2018 Seneca Holding Tanks

[Giaburt]

See on 2018 Seneca 37 TS holding tanks are listed as 50Black and40Gray, Question is toilet only thing on Black tank or is shower or something else feeding into black, Seems as if 40Gray is small for all except Toilet Looking At 2018.5 as I call it as on new S2RV Chassis. Thanks

[SloPoke]

Most Seneca's have the 50Blk/40Gry configuration except the RB that has two bathrooms.

That said, our FK has 50/40 capacity and the Black is "toilet only" for us. Considering we have 70gal of Fresh... the Grey tank does fill up a lot faster than the black, but we find creative ways to dump the grey waste, that are much more difficult with the black - all depending on the campsite facilities and rules.

[jvteach77]

Originally Posted by SloPoke

Most Seneca's have the 50Blk/40Gry configuration except the RB that has two bathrooms.

That said, our FK has 50/40 capacity and the Black is "toilet only" for us. Considering we have 70gal of Fresh... the Grey tank does fill up a lot faster than the black, but we find creative ways to dump the grey waste, that are much more difficult with the black - all depending on the campsite facilities and rules.

I'm curious at what "creative" ways you have to get rid of excess grey water?

To OP: our 2017 TS also has the same tank configuration. I wish it was 50 grey and 40 black myself.

[norty1]

I have been in cg's that did not allow grey water to be dumped. I have dumped grey water in the dump station using a small 15 gallon blueboy. Also cg toilets
from a bucket in an emergency.

[DocDW]

As a family of 5 looking into purchasing a FS model, I am concerned about the lack of grey water holding. In our current 5th wheel (31.5 FBHS) we have 2 grey water tanks (I think 32gallons each) that I turned into a 64 gallon talk with a valve on the end of the sewer outlet. Now granted, we don't do much camping where we don't have full hookups, but when we do stay at the occasional state parks here in MN we sometimes do have to conserve the water with the showers to keep in under the 64 gallons for the weekend. I am very concerned about the 40 gallon tank on the FS. Why would this be such a small tank on a RV with bunks (kiddos) and plenty of carrying capacity???? Just seems like the manufacturer isn't thinking on this one.

How hard is it to add a tank after the fact....I assume it would not be easy at all.

[pconroy]

Originally Posted by DocDW

How hard is it to add a tank after the fact....I assume it would not be easy at all.

On our 31FK, we run out of fresh water long before the grey tank fills. Probably 3 to 1.

Yeah, looking under there I too thought adding in a tank wouldn't be easy. Swapping it out for a bigger one might be easier.

[mini4mw]

I have a 40 gal grayin our TT and I can tell you it lasts 1 night of 5 showers, with the adults taking quick showers, kids taking quick or small baths. Black takes a while to fill up (same size). I wish the grey was at least 2x the size of the black.

[rgolding]

It would take some creative plumbing, but on our 37FS there is a huge empty spot between the frame and below and in back of the rear axle. It would be an ideal location for an extra tank, storage bin or rack for something that was not used very often.

I just hate to have wasted, unused, space. ;-)

[RVermont]

Someone on here mounted and additional water tank in that space so it can be done. You might have to do some digging to find the photos but they are on here.


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[MD3]

Originally Posted by RVermont

Someone on here mounted and additional water tank in that space so it can be done. You might have to do some digging to find the photos but they are on here.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That would be interesting to find and see how they did it. A lot of space open space behind the rear axle.


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[SloPoke]

Originally Posted by jvteach77

I'm curious at what "creative" ways you have to get rid of excess grey water?

To OP: our 2017 TS also has the same tank configuration. I wish it was 50 grey and 40 black myself.

Posting this a second time - the first one is GONE!

first thing... check with the camp host... they will give you the real-time guidelines on grey water. Some campgrounds don't allow any water to touch the ground - restrictive for tent campers for sure - and others are flexible on grey water being used for watering trees and plants that are impacted by the drought across america.

Camp Hosts are well aware that there are a lot of risk's with any type of camper on the places they manage. Having an open conversation about where they are OK with clean rinse water from a shower or sink - and they will often encourage grey water being placed in the outlying trees.

They have a lot to worry about an unwanted black spill... and in many cases won't be willing to take the risk. - with some campers, they don't even feel comfortable with them using portable tote-tanks and the spills they have in the camp.

Sometimes... you have to have to pull up and go dump the black-grey and drive back to your site every so many days... others encourage you to drain your grey on the trees behind your site... others are fine with a 50' garden hose running out to the trees with Grey Only draining. We carry a 50' grey water hose.

[RyRoRyan]

Originally Posted by DocDW

As a family of 5 looking into purchasing a FS model, I am concerned about the lack of grey water holding. In our current 5th wheel (31.5 FBHS) we have 2 grey water tanks (I think 32gallons each) that I turned into a 64 gallon talk with a valve on the end of the sewer outlet. Now granted, we don't do much camping where we don't have full hookups, but when we do stay at the occasional state parks here in MN we sometimes do have to conserve the water with the showers to keep in under the 64 gallons for the weekend. I am very concerned about the 40 gallon tank on the FS. Why would this be such a small tank on a RV with bunks (kiddos) and plenty of carrying capacity???? Just seems like the manufacturer isn't thinking on this one.

How hard is it to add a tank after the fact....I assume it would not be easy at all.

As a family of 9 in a 37FS, I can feel your pain, but also give you some comfort. When dry camping, we run much different than when we have full hookups. The first thing is that we limit showers. When dry camping, we are only out for about 3-5 days so the kids are fine with just wiping down with a cloth, or if they need to they will hop in the shower, get wet (takes 15 seconds) then turn that off, use a soapy cloth and shampoo and then rinse (about 1 minute). This uses maybe 3 gallons. My wife and I take 3-5 minute showers every other day. This is HUGE when it comes to saving the grey tank. We use a britta and filter from the fresh tank, due to this and the amount the toilet gets flushed, I more have to worry about my fresh running out before I worry about filling the black or grey. Even with them flushing all the time, I never see the black get over 1/2 full. It does all just come out to like you said, conserve. The way I see things is that if we are going dry camping, then we are CAMPING and have to use that mentality. When we are going where I have full hookups, that is considered Glamping and then we get the full luxuries, like unlimited water, that comes with that.

[McGintys924]

We have a composting toilet which may be an option for you to allow combining the grey and black to one grey tank. This gives you 70 gal fresh and 90 grey. It was necessary as we boondock all the time and realized we would quickly run out.

That being said, I agree that it seams like a foolish tank setup unless they think we will be taking showers with the outside shower. Our TT had 80 gal fresh, two 40 greys (one for bath and one for kitchen) and a 50 black.

[MD3]

With the 37RB we have plenty holding it's the fresh that is lacking :
90 Gray
64 Black
71 Fresh

I'm going to trying to get creative to find a way to haul another 50-60 gallons of fresh water.


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[Rustynuts]

We are dealing on a 2018.5 RB right now. We do a lot of dry camping and like the RB for the capacity of the gray and black but like MD3 said the fresh is lacking. Before we decided to upgrade the the Seneca, I was thinking about doing the mod where with a kit you use filtered gray water to flush the toilets with. This does 2 thinks, removes gray and puts it in the black but saves you on fresh water usage. There are DIY info on the web but is was looking at this kit as the cost isn’t that bad.

https://www.usi-rv.com/product.sc;js...7&categoryId=2

[McGintys924]

Originally Posted by jvteach77

I'm curious at what "creative" ways you have to get rid of excess grey water?

To OP: our 2017 TS also has the same tank configuration. I wish it was 50 grey and 40 black myself.

I have a composting toilet, which provides me the ability to combine grey and black tanks. Admittedly, this option is not for everyone. I realized the lack of grey capacity was going to be my rate limiting factor in my ability to boondock.

[MD3]

Originally Posted by MD3

With the 37RB we have plenty holding it's the fresh that is lacking :
90 Gray
64 Black
71 Fresh

I'm going to trying to get creative to find a way to haul another 50-60 gallons of fresh water.


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*** Update ***

I added 58 gallons of fresh water to the open area up in the frame rails behind the rear axle. Now I have 129 gallons of fresh water.

A person could add a second gray tank like I did the fresh if they needed more gray capacity.

With mine, I’m now wondering where to put all the grey water as the shower tank fills a lot faster than the sinks tank.
I’ve wondered about pulling the valves open on both gray tanks to let them level out but not sure if that would work or cause other issues...
Also I could use a hose on the macerator and run the hose in a bathroom window and pump it into the toilets (black tanks). We have huge black tank capacity... If we pooh 64 gallons we have bigger problems and need to get home from camping.


-not sure why one pic is upside down and not sure how to change it...

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