SKOOLIE BUILD: The Power Center

I am learning that anytime I want to start a project on the bus the key piece i need to buy costs $400. I am not sure how the cosmos arrived at that number but, it is uncanny how often any project costs that amount. There are these really neat digital display devices that can make the power switch from shore to gnerator to solar... You can even blend the power if you want. Super cool, guess how much it costs?

Trying to find a solution I stumbled across something that was dead simple and only cost $50. I used dryer cord whips with a female end for the generator and shore power outputs (elctrical sources). We have a small panel for the rest of the bus' AC needs, the panel has a dryer cord whip with a male cord end. To change from shore to generator, I just unplug the panel from the shore cord whip and plug the panel's male cord into the female cord coming from the generator.


Making Double Sure: Make certain to put the female cord ends on the power sources (generator and shore adaptor). I didn't thing it would be a good idea to have energized prongs floating around.

Also for the generator, I wired the cord whip directly into the 210 outlet. That way if I open the front of the generator's housing box, I still have full access to all the standard outlets while still powering the bus. The venting fan, pictured below, is also connected to the generator power center. The reason for this is so that when the generator is running, the venting system runs automatically.

We will have much of the bus' electricity running on 12v DC (lighting, USB outlets...). We needed a way to power the 12v given that shore and generator are running AC. We purchased a power converter from Amazon. The nice thing about the power converter is that it can be repurposed and turned into a charge controller when we get the battery system installed. Until then, it will step down our AC into DC, powering the DC fuse block.


Testing the converter, I cut in some 12v puck lights for the garage on the bus. The converter, getting power from the generator, worked like a charm. The puck lights lit up, demonstrating that the system worked.


DISCLAIMER: You should not mount your generator in your bus. They emit exhast which could be a fire hazard or choking hazard. That said, I have twice islated the air flow on the gerator from the rest of the bus, and have a triple deep system for spark arresting as well as a 2x2.5 outdoor venting panel on the generator.