Thinking About Upgrading to a Seneca

[COClassyRV]

My wife and I love our 2017 31DS but have realized that we need something bigger when we hit the road full time and we also want a unit that is truly 4 season capable.

I've read conflicting posts about the Seneca's cold weather capability and interested in some honest feedback. I've spent a winter in a 2003 Glendale Titanium 5th wheel with several days, sometimes weeks as low as -20 F with no issues, so to me, that's 4 season capable.

Thanks in advance!
Brad & Judy

[Robbbyr]

Originally Posted by COClassyRV

My wife and I love our 2017 31DS but have realized that we need something bigger when we hit the road full time and we also want a unit that is truly 4 season capable.

I've read conflicting posts about the Seneca's cold weather capability and interested in some honest feedback. I've spent a winter in a 2003 Glendale Titanium 5th wheel with several days, sometimes weeks as low as -20 F with no issues, so to me, that's 4 season capable.

Thanks in advance!
Brad & Judy

As delivered, I doubt that a Seneca would last very long in subzero temps. The tanks are located below the floor and are heated with a duct off of the furnace. Some of the piping on my TS is at the far back of the rig leading to/from the hot water heater. It is the most susceptible to freezing in very cold temps. Also the black and gray tank outlets are vulnerable at least in my rig.

Saying that, some of us have taken additional steps to better protect our rigs from lower temps. Insulating water pipes, sealing holes better than the factory did, and insulating some areas. Several of us have also added supplemental heat to the underbelly area. I added 4, 200-watt ceramic forced air heaters to my underbelly to supplement what the furnace supplies. I have mine on thermostats and they are hardwired into my panel. Driving down the road in those temps I run the generator. I have wireless thermometers in my lower compartments so I can assess how things are doing. So far, so good.

[Les7h]

Definitely not 4 season but with the mods that Rob has mentioned it is better but I still wouldn’t want to be below 10 degrees and that might be too cold - we have been in the low 20s with no problems but we use a lot of propane & the Seneca only has a 56 lb propane tank
No tank heaters - ice maker lines are not insulated and at the outside vent Les

[Jopopsy]

If I were to full time in something mobile, you would not find me anywhere the temps were that cold !

[rgolding]

Originally Posted by Jopopsy

If I were to full time in something mobile, you would not find me anywhere the temps were that cold !

I have to agree with this statement. We "part time" about 8 months a year and extreme cold or extreme hot are the reasons we move from the middle of the USA to warmer climates in the Winter and cooler temps in the Summer. We really don't find temps below 40 or above 85 very comfortable for very long.
We are very blessed and use these blessings to stay in temperate climates.

[COClassyRV]

Originally Posted by Robbbyr

As delivered, I doubt that a Seneca would last very long in subzero temps. The tanks are located below the floor and are heated with a duct off of the furnace. Some of the piping on my TS is at the far back of the rig leading to/from the hot water heater. It is the most susceptible to freezing in very cold temps. Also the black and gray tank outlets are vulnerable at least in my rig.

Saying that, some of us have taken additional steps to better protect our rigs from lower temps. Insulating water pipes, sealing holes better than the factory did, and insulating some areas. Several of us have also added supplemental heat to the underbelly area. I added 4, 200-watt ceramic forced air heaters to my underbelly to supplement what the furnace supplies. I have mine on thermostats and they are hardwired into my panel. Driving down the road in those temps I run the generator. I have wireless thermometers in my lower compartments so I can assess how things are doing. So far, so good.

Originally Posted by Les7h

Definitely not 4 season but with the mods that Rob has mentioned it is better but I still wouldn’t want to be below 10 degrees and that might be too cold - we have been in the low 20s with no problems but we use a lot of propane & the Seneca only has a 56 lb propane tank
No tank heaters - ice maker lines are not insulated and at the outside vent Les

Thank you both. This is very helpful information about the Seneca and greatly appreciated.

[SloPoke]

We are cold weather campers... As Robbby has said, they are capable of cold weather if you want to make some augmentation to keep the lower three bays behind the rear axle heated better. We added three 1500w Peloins heaters to these compartments and wired up an additional circuit to power them. We can not run them at high, but these have a 500/1000/1500W switch that we have set at 500W each. They all run fine on a dedicated 20A circuit and keep these bays toasty and warm even down to +5F.

We are "at the moment" surviving the arctic cyclone bomb that has struck Minnesota this week. Other than dealing with 15" of snow on our slide out awnings, it has been a non-issue and we have not been using any propane to heat the interior. We are running three 1500W Peloins heater on the inside(same units that are in the lower bays), one in the rear of the bedroom, one behind the drivers seat and one in the middle of the coach. We are toasty and warm, even with the constant door opening with our 3 dogs wanting to go out every hour.

The Seneca can be capable of cold weather, but not as it is shipped from the factory.

[Oma/opa]

We are running three 1500W Peloins heater on the inside(same units that are in the lower bays),

Slopoke
Do you happen to know which model heater you are using

[SloPoke]

Originally Posted by Oma/opa

Slopoke
Do you happen to know which model heater you are using

We have tried three different models of them, and no longer the one they say is a ceramic heater due to the restricted airflow that results when our yellow Labrador sheds (see one of the pictures to get an idea)

The black units have a tip-over switch in the base, and are essential with having dogs that have knocked them over We have three of each model and mounted the units in the lower bays to the wall of the bay so that we can "roll down the highway" with the Genny running in COLD weather knowing that our systems are protected from the cold.

Ive posted pictures of the units and the model numbers, since they are at my feet at the moment.

There are more pictures of how they are mounted in the bays in this thread.
https://www.jaycoowners.com/forums/f...tml#post729685