fridge level calculation

[mkguitar]

Originally Posted by blackbourn3704

Why not get a round bubble gauge. There is even one that is marked in degrees of tilt. Cost less than ten bucks. Put it in bottom of fridge and you are done

'cause the app I use with the iphone I own is free and I can see it from the driver seat when I am leveling the van


job done in 1/2 the time

[g1g]

I don't know how the calculations are but I believe your measurements should be taken from the tires point of contact. While side to side may be the same or very close, bumper to bumper is different from the wheel base. as the front and back end stick out considerably particularly on some vans.

[booster]

Originally Posted by g1g

I don't know how the calculations are but I believe your measurements should be taken from the tires point of contact. While side to side may be the same or very close, bumper to bumper is different from the wheel base. as the front and back end stick out considerably particularly on some vans.

Good point, and I will add a point of interest that I learned from some heavy machinery movers (machine shop machines they were installing in shop I worked in while in college) told those of us who were assigned to be their grunt help on the jobs.


Whenever you level anything that has 4 support points, like a table or van or many other things, you don't put the levels on it side to side and end to end. You put them on diagonally between the opposite corners at whatever angle it takes to point at those corners.



You then adjust one pair of opposite corners to level diagonally one way and the item will be sitting on them level and may be on one or the other two points depending on center of gravity. Then you go to the other diagonal corners and adjust/shim the low side until you are level or until you can't rock the item if it is light enough and you are done.


Of note also is that the machinery levels they used where bubble levels way back then and the markings off of center were in "inches per foot" of the length of the level so calculating the amount of shim, if you were using shims, was very easily done. Some of these machines where very, very picky on level and true with some of them in the .0001"/foot or less.



I probably learned more about the real world in that shop in a couple of years than I did in 4 years of engineering school.


The same principal is applied to vans by using a bubble level as you can easily estimate the angles to the diagonals and the amount by the concentric lines. The phone apps do a bunch of calculations of the all the angles based on the wheelbase and track width you have to put into them so do the same thing.


We use a bullseye level that I can see from the driver's seat as I move around a site for the best level place.

[RT1997]

Originally Posted by RT-NY

But if my math is OK, and the front of even a 17 foot van could be almost a foot higher than the back and the fridge would still be considered "level" then that would be easy to see just by looking, wouldn't it? And, I expect that much incline wouldn't be very comfortable for walking around in the van at all!

Would be interesting to do some testing:

park with front wheels 1 ft higher than the back wheels and measure the level degree at this position.
(preferably not relying on software only and if possible with different devices).
Or you already did that and got 3 degrees?

[RT-NY]

Originally Posted by RT1997

Would be interesting to do some testing:

park with front wheels 1 ft higher than the back wheels and measure the level degree at this position.
(preferably not relying on software only and if possible with different devices).
Or you already did that and got 3 degrees?

I agree that would be a very interesting experiment to do, but I have not done it. I have just a plain very small bubble level that I put on the little flat space above the ashtray and use it to check front to back and side to side -- but it shows out of level at less than 3 degrees so if needed I put a scrap of paper under one side and if that brings it to level then I leave it at that.

But I think elsewhere in this thread and in other threads it has been discussed that the problem with being out of level is that the fliuds in the coil do not flow as well, and when that happens the coil gets too hot, and this can cause a rust inhibitor in that fluid to come out of solution, and these little particles of rust inhibitor can further block the flow of the fluid. So the problem is not level as such but heat, and it is dependent on many different factors such as how hot it is outside. So the three degree number is itself a rule of thumb, though one that comes from Dometic, and the ideal thing would be to monitor the coil temperature and shut if off if it gets too hot and there are devices that do this available.

[avanti]

Originally Posted by RT-NY

But I think elsewhere in this thread and in other threads it has been discussed that the problem with being out of level is that the fliuds in the coil do not flow as well, and when that happens the coil gets too hot, and this can cause a rust inhibitor in that fluid to come out of solution, and these little particles of rust inhibitor can further block the flow of the fluid. So the problem is not level as such but heat, and it is dependent on many different factors such as how hot it is outside. So the three degree number is itself a rule of thumb, though one that comes from Dometic, and the ideal thing would be to monitor the coil temperature and shut if off if it gets too hot and there are devices that do this available.

All this may be true, but I can attest from personal (although, happily, fading) experience that if an absorption fridge is TOO out of plumb, it simply won't work worth a darn, right from the get-go. So, the rust inhibitor theory can't be the whole story.

[RT-NY]

Originally Posted by avanti

All this may be true, but I can attest from personal (although, happily, fading) experience that if an absorption fridge is TOO out of plumb, it simply won't work worth a darn, right from the get-go. So, the rust inhibitor theory can't be the whole story.

But might both things be true? Being very out of level causes the fluild not to flow so it doesn't cool down at all. The fluid not flowing causes overheating. Overheating causes a different problem with the rust inhibitor that prevents proper operation in the future even at level.

In other words, if you had a device that shuts it off before it gets too hot, then it still won't work when it is out of level but it will not cause any lasting damage because the rust inhibitor doesn't come out of solution.

This still sounds like the most reasonable explantion I have heard on the matter and it does fit with my experience.

[booster]

Originally Posted by RT1997

Would be interesting to do some testing:

park with front wheels 1 ft higher than the back wheels and measure the level degree at this position.
(preferably not relying on software only and if possible with different devices).
Or you already did that and got 3 degrees?

Take a look at the leveling tools thread, I just put up a procedure to easily test the accuracy of your levels to see how accurate they are.


https://www.classbforum.com/forums/f...tml#post151474


I think 3* trigs out to about 7".

[avanti]

Originally Posted by RT-NY

But might both things be true?

Yes, certainly.

[peteco]

Originally Posted by RT-NY

But might both things be true? Being very out of level causes the fluild not to flow so it doesn't cool down at all. The fluid not flowing causes overheating. Overheating causes a different problem with the rust inhibitor that prevents proper operation in the future even at level.

In other words, if you had a device that shuts it off before it gets too hot, then it still won't work when it is out of level but it will not cause any lasting damage because the rust inhibitor doesn't come out of solution.

This still sounds like the most reasonable explantion I have heard on the matter and it does fit with my experience.

In 2016 I installed an ARPRV Fridge Defend controllers to prevent overheat and to run a fan. I believe it has cutoff the fridge a few times when I was off level. It has controlled the fan well. At this point I would suggest saving the $165 (cost of ARPRV controller) plus whatever else costs there may be and when the absorption fridge dies, replace with a compressor fridge. It won't be cheap but it will work so much better, going by what others have said.

I would still manually cut-off the absorption fridge when you know you are in an extreme off-level spot.

https://www.arprv.com

[Scottie409]

Never had issue with running my fridge off level. 10 years no problems