These are great little levels. I camp in a hammock and use a black level to make sure the spine of my tarp is level and I use a white level to make sure my hammock leg is higher than my head. If you place the spirit levels side by side on a flat surface, the black will have a bubble in the middle, just like a regular spirit level. The white vial is tapered so one end is where the vial rests on a flat surface. The reason for this is that the spirit level is designed to measure slope and is easier to read when the lines are 1/8 inch apart rather than much less. So it's designed that way, don't think it's broken or doesn't work because that's how it was intended to work and it's perfectly understandable why it was designed that way.