Van levelling calculator

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J.REEVES
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Re: Van levelling calculator

Post by J.REEVES » Sat Aug 13, 2016 4:03 pm

Love it OT,
When you rant about how you hate smart phones!
I did leave you an out and suggested a digital spirit level.

Anyway had a look at some of those smart phone app’s and looking at pictures of the app some were reading say 3.6 degrees so they may go down to 0.1 degrees.
My smart phone is in a protective cover and would not sit level anyway. To remove it from the plastic spring loaded cover clips would soon cause the clips to fail.

The digital spirit level reading looked like they go to 0.01 degrees.

Yes the fridge is the important level Muzz, but even the fridge can handle a degree or two and as said the main level for the fridge is side to side as the refrigerant needs to gravity feed down the pipes and they do not have much of an incline on them.
I would think if you set up to allow the shower to drain properly it should be OK for the fridge unless you have TT’s problem.

I always use the same place to get my level and in fact as others do I have the spirit levels permanently mounted one on the draw bar and one specially set up at my air control station.

I don’t believe it is important to have an accurate reading but is important to always get a repeatable reading.

JR
:razz:

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Old Techo
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Re: Van levelling calculator

Post by Old Techo » Sat Aug 13, 2016 5:22 pm

JR, thanks for that app info re decimal places. Of course display is one thing but accuracy quite another.

As I have stated several times, a digital display implies accuracy, like a digital speedo in a car, but can be out by a long way. These days by law a car speedo is likely to be in error by 5%.

I’m keen to see what Rob finds if he does my suggested level test.

Muzz, not sure if the freezer compartment is better. OK when empty but as you say, usually full of tucker and less accessible. The freezer evaporator should be parallel to the cabinet top/bottom making them effective test points. Just inside the bottom of the fridge (at the front) should be a true indication of the attitude of the whole fridge cabinet.
Regards, Old Techo
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Archer63
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Re: Van levelling calculator

Post by Archer63 » Sat Aug 13, 2016 6:51 pm

Hi OT,

Performed a quick test today….and I stress it was a quick test…on the digital app verses the spirit level.
Spirit level was on the roof (flat surface )and the phone/app was on the draw bar along side the draw bar mini spirit level.

From what I observed there was a discrepancy between both of them…but by exactly how much I couldn’t say as it wasn’t by much…but it was noticeable.

What throws a potential spanner in the works in my case, is that, if you at looking at the front of my van, the jockey wheel is on the right side. This does cause a bit of flex and as a result the levels can favour the right side….slightly higher than the left side.

I don’t really want to give an opinion on things that my limited experience would be based on….so I will chicken out and say that I think it might be handy to use both the sprit level which I already use and have on my drawbar and also the phone app as a sort of cross reference point…if for no other reason than just curiosity.

Late edit of post….now realise it was a mistake to place level on my Swan’s roof as this would not be accurate due to each side possibly being at different tension…derrrr !!

Will try again tomorrow.

Cheers
Rob
2018 Pajero Exceed
2013 Jayco Swan Outback

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Old Techo
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Re: Van levelling calculator

Post by Old Techo » Sat Aug 13, 2016 8:16 pm

Thanks Rob, but a comparison was not what I was after.

All I wanted was for you to place your phone on an approx level flat surface anywhere that you could find. Could be a bench top or table. Note the displayed angle, then rotate your phone 180 degrees (swap it end for end but keep the same side facing down) and also keep it centred in the same place and note the reading again. If I haven’t explained this well, imagine your phone is placed in the centre of an old record turntable. Note the displayed angle, then rotate the turntable exactly half a turn and note the new displayed angle. Are they identical?

Any angle sensing error in the phone will have it display different readings when the exact same flat spot is checked but with the phone rotated 180 degrees between readings. This should be repeatable.
Regards, Old Techo
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TramcarTrev
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Re: Van levelling calculator

Post by TramcarTrev » Sat Aug 13, 2016 8:19 pm

I have a level on my mobile phone and out of curiosity I tried it against a spirit level and its as accurate as the level…. How does it do this?

Anyway OT as it appears your thread has been well and trully HiJacked I’ll press on.

Smokey, your gadjet is of interest a breif explantion of how its used would be welcome…

The Anderson Leveling wedges look brilliant, they will set you back about $80 for 1 wheel. Unfortunatley when you cut to the chase and get away from their marketing hubris you do read negative comments like for example them cracking and breaking in half….

I also note they are not covered by an Australian patent, maybe insufficient novelty so Im thinking a DIY version MBTG here.

Was thinking of 3D printing but too much fillament needed… Maybe polyurethane foam cut to shape and then generously covered in fibreglass after cutting a series of holes in it to create some sort of load bearing element in it… Also a minor improvement to the design, make them a bit higher and instead of designing them to have a square end on the high end make that a short taper so the van does not drop down off a 150mm height…
Or make them from recycled tyres…
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Old Techo
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Re: Van levelling calculator

Post by Old Techo » Sat Aug 13, 2016 9:07 pm

TramcarTrev wrote:I have a level on my mobile phone and out of curiosity I tried it against a spirit level and its as accurate as the level….
TT, will somebody please conduct the test as I requested? :roll:

If the phone measures angle to 1 decimal place then my 10 second test will determine the phone inbuilt error to 1 decimal place.
Regards, Old Techo
2007 Prado Grande Diesel Auto
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TramcarTrev
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Re: Van levelling calculator

Post by TramcarTrev » Sat Aug 13, 2016 9:51 pm

Ok ok i took my phone out of its case and laid it on the coffee table. The bullseye was just slightly off dead centre. I rotated it slowly through 360 degree’s and the bubble stayed in the same relative position. Ok does the accuracy depend on the make of phone or the software? Mine is a Sony experia z.
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Old Techo
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Re: Van levelling calculator

Post by Old Techo » Sat Aug 13, 2016 10:00 pm

Thanks for trying TT but I was expecting an answer in tenths of degrees, not a subjective bullseye.

My educated guess is the accuracy would be totally dependent upon the physical positioning of the accelerometer chip in the phone.
Regards, Old Techo
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2004 Roadstar Limited Edition

Archer63
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Re: Van levelling calculator

Post by Archer63 » Sun Aug 14, 2016 8:08 am

Ok OT…here it is…I think :roll:

I placed my android phone on a table. The levelling app on -14 degrees facing straight ahead. Sides were 0.3 and 2.1.
Turning the phone 180 degrees then showed the straight ahead reading of -13, sides were then 1.8 and 0.9.

Does that help ?

Cheers
Rob
2018 Pajero Exceed
2013 Jayco Swan Outback

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Old Techo
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Re: Van levelling calculator

Post by Old Techo » Sun Aug 14, 2016 8:24 am

Rob, appreciate your help :D but trying to understand your results :confused:

I can’t make any sense of -14 and -13. What do they mean? Compass heading?

Also, what do you mean by sides? Phone turned on its sides?
Regards, Old Techo
2007 Prado Grande Diesel Auto
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