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  1. #1
    Fireside Member
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    2021 2610ML - first impressions

    So we took delivery of a 2021 Imagine 2610ML. Am using a weight distribution hitch, the Curt 7pin brake controller, and attached all that to our 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland EcoDiesel.

    First time trailering for us - so far only tent camping, we like to extend the season (slept a couple nights with below freezing temps, we sure got good gear :-) ) so this trailer will definitely help!

    After picking it up, had to drive about an hour (30 mins interstate, 30 mins state highways) before picking up water, then 10 mins to where we place it.

    Kept the speed around 60 mph at first, getting used to how the car behaves with that trailer. Missed two exits, and instead of bypassing most of a city, went straight through downtown. Glad i bought some trailer mirrors! But all went well. Got to experience a couple of windgusts, so now i know what to expect on the next trip.

    The brake controller worked out of the box. No adjustments needed, it seemed the trailer was braking properly, not pushing me, but also not locking up the wheels.

    I set it up on Friday, on grass. That is a pain. It's not as level as i thought it would be. So i spent time rolling on and off leveling blocks (those orange ones) - wrecking some in the process. It's ok for now, but i may try using planks instead. But, also, we'll get someone to level it out in the next couple of weeks.

    Two weird things - at the filling station the panel stated the tank is full, so i disconnected, but after the final climb - perhaps a minute or so uphill - and after leveling it, it shows 1/3rd full. Not sure what happened there. I may just drive it back down, get water (after reading the manual) and climb back up, see what that does.

    The second weird thing is the reception of radio. We're avid AM listeners (Cubs!), and none of the AM channels came in. I read online that the 360 antenna may not support AM radio? Eh, that's fine. We still have our battery powered radio anyways.

    Spent the weekend in the trailer, and am planning on going back on Wednesday through Memorial Day weekend.

    Not connected to shore power, we're planning on hauling water in, and will be planning on getting one of those black water containers on wheels.

    The trailer came with a group 24 battery, i have a group 27 at home, thinking of attaching that, and getting another group 27 to replace the 24 with.

    On a next trip I'll be bringing 4 100w solar panels, one of those harbor freight sets, to charge the battery with.

    I do have a Honda i2000 generator, but that's not enough power to get the AC running, so gotta think of options here. The Microwave does run on it.

    Being a tall guy, the dinette benches are just too low for me, but the theater seats are much better. The footrest though is comical. I'm 6ft6. We've renamed those things my knee-rests :-)

    Anyways, so far all seems well.

    Let me know if you have any questions! I know this model has been discontinued already in 2021, probably to make room for better-selling models? But to be honest, i wouldn't trade this in for any other!
    2021 Grand Design Imagine 2610ML, 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland EcoDiesel
    e2 trunnion hitch and Curt 7-pin brake controller
    Victron SmartSolar 100|50 -- 2x UB121000 100ah -- 4x100W panels
    Always boondocking. No post, no facilities.

  2. #2
    Site Sponsor
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    Congrats and Welcome! I bet that Honda will pull the AC with the frig and water heater on propane. Make sure the batteries are charged before you turn the AC on.

    Red
    Location - Wherever the road takes us...Full-timers
    2015 Momentum 380
    2019 Ram Dually

  3. #3
    Fireside Member
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    I'll try - going back in a couple of days!

    Also, those Honda 2000 / 2200 generators seem to be very much wanted? Wanted to find a 'companion' for the 2000i, Honda has upgraded them to 2200 watts now, and now have to figure out if i can combine a 2000 with a 2200 with the parallel cable kit they offer for this. Or just go for a bigger generator...

    Ah well. Every time when you think you're set, there's something else that needs upgrading :-)

    (like the trailer coming with a group 24 battery, i already have a group 27 battery, but connecting two of different groups will cause some longevity issues) - so now do i buy another group 27 battery, plus two battery boxes?! Aaargh! :-)
    2021 Grand Design Imagine 2610ML, 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland EcoDiesel
    e2 trunnion hitch and Curt 7-pin brake controller
    Victron SmartSolar 100|50 -- 2x UB121000 100ah -- 4x100W panels
    Always boondocking. No post, no facilities.

  4. #4
    Long Hauler geotex1's Avatar
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    You likely lost your freshwater out the vent. Known issue on many brands and you will find a fix here using the search. Regarding your battery and indicated camping without shore power, you might want to go the route of golf cart batteries or lithium if your budget allows. Should be able to parallel the Hondas, or you can spend equal dollar with a larger single Champion, for instance. As for the theater seats, I know what you mean as I am 6'-5". I sold our new RV theater seats and installed the residential theater seats I put in our last camper in their place.
    Rob & Nikki + Cloverfield
    2020 Grand Design Solitude S-Class 3350RL
    2015 RAM 3500 Longhorn Laramie Crew Cab, Long Bed, 4x4 Dually Cummins/AISIN

    Mountains of Pennsylvania

  5. #5
    Site Sponsor
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    If you're leaving the trailer for any period of time I'd pull the negative battery cable off it.
    2019 F-250 Supercab
    2017 Imagine 2650RK

  6. #6
    Seasoned Camper more tired since retired's Avatar
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    I would think twice about the Harbor Freight solar panels. Reviews by RVers have not been overly great. Plus you will be using lead acid batteries, so you will be doing one of two things, overcharging them (reports are HF controller is not that great) or running them down below 50% which will greatly shorten their lives or kill them outright. Consider going to solar cells w/controller from a solar specialist. We use 200W Renergy suitcase and 2 Lion Energy Lithium (210W total) and have been able to stay out for days. If we want the AC, then out comes the 3500/30100W dual fuel inverter generator (which will charge the batteries on a poor solar day).

    We learned the hard way about living off lead acid batteries. Went out for 2 days, ran the batteries down and they wouldn't hold a charge. At that point, figuring new batteries every year or two, we went to Lion Energy's batteries. Also remember, even if everything is turned off, there will be a drain on the batteries (LP detector, brake away switch, etc) and if you don't either use the trailer or it isn't plugged in (leading to another issue with lead acid), the batteries will run down. (the other issue is possible overcharging the batteries when plugged in and the battery "water" needs to be monitored)). And are your lead acid batteries car batteries or deep cycle (rv/marine). Car batteries do not have the ability to handle being run down as well as deep cycle. Check out this video for excellent information on what battery to use with an RV: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BsSWCc66_w&t=2s He does a comparison of lead acid, AGM, golf card and lithium batteries

    If you are interested in checking out Lion Energy UT-1300 Lithium (105w/battery), do a search for All about RVS on youtube for Lion Energy. He also has a 15% discount for any Lion Energy order at LE's site (use the coupon at checkout). We found LE is about 10% less cost than BattleBorn before the AllaboutRV discount, lighter in weight (different design of cells) taking some weight off the tongue (and you can use that as payload) and a has lifetime warranty. You can run lithium to 0% and still recharge them back to full. They are expected to do that for over 3500 full discharges and still take an 80% charge at the end of the 3500. Run a lead acid below 50% charge and you're killing the battery fast. So a lead acid battery with 200w, you can only safely use 100w before you damage the battery. You might get away will going to 45% once but you have already started the decline of the battery.

    It sounds like you did the research on the trailer. Do the research on batteries. You will be happier when out and boondocking.
    Last edited by more tired since retired; 05-25-2021 at 08:25 AM. Reason: added link to video
    2020 F-250 XLT SuperCrew 7.3L Blue Ox SwayPro, 2020 Imagine 2600RB,
    1600W Solar w/525AH LiFePO4, Victron 3000W, Road Armor w/wet bolt suspension, VisionWork Camera System, Peplink MAX BR1 Pro 5G Mobile Router,MicroAir EasyStart
    Amateur Radio Call N9XGZ FMCA#489460 Escapees SKP#166379

  7. #7
    Fireside Member
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    Quote Originally Posted by geotex1 View Post
    You likely lost your freshwater out the vent. Known issue on many brands and you will find a fix here using the search.
    Yeah, thought it was something simple like that. I'm thinking of hauling up water, then using the gravity fill, instead of dragging it down the hill, dump/fill and drag it back up. I saw a smallish water container, 65 gallons, at Blain's Farm and Fleet, that i can just put in the back of the Grand Cherokee, fill it up and haul it back up, and using a 12v transfer pump to fill the freshwater tank. We're not planning on drinking that water anyways, so should be fine. And then for the black water, am thinking of getting one of those rolling containers.
    2021 Grand Design Imagine 2610ML, 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland EcoDiesel
    e2 trunnion hitch and Curt 7-pin brake controller
    Victron SmartSolar 100|50 -- 2x UB121000 100ah -- 4x100W panels
    Always boondocking. No post, no facilities.

  8. #8
    Rolling Along
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    Just an FYI - 65 gal of water = ~540 lbs. That's a fair amount of weight in the back of your Cherokee. Assume the tank will be empty when you're hooked up to tow. For reference, we often put 500 lbs of feed bags in the back of my wife's Expedition Max. It sags quite a bit since much of that weight is behind the axle. Payload on her Expy is ~1700 lbs, IIRC.

    Unclear what you are doing with the black water tote if you're boondocking. A couple of years ago, saw some folks dry camping at a music festival that was held on a farm out in the mountains of SW Virginia. During the 3 days of the festival, they had filled their big waste tote while it was on the ground next to their rig. On the day of departure, I happened to see them standing there looking at the tote and getting really animated. I couldn't hear what they were saying, but I'm guessing it had something to do with the realization that tote was now really heavy, the nearest dump station was about 25 miles away, and tow speed for one of those totes is about 5 mph on flat ground. We left before they did, but we sent the porta-potty pump truck their way to see if they could help 'em out.
    2022 Solitude 378MBS-R
    2021 Ford F450 CC Lariat Ultimate FX4
    1966 Shasta Astroflyte (1 year restoration project that is going on year 6)

  9. #9
    Fireside Member
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    All good questions!

    I realize that we're a bit outside the average use case for trailering. We have our own little postage stamp of heaven, looking out over the Mississippi river, and having a dump station about 15 mins drive away... It's in a subdivision with about 40 lots, but only about 10 have cabins or a house built on it. Pretty lucky, we feel.

    So far we've tent-camped there, almost every weekend possible with fair weather. Keeping the land in order, taking out invasive brush and weeds, mowing every so often. In the near future we're looking to build a cabin or a shed on that land.

    We're also looking for a small trailer, one of those max 3500lbs things. We'll roll the black water container onto that trailer, and drive down. The same with the water tank - just set it on that trailer, and then in one go bring down the black water, and bring up the clean water. The first time though, probably in the empty JGC.

    We've been going in circles for the last 5 years or so... Tent -> Small toy hauler (Grey Wolf 22 or the Salem FSX) -> Super C -> Cabin -> Tent... and round and round we went. Along the way came up with some pretty funny ideas on how to solve for certain problems :-)
    Last edited by TheRealRoland; 05-25-2021 at 01:49 PM.
    2021 Grand Design Imagine 2610ML, 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland EcoDiesel
    e2 trunnion hitch and Curt 7-pin brake controller
    Victron SmartSolar 100|50 -- 2x UB121000 100ah -- 4x100W panels
    Always boondocking. No post, no facilities.

  10. #10
    Fireside Member
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    Yay, just got back after 6 days in the trailer!

    Almost two days of rain in the mid 40s, a morning of frost (!), and a couple of good days as well. Was able to run the water heater, furnace and other items in the trailer. No leaks found. The only thing not tried yet is the A/C, the 2000w Honda generator does not create enough power to get across the start up of the unit.

    We also experimented with the 65 gallon water tank. While i got a 120v transfer pump, the coil of the garden hose made the pump run dry a lot. That priming of the pump got tired quickly, so we're rethinking that approach, probably go for a smaller aquarium pump / more flexible garden hose.

    Found we need some puck lights here and there, and some command-strip bump stops for the cabinet doors not to bash into the walls. Used the wet swiffers to clean off the vinyl floor, it got some greasy-like yellowish coating that stuck to socks, so we cleaned that off and now it's ok. The TCL Roku 40 inch tv is a bonus, and works, just gonna grab a USB drive/stick and stuff it full of mp4/mkv files. Just gotta run the generator for that to work. Bonus is that the theater seats work (heat, vibration, lights). Noticed the led lights under the seats go out after 2 hrs?

    The OTA antenna works; depending on the conditions we're getting some channels in from La Crosse, Rochester and Cedar Rapids. The stations closer by have lower transmitting power, unfortunately. Oh, and i noticed that the antenna is not as sensitive to pick up FM radio stations, and it doesn't pick up any AM stations.

    Anyways, that's about it. We're getting very comfy in that trailer, i think we got things sorted out enough for us to start enjoying it :-)

    At home experimenting with two group 27 AGM batteries, got the leads to connect them in a parallel way, now need to rig up a two-battery box that fits on the cradle on the tongue. Saw somewhere else that someone taped two cut-open group 24 boxes together, to fit the two 27s snugly into that box :-)
    2021 Grand Design Imagine 2610ML, 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland EcoDiesel
    e2 trunnion hitch and Curt 7-pin brake controller
    Victron SmartSolar 100|50 -- 2x UB121000 100ah -- 4x100W panels
    Always boondocking. No post, no facilities.

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