Parking an RV at Home

[rcpath]

We are in the process of purchasing a motorhome.  We are planning to park it in our driveway that is sloped.  Besides the obvious issues of the refrigerator and blocking the wheels, it there any reason why a MH should not be parked for an extended period of time in  sloped driveway, say about 15 degrees of slope?  Thanks!

rob

 

[Ned]

The only appliance that will be affected by that much slope is the refrigerator.  Do not try to operate it when you're parked there.

 

[rcpath]

That's what I thought.  Thanks Ned!!

rob

 

[RLSharp]

Just be sure that you don't forget to turn the refrigerator off when you park in your driveway. My neighbor across the street ruined to refrigerators over a 7 to 8 year period because they forgot to turn it off while parked on their sloping driveway. $$

Richard

 

[Molaker]

The only appliance that will be affected by that much slope is the refrigerator.  Do not try to operate it when you're parked there.

What might be a typical "max" slope for operating these absorption refrigerators?  I've tried to maintain operation with no more than a few degrees fore & aft (5-7 degrees maybe), but pretty level from side-to-side.  It is my understanding (right or wrong) that the typical Dometic fridge is more sensitive to tilt front-to-back (side-to-side of the RV).

 

[Ned]

The maximum allowed tilt for an RV refrigerator is 3? side to side and 6? fore and aft as viewed from the front of the refrigerator.

 

[Molaker]

The maximum allowed tilt for an RV refrigerator is 3? side to side and 6? fore and aft as viewed from the front of the refrigerator.

My "fore & afts and side-to-sides" are getting confused.  Ignoring the installation in the RV, are you saying that facing the door, the fridge should not be tilted to the left or right (of the fridge) by more than 3 degrees or tipped towards the front or back (of the fridge) more than 6 degrees - or the other way around?

 

[Ned]

Yes   As I said, the allowable tilts are with respect to the refrigerator, not the RV.  Side to side means left to right from the point of view of the refrigerator, or facing the door.  Look at the coils on the outside and it will be readily apparent why the tolerances are different for the two axes.

 

[Water Dog]

The maximum allowed tilt for an RV refrigerator is 3? side to side and 6? fore and aft as viewed from the front of the refrigerator.

That's good info Ned, I didn't realize that it was viewed from the front of the fridge. 6 degrees is quite a slope. Not sure I would want to be that far out of side to side level of the MH just for comforts sake. No sea legs anymore.

 

[Ned]

Generally, if you're comfortable walking in the RV, the refrigerator will be ok.

 

[pc70]

Don't forget that many cities have ordinances that may prohibit parking, either on the street or (in my towns case) viewed from the street.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Even 3 degrees is an uncomfortable slope for walking around in an RV. Some RVers spend a lot of time agonizing about the leveling of their rig, using various gadgets and/or carpenter's levels, debating where to measure it, etc., but that degree of finesse is largely unnecessary.  A modern (say the last 20 years) absorption fridge is not all that sensitive. 3 degrees is a rise of about 0.6" per foot or 18" over the length of a 30 foot RV. Try to imagine one end of your RV being 18" higher than the other!  If you are comfortable with the level of the floor when walking around, odds are you are within one degree of level and probably much less.

 

[bogart]

Thanks, Gary, it's always to know what not to worry about!

-- bogart