2020 Grand Design Imagine 2600RB design flaws we've discovered so far...

[MainerUSNR]

We purchased a Grand Design Imagine in September 2019 and are staying in Florida this winter. Overall, our experience has been good, but two things are standing out as design flaws in this great travel trailer.

One, heat distribution, there is a main duct in the forward bedroom and a second directing heat towards the dinette, the third and fourth ducts towards the rear of the travel trailer are half the size of the first and second, hence all the heat is in the forward part of the travel trailer. This leaves the bedroom overheated especially if the door is shut and the rest of the travel trailer much cooler. Also the the intake to the furnace is is in the bedroom, as well as the thermostat.

We figured we could just use a small electric heater to balance this heat distribution inequity out and save some propane to boot. This is where the second design flaw enters into the equation, ALL the electrical outlets are on ONE 15 AMP breaker. ONE BREAKER FOR EVERY OUTLET FOR THE ENTIRE CAMPER! Simple math 1500 Watts divided by 110 Volts equals 13 Amps. In this day and age with all the electronics people have in addition to small appliances usually used, it is surprising to have only one 15 Amp circuit. You can't run a coffee maker (975 Watts) and toaster (1550 Watts) on the same circuit at the same time, let alone an electric heater set to the "high" setting at 1500 watts. So, when we perk the coffee, we turn off the heater or turn on the toaster, we turn off the electric heater. Also, we can't use the heater on high (1500 Watts), so we are limited to using it on low (750 Watts).

Minor inconvenience, I get it, but it makes me wonder how much "engineering" goes into these travel trailers? The bigger question is, do the people who design and manufacture these travel trailers actually use their products? It took us a day or two using this travel trailer to discover these obvious shortcomings. Makes you wonder.

Don't get me wrong we love the travel trailer, it tows well, the AC is awesome, everything seems to be working as expected.

A note on heaters, we brought two with us, one a typical electric coil and one ceramic, we have to use the ceramic because it seems to draw less wattage than the electric coil heater on low and doesn't trip the breaker.

Now I'm trying to figure out how I can add a second AC circuit to spread out the load WITHOUT negating our warranty.

 

[sande005]

Ummm...your trailer only has 30 amp service. So pretty reasonable to have one branch of 15 amps for the convenience outlets, and the rest for the other higher power stuff - converter, AC, water heater, microwave, etc. In summer you wouldn't appreciate blowing the AC breaker when you try to make morning coffee. Heating/cooling takes a lot of energy, hence why there are propane tanks. The Imagine line is on the "economy" end of the Grand Design family, so electrical system limits are part of the deal.
Trying to create two or more circuits will be a really major undertaking. Still kind of a job, but you may want to look at how to bring in a separate 15 amp line from the pedestal directly to your heater.

As far as heat from the ducts - do a search here. Some have found errors in construction - leaks where the ducts join up, constrictions in the ductwork, etc. Unlikely, but possible. For my 2670MK I bought replacement louvers for the ducts, so I can partially block those that are too strong and force the airflow to those that need it.

 

[Juiceman-MGRV]

I too think that the heat is not very "balanced". In the bedroom, we taped off all but 1 inch of the heat register. That seemed to really help as it forced more flow into the living room area, and we sleep cooler. During the day, we close the door to the bedroom and turn on the electric fireplace. Our Reflection is 50 amp.