Guest Bill Posted September 8, 2005 Share Posted September 8, 2005 Absorption fridges need to be level to work properly, and this can be a bit of a pain – which is presumably why compressor fridges are becoming more popular. It occurred to me that it should be possible to mount the fridge in gimbals – or suspend it – so as to get it level when it is inconvenient to get the whole ‘van level. This is such an obvious idea that somebody else must surely have thought of it: does anybody know if such mountings are available and, if so, where? Or if there is some reason why the idea is not practical? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest paul d Posted September 8, 2005 Share Posted September 8, 2005 cost? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ALAN G Posted September 8, 2005 Share Posted September 8, 2005 It's more of a pain if your van isn't level. Levelling the floor of the van within comfortable limits usually means that the fridge will work well. If you can't afford a small spirit level a bottle of water can work just as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest John S Posted September 9, 2005 Share Posted September 9, 2005 My wife is my spirit level! If the van floor is more than about 1degree out of level she complains that it's an uphill climb to get to the other end of the van. Also she's at risk of falling out of bed! More seriously, cupboard doors which are side hinged tend to swing open unless the van is reasonably level. John S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Clive Posted September 9, 2005 Share Posted September 9, 2005 Absorbtion fridges do work very well, no moving parts to go wrong (apart from the thermostat) and when on gas take nothing out of the battery. They are suprisingly tolerant today of out of level. They are totally quiet. Like all fridges, if you keep opening the door (to get another drink out) then they will need de-frosting regularly to maintain efficiency. Compressor fridges are more efficient in pure energy terms but don,t run on gas. They make a noise. They limit your wild camping time to about 3 days unless you have a massive set of batteries or one of those very antisocial generators. So, If you can sleep in the bed OK your modern Dometic (Electrolux) absorbtion fridge should work just fine! Keep the gimballs for the hob on the sailing boat! C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Bill Posted September 9, 2005 Share Posted September 9, 2005 Thanks guys. I do in fact use the glass-of-water method of levelling on site, but what I had in mind was more a scenario something like this: You arrive with a fridge full of perishables on the outskirts of a town you’d like to explore, so you find a parking spot convenient to a bus stop and get a bus into town for the day. What do you do if the only available parking spot is on a hill? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mel B Posted September 9, 2005 Share Posted September 9, 2005 Is this a trick question??? Move the van is one option but to be honest if the slope was so bad that my fridge wouldn't work I don't think I'd like to leave the 'van on it anyway. Our dogs would certainly not be too pleased rolling out of their baskets!!! You could of course have a gigantic feast when you got back to the van from all the food that would have to be eaten that day ... assuming that you could cook it at that angle in the first place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Clive Posted September 9, 2005 Share Posted September 9, 2005 If you are old, falling apart and crotchety like me then park on the level in the middle of the town and put up the blue badge and time clock if required! Sod the bus! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest David Powell Posted September 27, 2005 Share Posted September 27, 2005 Don't worry too much about level. I spent most of my life working on big boats. All our compasses and emergency oil lamps were on gimbals but not the fridges, They all worked very well securely bolted in, operated by an oil lamp with a qarter inch wick. Pitching and rolling in rough seas, not level, but no problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest David Powell Posted September 27, 2005 Share Posted September 27, 2005 Don't worry too much about level. I spent most of my life working on big boats. All our compasses and emergency oil lamps were on gimbals but not the fridges, They all worked very well securely bolted in, operated by an oil lamp with a qarter inch wick. Pitching and rolling in rough seas, not level, but no problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Bill Posted September 28, 2005 Share Posted September 28, 2005 MelB Sadly my old Labrador died some time ago, and I haven’t replaced him yet – so no need to worry about dogs falling out of bed. The cooking would take place only after the rig had been moved to somewhere flat – probably further out of town. David Powell Absorption fridges handle rolling and pitching without problem – a better analogy would be if one of your big boats had a pronounced list which lasted several hours. Anyway, wouldn’t they have compressor fridges? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest David Powell Posted September 29, 2005 Share Posted September 29, 2005 No Mel absorbtion fridges worked by a parafin lamp so they kept on working when the boat was moored up at night with everything shut down. Plus of course a moored boat is level, whether along side, at anchor, or swinging around a bouy. So your statement has an extremely valid point of view...Sorry to hear of the passing of your old labrador, after the poor boy had the fire on his mind, that must have been traumatic for him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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