A few months ago, when I finally installed a working wiper system on Buster, I went with a new design from RainX called the Latitude. They did “ok” for about a month but after that it really started to go down hill. Fresh out of the package, they are quite contoured and seemed to fit the curvature of the windshield well, but they couldn’t hang. The most obvious adjustment in their new design is the lack of an external skeleton frame to help press the blade to the glass (see pictures on the RainX site.) After riding with the RainX Latitudes for awhile, they lost that curvature they started with and only about 5 inches of glass in the middle was being wiped. Windshields with less curvature fair better I’m sure. Stick with the old school design and enjoy the view.
Monthly Archive for December, 2007
The ride to work was definitely a chilly one. About half way to work, the bn4 started to push out air that wasn’t exactly up to par. I pulled over into a parking lot and got out the fish tape and hammer (tools to help clear the exhaust pipe for the heater,) and went to work on the exhaust pipe for it. This usually involves sticking the fish tape into the exhaust and twisting it to help break up any of the soot that is clogging the pipe. Then I take the hammer afterwards and tap along the outside to help as well. I do this while the heater is running and chunks of black soot etc end up getting spit out every time. Hopped back in the bus and the heater was back to normal. I really need to fix this. With the humidity so high tonight, the cold just goes straight through to the skin. Brrrr! Lows will be in the single digits for the next few nights and more snow tomorrow. It was a white Christmas here though, which was nice. Got about 6 inches Christmas day. Hope everyone had a happy holiday.
From weather.gov:
Buckley AFB/Aurora
Lat: 39.73 Lon: -104.75 Elev: 5571
Last Update on Dec 26, 10:55 pm MST
Mostly Cloudy
Temperature: 10°F
Humidity: 85 %
Wind Speed: SW 3 MPH
Barometer: 29.74" (1012.5 mb)
Dewpoint: 7°F (-14°C)
Visibility: 7.00 mi
Ever since the BN4 install, the exhaust has been a bit over whelming. It was consistently dark and soot would start building up in the exhaust pipe to the point that it wasn’t able to produce much heat at all. The person I bought the heater from (quite experienced in these units) stated clearly that the fuel pump had already been adjusted to supply the correct amount of fuel to the unit. Not wanting to take the fuel pump apart if at all necessary, I looked at the intake side of things. My install involved 3/4″ pvc tubing to route the combustion intake to the exterior of the bus. Chatting with some friends a bit, it was stated that it was probably a lack of oxygen that was causing my nasty exhaust output. So finally, I increased the size of the intake pvc tubing. It is now 1 1/4″ diameter pvc and there is one less 90 degree angle in the design.
Results were positive, but not as drastic as I thought they might be. The exhaust is much clearer now and the heater warms up faster. Both very good things. But there is still a bit of black in the exhaust and I am not sure if the heater needs more adjustment, or my expectations. I took a short clip that I’ll post to see if I can get some opinions from others about it. Other than that, the recent dip into single digits has made the BN4 a very welcome addition to the ride….even with that noisy fuel pump clicking away.
