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Old 04-15-2021, 01:17 PM   #1
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Brand: Still Looking
State: Missouri
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THOR #21940
New solar package coming for Omni/Magnitude?

I saw an interesting youtube video from a California Thor dealer. They have what they say is a new model that they are evaluating that is an exclusive new option for their dealer only. It is a Omni RB34 with a new 850 watt solar package from the factory. The package also includes Lifeline AGM 300 AH batteries to provide more battery storage power than the standard batteries. A new exterior color called Artisan, is an earth tones color scheme which is also supposedly exclusive to this dealer. The package is called The Wilderness Edition. There will supposedly be more videos about this Omni as one of the staffers takes it on the road.



It will be interesting to see how this works out. It will be even more interesting to see if this option stays "exclusive" or if it will be available for other Thor dealers. It's hard to believe that Thor would spend the money to develop a solar package for only one dealer, but we'll see. Depending on the price, I'm sure it would be a very popular option that many would be interested in.



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Old 04-16-2021, 01:01 PM   #2
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Model: Omni XG32
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Thor is not doing this. De Martini is doing all this in house including the custom paint. We almost bought our Omni from them but we didn’t want to wait to order one as we found on the ground at Giant RV.

I knew of this about a month ago but was sworn to secrecy.

If I knew then, what I know now, I would have went with De Martini and not Giant.

Nothing but problems with Giant due to poor PDI.

The owner of De Martini is a REALLY cool guy and runs a tight ship. Pretty confident I would not have had to repair 28 different items with De Martini.

That said, the Wilderness Package is pretty bitchin. They can do it to any Omni. You don’t have to get the earth tone paint.
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Old 04-16-2021, 01:17 PM   #3
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Thanks for the reply. I had pretty much come to that assumption after seeing that DeMartini listed the window sticker on their website showing it to be a 2021 model with a $230K sticker price and no mention of the Wilderness Edition option on the window sticker.


It is a pretty spectacular option however, if DeMartine can maintain the quality standards on the solar package and the new paint. It does come with a pretty substantial price increase though, a quoted $195 K sales price.



Thor would do well to watch this and plan a solar package of their own as I'm sure it would be very popular. I know that Dynamax came out with their own Xplorer package with factory solar and other improvements, and it now accounts for over half of the Dynamax Isata 5 sales.
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Old 04-16-2021, 01:34 PM   #4
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Beautiful rig
Interesting how this dealer and others are promoting the “Boon-docking” concept.
Selling the benefits of no longer relying on a plug-in RV park.
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Old 04-16-2021, 04:36 PM   #5
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It's a pretty neat idea wrapped in a gorgeous package.
I hope that Thor sits up, and takes notice.
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Old 04-16-2021, 05:38 PM   #6
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Waste of money. Why pay for a rig with full body paint and the pay for a package that repainted it a different color. Stupid waste of money, IMHO. Would need to see the other options and cost and then do a good CBA and CEA before even considering that package.
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Old 04-17-2021, 01:19 AM   #7
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Just speculation on my part, but I doubt that the dealer is buying units that already have full body paint. DeMartini probably has a deal with Thor to supply their units with a plain white paint job at a special price so that whoever they have do the paint job can start with a finish and a body that needs only minor prep work. The paint job can be done using the factory style paint templates so that the finished product looks exactly like the factory paint job except for the choice of different color paint schemes.

The added solar package can easily be added by companies well versed in RV solar equipment. Companies have been doing that for years.
I give DeMartini credit at least for recognizing the fact that solar power in RVs is becoming more and more popular. People like the idea of being able to boondock without hookups and not being tied to often crowded campgrounds. Many people like to take their RV to enjoy themselves away from crowds. Like I mentioned before, Dynamax came out with the Xplorer package for their Isata 5 featuring solar, lithium batteries, extra insulation, and other improvements and now the Xplorer package accounts for half of the Isata 5 sales.

Thor would do well to come out with their own version of a solar enhanced package. They did good coming out with the 100 watt solar panel on the Omni/Magnitude, now they need to improve on that by coming out with something in the 800 watt range to allow for boondocking.

Of course something like this doesn't come cheap. DeMartini said the selling price for this unit would be about $195,000.
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Old 04-17-2021, 01:26 AM   #8
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LazyDays in Tampa had a Tiffin Zephyr for sale, that had a full Lithium battery package, over1200 watts worth of solar panels on, the roof, and a really tiny propane generator.

The rig was priced about $170,000 higher than the typical "Z"...
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Old 04-17-2021, 01:02 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rlbuzz View Post
Just speculation on my part, but I doubt that the dealer is buying units that already have full body paint. DeMartini probably has a deal with Thor to supply their units with a plain white paint job at a special price so that whoever they have do the paint job can start with a finish and a body that needs only minor prep work. The paint job can be done using the factory style paint templates so that the finished product looks exactly like the factory paint job except for the choice of different color paint schemes.

The added solar package can easily be added by companies well versed in RV solar equipment. Companies have been doing that for years.
I give DeMartini credit at least for recognizing the fact that solar power in RVs is becoming more and more popular. People like the idea of being able to boondock without hookups and not being tied to often crowded campgrounds. Many people like to take their RV to enjoy themselves away from crowds. Like I mentioned before, Dynamax came out with the Xplorer package for their Isata 5 featuring solar, lithium batteries, extra insulation, and other improvements and now the Xplorer package accounts for half of the Isata 5 sales.

Thor would do well to come out with their own version of a solar enhanced package. They did good coming out with the 100 watt solar panel on the Omni/Magnitude, now they need to improve on that by coming out with something in the 800 watt range to allow for boondocking.

Of course something like this doesn't come cheap. DeMartini said the selling price for this unit would be about $195,000.

It will be interesting to see how much solar will be optimum on RVs because the cost of panels is relatively cheap, yet they did not add more. That begs the question what limited installation to about 800 Watts. Is it that they don’t think campers need more? That should make about 200 Amp-hours daily on average, more or less depending on various conditions, which will be spent in large part to power the two residential refrigerators. What will power everything else, occasional generator use?

Looking at video, there are some details I’d want to know. One is reference to solar panels wired to almost 100 Volts. That is higher than the +/- 60 VDC normally accepted as upper limit for safety. I know it works fine, but why was it done? I’d want to see specs on two added panels which appear to be different sizes.

Are batteries 300 Ah total or each? How much is total battery capacity? AGM batteries don’t like partial charging, so usage has to be planned well.

I personally think that long-term solar will play a role in RVs, but for many who want to boondock often and for long periods (particularly in motorhomes), systems like Volta and now Xantrex eGEN MAX will become more common. The cost is greater, but battery capacity is equivalent to many days worth of 800-Watt solar production. And you don’t have to worry about parking in partial shade (see picture below from video), or if snow covers panels, etc.

For what it’s worth, I heard panels can take partial shade, but you lose partial capacity regardless.
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Old 04-19-2021, 03:50 AM   #10
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I don't see how the solar panels are going to help at all if you Dry Camp in the woods. We dry camp a lot in heavily forested areas the top of the RV rarely see's the sun.
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Old 04-19-2021, 09:17 AM   #11
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Why would you put 850 watts of solar and only 2 AGM 300 watts hours of batteries.
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Old 04-19-2021, 11:37 AM   #12
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The batteries are 300 AH: not watts...
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Old 04-19-2021, 11:52 AM   #13
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Originally Posted by kwplot34 View Post
I don't see how the solar panels are going to help at all if you Dry Camp in the woods. We dry camp a lot in heavily forested areas the top of the RV rarely see's the sun.
And if you dry camp in the sun the inside RV temp will be unbearable without AC or windows that do more than crank out a little bit.
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Old 04-19-2021, 12:16 PM   #14
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So you carry a chainsaw, and only cut a couple of trees...
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Old 04-19-2021, 10:16 PM   #15
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And if you dry camp in the sun the inside RV temp will be unbearable without AC or windows that do more than crank out a little bit.
I agree with that statement. Just don't see solar panels replacing my built in generator or my Yamaha 2000I generator.
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Old 04-19-2021, 10:18 PM   #16
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So you carry a chainsaw, and only cut a couple of trees...
That defeats the purpose of camping in the shade, and would be illegal where I camp.
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Old 04-19-2021, 10:43 PM   #17
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