A while back we started removing the bus original air conditioning. We had a professional come over to remove the freon, R22 refrigerant. We only went so far with the removal as we wanted to make sure we fully understood what we should and shouldn't take out of the bus.
After more research and speaking with other MCI friends, we felt prepared to remove the AC compressor and stand in the back of the bus next to the engine. By freeing up this space we are going to be able to store our outdoor mini-split unit in this bay.
Once we understood what everything was, it was a simple procedure taking it out. The hardest part was that the compressor is really heavy, but our system of connecting to the car's hitch to slowly lower the compressor (as seen in video) worked well. No one was injured! Yay.
Stay tuned to see how we mount the outdoor unit in this bay.
We were also able to get started on our kitchen countertops this week. Obviously from the title you can tell that it didn't go well. It's not a complete disaster, it is just that it is not working out the way we want it to.
Our slabs of wood turned out to be at a 25% moisture rating and ideally you want it down to about 8%. We cannot find access to a kiln anywhere near us, so we are left with having to wait for it to dry in our friends woodworking shop. He has a dehumidifier running and they are drying slowly.
At first we were upset over how this would effect our timeline (we are not going to make it out of here before it snows now) but the bigger problem turned out to be that the wood began to warp as it was not dry. Which means we will have to cut it down into smaller pieces to make it work.
We are super grateful to have a woodworking friend who is able to help us out, but our hearts sank when we realized we could not make the live edge countertops we had been dreaming of for 2 years. But this is the way things go in a conversion. Who knows, maybe the countertops will turn out better than we could have imagined.
While we wait for the wood to dry, there are plenty more things to do!
Up Next
We go to bus school as we learn more from a Mechanic as he does scheduled maintenance on our MCI Bus.
