Removing old school bus wiring: mistakes, frustration, and triumph // School Bus Conversion part30 

I have been binge watch you build your bus for the past week. Watching you learn as you go is so inspiring. Never give up! I know you have done more work, but I writing some advice below not just for you, but anyone who reads this. At one point in the video, you talk about how you start to traces and remove wires from your bus. This is exactly what I have to do for my job in the electrical field. There is a saying in the culinary world, "mise en place" which means everything in it's its place. When you clean or tidy up your bus, take some time to collect loose wires and put them in a bag or box. Wires that are still attached to your bus, cut the exposed copper these wires can short and cause issues for you. Then coil the wires up and use a zip tie to secure it, so they don't unravel. Finally, label your wires when you figure out where they go. If you want some advice on labeling your wires I can give some, but you should come up with your own system, I use colors and numbers. Colors denote if the wire is power, ground, return, or signal. The numbers tells me function or location of start or end of wire. Last thing, if you have any question ask them on a electrical forum somewhere. Reddit has some nice electrical subreddits.

Between you and your brothers ( your age ) and google ....the family has a lot of skills .Manufacturing sheet metal parts , coolant pipes ,welding ,grinding ,electrical ,cutting plywood ,ripping lumber ....I know people who couldn't change a bulb on the bus .You have lots of tools as well ...smart family

Perseverance and a lack of freaking out pays big dividends. I really admire your tackling this mess of a job. For a supposed “dummy”, you do good work. I would have just taken it to an electrician. Go For It

Sideline comment here, I appreciate knowing that there is another young girl with a procrastination problem working on all this. Thanks for keep it 💯 and being honest that sometimes its dragging your heels to get back at it. I am not super motivated today tbh but this video made me get a second wind. Anddd let's get snippin them wires, much love ❤

Retired electrician......I have been watching your build. You truly amaze me with your prgression on different tasks and you have the ability in time to simplify things, you learn by your mistakes. Even with the electrical you have figured how to tackle the circuits, "one at a time" If I was still contracting I would offer work as an apprentice, you are inspirering !!!

This was pretty darn incredible... just goes to show that anybody can learn anything. Just takes a good freak out, then stop, think, and work smart, not hard. Break things down into things you can understand and move forward. Cheers!

I would recommend putting some heat shrink over them wires you cut so you have no shorts happening, Great work Emma

Tip of the trade , save all of your old 12v wires just so if you need to test something , you have it on hand , plus gives you something to do

No wonder that outside panel made you want to cry or try not to..... Overwhelming mess!

You are turning into a wonderful electrician woman, wish I had your help with my bus...🙂🙂🙂

Good job, you are removing more than I am…. You may want to pay close attention to those wires you marked as your exit door. On my bus 2 of those wires needed to be shorted together for the bus to start. They are a starter kill if the door was left open.

"I was busy having another meltdown .." Another great one-liner. 😂 But in all seriousness: I think most people would agree that you're doing OK.

EMMA. . . Don't give up. It will work out and BE WELL WORTH IT!!! I know you can, I know you CAN!!!

DO NOT SPRAY FOAM OVER YOUR WIRING!!! If you ever have an issue where you need to fix or modify the wiring, or even replace a light, you won't be able to dig the wiring out of the foam. The wiring was originally ran in an open channel the full length of the bus. Put it back in that channel like it originally was and cover it so it does not get spray foamed. Also, do not spray foam the front or rear panel of the bus where all the marker lights are. Glue on white foam board instead to keep the wiring free. You will thank me later.

How awesome are you? Look at all you are learning - and when you learn this way, you'll never forget! Great job.

Good job! Measure and mark down how the roof wood is crooked. You will need to know where to nail since you won’t be in a straight line. Might be better off straightening then for the finished product. Wire is super intimidating! Huge.

Love the tangled hair analogy.

Gotta say I love watching your hopeful optimism and pride in your work.

It's ok to not be ok in this process. You are helping a lot of people see not only all the hard work that goes into doing figuring it out yourself, but the feeling of accomplishment you'll feel after you're on the other side of the angst you feel of having to figure it out yourself. You're gonna feel yourself becoming a more resilient person in this whole process. Your "growing pains" now will be totally worth it in the end!

It's awesome to see how you've grown thank for being a good person in prey every day that people get the blessing we need so I hope you get the bus up n running oh n your beautiful so beautiful wish I can meet you some day on your travels mother earth is so giving she'll protect you on your way through the days ahead😏😘😎😋🤔🤗🙄😶😶😶😶

You are doing amazing things. I love your perseverance. Keep up the good work. Trial and error is the best teacher.

Very good analogy used, of combing the hair... :)

Wiring is fun but, think two steps ahead. Right now you're making your bundle on the outside of your stringers that you have attached your wood to on the walls and roof. Grab a 1 3/4 hole saw and run those wires through the stringers in the wall just like a house so when you go to put your wall on your not finding yourself with wires in the way. In the holes, you drill put rubber grommets so the wire does not chafe and ground out over time. Doing good, Keep it up.

Thanks for all your videos and your advice. I am going to look at the wires today in my bus and I am nervous, but your video gives me the confidence I need to get started.

Great job doing the removal of the wires

He toughest part of any project is FOCUS. I have that problem. I start one thing and get distracted and start something else. Gotta focus on one thing at a time. Glad to see you’re making progress.

Seriously, the brushing hair analogy was skoolie genius,

Well done, you have discovered what some trade men do work backwards going forward and have a reader meter or a volter meter to test the wire, in all honesty vou are doing absolutely 💯 percent awesome job, sometimes you do need too take a step back, breath, assess before moving forward, keep it up your doing great

This is the part in thinking about getting a bus that worries me the most!

Batt, fuse, relay, I’m a bus and aircraft mechanic you can ask me questions and I will try to answer them for you I know about wiring and other things on the bus

Freaking awesome skylight!....all is going as it should....

I have that same t shirt from back in my volleyball days.

Thanks for your latest video, keep up the good work, it looks intimidating, but the rewards are greatly and at the end you can say…I DID THAT..!!👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 greetings from the Bay Area..

I am so proud of you!!!

Smart working from the back to front. glad all the lights are working. wiring is not that difficult you have a hot and a ground. tip on cutting wires, cut one at a time, if you try to cut two or three at the same time one might be a hot wire and one may be a ground, then you would blow a fuse. great job. the only thing that bothers me is that dang tape hanging from the ceiling. OCD issues i guess. 😃

Great job on the wiring its just one wire at a time. Makes it simpler. For bus wiring Right Turn. Left Turn. Tail Lamp and Back Up. RT and LT takes care brake lamps TL takes care of license plate. You can always call before during or after melt down I will hep when I can. Treat every thing like one project at a time . When you know it you will run out .of projects your done.

Fabulous!!!!! I would have concluded I'm only driving during daylight hours and the traffic should watch out..... I'm in a BUS!!!!! LOL Way to stick wit 👍

GOOD JOB EMMA!!! ROCK ON!!!!

Piece of an advice Emma, take it to the professional electrician before you can cut or do something unusual wires on Birbie. Or else, it will come in the end that you will have to re-wire Birbie that can cause much expensive. Take care always and stay safe Emma.

Bus power. House power. Keep that in mind. Charge your house with solar when you can. Leave all wiring for bus power separate. Start out with a Jackery for your devices.

if your spray foam is over the 1.5 just slice a channel in the fome just enough to run pipes and wires it would actually hold them in place make sure you make access panel to your tail lights, you will have to work on lights on trucks and busses often. save the wires either to rewire but the scrap yards buy them as well as metal off bus

Really good advice starting at the back and moving forward. I’ll remember that for our build.

Make sure to secure all wire bundles with a cable tie to you bus frames periodically, leaving wires to swing free inside wall will eventually cause them to break and tracking them down can e an even bigger pain

I appreciate your honesty and your patience to work through it. I really thank you for posting.

🤗❤️🤗 awesomeness ... mistakes will be made and you learn from them. doing a great job 👍

You might want to think about placing all the bus wires in conduit in case there is a problem Emma.

You are doing the insulation of your bus = That is very good !!! But be careful, you need to provide air outlets = To ventilate and not to do condensation: You must plan to put 2 skylights

Wow! You rock! Keep up the GR8T job that you're doing! 👍

You are so adorable!. Keep up the good work Emma. 🤗

Hey chica, you're killing it! If you ever need help with anything we're happy to answer any questions or come give a hand😊 (my husband jay is a better help but I make good snacks and give good moral support😂) best of luck with the rest of the build!

Schematics are tricky to read. My advice is figure out which is the headlights, the tail lights. Once you can figure that out the rest will fall into place as how you read them. Don't look at the whole schematic layout. Look at it as sections. Front section, rear section, mid section. Break the sections down until you can understand them.

👍👍♥️🤗🤗 Good job Emma .Courage 😊😊 Kisses from FRANCE 🇨🇵🤗🤗

Good job , wires can be fun lol

Just a thought, leave a couple of extra inches of wire at each end of the connection, instead of pulling it so tight, in case you need to repair or add a connection later. It can be tight along the run though. I’ve had to replace plugs & switches and cussed the cheap builders who made it impossible due to no wire to work with. Also, don’t re-use wire. It’s not worth the risk.

Yay for problem solving! Before spray foam - do you know about the packing-tape-trick? Spray foam sticks brutally to *everything*. After you mask off windows etc, take regular packing tape, and cover all the places you don't want spray foam to stick - furring strips, metal bus ribs, etc. When the spray foam is done, the tape peels off easily and the over spray comes with it

Emma tape off all your boards and metal ribs in the roof with duct tape before you spray foam. Then after you can peel that off and have clean boards to connect to. Saves a lot of work. Also put all your wires in plastic grocery bags and tape them off at the top so they will stay clean. You wont regret it! Spray foam is hard to get off!

You paid your dues on the wiring,(thank goodness for Tom) but no cookies and cream, just a $5 pumpkin spice latte with no pumpkin! You figured it out once again Emma! The only problem that you and everyone else has is, "you don't know what you don't know"! It looked like you were pretty frustrated but you made your way. Don't you just love it when a plan comes together!? Keep smiling Emma, it looks good on you. 🚃 👍 🐕 🎶

I have to say, I enjoy watching you problem solve. Good job! Hope you don't throw out the wire you are taking out. Nothing wrong with it. Keep it up Emma. You got this.

You're doing a great job.

Hike looks soooo pretty! And definitely fall looking. We are still using the pool in Central Virginia. None of the trees are changing yet

job well done great work cheers

I always forget you post Friday so it’s always such a great surprise 💛🌻 *presses play*

I can’t wait to see all those “hanging masking tapes” gone! 😂Slight OCD here! You are doing amazing progress! Thank you Emma, I’m looking forward to doing that, hopefully sooooon! ☺️

I'm really proud of you Emma, you never give up, love your videos and be blessed always 🥰🤗🥰🤗🥰🤗

Great job 👍 can't wait to see when it's completed!!

Doing a very well job

Here's a hint, one the wires that you have cut, use one of the solder connectors on the end, just don't have it connect to anything! Gives you an insulated wire that will not short.

Instead of using foam insulation, I would recommend using an alternative. There are much better choices...... Wiring is arduous, and you are doing quite well. Well done my lady............

Such ambitious. Diggin it

Lighting is the issue now. Look at where it says Front Lighting and Rear Lighting. I would focus on the rear lighting. Look at where each wire runs, Taillights Marker lights. Look for a wire that goes to both. They should be color coded, meaning that same color wire should run from the front to the back. It's one of the wires you cut or unplugged from the control panel. Take a few steps back to make sure your reading them correctly.

You are now qualified to work at the Spaghetti Factory. 👍. You are getting very good at figuring out the problem and then fixing it. Something that took me a long time to learn is some times it’s better to stop and think and research a problem before you continue. And look how far ahead you will be if later on you have problems because you’re going to know how it will put together.

Emma, instead of the 'rats nest' you're creating, I find it's easier to wire in each component seperately and completely to avoid confusion. Then test it to make sure. Run your electrical conduit under the bus for convenience and accessability. Use larger gauge wire; especially on longer runs. Preferably, in my opinion, keep the wiring and plumbing out of the walls....

You're good. Here in the Czech Republic, any garage would take you. Great job.

Glad everything worked out, Emma, good that your brother was available to help out. Sorry you had a mini meltdown.

You may already have this planned but before you spray foam and put up your interior panels I'd put in some metal or plastic conduit with a pull string front to back and also front to mid. Just in case you want to add interior lights or wires for solar panels or even 120 volt outlets. You are doing such a great job at this, very impressive. I've worked with dozens of engineers that have real world experience (supposedly) but couldn't find her ars with both hands. I'm sure you would work circles around them. We all need help and look for answers in the quest to make things. I'm Glad you have helpful resources I hope you don't think less of yourself for using them.

Good job on the wiring. Take your time on the various jobs and don't stress out, that doesn't get you anywhere. Slow down, think, research, what you are trying to do then, if necessary ask a professional. No shame in asking. Keep going forward and get the bus finished. Good job again.

Hell yea! Progress!

Awesome video you will get it done 👍🇨🇦🛠️

You should cover all the wood framing with packing tape before you get the spray foam done. It will make clean up way easier.

Great job, I have been looking into buying a bus too and converting it. keep up the great work, and the knowledge your gaining on the bus will be huge when you're out on the road. and I'm happy the electrical got figured out.

Hi Emma! Wise decision to not hide the cables behind the spray insulation. Looking forward to next episod of the build. Have a nice weekend. 🙂👍

Nice work! I would have cried too if I had to deal with all that mystery wire.

Hi Emma, I actually always look forward to each video release. You have me hooked and so keen to see the finished product and the progress you make each week.

Smart with putting things in the middle of the foam. You can put water lines in and not worry about freezing

Great video Emma. In your previous videos I thought those wires were such a cluster **** story. It's looking so good now. Just remember, all electronics in the bus have an In and and Out. In comes from a switch which is connected to a fuse which is connected to the positive (red) side of the battery. Out connects to the frame of the bus (ground) which is connected to the Negative side of the battery (black). If something doesn't turn on, just follow the lines and see which one is broken. I don't know if spray foam is the best idea. If you ever need to get to any of those wires, it's going to be a major PITA with spray foam. Any other insulation can be removed and replaced.

Nice job cleaning up the electric!! I struggled through it just like you did.

Amazing job with the camera work and editing. You are building knowledge for yourself and helping those who follow a TON!! Be sure to take close up and far away pictures of all of the stuff you are going to foam over for future reference.

Your brother seems charming.

Keep all the old wires for when you will be running stuff inside for lights and such. Save yourself some money and there is enough color variety to keep track of each connection.

That's actually the professional move. Everything is supposed to be serviceable. Running wires to where you can't get to them is the perfect example of RU-vid University gone wrong.

Glad you figured out to move from the back to front on the wiring...helps make it less intimidating. Please, however, make sure you cap the end of the cut wires...would hate to see an electrical fire or short occur.

Do not throw anything away until your finished and if you have a scrap yard in town or near by, take all the old wire in and they will pay you for it and any metal also.

Do what you want of course BUT! you might want to start thinking of one of those Heater buddy things. OR SOMETHING before the COLD WEATHTER sets in. B E F O R E !!!

Another enjoyable video as always. Vehicle electrics are fun! Great progress though.

Yes you can use old wires to save money. I did on both my conversions over the years.

When you cut the wires to other things, if you didn't unhook the battery at the beginning you might have blown some fuses. I would check that first. But your original instinct to cut things that you don't want was correct. You just have to make sure your battery is disconnected. When I did mine I traced wires from what I wanted to keep back to the first wire harness and then marked them. You can put a piece of tape around them, or a small zip tie, something. Then the rest that I didn't mark, got pruned throughout the bus. I figured I would just run new wire to what I needed. However, if you want to cut costs, you can reuse wires that are already going the correct direction as long as they are the right size for the amp draw. Most of my wires were 14 gauge, and the big flashing lights were 12 gauge I believe.

You need to find a wired diagram person You will be ok just keep moving forward 👍

Keep all the old wire, keep all the old stuff you take off it, never know when it might be needed.

You are so fun to watch. I just love the way you figure things out and your commentary. P.s. it’s okay to have a mini meltdown sometime 🚌🚌👍

put your wire in some kind of loom or channel so you can get to it if repair is needed