How much reliability would I gain replacing an old AC?

[RKW]

We have an older fifth wheel. Recently the wife and I were discussing getting a new RV, but we like the floor plan and size of the one we have now. I've also done many mods. In the end we decided to keep using the old 5th, but my wife's number one concern is the reliability of the old AC. When we camp we often leave our dogs at a full hook up site and go hiking for 3-4 hours. In her circle of dog folks there was an incident where the RV AC failed while the owners were away and all the dogs died, hence her concern for AC reliability.
Our AC is 20 years old. It works like a champ. Never a bit of trouble. I'm inclined to keep using the AC we have and start being more vigilant with the dog's safety. I hate replacing things that work, especially on a 20 year old RV. I don't know though. I've not kept up with AC's for RV's. Perhaps there's a boatload of reliability to be gained by throwing a new AC on the ol' trailer.

Give me your thoughts on this. Thanks.

[dougrainer]

Redsky wrote:
An AC unit on its last legs will run longer and the compressor will run hotter until it seizes and fails. Difficult to monitor your current AC but on the flip side the number of hours of operation may be very small. A trailer used 3 weeks out of the year gets a lot less use than a house AC that is run for 4-5 months each year.

I have had sheepdogs for many years and I don't take them out into the desert in the summertime. They have very inefficient means for cooling down their body temp and they are not having fun either so I leave them at home with a house sitter. I consider it irresponsible to leave dogs inside unattended in 100 degree temperatures and would not think of doing it with mine.

A good reason for going with a new one is to right size the unit to the size of your RV. Most of the factory installed units are larger than is needed so they have shorter cycle times and do not operate nearly as efficiently as a smaller AC unit that has time to operate.

OK, enlighten us. HOW do you determine the right size AC based on your Post? Trick question, but I want to hear your take on this. Doug

[Redsky]

An AC unit on its last legs will run longer and the compressor will run hotter until it seizes and fails. Difficult to monitor your current AC but on the flip side the number of hours of operation may be very small. A trailer used 3 weeks out of the year gets a lot less use than a house AC that is run for 4-5 months each year.

I have had sheepdogs for many years and I don't take them out into the desert in the summertime. They have very inefficient means for cooling down their body temp and they are not having fun either so I leave them at home with a house sitter. I consider it irresponsible to leave dogs inside unattended in 100 degree temperatures and would not think of doing it with mine.

A good reason for going with a new one is to right size the unit to the size of your RV. Most of the factory installed units are larger than is needed so they have shorter cycle times and do not operate nearly as efficiently as a smaller AC unit that has time to operate.

[dougrainer]

You have a 20 year old Car with 200,000 miles on it and runs pretty good. So, you decide to drive from the East Coast to the West Coast for a 5k vacation and hit areas along the way. Smart Idea in a 20 year old Car? NO. Replace the AC unit. There is NO WAY anybody can determine WHEN that AC will fail. The fact you are concerned about your dogs makes the replacement not optional. No dogs, then just wait for it to fail. But, you have dogs---do the smart thing and replace it. Doug

[ksg5000]

My 20+ year old air conditioner works fine .. I clean/maintain it every year and acknowledging it's getting old I replaced both capacitors (easy diy and inexpensive) - also switched out the old thermostat with a modern digital one. If you change the capacitors consider upgrading to "hard start" capacitor it helped my old air conditioner start up and cost about $40? or so.

[Klueck]

We're in the same boat. We have two ac units and the rear one failed recently. It was about 11 years old. We use our AC most every day so they have both been used a lot. The replacement one seems to be a lot more powerful, so we've been happy with it. We are always concerned about our cats and I've been reading about some systems that will send you a text showing the inside temp of your rv. I haven't had any chance to do any research yet.

We're wondering whether or not to replace the other unit. Now when it's convenient, or later down the road when it breaks at the most inopportune time.

Ou

[TexasShadow]

our home temp monitor operated over the cell phone, so anywhere our phone will work we can watch the temps at home (and know what the ac or heater is doing)

[mlts22]

If I wanted to be sure things would be cool for the dogs:

1: I'd go for a Magnum Energy or Victron "hybrid inverter". Voltage too low? It will suck on the batteries to make up for the lost electricity, and not burn out the windings on the A/C compressor.

2: As above, I'd go for a Fantastic Fan 6000 series model that has a rain sensor, thermostat, and works off the 12 volt system. A 7000 model is stronger, but requires 120 volts.

3: If you have the space (probably not an option) perhaps consider taking a portable A/C that vents out a window? This can either be set at the same temperature as the roof A/C so both are working, or it can be set higher as a failsafe.

4: I've seen alarm systems for K-9 cars that first warn at a certain temperature, then will pop the door open to let them escape. Yes, runaway animals are bad, but better a pooch hunt than dead dogs.

Don't chuck the old A/C. It was made before most parts and components started coming from the absolute cheapest country with the least amount of regulation and quality control. It also uses far better Freon than the current refrigerant in use, so the compressor has to work less for better results.

In fact, avoid chucking any old appliances unless they break in a way they are unfixable. A friend of mine has a RV with a refrigerator that does not use a control board or 12 volts, so no matter how discharged the batteries get, his food remains cold, assuming it is set on propane.

[Pauljdav]

You can get a fantastic fan or another brand with a thermostat that you can have as a backup. It will automatically come on if the temp is high enough. This will also work even if the power was to go out for any reason so it will be better than just having another AC unit.

It is amazing how much cooler proper ventilation will do even in very hot temperatures. I would not want ventilation only to be what my pets endure on a regular basis but for safety I sure would like this to be the backup plan.

[subcamper]

Do I think a new AC unit will be more reliable?

Here's our story:

We bought all new appliances when we got married 23 years ago.

When we moved to a rural home with a septic system, we replaced our working (and never broke down)18 year old top load washing machine with a front load washer to reduce the amount of water going into the septic system. In the last 5 years the "new" washer has broken down or tore door gaskets at least 8 times.

We replaced our working 20 year old electric range with a new electric range because we wanted an oven with convection. After 2 years the "new" range control board failed, sending the oven to over 650 degrees when the display showed 350 degrees.

Finally, we replaced our working, never broken down, 23 year old side-by-side refrigerator with a new french-door refrigerator because some of the plastic drawers in the old fridge had broken. When the new fridge was 2 months old, a "communications error" code appeared on the display and the fridge shut all systems down. Fortunately, it happened just after a 2-week trip and we were home. The warranty service took 2 weeks to get the fridge running again because parts were hard to get on such a new fridge. The new controller and display were installed, whereupon the same error code came up when powered up. The repairman called the factory and it turned out the icemaker was at fault because it wasn't communicating properly with the controller. We are still waiting for the new icemaker to be installed. Fortunately at least the fridge works now because he unplugged the icemaker.

Keep the old AC unit.

Steve

[TechWriter]

LittleBill wrote:

TechWriter wrote:

RKW wrote:
Based on the replies and suggestions in this thread, I think my money would some be better spent on some type of temperature alarm that works with our cell phones.

Like this.

gonna depend on the campground wifi are you?

"The gateway connects to an existing router to upload measurements to lacrossealerts.com for remote monitoring and alerts.*(Internet and network router required, not included)."

Nope. I use a Millenicom hotspot.

[j-d]

Cleaning the unit will help its performance, longevity and power usage. Here's a process.

[LittleBill]

TechWriter wrote:

RKW wrote:
Based on the replies and suggestions in this thread, I think my money would some be better spent on some type of temperature alarm that works with our cell phones.

Like this.

gonna depend on the campground wifi are you?

"The gateway connects to an existing router to upload measurements to lacrossealerts.com for remote monitoring and alerts.*(Internet and network router required, not included)."

[TechWriter]

RKW wrote:
Based on the replies and suggestions in this thread, I think my money would some be better spent on some type of temperature alarm that works with our cell phones.

Like this.

[RKW]

Based on the replies and suggestions in this thread, I think my money would some be better spent on some type of temperature alarm that works with our cell phones. Those people who lost their dogs to the heat that I mentioned earlier in the thread actually had a temperature alarm that worked on a radio signal. They had gone out of range. Don't ask me what type or frequency it worked on. I never got many details about it.

One thing I do when I leave the dogs in the RV is to set up my Fan-Tastic fan in the bathroom to turn on when the temperature gets to the point where the AC is obviously no longer working.