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 · March 29, 2026
You’ll hear two very different stories about furnace work on a Tiffin Open Road Allegro. Walk into a dealer service bay, and they’ll tell you that igniter and control board failures need to be diagnosed by factory-trained techs, that the labor alone will run into the hundreds, and that you’re better off just letting them … Read more
Drew Callahan · March 29, 2026
The Forest River FR3’s rooftop AC unit carries a known weak spot: the Dometic run capacitor (part 3312195.000) fails faster on these rigs than on comparable Class C builds, and too many owners mistake a dead capacitor for a compressor that’s shot. I’ve pulled into campgrounds where someone’s already ordered a whole new rooftop unit—$3,000 … Read more
Drew Callahan · March 28, 2026
I was sitting in the cab one November morning, thermostat cranked to heat, when I heard it: that rapid metallic clicking, like something inside the furnace was trying to spark but couldn’t quite catch. A second later—nothing. Dead silence. I knew that sound. It meant the igniter was either burned out completely or the control … Read more
