Originally Posted By: dvalley This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
There’s a simple reason why these units must remain level.
Since the cooling unit depends greatly on the effects of gravity for moving the liquids and gases inside, running it off level and stationary causes these liquids and gases to collect in unwanted areas and not be recycled back to the boiler. The liquid level inside the boiler begins to drop and become weaker. Eventually, the water in the ammonia solution begins to vaporize with the ammonia and leave the boiler.
At some point, the boiler becomes dry and the temperature rises rapidly inside. The sodium chromate which was once in solution with the ammonia solution is left behind and begins to burn and permanently change state from a powder into a sort of sludge that will eventually plug the perk tube. If left to cook long enough, the sodium chromate will become as hard as steel.
If the cooling unit were "saved" from this out of level condition by being leveled, or the heat source turned off, any sodium chromate that had changed state would not return to a powder in solution with the ammonia solution. This makes it possible to ruin a cooling unit a little at a time.