For what it's worth, I got some third-hand information on fridge internals 
a couple of weeks ago when I was at Westies in the Woods... I don't present 
this as gospel, and have yet to try it, so corrections from the listees are 
appreciated, but don't attack my expertise... since I don't claim any!

According to my source, who got it from an RV fridge repair specialist, 
off-angle operation causes the ammonia (which acts as a refrigerant in 
these beasts) to condense in the wrong parts of the system. Over time, this 
can cause deposits to precipitate out of the ammonia in various nooks and 
crannies of the system.

The recommended repair was to pull the fridge, and leave it turned upside 
down for a few days, giving it the occasional bump and shake (not enough to 
do damage, but enough to stir the inner fluids). This should allow liquid 
refrigerant to get into the upper reaches of the system and dissolve these 
deposits back into solution, resulting in improved cooling once the fridge 
is turned upright and re-installed.

Sadly, I got this information the week *after* reassembling my westie 
kitchen, after carefully keeping the fridge right-side-up while it was out 
of the camper... Live and learn!

Tim

At 11:47 AM 6/4/2004 -0400, Jason Willenbrock wrote:
>has anyone really damaged their fridges by running it at an angle while
>camping or whatever?  reason i ask is because yesterday at work i had to
>park my van at an atleast 6% grade for about 10 hours.  had fridge running
>the whole time.  when i came back to van the temp was at 50.  it usually
>runs between 35-45 depending on outside air temp ( i live in a cooler
>climate then most).  i figured it was because of the angle. well, this
>morning the temp is back to normal but i am concerned if i may have caused
>any damage to the fridge itself.  if i did, what damaged would be caused and
>can it be fixed?  for now on i won't run it at angle.  also how much of an
>angle is too much to be parked at?  this was with the fridge side (drivers)
>sloping downhill, would it be any different if it were passenger or front or
>rear facing downhill?
>TIA
>jason
>87 syncro westy
>
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