svoshop
RVF Regular
- Joined
- Apr 14, 2021
- Messages
- 61
- RV Year
- 2021
- RV Make
- Newmar
- RV Model
- Dutch Star
- RV Length
- 44'
- TOW/TOAD
- JL Wrangler
Good Morning,
I am fairly new to the RV world. In the last year, I have graduated from a 2020 Jayco 31F ( E450 Chassis ) to a Jayco Seneca, and I just put a deposit down on a 21 Ventana 43' Tag.
I am hopeful that some of you may be able to point me in the right direction. Lets start at the start. I have never even seen this coach in person. I do not know much about the platform. But I know that I am built on the Spartan Chassis, and it appears to be pretty well equipped. I live in Cincinnati Oh, and I own a transmission center. I am mechanical and a technician by trade. So I do not scare easily, but sometimes do require a slight learning curve when it comes to operation of new systems. I do plan to fly down and try to educate myself with the unit prior to pickup, but sometimes my schedule prohibits that ( plus I have a 16 month old who takes all my free Daddy time )
The plan is to drive to Ft Myers ( RV North Trail ) swap units and go enjoy it at Fort Wilderness for a couple days. Then head home.
I am googling and reading as much as I can. However, not turning up answers to alot of questions. The sales people are... sales people and not very technical. So I am hoping to get some help here. I also will plan to contribute as much as possible and will try to help others in any way I can.
My few main questions that I come up with off the top of my head.
Air supply line for the toad. I installed an Air Force One system in my Seneca. Will all the fittings be the same? I do not have a picture of the fitting on the coach, but the air line that I saw in a video looked large, and mine definitely uses a small little air line. I plan to pick up while towing my Wrangler. And while I feel it's not 100% necessary to have, I would feel better being able to have air pressure supplied on the maiden voyage.
My dealer did tell me there are seatbelts in the coach. Being I have a little, that is a big deal. I plan to have them actually touch them and confirm today, but does that sound right. There are belts in the "house" part of the coach.
The wet bay... This looks intimidating. In my current system. I try to keep things simple. I fill around 20 gallons of fresh for travel. Then I connect to city water when parked. In my current system I can select to just use city water to provide water to the coach. The Newmar system looks like auto fill and manual fill... Does this mean is uses the coach water pump and pulls from the 100 gallon fresh water tank no matter what? I guess I can understand making it "set and forget" but that makes me nervous. I would rather have control over all the systems.
Inverter... In the Seneca, if I want to run the fridge and microwave etc I need to turn the inverter on. That allows the engine alternator to power the house appliances. I need the generator for the AC units. Looking through the pictures of the Newmar, I do not see inverter controls... Is this too all automatic? I like to have control over things. Maybe I am missing something. Again, I plan to ask this, but sometimes the sales staff is less than knowledgeable. Figured one of the experts here may help the new guy out
Operating systems. What do I need to know. I am a pretty smart guy, but damn if I don't sometimes get stumped by easy things. With a "typical" dealer tour, am I safe to think that I can just jump in this thing and use it?
Problems??? So the Seneca is a good rig. I actually like it alot. I read on the Jayco Owners Forum alot, and looked into the issues that people have. I, for the most part, went around and fixed anything I read about, before it actually would happen. Trying to make myself feel a little more confident about taking my family out on a house on wheels. My greatest fear is getting stuck somewhere. My little one is my reasoning. I am a touch protective and maybe worry too much.
So... In a nutshell, there it is. My first thread and my lack of searching properly will probably have me banned LOL... But hopefully some of you can help me out.
Thanks,
Mike
I am fairly new to the RV world. In the last year, I have graduated from a 2020 Jayco 31F ( E450 Chassis ) to a Jayco Seneca, and I just put a deposit down on a 21 Ventana 43' Tag.
I am hopeful that some of you may be able to point me in the right direction. Lets start at the start. I have never even seen this coach in person. I do not know much about the platform. But I know that I am built on the Spartan Chassis, and it appears to be pretty well equipped. I live in Cincinnati Oh, and I own a transmission center. I am mechanical and a technician by trade. So I do not scare easily, but sometimes do require a slight learning curve when it comes to operation of new systems. I do plan to fly down and try to educate myself with the unit prior to pickup, but sometimes my schedule prohibits that ( plus I have a 16 month old who takes all my free Daddy time )
The plan is to drive to Ft Myers ( RV North Trail ) swap units and go enjoy it at Fort Wilderness for a couple days. Then head home.
I am googling and reading as much as I can. However, not turning up answers to alot of questions. The sales people are... sales people and not very technical. So I am hoping to get some help here. I also will plan to contribute as much as possible and will try to help others in any way I can.
My few main questions that I come up with off the top of my head.
Air supply line for the toad. I installed an Air Force One system in my Seneca. Will all the fittings be the same? I do not have a picture of the fitting on the coach, but the air line that I saw in a video looked large, and mine definitely uses a small little air line. I plan to pick up while towing my Wrangler. And while I feel it's not 100% necessary to have, I would feel better being able to have air pressure supplied on the maiden voyage.
My dealer did tell me there are seatbelts in the coach. Being I have a little, that is a big deal. I plan to have them actually touch them and confirm today, but does that sound right. There are belts in the "house" part of the coach.
The wet bay... This looks intimidating. In my current system. I try to keep things simple. I fill around 20 gallons of fresh for travel. Then I connect to city water when parked. In my current system I can select to just use city water to provide water to the coach. The Newmar system looks like auto fill and manual fill... Does this mean is uses the coach water pump and pulls from the 100 gallon fresh water tank no matter what? I guess I can understand making it "set and forget" but that makes me nervous. I would rather have control over all the systems.
Inverter... In the Seneca, if I want to run the fridge and microwave etc I need to turn the inverter on. That allows the engine alternator to power the house appliances. I need the generator for the AC units. Looking through the pictures of the Newmar, I do not see inverter controls... Is this too all automatic? I like to have control over things. Maybe I am missing something. Again, I plan to ask this, but sometimes the sales staff is less than knowledgeable. Figured one of the experts here may help the new guy out
Operating systems. What do I need to know. I am a pretty smart guy, but damn if I don't sometimes get stumped by easy things. With a "typical" dealer tour, am I safe to think that I can just jump in this thing and use it?
Problems??? So the Seneca is a good rig. I actually like it alot. I read on the Jayco Owners Forum alot, and looked into the issues that people have. I, for the most part, went around and fixed anything I read about, before it actually would happen. Trying to make myself feel a little more confident about taking my family out on a house on wheels. My greatest fear is getting stuck somewhere. My little one is my reasoning. I am a touch protective and maybe worry too much.
So... In a nutshell, there it is. My first thread and my lack of searching properly will probably have me banned LOL... But hopefully some of you can help me out.
Thanks,
Mike