2018 Seneca M2 New owner

[Harbour35]

I recently (Jan. 12) purchased a slightly used (5000 mi) Seneca 37TS at Quartsite AZ.

I have several observations based on my return trip home to the Alabama Gulf coast. I have owned multiple motorhomes starting in 1982. Class A gas, Class A diesel pusher and a Class C gas so I have a broad range of experience.

I went to a Super C due to ease of maint. and acessability to powertrain components. The ergonomics and control functions of the instrument panel layout are much improved over any previous MH.

Engine noise is present but not overwhelming. There is more wind noise than I expected but I think some of that can be reduced.

Now for some issues:

The furnace quit working (loose wire at the thermostat) and I had to use the truck heater only on the way home. The info center contrast changed possibly due to heat build up behind the instrument panel and became unreadable. After arriving home and a 10 hour shutdown everything was back to normal.

The Truma hot water system is great when hot water gets to the faucet. Unfortunately a lot of water is wasted while waiting.

The owners manual for the Garmin/Fusion radio/GPS/camera is not very informative. I am still trying to figure out the best way to interface Sirius radio.

Fuel gauge was not even close to accurate. At 1/4 tank it would only take 32-34 gal both tanks combined.

I just wanted to share some of my comments. Glad to be part of the Jayco family
Bruce Donaldson

[Robbbyr]

Welcome to the Seneca family and Jayco Owners Forum! We have a 2014 TS, on which I have made many modifications to make it "ours". Or at least mine, my wife just shakes her head!

The fuel gauge issue is common, many owners have experienced that error and some are "worse" than others. One partial solution is to install a ScanGauge D which, in addition to gallons used lets you monitor many other parameters.

All indications are that the Truma water heater is superior to the former Girard tankless. Be aware that the model installed by Jayco likely doesn't have freeze protection. But my understanding is that the basic model can be updated to include that protection. But your observation about water waste (waiting to get hot) is also a common observation. I removed my Girard and installed a 10-gallon traditional tank unit and a hot water recirculation system. One of my before-mentioned modifications!

And one common cab noise source is the upper mirror brackets, specifically the holes in the brackets. Several threads here on the forum about how owners have dealt with it.

Enjoy the adventures that await you!

[RVermont]

Welcome to the forum, this is a great site if you get in a jamb, someone on here usually can provide very helpful guidance and point you in the right direction.

The Garmin unit is good but certainly has some quirks, you have two different on off buttons on for the dock itself and one for the tablet. There is a Sirius input port on the back of the unit, I believe if you use the port then the tablet will control all the Sirius functions. To reach it you have pull the unit out and plug it in. Other options might be blue tooth or into the usb port next to the ash tray.

If you need anything the search function on this site is pretty good, you might need to pose the question a few different ways but most things people bring up have been posted at one time or another.

Best wishes for safe and happy camping.

[MD3]

Originally Posted by Harbour35

The Truma hot water system is great when hot water gets to the faucet. Unfortunately a lot of water is wasted while waiting.

The owners manual for the Garmin/Fusion radio/GPS/camera is not very informative. I am still trying to figure out the best way to interface Sirius radio.

Fuel gauge was not even close to accurate. At 1/4 tank it would only take 32-34 gal both tanks combined.

Bruce Donaldson

We picked up a 2018 in Sept.

I noticed the wait for hot water also. Not sure how to get around that. I am adding another 58 Gal fresh water tank so the waste won't be so critical when we are dry camping.

Good luck with the radio... there is a manual online but it is still lacking.
If you figure out how to turn on the rear camera microphone please share.
I can turn it on and off but can't get any sound from it.

I have noticed the same about the fuel gauge. I need to look into the Scangauge... I hadn't heard much about it....
I did install the fuel neck extensions. Makes filling up a lot easier, less mess, and can actually increase capacity.


_

[mmwhit]

Welcome to the forum. It sounds like you have a great amount of experience with motor homes, as is evidenced by your comments and observations. I wish you the best camping with you Seneca.

[Mark S]

Welcome Bruce. I have a 18 37 TS (M2) and really enjoy it.

"Engine noise is present but not overwhelming. There is more wind noise than I expected but I think some of that can be reduced."----- On top of the exterior mirror brackets are small holes that create the whistling as wind blows past it. I filled the holes with chalking/silicone and problem solved. When we picked up our Seneca to take her home it was so bad my wife questioned why I bought this RV. Covering the holes makes a big difference.

"The Truma hot water system is great when hot water gets to the faucet. Unfortunately a lot of water is wasted while waiting."---- On my last trip I counted "one Mississippi, 2 Mississippi" while waiting for the water to get hot in the shower. It takes between 22 and 30 seconds for the water to get hot in the shower. I estimate that to be about 2-3 gallons. Not sure if that is good or bad. My wife loves the Truma as she can wash her hair and not run out of hot water, but we mostly use full hook up.

"The owners manual for the Garmin/Fusion radio/GPS/camera is not very informative. I am still trying to figure out the best way to interface Sirius radio". ----I had my dash apart a couple weeks ago to put in better speakers. On the rear of the Garmin radio is a Sirius input cable clearly marked.


"Fuel gauge was not even close to accurate. At 1/4 tank it would only take 32-34 gal both tanks combined." ----My low fuel light comes on at about 400 miles when I have about 30+ gallons remaining. Buy a Scan Gauge. I find it to be accurate to about 1 gallon. That was my first purchase and gives a lot of really good information. Make sure they know you have an 18 as the diagnostic port was changed on 2018 M-2.

Enjoy your Seneca. There is an unbelievable amount of information available on this forum. I honestly don't know what I would have done without the help of many of the people here.

Happy trails.

[McGintys924]

Bruce,
Congratulations on the new truck, you will really enjoy it!

X2 on the whistle noise being from the screw holes; some electrical tape got us through this past year and I will be looking for a more permanent solution this summer.

The Garmin is weird and I still don't have it figured out.

I found that the upgrade to the comfort version of the Truma made the water get hot sooner. I would not use the gentleman who performed my upgrade again but Truma will do it for parts cost if you meet them in FL. Additionally, you get freeze protection.

The inaccurate fuel gauge is also a known problem, but most of us seem to go by 400 miles. Honestly, I am ready to get out when it says 1/4. However, there had been a thread about Freightliner upgrading older fuel sensors to a newer version.

Speaking of upgrades, please look at your front sway bar bushings as this is a covered warranty repair and they know it's bad.

Have fun out there!

[Crossingover]

Originally Posted by Harbour35

The Truma hot water system is great when hot water gets to the faucet. Unfortunately a lot of water is wasted while waiting.

Fuel gauge was not even close to accurate. At 1/4 tank it would only take 32-34 gal both tanks combined.

I just wanted to share some of my comments. Glad to be part of the Jayco family
Bruce Donaldson

Welcome to the tribe, Bruce! Unless you need an endless stream of hot water, me thinks the switch to the tankless heaters is a step backwards. While we have learned to adjust to the quirks of our much-maligned Girard tankless, we sorely miss the traditional 2-way tank heater that heats water with gas OR electric. Tank or tankless, you're always using hot water to push and waste cool water through the faucet (unless you do the hot leg recirculation modification).

The fuel gauge is only good below a quarter tank. Get and use a Scan Gauge instead.

Happy travels!

[SloPoke]

Welcome to the world of Seneca ownership...

We are currently enjoying the warm sunshine in Florida in ours... Most of the things you mentioned are covered in the JOF here.. and sometimes we can point you to topics / threads that have covered / solved a specific issue.

Here is what we did to solve the amount of water wasted waiting for hot water: https://www.jaycoowners.com/forums/f...hot-36132.html

[Robbbyr]

Originally Posted by SloPoke

Here is what we did to solve the amount of water wasted waiting for hot water: https://www.jaycoowners.com/forums/f...hot-36132.html

I piggybacked off of SloPoke's idea with some slight variations. I did source a simple time-delay relay which does have a user-adjustable setting. I just hit a button by my bathroom sink and it recirculates for approximately 30 seconds. Nearly instantaneous hot water to the sinks and shower. I did my recirculation project when I had my unit torn apart to replace my original tank level monitoring system with the infinitely better SeeLevel system. I also fabricated a manifold to direct the return water back to the freshwater tank, the manifold also provides an air-gap for the tank overflows preventing them from siphoning water from the tank when full and I drive! I used to lose quite a bit.

Here are some pictures of that project: https://www.jaycoowners.com/forums/m...lbums1497.html

Here is a link to my write-up: https://www.jaycoowners.com/forums/f...s-39395-9.html
Not a complete explanation, but if anyone needs more information I would be glad to detail my adventures more fully!

[RVermont]

It drives me crazy that the Truma comfort plus model would do all this for us but Truma refuses to sell the parts and make this as a retrofit. It basically uses the comfort re-circulation pump to move the water through the supply lines, this would be a very simple mod and would offer some level of additional freeze protection to the piping in the bays. I had the basic model taken out and modified to become a comfort model, the only difference between a comfort and comfort plus is a fitting that allows the warm water return to the heater. As soon as the unit is off warrantee I will pull it out and fabricate the tee so i can have on demand hot water.


When PEX first came out it was easily available in 3/8 tubing, this would have been sufficient for every thing except possibly the shower. This would result in about 1/2 the hold up volume. I installed 3/8 tubing in my house to all sinks and this cut the amount of time down to get to temperature.
1/2 pex holds about .92 gallons per 100', 3/8 holds about .5 gallons per 100', granted this comes with high friction loss and potentially that might put more stress on the pump.


The one good thing about the Truma comfort model is that the unit can be set to hold either 45F for freeze protection, or 110'f for normal use. This ready temp eliminates a significant amount of water loss though it still takes awhile to get there.

[Mark S]

I learned today that to de-calcify the basic Truma water heater I must take the unit to a dealer and that with the Comfort you can de-calcify yourself. This, in addition to the other benefits RVermont and Javamon have been taking about, has me thinking I may want to upgrade.

How much did the upgrade cost and where did they install the new panel?

Thanks

[RVermont]

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The parts are around $250 and the labor is three hours so right around $500. Kind of crazy when you realize that the original Truma is around 1000 and a comfort is 1200.

I had the new controller installed next to the bedroom thermostat. I believe others have had it installed in the sink area.

[McGintys924]

RVermont and I used the same gentleman to do the upgrade. He charged $250 for parts and $300 for labor. Unfortunately, I noticed it was leaking after a week and when I requested the man rectify the issue he delayed for three more weeks then told me he would just give me back the labor costs. I was an easy fix once all the butyl was off. Really a diy project to install upgrade.

For you lucky ones on Florida, Truma has a shop down there and will do the upgrade for the cost of parts.

Mounted controls right by bathroom sink, just like they would have been in an earlier Seneca with the Girard.

[Mark S]

Where is this shop in Florida?

[RVermont]

This really is a simple upgrade but truma holds their engineering quite dearly. One basically cuts out a pvc fitting, installs a pump and new fitting, plugs in a wire and remounts the unit. You then pay someone three hundred dollars for something you could have done your self in a couple hours and smile the whole time.

Having just complained about it still worth some cost just not sure why it requires a trained expert.


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[Rafstar]

My 2018 Seneca is on the S2RV chassis. We picked it up the 1st week of January and have not been on any trips yet as we are still working out all of the bugs, learning how to use the electronics, packing it and upgrading with a lot of the gadgets I read about in the forum (scangauge, EMS, tire monitoring system, etc.).

In ours, we have the over the cab entertainment system. The thing I noticed is that the TV/Blu-ray/Satellite HDMI wires were bundled so tight that most of the ends were damaged and I had to replace them. It is not that the HDMI wires were too short. They were bundled so tightly that they put pressure on the connectors and they got damaged.

[McGintys924]

Originally Posted by Mark S

Where is this shop in Florida?

Mark,
I approached the Truma booth at the Hershey RV to learn as much as I could about the unit and express my disappointment with Jayco utilizing the basic version; they expressed the same disappointment. It was there that one of the German gentleman explained that they had been opening a new shop in Florida (can't even remember the town) and if I brought the Seneca to them they would install the upgrade for the cost of parts only. Unfortunately I did not have the time to take it there this fall (should have!) so I failed to remember the details.

[RVermont]

· The Truma Service Center is located at 3928 Anchuca Dr., Bay 13 & 14, Lakeland, FL 33811


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[SloPoke]

Originally Posted by RVermont

· The Truma Service Center is located at 3928 Anchuca Dr., Bay 13 & 14, Lakeland, FL 33811


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Mark - 25 miles away from us... right now