Month: May 2026

The Thor Sequence diesel heater has a particular vulnerability that catches a lot of owners off guard: when the glow plug starts to fail or the fuel pump loses pressure, the whole system doesn’t just go quiet—it enters a diagnostic loop where it keeps trying to ignite, throwing fault codes, and making potential buyers think … Read more

Your Winnebago Travato’s owner’s manual doesn’t mention this: when that diesel heater quits firing on a sub-zero morning, the dealer service department will quote you $400–$600 for labor alone, and they won’t tell you upfront that the fix might be a $40 glow plug or a $90 fuel pump. The real frustration isn’t the cost … Read more

It was somewhere around mile 340 of a high-desert loop through Nevada in February when I first heard it—that distinctive click-click-click from under the Jayco Terrain’s floor, followed by the smell of unburned diesel creeping up through the vents. The heater would try, strain for maybe three seconds, then give up and lock out completely. … Read more

Most people assume a diesel heater either works or it doesn’t—that when it fails to light on a cold morning, something major has broken inside the combustion chamber. That assumption costs you time and money. The reality is messier: a glow plug can be half-dead for months, degrading so gradually you don’t notice until January … Read more

I’ve spent enough mornings elbow-deep in the battery compartment of a Chinook Bayside that I can practically diagnose its power problems by sound alone. The click-click-click of a dying lead-acid bank trying to crank the inverter. The way the lights dim halfway through coffee because the voltage sags as soon as the compressor kicks in. … Read more

Mess up a lithium battery swap on a Melbourne and you’ll spend the next three weeks troubleshooting a system that won’t charge, won’t discharge, and leaves you stranded with zero margin for error in the field. I’ve watched owners install a lithium bank that’s technically compatible on paper but fundamentally incompatible in practice — dropped … Read more

I’m looking at the battery terminals on my Galleria right now — corrosion creeping up the cable lugs, voltage sagging to 10V by dinner time, and the alternator spinning its wheels trying to keep up. That’s what a lead-acid bank in an RV tells you after a few seasons of real use: you’ve hit the … Read more

“Drew, I’m looking at this Thor Dazzle with what the seller says is a lithium battery setup, but the wiring looks sketchy and I can’t tell if it’s actually safe or just a ticking time bomb.” That’s the conversation I had with a friend last spring, and it’s the exact reason I pull the battery … Read more

I’ve got the Aterra’s battery box open and I’m staring at what was supposed to be a state-of-the-art lithium setup. The charge controller’s readout doesn’t match the battery voltage. The inverter’s cutting out under load it should handle. The wiring upstream of the main breaker is undersized—I can feel the heat on the insulation. This … Read more

A shop quote for installing a 12V lithium battery system on a Class B van runs $2,500 to $4,000 in labor alone—sometimes more if they have to rework your existing wiring or jury-rigged solar already in the rig. That number hung in my head the first time I sat down to map out what a … Read more