Leveling a Fridge while on the Road

Johnny G1 wrote:
My fridge has been on since the day I bought it 12 yrs ago and has never been turned off while traveling and there is a lot off hills and valleys between Fairbanks Alaska and Peggys cove in Nova Scotia, won't say how many hills between here and Arizona so the story of out of lever is not true or I would have needed many fridge's in my travels???? and it is always on propane.

While in transit level is NOT an issue as the coolant solution sloshes around due to the back & forth motion of rig.

Level is when stationary....not moving.....parked.....set up in camp site.
That is when off level can/will/does have an affect on the proper gravitational flow of the coolant within the cooling unit.

Both Dometic and Norcold make mention of 'operating while in transit'....it's OK

My fridge has been on since the day I bought it 12 yrs ago and has never been turned off while traveling and there is a lot off hills and valleys between Fairbanks Alaska and Peggys cove in Nova Scotia, won't say how many hills between here and Arizona so the story of out of lever is not true or I would have needed many fridge's in my travels???? and it is always on propane.

Horizon170 wrote:
Someone mentioned that no RV has a compressor type fridge-----WRONG----I do and I believe several others do. With mine I never worry about it running off level. I go up some tall inclines/roads at times.
... I HAVE BEEN WRONG BEFORE THOUGH. :)
Marvin

If you are talking about Chris, he actually said that absorption type have no compressors, not RV refers in general.

Someone mentioned that no RV has a compressor type fridge-----WRONG----I do and I believe several others do. With mine I never worry about it running off level. I go up some tall inclines/roads at times.
I believe the absorption run out of tolerance won't kill the refer, just keep it from working properly way off level. Once you are back level I think the ammonia or whatever will drain back properly and the refer resume normal operation. I HAVE BEEN WRONG BEFORE THOUGH. :)
Marvin

Old-Biscuit wrote:

RinconVTR wrote:

But I stand my opinion on being "perfectly" level. Everything has a tolerance, and being slightly off (meaning tolerable enough to walk and sleep in) is not going to destroy anything overnight.

And that is where you seem to be having the problem.....perfectly level

No ONE has suggested 'perfectly level'

Dometic has reasonably level (no noticeable sloping of walls.floors....comfortable to live in)
Norcold has degrees of level (3* side to side & 6* front to back)
Others have posted 'level' which is close enough

Point is..rv absorption fridges depend on gravity flow to operate.
Fluids can under pressure run uphill but gravity flow/no pressure then downhill is best.
Level it and run it....simple

Correct. The problem is, WHAT is YOUR RV at, in level, when you do any type stop. Sorry, most people have NO CLUE. Unless they are having to hold on to a cabinet while walking in the RV, they would think it is level enough. It USED to be years ago with the round bubble levels, that ANY part of the bubble in the round center circle measured INSIDE the refer was adequate enough for operation. Doug

RinconVTR wrote:

But I stand my opinion on being "perfectly" level. Everything has a tolerance, and being slightly off (meaning tolerable enough to walk and sleep in) is not going to destroy anything overnight.

And that is where you seem to be having the problem.....perfectly level

No ONE has suggested 'perfectly level'

Dometic has reasonably level (no noticeable sloping of walls.floors....comfortable to live in)
Norcold has degrees of level (3* side to side & 6* front to back)
Others have posted 'level' which is close enough

Point is..rv absorption fridges depend on gravity flow to operate.
Fluids can under pressure run uphill but gravity flow/no pressure then downhill is best.
Level it and run it....simple

Chris Bryant wrote:

RinconVTR wrote:

dougrainer wrote:

RinconVTR wrote:
Being level is more for long term use, not a few overnights. No worries.

This is what causes problems in the long term. There are a LOT of RV'ers that think this. As another poster stated, the blockage can happen in as little as 30 minutes. The blockage is extremely small, but over time, EVERYTIME, you do the short unlevel, it builds up, then 1 day, months or years down the line, it stops performing to its best and then they think, "What a piece of junk". If stopping for more than a few minutes, turn the refer OFF, then on again when resuming your travel. Doug

Are we talking drainage or compressor life? I'm talking compressor. If you think a few overnights not being perfectly level will kill your fridge...well then go right ahead and spend the time to level for those quick stays when you don't even want to put the tongue jack down. Ridiculous thinking.

Umm, you do realize that there IS NO COMPRESSOR in an absorption refrigerator?

I respectfully suggest you get a clue..

I don't know what I was thinking there...had my head in the wrong ice box.

But I stand my opinion on being "perfectly" level. Everything has a tolerance, and being slightly off (meaning tolerable enough to walk and sleep in) is not going to destroy anything overnight.

You din't say anything about it being operated unlevel.

I got to thinking more about this.
I remember one time we parked overnite terribly unlevel. Never even thought about the fridge. I put a glass full of something in the Micro,....that I thought mite be ok. Well, it wasn't !! It fell over while nuking .....what a mess ! But never had a problem w/ that fridge either, not even a dirty burner. But maybe don't try this at home,....it was a real mess.

Dusty R wrote:
Hmm, I wonder how long it takes. We had a Mallard for 14 years, we bought it new. We now have a 2003 Itasca we also bought new. Never had a problem with ether refrigerator.

Hmm, I wonder how long it takes. We had a Mallard for 14 years, we bought it new. We now have a 2003 Itasca we also bought new. Never had a problem with ether refrigerator.

As stated above, there is not a compressor in an RV refrigerator.

An RV refrigerator must be fairly level to operate correctly.

An RV refrigerator uses an absorption system that utilizes no mechanical pumps or compressors to circulate the refrigerant within the system, so proper leveling is required to provide refrigerant flow in the gravity - flow system.

Without proper leveling, refrigerant within the cooling coils will collect and stagnate at certain areas.

The sodium chromate solution can overheat causing, crystallization and creating blockages.

Crystallization will stop the cooling process and may permanently damage the cooling unit.

You can operate your RV refrigerator anyway you want, but there may be short and long term consequences to its reliability if its too far from level...