Seneca Modifications

[rgolding]

Originally Posted by jcs1880

Do you have any pics of the fresh water tank support system or a brief description? My tank looks more like a bladder than a tank as it is very deformed.

The best I can do is try to do a good description. On the 37FS, the water tank sits above the Freightliner frame two compartments behind the rear wheels. On the driver's side it would be over the frame behind the generator. If you look in any of the compartments, look at the material it is made of. It is re-enforced plastic with a fiber material. Very strong near the edges, but quite flexible in the middle. The 72 gallon water tank is not supported well, except a piece of 1 inch white foam to give it a little slant. It is not as big as the compartment and that's the problem. It needs to be closer to the edges, where the strength of the plastic is. It looks a lot like an upside down pickup truck bed liner. It is that sorta opaque white, that I would call water tank plastic. Very flexible, but not a bladder. I think if you look at it drained, it won't look quite so deformed. Where I noticed the problem was that it was pushing down on the output and fill line, which was pvc pipe. Heavy strain on it. Drained the tank. Slid the 1 inch white foam out from under it. That got tossed. I did not mess with the foam compression block in front of the tank and put OSB board under it and the whole tank in 2 layers. The OSB board was cut at Home Depot for me from a 4 x 8 sheet. 2 pieces 30 x 48 and 2 pieces 13 x 48 and the remainder. Had to cut a space to allow for the piping on the 30 inch board to allow for the pvc piping. It went in first. behind it went a 13 inch piece. This now occupied 43 inches in a space 44 inches long and the sheets are 48 inches wide, which is wider than the tank. I then cut the 13 inch board to match the space I cut out of the 30 inch board. It slid in on top of the 30 inch wide board, making the bracing under the tank 1 inch thick. The second 30 inch piece was slid in behind the 13 inch OSB board and made the whole floor 1 inch thick. The extra piece that was a little less than 10 inches went at the back of the compartment to replace the 1 inch white foam that was removed. Filled tank with water and no sag. All is well.

Ask any questions, I'll try my best to answer.

[jcs1880]

Sounds like you did a good job and it is taken care of. I have a fab shop so thought I would make an aluminum or steel frame out of 2" angle material. Then I can add a piece of plywood or osb on the bottom for full support. Any thoughts on pros or cons to this method?

[rgolding]

Originally Posted by jcs1880

Sounds like you did a good job and it is taken care of. I have a fab shop so thought I would make an aluminum or steel frame out of 2" angle material. Then I can add a piece of plywood or osb on the bottom for full support. Any thoughts on pros or cons to this method?

I have done a lot of metal fabrication, if I could have fabricated something out of metal or aluminum I can't think of how it would have added anything but weight.

The problem, in my opinion, is that the tank has poor structural integrity when full. The platform it is sitting on is smaller than the tank, is also plastic and its strength in its corners, is not up to the weight it needs to carry when full, since tank does not go all the way to the edges, where the strength of the plastic platform is.

Have you ever seen the 4 foot cubes of a wire basket to hold probably a thousand gallons of water or liquid? In farm country, you see farmers carrying water this way. Its a cage, that holds the plastic tank, that holds the water. They are made out of light metal angle and 1/4 inch rod of about 6 inch squares. That would work.

You would have to empty tank, disconnect and remove 4 hoses, plus wires. Build cage to dimension and install tank while building and then put back in place and reattach all hoses and wires, before refilling.

By just adding 1 inch thickness of OSB board, I made the platform, the loaded tank actually sits on, larger and also increased in strength. I probably added 50 lbs of weight to a truck frame that could carry another 5 k of weight without noticing a change.

[jcs1880]

Based on your input I will study it a little more. It is a piece of cake to access in my 2014 36FK, just behind the propane tank on passenger side. I am familiar with the wire baskets you mentioned, and I like the idea of making the base support under the tank to full length and width available to get proper support. Thanks for the input.

[Robbbyr]

Finished upgrade of my cab steps, maybe my last project of 2016. Like many of our units, the stick-on non-skid pad was badly frayed and peeling off. So I had the steps shot in textured bed liner including around the fuel fill inlets.

I was disappointed in how poorly Jayco mounted the steps, the passenger side step had only one (of the 4) self-tapping bolts actually hit the step support. The driver's side they scored with 3! The bolts were plain steel and quite rusted and a real pain to remove. I knew I could do better putting them back on. I decided to install stainless steel rivet nuts into the step supports where my new countersunk head stainless steel bolts will anchor the steps down. Although I don't anticipate having to remove the steps in the future, should I need to take them off it will be a simple job.

I have attached a few pictures so you can see the rivet nuts and then the finished installation. The bed liner should provide better service than the original pads, at least I hope it does.

Many thanks to other forum members who suggested this mod!

[Shultz01]

Lookin' good Rob!

I finished up my last project for the year as well this past weekend. My 2014 was an early build. It has the leveling system controls, awning control and light switch, etc. on the side of the cabinet on your left as you come up the steps. So the only thing in the overhead compartment just inside the door to the right is the inverter switch, generator switch, tank monitor and slide switch. I see later builds that have some of the other controls moved to the overhead cabinet to make room for the pull out countertop extension.

So I took the cabinet down and added a shelf to make use of all the wasted space. There was enough room to move the satellite control box and Blu-Ray player to the compartment. There wasn't enough room above the TV for these two and the DirecTV box. Now there's a spot for everything. :-)

[RogerSwann]

Originally Posted by Robbbyr

So I had the steps shot in textured bed liner including around the fuel fill inlets.

Although I don't anticipate having to remove the steps in the future, should I need to take them off it will be a simple job.

Are the fasteners under the spray lining (was it sprayed with the steps still attached to the cab) or were the steps brought to the installer removed from the cab?
I dont see bolts.....

[Robbbyr]

Originally Posted by RogerSwann

Are the fasteners under the spray lining (was it sprayed with the steps still attached to the cab) or were the steps brought to the installer removed from the cab?
I dont see bolts.....

I removed the steps so that the masking and spraying by my body shop would be as easy as possible, plus I knew I had to improve the mounting method. Upon removing the remaining original non-skid pad I discovered Jayco had "tried" to hit the supports with screws, each step had two extra holes where they "missed"! Jayco didn't care, they got covered by the non-skid pad. I had my body shop fill the errant holes with fiberglass, so in the end I only had 4 holes (aligned with the underlying supports) in each step.

You don't see the screw heads because they are countersunk into the step tread (like Jayco did) and then I filled then in with black RTV silicone. Unless you are really looking you can't see them. But if I need to remove them in the future I can dig out the silicone easily.

[AaronM]

So I had the steps shot in textured bed liner including around the fuel fill inlets.

Looks good! I like how it would also covers up all of those scratches caused by the fuel pump handle.

[Robbbyr]

Originally Posted by Shultz01

Lookin' good Rob!

I finished up my last project for the year as well this past weekend. My 2014 was an early build. It has the leveling system controls, awning control and light switch, etc. on the side of the cabinet on your left as you come up the steps. So the only thing in the overhead compartment just inside the door to the right is the inverter switch, generator switch, tank monitor and slide switch. I see later builds that have some of the other controls moved to the overhead cabinet to make room for the pull out countertop extension.

So I took the cabinet down and added a shelf to make use of all the wasted space. There was enough room to move the satellite control box and Blu-Ray player to the compartment. There wasn't enough room above the TV for these two and the DirecTV box. Now there's a spot for everything. :-)

Looks good and an efficient use of the space.

I may have been wrong about my last 2016 project, good weather predicted here and I need to install a removable handhole so I can more easily operate my water heater's winterizing valve. It is located on the rear of my Atwood HWH, and while I fabricated an access panel in the side of the compartment to install the heater, it is 18 screws and butyl tape to get into it. So I purchased a marine screw-out cover to make it a 2 minute job instead of an hour to operate the valve.

I just can't help myself!

[Robbbyr]

Originally Posted by AaronM

Looks good! I like how it would also covers up all of those scratches caused by the fuel pump handle.

Exactly!

[mrplumr]

Could someone explain to me how you add all 110 volt outlets to the inverter

[Robbbyr]

Originally Posted by mrplumr

Could someone explain to me how you add all 110 volt outlets to the inverter

I cannot say how other owners may have accomplished this, but I would consider some limitations carefully in order to make sure the installation is safe.

Our original inverter is a Xantrex Prosine 1,800 watt model. That means it is capable of continuously supplying approximately 15 amperes at 120 volts AC. It does have a higher short-term (5 seconds) surge rating, but it will not supply more than 15 amperes for any duration. Not enough current to run too many high wattage devices, especially simultaneously.

The circuits supplied by the inverter are fed through a small transfer switch to protect the system from attempting to be powered by two different services, i.e. the inverter output and shore power, or the inverter output and generator power. Having two power sources accidentally connected together simultaneously is a bad thing! Our coach's main power transfer switch prevents shore power and generator power from ever being simultaneously connected to the coach for the same reason.

The inverter's transfer switch automatically defaults to regular 120-volt current supplied by shore power or the generator when that type of power is available. This transfer switch is what allows those circuits to run on non-inverter AC power. This transfer switch is also sized based on the inverter rating, it is not big enough to supply much more current without failing itself. One could possibly hook up more circuits to the inverter's output using the transfer switch, but then normal (when inverter "off") current flow to these circuits would have to pass through the inverter transfer switch and I believe it would overload and fail in short order if you try to run multiple items simultaneously.

If an owner wires it bypassing the transfer switch, certain protections may be lost and then all bets are off. Could be a very bad outcome if something overloads and/or shorts out. I was a firefighter for 33 years, fire in an RV is always a disaster. I am not an electrician, but I would also be very interested in how this was done so I could assess myself whether I thought it was done safely. To have some additional outlets running off the inverter would be handy at times.

[Dananu]

I added in inverter outlet below cabinet over counter. I just tied it into the microwave outlet.
Also added an inverter outlet by vanity outlet tied to inverter breakers.
Also wired an outlet inside right rear outside compartment from inverter breakers. If microwave and toaster are on at same time it will kick out inverter breaker.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

[srxhare]

i have a 2016 Seneca HJ
what type of air horns did you put on ? where did you mount them & did you use a separate horn button?

[Robbbyr]

Originally Posted by srxhare

i have a 2016 Seneca HJ
what type of air horns did you put on ? where did you mount them & did you use a separate horn button?

I have a 2014 without air brakes, below thread is how I added my horns. I use the steering wheel horn button but added a Freightliner dash switch allowing me to select either electric or air horns.

http://www.jaycoowners.com/forums/f3...ill-35437.html

Here is a link to other pictures regarding my install: http://www.jaycoowners.com/forums/me...lbums1069.html

[ready2retire&drive]

I am in the process of just finishing the install of a four air horn set inside the left front bumper as freightliner installed an air dryer in the right front bumper where Robbyr put his, the pitman arm just misses it on a hard left turn and tire's clear ok so am looing forward to 155 decibels of pacific union train sounds. Just have run the air lines and install switch in dash, gord

[Dananu]

Installed aluminum stair tread trim to entry steps. Improved visibility of steps so DW wanted on top also.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

[ready2retire&drive]

Like Robbyr my list of what I have done is long and left to do seems endless am now, due to my height installing a short 10" shower curtain to fill the gap above shower enclose. Seems when you are tall and your head hits the skylight in the shower there seems to be a lot water getting over the top keeping the wife busy wiping off the water spots from the rear bathroom cabinets and counter, then off to the next item on the list

[ready2retire&drive]

Originally Posted by srxhare

i have a 2016 Seneca HJ
what type of air horns did you put on ? where did you mount them & did you use a separate horn button?

They just fit in tight behind bumper on the left front. I had to use this location because Freightliner put the air dryer on the other side. I installed a mud flap to protect them from road debris and you can't even tell they are there when the hood is closed. They are a four horn set up from Ranys truck parts out of Florida