Born Free Leap'n Lions RV Club Info & Discussion Forum

Our fridge went out in our house. Our Born Free is parked in the driveway, and the BF is NOT level. On electric only, can I use the BF fridge with out having to worry about any damage to the fridge? Thanks...

Steve, What I have read and been told is that if the cooling tubes that zig zag are not level the refrigerant inside the tubes will solidify at one of the zigs or zags and stop the cooling process. I have also heard that level from front to back is more important than side to side relative to the angle of the tubes. Propane or electric operation make no difference as the refrigerant moves the same on either setting.

Now realize that the terms I use (cooling tubes, refrigerant etc) may not be the correct technical name for these parts but I am sure my explanation is correct. I imagine someone with the correct lingo will post and correct my terms.

Do you have, or can you buy, any leveling blocks or ramps? Dallas is right that you can’t be so out of level that the refrigerant fluids can’t flow down the tubes. A rule of thumb is that if you feel comfortable walking/living in the RV, you are probably OK. Dallas is also right in that the front to back level is the most important. We usually try to keep the height difference from front to back no more than 3 inches, though it can probably go a bit more.

Also, can you maneuver the RV so that the RV is kinda sideways in your driveway? Would that get rid of the front-to-back leveling problem?

Whatever, good luck to you.

Thank you guys. And for ideas. Anyway the power went out here last night. When the power came back on, the household refrigerator came back on. The freezer works OK, but not the fridge. Dead. Go figure. I will call the repairman. Been really hot here. Records broken

Quote from Norcold manual:
CAUTION: The refrigerator is made to operate within 3° off level side-to-side and 6° off level front-to-back (as looking at the front of the refrigerator). Operating it at more than these limits can cause damage to the cooling system and create a risk of personal injury or property damage. Make sure the vehicle is level before you operate the refrigerator.

Thanks Tom..
So....from a table I found: 3 degrees = 5.24 % slope
And if my BF is 24 feet x 12"/ft x .0524 slope = 15.1 inch??
What am I doing wrong?
I was trying to figure out how much in inches in elevation my BF could be out of level?

Steve, there is an app for iPad/iPhone (probably available on Android, too) called Bubble Level that could be of help. You can first find a flat surface in your house to zero the detector, then go out to your RV and see what degrees of slope you have.

Thanks.
I have an old iPhone SE. And an app is on my phone. I did not download. Or maybe it came from various updates to my OS.
It is called "Measure", and has a "level".
Went out and measured my BF.
Front to Back: 4 degrees
Side to side: 0 degrees.
So it looks like with minimal leveling my fridge should work OK
Thanks Tom