Life expectancy for RV components ?

[flyfishing48]

I am trying to get a handle on how long things like RV refrigerators, furnaces, water heaters, ac units and the like last.
I realize that years are not created equal. Some of us use our units a lot more than others. But as ball park number how many years before things start to have issues?

[filrupmark]

My last 5er was 9 yrs. old . Never had any issues with any of that equipment. These days everything comes from China so it is very possible that we may have more problems with our newer units. Lets hope I am wrong.

[newk]

Only major appliance failure was a refrigerator at 20 years.
Microwave at 2 years (none in past 10 years)
Water pump at 2 years (none in past 12 years)

[ksbowman]

My 1987 Coachman 5 th that I use for hunting has only had the water pump replaced. The reason for replacement was not because it went bad, but because I wanted more pressure for the shower. Takes a licking and keeps on ticking!

[Endricken]

My Experience:
RV Fridge: 3 years (Replaced with Residential Frost Free for less than repair costs)
AC: 9 Years (Highly recommend new "Brisk Air 2 - much quieter)
AC Thermostat: 7 years
Propane and CO detectors: 6 years
Kitchen Vent Flap: 3-4 years (Just redid with wire vs plastic pins so should last lifetime)
Front Jacks Fuse Holder: 9 years
Front Jacks Shear Pin: 7 years
Convection Microwave: 10 years (Repaired myself several times)
Slide Topper Awnings: 6 years
Main Awning: 9 years
Water Heater Bypass / Check Valve: 8 years
Most of my former RV Tires (BFG Commercial T/A): 3-5 Years
Water Heater Switch: 10 years
Water Heater Anode: 5+ years
Day Night Shade Strings: 10 years or longer
Shower Faucet: 10 years
Remote Thermometer: 7 years
RV Theater/Surround Sound: 4-5 years (on our third one - try to remember to open cabinet doors as these electronics get very hot)
Water Pump check Gasket: 10 years
Vent lids: 7-8 years (now all have vent covers)
Rubber Cable Jack and Flusher Covers: 7 years
Wal-Mart Dual Purpose Marine/Deep Cycle Battery: 3-4 years

[Bamaman11]

I had a refrigerator go out after 10 years. The repair company I took it to said that RV fridges don't drain out condensation, and eventually the tubing will fail. Opening a RV refrigerator that's gone bad is a terrible experience--ammonia smell. The good news is that after 10 years of use, they can just about all be rebuilt for $350 or so. That beats $1350 to replace the fridge.

My A/C, furnace and hot water heater are still doing well on my old travel trailer after 18 years' good service.

My element went bad on the hot water heater, and I cound never get the old one out--rust. Ended up putting a Hot Rod in place of the anode rod, and it works as good as the original electric element. We've seldom ever used it on gas.

[KATOOM]

It sounds like you're not that rough on stuff so then just considering what you'd spend on another trailer verses the various costs of what you may have to spend on yours would be how you should look at it.

If you're going to purchase a new trailer with a warranty then you'll be spending the additional monthly payment, increase registration fee's, and insurance costs which would have been otherwise adding up in your pocket, and used to fix whatever needed replacement on your current trailer (if anything).

If you bought a used trailer then you'll loose whatever the amount that it costs you to buy it minus the amount you can potentially sell yours for. And since you wont have a warranty you'll once again have to deal with out of pocket repair costs for anything which goes wrong. You'll most likely have higher registration fee's again too. If you finance this used new to you trailer then you'll also have insurance costs as well.

Keeping your trailer you'll obviously have saved all those monthly costs.

I know I made that seem more complicated than it should be but point being is sometimes its just worth keeping what you have instead of throwing money at a "better" replacement unless what you have is simply falling apart and racking up immense repair costs. I dont think I've seen a trailer go back to nature unless it was abandoned so as long as you maintain water leaks which could compromise the structural integrity, the only thing you have left to consider is a few appliance components.

[Wet_Coast]

1987 Fiver. Only the fridge has been changed out. Converter disabled. Everything else is original.

[Jim-Linda]

flyfishing48 wrote:

Jim-Linda wrote:
Almost impossible to answer, maintenance, usage, are the primary factors. You see mentioned on forums WH's, Fridge, furnace water pumps, AC's, etc that have lasted many years. Is there a reason for the question?

Jim

My only reason for asking is because our 5er is in it's 7th season of pretty regular use. We do a long ( 6 or 7 week ) trip each year plus several 1 or 2 week trips each year.
We have about 60k miles of towing and so far re-bushed the suspension and put new tires on it. The inverter went and was replaced under warranty. Other than it is original.
I am not trying to plot a reliability curve or anything like that. Just looking for a general feel for how long these can last if not abused.

Basically looking to see how long I should drag my feet while DW looks at new ones .......

Oops....Forgot about the wheel with hairline crack.

FWIW, our 5th(NuWa Champagne) is a 1998, we have fulltimed since it was new. We have replaced AC, WH and changed to a household fridge. No suspension problems(Mor/ryde IS), tires are a given. Don't think I would worry too much what is going to break, it is what it is. Or another way, "I don't know what I don't know.

Luck,
Jim

[rfryer]

Lifespan is only a concern on the more expensive fixes. But FWIW I have a 1989 16' TT. The stove, oven furnace and water heater are original. The frig lasted 21 years. I think I've replaced the water pump twice. All the rest of the work has been minor repairs easily fixed.

[flyfishing48]

Jim-Linda wrote:
Almost impossible to answer, maintenance, usage, are the primary factors. You see mentioned on forums WH's, Fridge, furnace water pumps, AC's, etc that have lasted many years. Is there a reason for the question?

Jim

My only reason for asking is because our 5er is in it's 7th season of pretty regular use. We do a long ( 6 or 7 week ) trip each year plus several 1 or 2 week trips each year.
We have about 60k miles of towing and so far re-bushed the suspension and put new tires on it. The inverter went and was replaced under warranty. Other than it is original.
I am not trying to plot a reliability curve or anything like that. Just looking for a general feel for how long these can last if not abused.

Basically looking to see how long I should drag my feet while DW looks at new ones .......

Oops....Forgot about the wheel with hairline crack.

[pianotuna]

Hi,

Plastic parts generally start to get brittle and friable at about the ten year mark.

[KATOOM]

camper19709 wrote:
Impossible to answer due to so many variables.

Exactly..... Some people are just inherently hard on stuff whereby other people can use the same item but have it last forever. That said, I've seen functional RV appliances so old that they looked like something out of a I love Lucy episode.

[korbe]

In 2008 I sold our 1976 5th wheel and the water pump was the only component that wasn't original. We did replace a freshwater check valve.

[camper19709]

Impossible to answer due to so many variables.