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Old 12-14-2012, 01:16 AM   #1
Ozz
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#2 'Killer'

Running While Not Level
The second biggest killer is running unleveled. When the refrigerator is operating, water moves around the pipes and flows down the coils on the back into the main storage tank. The pipes on the back all slope down from side to side. When the RV is off-level, one direction of the coil will be flowing up-hill and the water flow will stop. When this happens there is no flow to the boiler section and the water in the boiler pipe boils dry. The rust inhibitor dries up and blocks the boiler tube. If the unit is kept running the boiler pipe will get so hot that it will crack from the gas pressure inside the coils (450#). Now the cooling unit is really dead.
Never believe the stories that the newer units do not need to be run level? They are made to run more off-level than the older units BUT there is still a point where they will stop working. Always try to level you RV, as best you can, and if you have to park for a long time and cannot level the unit, shut down the refrigerator. It will keep the food cold for hours. Most of the newer units we repair have all been run unleveled and cracked the boiler. (This can be a very costly mistake)

Also ripped off..
 
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Old 12-14-2012, 07:08 AM   #2
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Another reason for level-up.
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Old 12-14-2012, 09:05 AM   #3
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Nuttin a few scraps of lumber can't fix for us poo folk...
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Old 12-14-2012, 09:31 AM   #4
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I too am a "lumber user"...got my eye on a new fly rod, (not that buying a level-up is a bad thing. Thanks for the ref. info! I knew they were sensitive but didn't realize the consequences.
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Old 12-14-2012, 10:44 AM   #5
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My book says I must stay less then 6 degrees of level, but I sure try and do better than that. When I tow, the nose of the Monty is a little more than 1 degree nose high. This might change when I am driving up and down hills and the fridge is still running to keep the contents cold, but hopefully this non level is for very short periods of time. Fortunately, when stopped I am level (or so I recall). But when stopped for long periods of time and the fridge is gonna run for days I am completely level.

Good advice, Ozz. Thanks for the reminder.
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Old 12-17-2012, 03:45 PM   #6
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water?
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Old 12-17-2012, 10:30 PM   #7
Bill-N-Donna
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Level is very important to me.
I have trouble standing up and not tripping on level ground
much less in an un-level trailer. Simply can’t stand it.
Thanks for the reminder Ozz!
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Old 12-31-2012, 10:24 AM   #8
sreigle
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So how does one determine 6 degrees off level? Seriously, I'd like to know. Is there a cheap tool I can use for this? Sometimes we don't unhitch when overnighting. We do our best to level but sometimes it's just not possible without unhitching. So how do we tell where that limit is?
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Old 01-01-2013, 10:26 AM   #9
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Old 01-01-2013, 11:36 AM   #10
Ozz
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Steve,
Print this and it would work:

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Old 01-01-2013, 12:56 PM   #11
Carl n Susan
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Quote:
quote:Originally posted by sreigle

So how does one determine 6 degrees off level? Seriously, I'd like to know. Is there a cheap tool I can use for this? Sometimes we don't unhitch when overnighting. We do our best to level but sometimes it's just not possible without unhitching. So how do we tell where that limit is?
I don't know of a tool that works easily (Ozz's protractor excluded) but some recently refreshed high school Geometry (thank you Internet!) can give you an idea.

Question:
A RV which is off-level by 6° degrees is how many inches side to side?

Answer:
1 degree = Pi/180 radians, so 6 degrees = Pi/30 radians. The width of the RV is typically 8’. Therefore the arc length (the curved distance traveled (close enough for our work)) is radius times the angle as measured in radians. So arc length = 8(Pi/30) feet and Pi is roughly 3.1416

Solving the formula gives:
8(3.1416/30) = 8(0.10472) = 0.83776’ = 10.05312”

I suspect most of us would be very uncomfortable if one side of the RV was 10" lower (or higher) than the other.

If I remember correctly, the Norcold and Dometic specifications allow 6° in one direction and 3° in the other. Since refers are mounted differently depending on the RV, you are safer using the 3° value which would be 5.026". Still a huge amount!

On Edit: While I entered the mathematical symbol for Pi, the crappy formatter here screws it up. So I had to enter "Pi" in the formula rather than the symbol.
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