2017 Isata 5 36DS -wow

[jdwky]

Just picked up an Isata 5 36DS & am on the journey home. Wanted to start a thread on it since I can't find any other discussion on it whatsoever! I was nervous buying sight unseen, but did a lot of research on the Dynamax brand and felt comfortable enough with the quality. This is our 4th motorhome so most all systems and features I'm already familiar with. For the price, this is hands down above and beyond its peers! After having a DP, I couldn't go back to a gasser, but we wanted a C class to have a comfortable 2nd bed for guests with a bit of privacy. So far, I'm VERY happy with the quality and features. PDI was a breeze with only a few squawks that were immediately fixed by National RV Detroit (highly recommend them!!).

Beyond the normal features one would be accustomed to in a modern class C, let me list a few things that I love about this coach:
-Affordable diesel! Monster power from this Dodge Ram chassis. Very comfortable and even has exhaust brake.
-Amazing quality full body paint. The detail is beautiful.
-huge windows allow for lots of light and great views
-Love the master control touchscreen panel. Monitor & manipulate nearly all controls from one panel.
-USB ports everywhere! All LED light bulbs too. Thank you Dynamax.
-Lots of other thoughtful little upgrades I wasn't even expecting at this price point like 360 siphon vents on tank vents up top, full-featured Maxx-air vent fans, Jack tv antenna, built in home theater speakers in ceiling, auto gen start, and 200W solar package (albeit last one was factory option).

As with everything in life, there are a few negatives too:
-no right side armrest on drivers seat. Feels awkward, hopefully I'll get used to it or maybe I can rig something up.
-If you have a big gut, don't plan on getting to rear bedroom with slide in, it's very narrow.
-once squeezed through, bedroom door hits mattress. Only way I can get in is lifting corner of mattress up.
-no privacy curtain for bed over cab. Will rig my own up though.
-no privacy shade over entry door, this seems like it should be standard on every single motorhome. Currently have bath towel hanging over it until I figure out something permanent.

I was an inch away from purchasing a Seneca for a lot more money, but was not too happy with the quality of the coach itself. This is significantly less money for (IMHO) a better quality interior. Nice job Dynamax.

[bclemens]

Thank you for the awesome feedback (pros and cons). I can tell you the unit is woefully underpriced...but once we established pricing we kept adding things in. It will go up very soon, but I can confirm your statement that at that price, nothing else is close to that feature set.

360 siphon tanks are standard on all of our units...but we often forget to pitch them, but we'll make sure to include that in the next marketing material.

As for the negatives:
1. armrest, we know about. Thor puts the center console in on the F550. The only issue is you can't get to the back with that there, so we left it out, not realizing an armrest did not come there instead. We are trying to get our furniture supplier to add an armrest, otherwise we may need to create something. If we come up with a solution that can be retro fit, I will post it here.
2. Slide space...that was a trade off. We tried to get the deepest slide we could and probably cheated a little too much in that spot.
3. Cab curtain. I noticed that oversight and we should have a curtain shortly. I just want to make sure there is backer for the track. Once you get settled we can get you something sent out.
4. Entry door shade: this is another one. Most mfg's use the plastic "obscure" window there. I was reading (maybe on here) about replacing that with a clear glass window...and I said "hey we have that already", and then the post mentioned the shade. "hey, we don't have that though". just asked them to add that to the spec. Again, I think it is a 24"x48" shade. No valance or anything due to location, but we can probably hook you up when they start coming in.

[BLK-9]

What is a 360 siphon tank?

[halla]

it is a really good black tank vent cap.

[BLK-9]

Thanks. I knew about the vents, but i did not realize it looked like that. Kewl...

[nomad297]

Originally Posted by halla

it is a really good black tank vent cap. Attachment 105576

Food for thought:

No matter how cool all of these different vents look and what their manufacturers claim they do, they do very little to actually evacuate the air/gasses in the tanks. For them to be effective, they would need two vents entering the top of the tank -- one to let air in and one to let air/gasses out. With the black tank, the only time the vent can actually evacuate air/gasses is when you flush the toilet and in this case, the air/gasses could go either way -- out of the toilet or up through the vent -- however, if there is a breeze outside, it is more likely to go out of the vent. Even if you put a powerful electric fan at the top of your vent, it will not draw the air/gasses from the tank because there is no source of free flowing air supplied to the tank to allow evacuation through the vent. Think vacuum.

Bruce

[bclemens]

JDWKY, just one thing I want to mention. We had a couple of units online that seemed to be possessed. Let me know if you have any electrical issues with the Dodge (random stuff...won't start one day, does the next, lights flickering). We found out that the company that does the wheel base stretch, unhooked the chassis ground and did not hook it back up on a couple of units. I've been doing this too long to ever think anything happens "just one time". It took Dodge about 20 hours to find what the issue was because sometimes it would be touching and work.

So just an FYI, if you get those symptoms we know exactly where to look.

[bclemens]

Working on a picture, but the wire is located at the driver side frame rail, near the rear upper shock mount. Might be fine, but worth a look.

[BLK-9]

nomad297 - not sure I understand this concept "Even if you put a powerful electric fan at the top of your vent, it will not draw the air/gasses from the tank because there is no source of free-flowing air supplied to the tank to allow evacuation through the vent." House radon systems use electric fans to suck radon gases out of underground basements, typically by tying into a sump-pump and sealing the sump-pump(s). The single output tube with enclosed fan sucks out the radon gases. I could be wrong here, but it seems to me the primary purpose siphon vent is to serve as an air vent to prevent vacuum.

[bclemens]

Originally Posted by BLK-9

nomad297 - not sure I understand this concept "Even if you put a powerful electric fan at the top of your vent, it will not draw the air/gasses from the tank because there is no source of free-flowing air supplied to the tank to allow evacuation through the vent." House radon systems use electric fans to suck radon gases out of underground basements, typically by tying into a sump-pump and sealing the sump-pump(s). The single output tube with enclosed fan sucks out the radon gases. I could be wrong here, but it seems to me the primary purpose siphon vent is to serve as an air vent to prevent vacuum.

The key is to keep negative pressure on the tank so it goes up and out instead of up the flush hole in case there is an inlet somewhere or the seal is broken in transit. They had a pretty cool video that seemed to make sense.

In any event....its not that expensive and if it does nothing, it at least gives us a placebo effect.

[bclemens]

Here is the picture I promised just to be safe, have this looked at.

[jdwky]

Originally Posted by bclemens

Here is the picture I promised just to be safe, have this looked at.

Will do, thanks for the heads up. Only 300 miles on it so far, but problem free with the chassis.

[jdwky]

Originally Posted by bclemens

Thank you for the awesome feedback (pros and cons). I can tell you the unit is woefully underpriced...but once we established pricing we kept adding things in. It will go up very soon, but I can confirm your statement that at that price, nothing else is close to that feature set.

360 siphon tanks are standard on all of our units...but we often forget to pitch them, but we'll make sure to include that in the next marketing material.

As for the negatives:
1. armrest, we know about. Thor puts the center console in on the F550. The only issue is you can't get to the back with that there, so we left it out, not realizing an armrest did not come there instead. We are trying to get our furniture supplier to add an armrest, otherwise we may need to create something. If we come up with a solution that can be retro fit, I will post it here.
2. Slide space...that was a trade off. We tried to get the deepest slide we could and probably cheated a little too much in that spot.
3. Cab curtain. I noticed that oversight and we should have a curtain shortly. I just want to make sure there is backer for the track. Once you get settled we can get you something sent out.
4. Entry door shade: this is another one. Most mfg's use the plastic "obscure" window there. I was reading (maybe on here) about replacing that with a clear glass window...and I said "hey we have that already", and then the post mentioned the shade. "hey, we don't have that though". just asked them to add that to the spec. Again, I think it is a 24"x48" shade. No valance or anything due to location, but we can probably hook you up when they start coming in.

Thanks for the response. Would love to get the cab curtain and entry door shade when you're able to. Can you PM your email address so I can send you my info?

Couple more questions:
-Are there truly two separate diesel tanks? I have two diesel fills. On first fill up, one would not take any fuel and the other took all the fuel to fill up. How do they feed the engine and genset?
-How do I find out where the backer plate is for an in-motion satellite? I will mount the Winegard Mission dome soon.
-Icemaker doesn't seem to be getting water, where would the shutoff valve be hidden?

Thanks!!!

[bclemens]

PM is on its way.

1. There are two separate diesel tanks. 24 gallons and 52 gallons. (Although if I can offer 4X4 soon, I will drop the smaller tank to save the weight). The generator should feed and return to the larger of the two tanks.
2. There is an equalizer in there, but it only works when the vehicle is running. I'll have to check why the smaller tank may have remained full while the large tank depleted...I didn't think there as a tank switch.
3. The whole roof is decked...but let me see if there is a specific location they want to put that sat.
4. Icemaker, make sure the water line is open. If you remove the return air grill at the base of the fridge (furnace should be under there), the water line valve should be on the right hand side. There is one up front (at least on the bunk model) and one in the back there the "riser" (white braided line) connects in. Both should be open.

[bclemens]

Satellite backer on the Isata 5 Series, 36DS

[jdwky]

Originally Posted by bclemens

Satellite backer on the Isata 5 Series, 36DS

Thank you very much for the fast and helpful replies!

[Explorer1016]

I am adding my personal experience to this 360 Siphon discussion. I had the old standard type vent covers on both of my tanks and had odor in my cab (F550 chassis and no, not a Thor) when traveling with a cab window open. Hated it, couldn't drive with any windows open. I read about the new 360 Siphon as one of the "next best thing" products so I bought 2 of them and immediately installed them.

All I can add to this conversation is, problem solved. I am supposed to be used in one of Lippert's ads for the 360 Siphon because I was so verbally appreciative to Lippert about this product.

[jdwky]

Originally Posted by Explorer1016

I am adding my personal experience to this 360 Siphon discussion. I had the old standard type vent covers on both of my tanks and had odor in my cab (F550 chassis and no, not a Thor) when traveling with a cab window open. Hated it, couldn't drive with any windows open. I read about the new 360 Siphon as one of the "next best thing" products so I bought 2 of them and immediately installed them.

All I can add to this conversation is, problem solved. I am supposed to be used in one of Lippert's ads for the 360 Siphon because I was so verbally appreciative to Lippert about this product.

I don't want this to turn into a 360 siphon vent thread, there's plenty of those already out there, but I think it's clear based on the number of forum threads and Amazon reviews that they clearly work. Nobody likes a foul smell in their home

[Explorer1016]

It became a discussion point because You and Dynamax were being indirectly criticized for mentioning them and for added them as standard equipment. I commented with real life experience for an item you pointed out.

[bclemens]

Real world experience trumps pen and paper engineering any day of the week