Drew Callahan

It was somewhere around mile 340 of a high-desert loop through Nevada in February when I first noticed the Beast Mode’s diesel heater taking longer to kick in than it should have. Mornings were dropping into the mid-30s, and what used to be a reliable ten-second ignition was now turning into a hesitant, almost apologetic … Read more

Walk into any RV dealer service bay and ask about a Roadtrek Zion’s diesel heater startup issues, and you’ll hear this: “Glow plugs wear out. Replace it and you’re done.” Post the same problem in an RV forum and half the responses will say the fuel pump is dead, the other half will blame a … Read more

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