Living with Seneca 37FS Media Cabinet

[rgolding]

Some people go to gyms, some people practice yoga or meditation, some people just drink alcoholic beverages or other mind and body altering substances. When I get up enough stamina to place my body in the contorted positions I need to get in to work on our TV Media system in our 37FS Seneca, I feel drawn to many other forms of entertainment. However, an uncertain weather forecast causes me to forget my last event in the upper bunk above the cab and strive to once again resolve some of the mystery and again attempt to answer the question - "What the Hell were they thinking?"

Yesterday, I delved in to the catacombs once again. Now I'm not a gymnast, but also I still do not qualify for a handicap sticker and can ride 20 miles on a bike and usually maneuver most daily obstacles without major pain, but at 67, I'm slower than I used to be.

The area behind the TV, above the Freightliner cab has been one of my major challenges when learning, dealing and adjusting to life in our Seneca.

We have been in our Seneca, most of the time since October of 2015. We have experience with a portable Winegard satellite receiver and, if parked under trees, still want to use it. Jayco/Seneca made no plans for that, except maybe to bring a cable in through the door or a window. I've had experience with this on past trailers, but they were not as high quality as the Seneca and you would think Jayco would have put in a satellite connection in next to the coax cable connection. Okay, they didn't so adjustments had to be made.

First, find a ladder better than what was provided with the Seneca to comfortably get up and down from the double bunk above the cab. The provided ladder is now in storage and a 4 step aluminum step ladder was found to fit at one of the big box stores. Huge improvement! Highly recommended.

Second, get enough light in and below the cabinet, so you can see what you are working on. Using the ceiling lights will quickly create the little advertised "sauna option", included with your Seneca. The resolution is a couple of "hockey puck" self sticking battery lights. One in the media cabinet and one right below it.

Third, move all power supplies out of the media cabinet and place on back of the support bulkhead behind the TV with a power strip. When using satellite TV, you quickly become aware that many solutions to making your satellite connections is to unplug, count to ten and re-plug in your satellite receiver. Make it convenient.

Fourth, rewire the coax cable connection so you can provide a cable connection without going through the "cable booster". No, you need to do more than just turning the booster off.

Fifth, move satellite receiver and VHF, DVD and any Blu Ray equipment out of the media cabinet and place under the TV, so it can be accessed by anyone other than an NBA Basketball player.

Sixth, move the roof mounted satellite on and off switch from in the media cabinet to under the media cabinet, next to the 110v outlet behind the TV set.

Seventh, extend all coax cables to allow changes to be made without climbing up on the queen size bunk above the Freightliner cab. I achieved this by utilizing the back of the TV set to create a series of wiring harnesses for the different scenarios of roof satellite, portable satellite, campground provided cable or roof mounted antenna TV sources.

Eighth, label all coax cables and everything else, plus create instructions to follow to adjust to the different sources of your TV reception. I placed these on the back of the TV to be readily available when I need them and struggle to find my glasses to read them, let alone remember how I figured it the last time.

Ninth, have aspirin, tylenol, drugs of your choice and alcohol to recover from yesterday's gymnastic challenge of resolving this question of "What the Hell were they thinking?"

[oldmanAZ]

Thanks for the entertaining post.

Really makes one wonder if the people that design these things have ever used them.

[RodgerS]

During my hands on training as an RV service tech I worked on a lot of issues in a lot of units. They all had places that were uncomfortable to work in, required lighting, special tools, and the ability to attempt to contort and squeeze my 65 year old body.

One guy was half crawled inside a storage bay one day and I joke with him that he had failed at hide and go seek...just too easy to find with his butt hanging out.

After over 3 months of 60 hour weeks, I got really good at it and left. I got good at it quickly because of the extensive book/expertise training I had received before I got hired.

Actually, I loved every minute of trouble shooting, repairing or changing out almost every thing you can think of that an A or C class entry level RV has, including toilets, A/C, refrigerator, electrical systems, propane, and cabinetry. I averaged getting 4 RVs road ready every day, some took a day or more to fix the extensive damage done by careless renters (and careless service technicians).

Actually, the question is more like what "the hell" are owners thinking when they buy their RVs? Why anyone would think all this stuff shoved into this wee little box that has the "hell" shaken out of it on a regular basis should be simple, easy to use, easy to work on, or even minimally problem free is amazing to me.

You really do get what you pay for and the cost of a Seneca is not costly enough to do better. So enjoy what you are lucky enough to have, whistle while you work, and imagine you are a munchkin.

[rgolding]

RodgerS, You said - "Actually, the question is more like what "the hell" are owners thinking when they buy their RVs? Why anyone would think all this stuff shoved into this wee little box that has the "hell" shaken out of it on a regular basis should be simple, easy to use, easy to work on, or even minimally problem free is amazing to me.

You really do get what you pay for and the cost of a Seneca is not costly enough to do better. So enjoy what you are lucky enough to have, whistle while you work, and imagine you are a munchkin."

Very well said. I thank the LORD every day for all I've been given, the life I have and the fact I wasn't born in Ethiopia. I know I'm blessed. Spent 45 years crawling around in boats doing many of the same changes, repairs, and investigations. Love every minute of it. The last 15 years came with ever increasing pain and slower recovery time, but still I wouldn't have changed a thing.

Its all good and you've got to laugh at all of this. Thanks for the reply.

[jestew3]

LOL, I had so much fun dealing with the media cabinet in my 16 FS. You think they could have at least labeled a wire or two when they were in there. Rat's nest it what I called it.