2021 2610ML - first impressions

[TheRealRoland]

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!

 

[el Rojo]

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

 

[TheRealRoland]

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!

 

[geotex1]

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.

 

[jmbopp]

If you're leaving the trailer for any period of time I'd pull the negative battery cable off it.

 

[more tired since retired]

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.

 

[TheRealRoland]

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.

 

[Fsalmy]

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.

 

[TheRealRoland]

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

 

[TheRealRoland]

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

 

[TheRealRoland]

Good call on the charge controller, will look into replacing that. The lithium batteries will be a future purchase. I do have to look into getting some sort of stand / mount for the panels, with enough sunshine. Don't want to store those things every time we leave for more than a daytrip.

Am eyeing a Champion 4500w dual fuel generator. Can't find another 2200w honda genny anywhere, technically it could work with the parallel cable kit to connect a 2000i to a 2200i companion generator (i looked up the specs, verified the build# of the 2000i, etc.).

One thing we're doing is to switch off all power, using that red battery disconnect key. Perhaps not on day trips, but if we're not there during the week. Downside is to have to set the time on the radio, but i'll take that over a dead battery

 

[more tired since retired]

If you are looking for a double battery box, check out this:

Camco Heavy Duty Double Battery Box with Straps and Hardware - Group GC2 | Safely Stores RV, Automotive, and Marine Batteries |Durable Anti-Corrosion Material | Measures 21.5" x 7.4" x 11.2" - (55374) which is available on Amazon. I used one of these until I found a steel box from Harbor Freight which takes 3 lithium batteries plus additional storage.

 

[harryc]

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.

65 gallons is not small considering that the FW capacity of the trailer is something like 52 gallons and 6 of that is HW.

 

[harryc]

Congratulations on your 2610. We picked up ours in May from a show. It was that last trailer we looked at and I'm glad I had the stamina to make it there. Could have ended up with a Transend with a Murphy bed. Also, an inverter generator should be able to handle the AC but will trip if you turn on the hair dryer too.

 

[TheRealRoland]

Nice trailer, right? we've been doing so many small things to the trailer already - added couple of bumpstops, put some felt on the window shades so they don't knock against the window frames when it's windy, shelf liners, and on and on the list goes

Finally settled on a simple $20 aquarium pump, that you just submerge, switch on, and it starts pumping water. More than enough waterpressure to get from the tank into the gravity fill port.

Tried a bunch of things with the Honda 2000w generator, but it just beeps at me when i try to run the AC. Upgraded today to a Champion 4500w dual fuel (gas + propane!) generator. That should close that problem

The only thing found 'wrong' with the trailer so far is a mis-aligned / incorrectly positioned roof vent - the lining doesn't line up properly, so you can see a small gap and some insulation through that gap. I guess it's as simple as messing around with the white surround a little bit on the inside, and realign that.

Oh, and that dual battery box mentioned in a entry earlier - only fits two group 24 batteries, not two group 27 ones. So i need to do a little bit of arts and crafts to splice together two group 24 boxes to become one (duct taped) group 27 box.

 

[TheRealRoland]

Oh, also funny... Started the generator, wanted to pull in the slide a bit to put tire covers on. Somehow it started eating up the batteries... Turned out i didnt plug in the shore power cable to the generator, so i ran the retract-slide on my two group 27 batteries instead. It worked, though...

 

[The_Lovells]

Glad to hear that you are enjoying the RV life.

Recommend that if feasible you purchase a Soft Start for you AC unit. We have 2 for our 2 AC's and can run our 50 Amp RV off of two Yamaha i2000's in parallel, AC's run fine, but judicious juggling of coffee maker and outside fridge is required.

Recommend that you try a regular NSF water hose. We too have a 120 volt transfer pump and regularly use our 55 gallon NSF barrel to supplement water for boondocking. Once primed the pump works until it empties the barrel.

 

[TheRealRoland]

Just noticed, [MENTION=34659]The_Lovells[/MENTION], how do you like the Nissan Titan XD to tow with, compared to the Ram and Ford? And no, to the others, not starting a flame war

On topic:
Couple more minor things found 'wrong':
- outside speaker no longer works / no longer lights up blue
- one of the drawer tracks 'binds'
- some minor finish things, where you can see they used some goo to cover up nail holes, and at a certain angle with the sun light, those things really show -- that won't be fixable

Some minor improvements in general needed:
- the system console next to the main screen door should not light up at night... Or at least, when pressing a button
- the lights' blue color in general, seems to be attracting bugs. So while the awning light and speakers look cool in blue, a real skeeter attractor

Other than that - everything seems to be in working order, and functions as designed! No lemon, this one.

 

[geotex1]

[MENTION=40433]TheRealRoland[/MENTION]
- one of the drawer tracks 'binds'
- some minor finish things, where you can see they used some goo to cover up nail holes, and at a certain angle with the sun light, those things really show -- that won't be fixable

Drawer slide probably needs to be aligned. Easy DIY. If it needs more, replace it with better. Sooner or later you will anyway.

As for the filler smears, totally fixable. You need only a warm bucket if water with som Murphy's Oil soap and a terrycloth towel. You'll be able to wipe the excess readily away. First thing we do with every new camper we've ever bought.

As for blue lights, there is no intention to reduce insect attraction. Science has shown there zero visible spectrum that doesn't attract some critter. The blue is for reduced glare and somewhat less light pollution.

 

[TheRealRoland]

Hey,

Yeah, those things all sound like easy fixes; and kinda agree about the binding drawer tracks - i don't think i want to drag the trailer back to dealer for just that fix. In general, would i start with talking to the dealer about perhaps a new speaker, then install it myself, etc. ?

I think re. the color, red would have been my preference, coming from a star gazing background. But, nothing a bug zapper, some low mowing of grass around the trailer, and if necessary foggers, can fix ;-)