Drew Callahan · April 17, 2026
It was late November, parked at a pull-through in the high desert outside Flagstaff, when I first heard the click-click-click that wouldn’t finish. The igniter would spark, the blower would kick on, but the flame never caught. By the third night, my family was running the engine for heat between campfire sessions, and I was … Read more
Drew Callahan · April 17, 2026
Walk into a Newmar dealership’s service bay and ask about a dead AC unit, and they’ll quote you north of $1,200 for diagnosis and parts. Ask the same question on an RV forum, and someone will tell you it’s probably just a $35 capacitor. One of those answers leaves your wallet intact. The dealer isn’t … Read more
Drew Callahan · April 17, 2026
Keystone Montana furnaces built between 2010 and 2018 use a Suburban or Atwood heating unit with a control board that sits right where vibration and temperature swings can wear it out faster than you’d expect. I’ve seen them fail at elevation, in cold snaps, and sometimes just from sitting unused for a season. The igniter … Read more
Drew Callahan · April 16, 2026
Newmar doesn’t publish a troubleshooting flowchart for furnace failures, and dealer service advisors rarely volunteer that most no-heat situations in a Bay Star Sport come down to two specific, owner-replaceable parts. You won’t find this in the owner’s manual either — what you get is a schematic diagram and a parts list, but no step-by-step … Read more
Drew Callahan · April 16, 2026
I was idling in a Costco parking lot outside Tucson when I heard it—a grinding noise from the rooftop AC unit, followed by a thin electrical smell seeping down through the vents. The fan wasn’t dead, but it was struggling hard, moving air like it was pushing through wet blankets. That sound and that smell … Read more
Drew Callahan · April 15, 2026
Most Thor Gemini owners assume their air conditioner is either working or broken—that there’s no middle ground, no partial failure, nothing to diagnose or fix yourself. That assumption costs them money and discomfort. The reality is that AC units fail in stages, and catching those early warning signs—the compressor that hums but doesn’t spin, the … Read more
Drew Callahan · April 15, 2026
RV repairs are either thirty minutes or three days — there’s rarely an in-between. The difference is almost always whether you understand the system before you start, whether you have the right tools, and whether you ordered the correct part the first time. I’ve learned all three lessons the hard way, multiple times. The furnace … Read more
Drew Callahan · April 14, 2026
I’ve got my workbench set up in the bay right now with a Thor Gemini furnace assembly pulled from a 2018 model — the owner called it in after three failed ignition attempts in a row, each time the blower spinning up, the igniter cycling hot, then nothing but dead silence and a lockout code. … Read more
Drew Callahan · April 14, 2026
Skip this repair and your Coachmen Freelander’s furnace doesn’t just stop working — it stops keeping you warm when temperatures drop, and that’s not a comfort issue, it’s a health hazard. When an igniter fails or the control board dies, you lose heat entirely, with no gradual warning. The dealer will tell you it’s a … Read more
Drew Callahan · April 14, 2026
I’ve got a capacitor sitting on my bench right now—pulled from a 2018 Coachmen Freelander that rolled in last month. The aluminum casing is bulged at the top, slightly discolored, and if you listen close you can hear the faint rattle of whatever’s come loose inside. That telltale swelling? That’s what tells me everything about … Read more
