Drew Callahan

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

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

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

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

“Drew, my View’s AC fan just stopped dead. The unit hums when I flip it on, compressor seems to be running, but nothing’s coming out of the vents. Should I be looking at a new motor or is there something simpler?” That’s the call I got from a friend outside Moab last week — and … Read more

I’m bent over the furnace compartment of a Winnebago View right now, multimeter in hand, tracing the path from the igniter electrode back to the control board mounted in the shadows behind it. The igniter’s corroded—I can see the carbon buildup on the probe tip from here—but that’s not what concerns me. What concerns me … Read more

A Nexus Triumph furnace replacement quote landed on my bench last week: $1,247 labor plus $340 in parts, all because the shop wanted to swap the whole assembly instead of diagnosing what actually quit. I’ve been pulling into yards long enough to recognize the pattern—owners push these heating systems hard through the cold months, miss … Read more

Most RV owners don’t realize that a dead AC capacitor on your Nexus Triumph doesn’t mean the whole system is shot — but they treat it like it is, either calling a dealer for a month-long wait or abandoning the rig to the heat. The truth is uglier: ignore a bad capacitor and your compressor … Read more

Your furnace quit mid-freeze, and you’re staring at a thermostat that’s dropping by the hour while dealer techs won’t pick up until Tuesday. So what’s actually broken—and can you fix it yourself without waiting for a service appointment that costs more than the part itself? On the Gulf Stream BT Cruiser, furnace failures almost always … Read more

Mid-July, somewhere outside Sedona. I’d been running the Gulf Stream BT Cruiser for just over a week, and the temperature on the thermometer had stopped climbing at ninety-eight degrees. Two in the afternoon, shade optional, and that rooftop AC unit went completely silent — no compressor drone, no fan blade movement, nothing but dead air … Read more