", then to the shower/bath sink "T" and be a 1" I.D. hose to the outside sewer (where-how I find a low point to exit is unknown...  the pipe will be only visible 6 feet as it passes behind the dinette, up under the counter.

Electrical will all have to go overhead inside the A/C ducts and be conduit "drop-down" to the outlets,  heaters, H.W. heater, galley stove, reefer, washer-dryer, dishwasher, lighting, toilet, air conditioning.

I am into a complete and complex-restructuring of my original plans... the score is Low Floor 16,  Me 7.

Off to look for a Incinolet... lets talk human waste for a few hours, other than not eating this has to be addressed...  on board Navy, fishing, yacht, sail or row boat the in port time is the problem for RV, motor home, tiny home, BUS, the in port (RV park) is easy, it is the on the road time that needs addressing.                                                                                                                        XXXX

LETS TALK TOILETS:  Again, depending on what your lifestyle "mode" is, on the road time, boondocking time, RV park time, there are any toilet options... your "tankage" will play in here, and it all has to match.                                                                       

NO WATER TOILETS: The traditional "old green 5 gallon bucket", got replaced with the yuppie porta-potty "cassette" toilet, both of these systems need dumping/washing weekly, the bucket is smelly and threatens to splash, the Porta is what we use when on the road, or away from home base, ours has a water flush tank, and lasts a week (2 people), unlatch the cassette, hit a restroom somewhere and dump it, a few cups of water and bleach, a shake to rinse, dump, and you are good for another week.    Another variation to the old green bucket was to turn it into a sort of cat box... by calling it a Composting toilet:  use some sort of covering to contain the smell, coconut fibers, leaves, sand, what have you, there are 10-15 major design brands out there, a few have their own (large) holding tank, and some are very expensive.  The WAG-bag type system should be a consideration here as well, and again, there are many variables available... if you are going "no water", do the research.  The no-water electric Incincolet works on solar-inverter, or AC, but the overall final system is very expensive, the unit is large size, and, heavy.  There are a few propane fired incinerator toilets like the Cinderella, and some other European toilets, to review as well, but, in the end... the shovel, or green bucket challenge vs. stopping at a gas station every morning remain the simplest, the cassete wins hands down (IMHO).

WATER TOILETS: Like in a house, water toilets require WATER... duh,  so, either a F.W. holding tank, or dock/RV supply source has to be thought out... if you run out of water, what now ?   and where does it go when flushed ?  now you enter a second holding tank, the black water tank ! (or a RV park sewer connection, or portable holding tank).

In all of the above scenarios, you "will" become a full-fledged "Septician" ... AKA shit handler, if you have a dirty diaper fetish, and seek out babies in need of a diaper change,.. "this" is for you ! 

There is a needed arsenal of hoses, gravity hose ramps, connectors, adapters, special flushing nozzles, rubber gloves and clothing, disinfectants, and (best of all)  a place to stow all the gear after it has been sanitized for stowage... you live in fear of a clog, a back-up, or a split-leaking tank, and you quickly learn that it would be great to have an extra valve here and there, an extra garden hose connector here, and an access plate into the top of this tank for inspection and total clog-up.   To do this right, there is no fast, "skip the cleaning", eliminate the smell, set up, tear down, dump process.  Add in a macerator to the list, or a Lectra-San treatment (or other) system, or rodents eating your hoses, and it moves you up to "professional". 

As you can tell, I am "not" a fan of holding tanks, Sewer hook-ups, dump stations, or the process of servicing them, I use my electric Incinolet, and my one inch I.D. grey water to sewer connector hose, I don't have to clean-stow-handle fecal matter, or worry about smell and disease.

On boats in particular, but also on large RVs  there is an identifiable and characteristic "smell" that pervades into carpet, your clothing, draperies, bed linens, and the "air"... that... is the holding tank stench (that can truly never be cleaned).  Building codes require septic tanks to be 20+ foot from a residence for a reason, not built on top of.

We will revisit the toilet issue again, when we get down to "locating penetrations, and running piping", but begin thinking now for whats to come.  UP NEXT.... we really need to look at under floor, and sidewall construction, to see what we "have"...and what to do.