In all the discussion about refrigerator, i've always taken away from the subject that it needs to be level to operate correctly. And having it running while parked and not level can damage it. Every night I go to work, I pass by a rest area that has at least one rv in it. Every time I go to Walmart, there is at least one and often more parked in the parking lot. Neither of the places they park are what I call level. They usually slope to one side. My question is (for those of you that wallydock or overnight in parking lots), what do you do? Do you shut it off? Do you let it run and its ok? I never see any levelers out to make things level either.

My owners manual says the refrigerator needs to be reasonably level to operate. It goes on to describe by saying camper should be level enough to stay in comfortably.Mine is a 2012, I do think the newer models are not as fussy as in the past. My self, I still try to be very level, when fridge is running. I think most would have them running in the parking areas.Jerry

Side to side can be off a lot, its the front to back that can cause issues. Camping at Bristol races 6 years back, I was 6" off side to side but level front to back and did not have any issues. Friend was opposite being almost level side to side but about 6" or a touch more off on the front to back. His fridge stopped after a day. Fridge started working again after he pulled off the site and got moving. He had no other issues in the ongoing years until he sold the rig. Randu

Our basic rule is as long as we are comfortable in it and a coke or beer can stays on the table its good. Has worked for over 40 years and never had any fridge problems. But will shut it off it I am way out of level. Driving makes no difference as it changes all the time..

I just checked my owner's manual for Keystone, and it simply says, "Level". It does not specify say "how" level. I do know from experience (after owning 3 different travel trailers now), the camper does not have to be "perfectly" level for the refrigerator to work. I think a good rule of thumb is simple: If the camper is so uncomfortable you cannot walk in it without feeling like your on a roller coaster, or lay in bed without rolling out, or sliding to the floor, your refrigerator will probably have poor performance also. Being "out of level" (that much) will not hurt them, they just won't cool as efficient, or may stop completely.

Brian, we see 'crooked' rv's all the time at race tracks, many for 4-5 days at a time. I know with our's I try to get level as much as possible while stopping overnite without putting the jacks down but many times we end up unlevel. Our fridge will not work when too far off, I get an error code. My assumption is if I do not get the unlevel code then it's ok.

Fridge Question | Good Sam Community

24 Replies

cooldude
Explorer
Jan 07, 2014
Deleted
moisheh
Explorer
Dec 24, 2013
In another forum a writer saw the ARP display unit. They have a computer hooked up to the USB port and can monitor the boiler temp. Moving the fridge a slight amount off level immediately raises the boiler temp. Scary! No wonder the fridges fail. I am considering installing one of the ARP units.

Moisheh
Chris_Bryant
Explorer II
Dec 09, 2013
JJBIRISH wrote:
T
Chris that is a great idea but it seems to restore operation when the temps cool, even though the condition causing the overheating hasn’t been corrected… I presume that is why the recall fixes prefer to put the unit into lockout… in short the out of level condition the caused the shutdown should not restore the power until the problem has been corrected…

All the unit in the website does is allow continued use when a dangerous condition exist…

It shuts down far before the recall kits would- they are designed to keep the unit from catching fire, the ARP is designed to keep the unit from being damaged. It does finally go in to complete lockout after (I believe) 8 attempts. Given the 20 minute delay, along with the time to reach an overheated boiler, you're talking at least 5 hours, most likely longer. The ARP is designed to eliminate the gradual degradation you get with an hour here and there running off level, and really goes to the heart of the reason for being level- the only thing that matters is circulation of the ammonia. You can be off level and if the ammonia is still circulating, no damage will occur- you could be level and get a "vapor lock" in the unit, stopping circulation (this happens fairly often).

One of the failure modes that I had never considered is that when overheated, the anti-corrosive sodium chromate gives off nitrogen. This raises the pressure in the unit a bit, and displaces some of the hydrogen at the bottom of the high temperature evaporator. This leads to units where the freezer works well, but the lower portion doesn't cool well.
mlts22
Explorer II
Dec 09, 2013
The ARP is a device that is something manufacturers should have in their units.

Long term, the best thing would be to move to propane fuel cells (even Truma has one on the market) and electric compressor fridges. This provides the same ability to dry camp and have the fridge keep cool, without having to worry about being level or having a crack in the boiler cause a fire.
JJBIRISH
Explorer
Dec 09, 2013
The only sane answer Old-Biscuit… this is the reason the cooling unit business is booming and people are trying things like Amish built cooling units… while the Amish have a good experience with absorption fridges, it is with stationary units, they don’t have a lot of experience with RV use of them… although I believe the more efficient unit may be a little more tolerant to out of level use…

The thing is more tolerant doesn’t equate to good or lack of damage… only that it may be longer before it ruins the fluid and the cooling unit…

I have never found anyone in the repair business that recommended anything but level operation, and there is only one level… everything else is out of level… even the mfg. recommendation of comfortable only has to worry about short term warranty periods not long term life of the unit…

The difference between the old and new units IMHO is the new more tolerant units get hotter more often and to higher temperatures because of the more lenient mfg. recommendations causing cracking in the boiler area and the resulting fires that have become all too common…

Chris that is a great idea but it seems to restore operation when the temps cool, even though the condition causing the overheating hasn’t been corrected… I presume that is why the recall fixes prefer to put the unit into lockout… in short the out of level condition the caused the shutdown should not restore the power until the problem has been corrected…

All the unit in the website does is allow continued use when a dangerous condition exist…
Old-Biscuit
Explorer III
Dec 08, 2013
Ignorance is bliss........

until they have fridge cooling problems.

Off level operation damage is accumulative.....and can't be reversed.

How much damage occurs?
Depends on how much off level, frequency, duration......time will tell.
John___Angela
Explorer
Dec 08, 2013
Monaco Montclair wrote:
From what I understand, the fridges, will work, but the more level they are , the more efficacy they are, I think that's rite . Now it's all happy-camping

Good morning. I think the word you are searching for is "efficient". You can also say "the efficacy is higher. That word has roots in Spanish and French (almost the same) so I'm guessing your history might come from one of those.

Cheers.

John
wa8yxm
Explorer III
Dec 08, 2013
I try to find a level spot in the lot when I wally Dock.
Monaco_Montclai
Explorer
Dec 08, 2013
From what I understand, the fridges, will work, but the more level they are , the more efficacy they are, I think that's rite . Now it's all happy-camping
Chris_Bryant
Explorer II
Dec 08, 2013
pianotuna wrote:
Hi Chris,

How much time does it take to install?

I wish Dometic and Norcold had this feature built in.

Chris Bryant wrote:
Generally, the more level the better, but the object is to keep the boiler area of the cooling unit fed with enough ammonia solution. I was recently introduced to a new safety item which eliminates the danger of off level operation by sensing the temperature of the boiler, and through a reasonably sophisticated algorithm, shutting the power off (and restoring it). The original webite for this product is here, with a website that I did for them- gratis, because I believe in the product so much- at http://healthyrvrefrigerator.com/ (still a work in progress).

Hi Don,

Installation is pretty simple- certainly well under an hour, unless you want the display inside the coach- then it's just a matter of wire fishing. Otherwise it's just power, relay for the refrigerator power and the boiler sensor, which *can* be installed through the heating element cover- as high on the boiler as is practical.

It's a neat piece- I think he is selling them far too cheap to be honest. Eventually it will have no display or programming options and just be plug and play- now there are 2 versions, one with a header for a usb cable, the other without (though there is a space on the board for it). The data logging is interesting- we had a cooling unit out and to watch the difference in temperature at the boiler with very small changes in angle was amazing.