Moving a fridge freezer, the right way.

verrans, Jun 16, 10:58pm
Hi, going to purchase a second hand fridge freezer in the near future, old one is about to pack up. I was wanting to know the correct way to move a fridge/freezer please. Is there a time frame it needs to be turned off before moving it, then time frame before turning it back on, and does it lay on its side in transport? thank you
ceebee2, Jun 16, 11:16pm
I have transported many fridge freezers and the like and you can transport them any which way BUT do not transport on top of the cooling tubes. You can switch on as soon as it is up right because it is a sealed and pressurized system.
lythande1, Jun 17, 1:05am
Upright. You can lay them down - not on the coils (if any).
Then it must stand upright again for 24 hrs before using.
arielbooks, Jun 17, 1:54am
Listen to lythande
verrans, Jun 17, 6:39am
thank you everyone! :)
mrfxit, Jun 17, 6:57am
THAT ^ ^
johotech, Jun 17, 8:35am
If you know what you're doing, you can lay them on their side, then stand them up and use them straight away.

To know which side to lay it on, you have to be able to see the compressor in the back. The compressor has a small pipe and a slightly larger pipe. Sometime they come out the same side, sometimes they are on opposite sides. In any case, if you lay it on the side with the smaller pipe at the top, then you don't have to wait before plugging it back in again.

The reason is that if the oil inside the compressor runs into the smaller pipe while it's on its side, then you switch it on straight away, the compressor will force the oil through the pipe and the oil will effectively block the flow of refrigerant through the even smaller capillary pipe which is about half way around the system. It can take hours or days before the oil completes the circuit back to the compressor and the fridge starts working again.

Otherwise, just follow the advice above.
solarboy, Jun 17, 9:48am
The bit about the small pipe on top was news to me. I helped a tradesman deliver fridges and fridge freezers decades ago and we always transported them horizontally and told the customer not to plug them in for an hour or so after we stood them up on site. I bought a new fr/fr last weekend and the salesperson asked if I'd be carrying it upright - I said, "No, but I'll leave it unplugged for an hour or two once in position" and she replied, "Good, you're onto it." So I did that, then read the manual which had a small warning, never place the unit down horizontally - another said not to tilt it more than 45 degrees and yet another note elsewhere in the manual said to let it remain idle for at least 6 hours after installation and leveling. Some inconsistency here huh ? :-) I'd also been told that if you started them too soon they'd be noisy for life but from what you say they'd sort themselves out in hours or days. My unit seems to be fine anyway, so I either fluked transporting it on it's correct side - left it long enough or both but either way I was interested to read your post - never to old to learn huh ?
john26a, Jun 18, 9:36am
You cannot run them on straight away they must stand for 24 hours other wise they burn out. I use to deliver them so I know what the manufactures say to do. When you transport them they must stand up not lay down.
kitaki, Jun 19, 3:09am
I phoned Fisher and Paykel re this recently (in the last month) as I sold my old fridge freezer. Their instructions was to 'lay it on its right hand side (standing in front of it face on) if you cannot stand it upright. On setting it up again, leave to stand for about 10-15 minutes - then turn on and run for 2-3 hours before loading with food etc'.
We did this and all is good.
cantabman1, Dec 12, 8:01am
Reply from an ex appliance retailer:
As said , any way except on its back.
When re-installing " Stand up right for 20 mins, then after a-justing your feet to have the door closing by itself, turn on. Fridges should always have a slight lean; backwards~!
There is nothing worse, than having a fridge door beeping, because it hasn't closed properly.