AbstractSystem characteristics of a two-unit repairable system are studied from a Bayesian viewpoint with different types of priors assumed for unknown parameters, in which the service station is unreliable. Times to failure and times to repair of the operating units are assumed to follow exponential distributions. In addition, failure times and repair times of the service station also follow exponential distributions. When times to failure and times to repair of operating units, failure times and repair times of the service station are with uncertain parameters, a Bayesian approach is adopted to evaluate system characteristics. Monte Carlo simulation is used to derive the posterior distribution for the mean time to system failure and the s...