Drew Callahan · April 5, 2026
I was three weeks into November somewhere near the Utah border when the Wayfarer’s furnace just stopped cooperating. Nights were dropping into the low 30s, and I’d wake up to that telltale clicking — the igniter trying to spark but nothing catching. Before I wasted a service call or started second-guessing myself with dealer parts, … Read more
Drew Callahan · April 4, 2026
Walk into any Jayco dealer service department and they’ll tell you a failed AC capacitor means you need a new fan motor—$600 to $800 installed, weeks on the waiting list. Then you hit the RV forums and half the posts say “just swap the capacitor, the motor’s probably fine.” One of those voices is steering … Read more
Drew Callahan · April 4, 2026
The Leisure Travel Vans Unity runs a Dometic rooftop AC unit that has a particular weak spot: the run capacitor sits exposed to intense UV and heat cycling, and when it fails—swelling, cracking, or losing its charge—the whole cooling system locks up. You’ll hear the compressor hum, the fan blades won’t move, and if you’re … Read more
Drew Callahan · April 4, 2026
Your Leisure Travel Vans Unity owner’s manual won’t spend much time on this one: when the furnace quits lighting mid-season, the dealer service write-up usually just says “replace igniter or control board” without explaining what actually fails, why it fails, or whether you can reasonably handle it yourself. The truth is, propane appliances sit in … Read more
Drew Callahan · April 3, 2026
It started with a dry click—that rapid-fire ticking sound when I turned the thermostat up to heat, the kind of noise that means the control board is trying hard but the spark won’t catch. On a Jayco Greyhawk, especially when you’re parked somewhere cold and your furnace is the only thing between you and waking … Read more
Drew Callahan · April 3, 2026
Most RV owners assume their air conditioning system will fail catastrophically—one day it works fine, the next day it doesn’t work at all. That’s almost never how it actually happens. Instead, a Jayco Redhawk’s AC deteriorates so gradually that you rationalize each small degradation: the fan takes a couple extra seconds to spool up, the … Read more
Drew Callahan · April 2, 2026
I’ve got my work bench set up in bay three of my usual spot, and sitting right there is a Thor Chateau capacitor—cracked housing, one terminal corroded clean through. Owner called me in late June saying the AC wouldn’t start, just clicked. By the time I dug into the rooftop shroud, the damage was obvious: … Read more
Drew Callahan · April 2, 2026
Skip this repair and you’re looking at no heat when the temperature drops—and on a Jayco Redhawk, a furnace that won’t ignite means you’re either abandoning the rig mid-trip or paying a dealer $400-plus for a diagnosis that should take you ninety minutes and a fifty-dollar part swap. The stakes climb fast once winter weather … Read more
Drew Callahan · April 1, 2026
I’ve got the burned-out igniter sitting here on my bench right now — the ceramic probe is chalky white where it should be glossy, and the wire where it enters the housing shows that telltale discoloration you see when an electrode has been arcing at the edge of its operational window for weeks. That discoloration … Read more
Drew Callahan · April 1, 2026
“Drew, I’ve got a Thor Four Winds that won’t light. It’s clicking, then nothing. Is it the igniter or did I fry the board?” I get that question more often than you’d think, usually from someone parked somewhere cold and running out of patience. The answer almost always starts with the igniter — it’s the … Read more
