Air conditioner lifespan

[Barry Myers]

I have a 2003 Safari. It has a heat pump/ac on the roof. How long should it last? I am planning a trip to Arizona in September. Wondering if I should replace. Is there a service I can have done to check it?

[lsbrodsky]

These units are not serviceable, nothing to check except perhaps running amps. But the older units seem to last a long time, we have folks in our unit with very old trailers and working A/C. Seems like most of the problems have been with newer units. The good thing is that you probably don't need an Airstream service shop to install a new one, if you are on the road. Any good RV place should be able to do the work.
Larry

[CRH]

My 1995 is still going strong

[uncle_bob]

Hi

Other than a quick current check and maybe a check on the motor start capacitor, there's not a lot to do on these A/C units. They may last a long time. They may die next month. They are really no different than a lot of modern fridges and freezers in that respect. In most cases they last a long time .....

Bob

[Eagle & Bear]

I installed a Coleman in 2007. The third year the motor failed. I replaced the motor. Two years later the fan fell off. Opened the cover, put the fan back on the shaft and screwed it on tightly with some PARR. No problems since but if it does go I want one of the new 20amp coolers.

[pteck]

It's too bad they are designed to be disposable. No reason they can't be made more durable as proven by the vintage stuff that was build to last. This new stuff is just designed to fail. Blame it on greedy cooperations and consumers that are intensely price sensitive, driving the race to bottom with the cheapest product/most features possible.

I just recharged the A/C on my 16 year old Porsche. $17 DIY job with refrigerant from the local auto store. Why RV ACs can't have these same fill ports to enable longer useful service lives makes no sense. Perhaps most SOB travel trailers are disposable anyways at that age.

Hopefully my purchase of a top of the line Dometic Blizzard NXT might prove to have a longer durable life? I suspect not as they only care to sell more features and performance rather than core quality these days.

[J. Morgan]

I changed out my stock 1972 air conditioner last week.

There is really no telling how long a unit will last, but on the other side of the coin, I bought a Coleman Mach III 13,500 for $508 tax included.

I thought about replacing my ancient air conditioner as a preventative measure, but I got nearly five years of great service from the unit.....

Run it till it dies, it's easy to change.

[AtomicNo13]

The duo therm on my 91 classic ran hard until 2017. I replaced it in 2017 again in 2017, again in 2018, and am awaiting another warranty replacement as of July 2019. Not impressed!

[r carl]

My 1985 still running great.

[J. Morgan]

Originally Posted by AtomicNo13

The duo therm on my 91 classic ran hard until 2017. I replaced it in 2017 again in 2017, again in 2018, and am awaiting another warranty replacement as of July 2019. Not impressed!

I researched some, and I bought a Coleman. We'll see how that works out.

Nonetheless, I'm rebuilding my Armstrong this winter.

I already bought a new compressor last summer when I knew it was going out, but I was stymied by the lack of 5/16" fittings.

I think I have that worked out now though.

[mayco]

My 1982 310TD CLASSIC MOTORHOME still has the original Coleman Mach air conditioners front and back. Replaced the three capacitors on the rear unit this year. Other than that, they both cool fantastic. Knock on wood.....

[uncle_bob]

Hi

One of the gotcha's in some of these comparisons: The A/C units today don't run the same refrigerants as "way back then". In a lot of cases, what's in the system is so unique that a service guy would not have it in stock. The days of "one can fits all" are long gone.

Bob

[Barry Myers]

From what y'all said, I guess I will continue to run it until it stops. I don't look forward to having to have it changed on the road, but from some of you experiences, I may be better off with what I have.

Thanks again.

[J. Morgan]

Originally Posted by Barry Myers

From what y'all said, I guess I will continue to run it until it stops. I don't look forward to having to have it changed on the road, but from some of you experiences, I may be better off with what I have.



Thanks again.

I had to change mine on the road, it quit early Friday morning, I bought one in Fort Worth at 3:30 PM, and had it on the trailer and running at about 1:00 AM on Saturday. (I drove 600 miles that day too)

But I knew I had a forklift available to set the old unit off and set the new unit on.

If it wasn't for getting the old unit up and the new unit up, it would be a two star job as far as difficulty. (it takes about an hour)

[AtomicNo13]

Yup, getting the new one up there is the hard part!

[Bigventure]

A/C are sealed systems and should in theory last forever. But leaks happen from rocks or whatever. Cotton wood blow on the coils. Causing high pressures failures.

[Halford1]

Originally Posted by pteck

It's too bad they are designed to be disposable. No reason they can't be made more durable as proven by the vintage stuff that was build to last. This new stuff is just designed to fail. Blame it on greedy cooperations and consumers that are intensely price sensitive, driving the race to bottom with the cheapest product/most features possible.

I just recharged the A/C on my 16 year old Porsche. $17 DIY job with refrigerant from the local auto store. Why RV ACs can't have these same fill ports to enable longer useful service lives makes no sense. Perhaps most SOB travel trailers are disposable anyways at that age.

Hopefully my purchase of a top of the line Dometic Blizzard NXT might prove to have a longer durable life? I suspect not as they only care to sell more features and performance rather than core quality these days.

I believe that these Dometic A/C and even Coleman runs on some kind of ammonia, not Freon. I may be wrong but this is what I learned from other forum. Cannot be refilled but can be replaced