Drew Callahan · March 18, 2026
It was mid-October when I pulled into a rest area outside Flagstaff with a Discovery I’d just picked up for a flip. Temps were dropping fast at that elevation, so I fired up the furnace to test it — and got nothing but a weak click and a smell like stale propane. The igniter was … Read more
Drew Callahan · March 17, 2026
Walk into a Newmar dealership service bay and ask about a furnace igniter failure on a King Aire, and you’ll hear one story: “Control board is toast, we need to replace the whole assembly, that’s a $600 service call plus parts.” Log onto an RV forum and you’ll hear the opposite: “Igniter electrode always goes … Read more
Drew Callahan · March 16, 2026
Most American Coach American Eagle owners assume their Suburban SF-series furnace will simply work when they turn up the thermostat — that it’s built tough enough to soldier through season after season without complaint. That assumption costs people sleep on cold nights. A furnace igniter that fails doesn’t fail gently; it fails completely, and suddenly … Read more
Drew Callahan · March 15, 2026
I’ve got my work setup spread across a concrete pad behind bay two at the storage facility where I keep the current rig — socket set hanging on the pegboard, laptop propped on an old toolbox, and a parts catalog open whenever I’m troubleshooting a system that’s gone sideways. Pulled a blackened Suburban igniter electrode … Read more
Drew Callahan · March 14, 2026
“Drew, my Allegro Bus furnace clicks three or four times before it finally catches, and half the time it just blows cold air. Is this an igniter thing, or am I looking at something bigger?” I get that question more than I’d expect, and the answer’s usually yes to both. The Tiffin Allegro Bus furnace … Read more
Drew Callahan · March 13, 2026
Most Newmar Dutch Star owners don’t realize their furnace’s igniter and control board are on borrowed time until the moment they fail—usually at night, usually in cold weather, usually when the nearest service bay is three hours away. The blower will spin and push air, but no spark, no flame, no heat. I’ve watched owners … Read more
Drew Callahan · March 7, 2026
A shop quoted me $385 last month to replace the furnace igniter on a 2060BH that rolled into their service bay with nothing but clicking sounds when the owner cranked the thermostat up. That’s labor alone—add the part and you’re looking at north of $500 for what amounts to a 20-minute job if you’ve got … Read more
Drew Callahan · February 28, 2026
Your furnace won’t spark, the thermostat’s calling for heat, and you’re staring at a dealer quote that reads like a down payment on a used car. So what’s actually dead—the whole furnace, or just the igniter module? On a Winnebago Micro Minnie 1700BH, I can tell you it’s almost always the igniter, and you don’t … Read more
Drew Callahan · November 28, 2025
RV Water Heater Thermostat and Heating Element Replacement I’m standing in front of the water heater access panel on a Grand Design Solitude, and the owner just told me they haven’t had hot water for three weeks. Three weeks of cold showers, lukewarm rinses, and a growing sense that something inside this hybrid system has … Read more
Drew Callahan · November 27, 2025
RV Water Heater Thermostat and Heating Element Replacement Most Keystone Montana owners will ignore their water heater until it stops working, and by then they’ve already made the problem worse. Here’s what actually happens: the heating element corrodes silently, or the thermostat drifts so far out of calibration that it either locks the element on … Read more
