Fridge Question

Jetstreamer wrote:
Which way were you off level? Fore and aft or side to side? I believe there is more leeway being off level fore and aft than side to side...

From a Norcold fridge manual ...

"The refrigerator is made to operate within 3° off level side-to-side and 6° off level front-to-back (as looking at the front of the refrigerator)."

That refers to the fridge being mounted along a trailer side wall but in many cases it's not, it's mounted along the rear wall, in which case this off level recommendation is meaningless. The safe bet is to simply level the trailer properly both front to back and side to side.

Which way were you off level? Fore and aft or side to side? I believe there is more leeway being off level fore and aft than side to side...

I wouldn't wish fridge replacement on anyone but newbie or not there are just some things about RVs every owner has to understand, adequate leveling of a gas absorption fridge being one of those "things". Unfortunately the OP may have already caused some damage but also as the new owner of a used rig he also wouldn't have any idea whether the previous owner treated that fridge properly either. Hopefully this fridge hasn't suffered excessive blockage of the cooling unit but the fact the OP says it's not cooling as well as it should is a pretty good indication his fridge cooling unit may be partially blocked.

SoundGuy wrote:

JWRoberts wrote:
The bottom line is if it is level enough for you, then it's level enough for the fridge. I doubt seriously if not being level is your problem.

The OP first said - "As of right now I have it parked in my yard, which isn't exactly level." and later followed that with - "Ok if half bubble out is the max then I'm way off".

"Way off" doesn't sound level enough for occupancy and therefore not good for the fridge considering we know that any gas absorption fridge operated beyond leveling specs recommended by the manufacturer can begin to suffer damage to the cooling unit in as little as 15 minutes. If this rig has been sitting for days or weeks "way off" level with the fridge running then it shouldn't be any surprise at all that the cooling unit may already be partially blocked, as evidenced by poor cooling efficiency. :(

I didn't read the OP posts carefully enough. I missed the part about 'way off'. You are correct

Just putting your hand in won't tell you if the fridge is holding temperature. Try putting a stick of butter in there. If the butter is hard in the morning, your fridge is probably running fine. If the butter is soft, you need to do some exploring.

MandKJohns wrote:
Let's just say I have ruined it. Is it better just to get a new one or can I rebuild the old one?

That's rather up to you. A remanufactured (Amish) cooling unit probably runs somewhere between half and three-quarters the cost of a new equivalent absorption fridge, and a good bit more than a roughly equivalent residential fridge. If you're otherwise happy with the current fridge and it's in good physical condition, the cooling unit replacement might make good sense.

If you don't camp without hookups, then a residential fridge may make the most sense. They're less affected by being off kilter since they don't rely on gravity primarily for coolant flow. They're also quite a bit more energy efficient when operating on AC power...but obviously cannot be operated on propane.

For what it's worth, based on "a full bubble" on a three foot level, I suspect you haven't destroyed your fridge. At least on the three foot levels I've seen, that would be possibly an inch in three feet, or about 1.5 degrees off. A little bit of measurement and trig would determine it precisely for your level.

Just a FYI, many people don't know/don't care about keeping their fridge level when parked, and running. In many cases, they never have a problem, and trade trailers, before a problem surfaces.

I doubt yours is ruined, but time will tell. You can just replace the cooling unit with a new or rebuilt one, if yours is damaged beyond use. Just the cooling unit is still costly.

Good luck, hope your fridge works better, when back to level!

Jerry

Let's just say I have ruined it. Is it better just to get a new one or can I rebuild the old one?

Well for what it's worth I have unplugged the fridge and am just going to leave it that way until I can get the TT level. And as far as it being out of level for me it's not that bad. I took a 3 foot level out yesterday and it's a full bubble off. I guess only time will tell if I ruined it. So goes being new to the whole TT life. Was planning on getting a new one anyways.

Thanks to everyone who has responded with helpful information. And to those of you that think I should know everything well as I have said multiple times before this is my first unit so I apologize that I'm not as savvy as you are.

allen8106 wrote:

ScottG wrote:
If you have run it out of level for a whole week then the cooling unit is destroyed.

Maybe...likely not in my experience. Will it impact total life span, probably.

As a matter of fact, that has been my experience exactly. I destroyed one not realizing the fridge was still on.
From the people who rebuilt my cooing unit: "The damage is cumulative and starts after as little as 15 minutes. After that the cooling efficiency and ability is reduced to the point the tubes are completely blocked and the fridge cant cool at all."
The effect to the life span is it's ended.