By Dave Helgeson
I read this tip:
Do you level? That’s a question repeatedly posted on RV forums, regarding leveling an RV when stopping at the end of the day. Here’s a typical response: “I try to get it relatively close unless it’s just for an overnight stop, in which case I don’t bother.” Unless it’s an overnight stop? ALWAYS level your RV. Another comment tells you why: “I’m on my second Dometic 4-door. I level METICULOUSLY every time I stop to camp and I check level every morning. I refuse to go thru all that replacement AGAIN.”
RV refrigerators need to be level to work properly, and to prevent damage. No absorption-type RV refrigerator has ever read the fine print that says, “Don’t count the damage caused by operating off-level if it’s only overnight.” Seriously, damage to an RV cooling unit is CUMULATIVE, and every “only overnight” adds up. Can’t level? Shut off the fridge.
I was rather shocked by people’s thinking that running an absorption refrigerator out of level overnight or for any length of time is an acceptable practice. As mentioned above, the damage is cumulative, adding up each time you operate your refrigerator out of level.
Analogy of what happens when you operate absorption fridge out of level
Here is a good analogy to help RVers understand what happens when you operate an absorption refrigerator out of level.
Compare it to the human body and the plaque that slowly builds up inside your arteries each time you eat something your cardiologist says you shouldn’t. You can’t see the plaque accumulating slowly in your arteries until you are rushed to the hospital with a heart attack caused by a blockage.
The same thing happens inside the cooling unit “arteries” at the back of your absorption refrigerator. Each time you operate your refrigerator out of level, the solution of water, ammonia, hydrogen gas and sodium chromate are unable to circulate properly (via gravity). The circulating solution gets hot, causing crystals to accumulate on the inside of the cooling unit tubes. All is good until enough crystals (i.e., “plaque”) create a blockage and your refrigerator suffers a “heart attack” due to the lack of circulation.
“Off-level operation causes overheating in the boiler section. Continued operation in an over-heated condition results in cooling unit blockage when the sodium chromate particles turn to crystal and block sections of internal piping in the boiler.” This is one of many leveling tips provided by the late Gary Bunzer, the RV Doctor.
Turn off the refrigerator
Anytime I find myself having to park the RV out of level for 30 minutes or more at a roadside attraction, grocery store, lunch stop, etc., I turn off the refrigerator. I am on my fifth travel trailer over my 40-plus years of RVing and have never experienced a cooling unit failure.
“If your fridge runs while tilted for longer than about 30 minutes, you run the risk of damaging the refrigerator’s cooling unit.” Per most experts.
Not only do I level my travel trailer to protect the refrigerator, but I also prefer not to have blood rushing to my head or falling out of bed while sleeping, either.
Statistically, more than 50% of you reading this own a “towable” RV in the form of a fifth wheel or travel trailer, like me. The following leveling tips are for you.
Like other RVers, I like to take the easy way out and prefer not to unhitch my towable RV from my tow vehicle to level it for an overnight stop. After all, I will just have to hitch it back up again in the morning to resume my travels.
Bonus tip
In fact, you might even consider me lazy, as I prefer not to unhitch even if I am camped somewhere for days. There is another advantage to keeping the tow vehicle hooked to a towable RV—stability! Staying hooked up greatly reduces front to rear rocking in my travel trailer as my pickup truck (tow vehicle), with the parking brake set and transmission in park, acts as a 5,000-pound anchor. Staying hooked up also negates the need for wheel chocks. No need to retrieve them from storage, bend down and deploy them, then collect and stow them again before leaving camp. Much easier to leave the truck hooked up. Okay, maybe I am lazy!
Leveling tip to keep the refrigerator happy
This is all fine and good until you find yourself at an overnight stop that isn’t level front to rear and the leveling gear on your rig is not capable of bringing your rig into level. I suspect this is the number one reason towable RV owners fail to level their rig for an overnight stop—too much work for a short stay.
Here is what I do when faced with a sloped campsite:
• If the back-in campsite slopes downhill from front to rear, leaving the nose of the trailer too high to level: I place blocks/ramps behind the wheels on both sides of the trailer and back onto them until the rear of the trailer is level with the front, or is close enough. If it is close, I can “fine tune” the leveling with my stabilizing jacks.
• If the back-in campsite slopes uphill from front to rear, leaving the nose of the trailer too low to level: I place blocks/ramps behind the rear wheels on both sides of the truck and back onto them, raising the rear of the truck high enough that the nose of the trailer is raised sufficiently to be level with the rear of the trailer, or is close enough. As above, if it is close, I can “fine tune” the leveling with my stabilizing jacks.
You will be amazed at how 3 to 4 inches of lift to the trailer axle or rear of the tow vehicle axle helps in leveling an RV in a sloped campsite.
Note: If the campsite is also unlevel side to side, just add more blocks to the low side before backing onto them.
Give these leveling tips a try next time you find yourself in a sloped campsite regardless of whether it’s just an overnight stop or at your destination. Not only will your absorption refrigerator appreciate it, but you will enjoy the experience of a more stable, level RV with less work setting up and breaking camp.
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RVDT2906
I am obsessed with leveling, not only for our 11 year old Norcold fridge but also for our slide outs. I like our absorption fridge and don’t want to replace it.
If I have to be out of level, which is better off side to side or front to back?
So far as the refrigerator cares – neither.
3 degrees side to side. 6 degrees front to back
I have Fridge Defend that shuts the refrigerator down if operating at an unsafe level. Sensors in the boiler are connected to a control box that cut the power to the circuit board if the boiler gets too hot. Also I use a bubble level that I place on the freezer floor for accurate leveling
This article would have been more useful if you stated exactly how level the RV must be for the fridge to operate. As in, within how many degrees of perfectly level?
Hi, Chris. In a recent article from Dave Solberg about leveling an RV, he mentions, “Dometic requires the refrigerator to be level within 3 degrees side-to-side and 6 degrees front-to-back.” Have a great day. 😀 –Diane at RVtravel.com
Some have auto-leveling systems. Have you pulled out the owner’s manual and gone to the trouble of calibrating the system? The factory install is only so-so.
For our 21′ TT, I use a curved wheel leveler and this electronic level. I turn it on at the site and slowly move forth & back a few feet to find the best starting point. Then I put out the curved leveler and level side to side from the driver’s seat. While you should not lift a RV with stabilizer jacks you can typically raise the frame (keeping tires solidly on the ground/leveling gear) an inch or two. This all takes maybe 10 minutes, and with practice, less. I too like to stay hitched when possible if just overnight.