Moving a refrigerator, freezer, or a combined refrigerator/freezer

Many people often stress over laying a refrigerator or freezer down in the back of a truck in order to move it. It has happened many, many, times that one of these appliances is laid down in order to move it, only to find that the compressor is ruined within a few hours after having plugged the unit back in.

By the same token, it is hard to just dead lift one of these appliances into the back of the truck without tipping the unit on it's side.

The purpose of this trick, or tip, is to avail anyone of what to look for should they need to move one of these unit's.

The reason the compressors fail is lack of oil in the compressor, caused when the compressor is oriented where the oil can go run into the disharge tube which is headed to the condensor coil. Most all modern domestic refrigeration compressors are built as where the enclosure is at the condensing pressure, which is why they get real hot when they run. The high pressure gas is easily pushed into the condensor as the compressor runs. But, if the appliance that the refrigerator is in is tipped over where that tube is on the bottom, then the oil runs in there as well. And when the appliance is stood back up, the piping usually does not allow all the oil to run back into the compressor. If the compressor is started before the oil has a chance to run back, then it get's pushed by the hot refrigerant further into the condensor coil, and on to the evaporator where it becomes cold and thick, to the point that it doesn't want to return to the compressor. This makes the compressor run on low oil, and after doing this for a few hours, it seizes up.

So, in order to lay the unit down, all you need to do is look at the compressor tubing. THere will be three pipes or tubes coming out of the compressor. On eis short, and crimped, then soldered closed. That is the service tubing where the unit is charged at the factory. One is the suction tubing that is the tube returning from inside the refrigerator. And the last is the hot gas discharge tubing, going to the condensor coil. In most all deomestic refrigerators, the suction and discharge tubes come off the same side of the compressor, which is the right hand side of the compressor as you stand at the back of the refrigerator looking at the compressor. That means if you lay the appliance on the left hand side, when standing in the same position, that oil will not have any place to run to, and will stay inside the compressor. You can lay or tilt the appliance on that side all you want, aadn never have any issues when starting the unit up after moving. And you can start tyhe unit up immediatley. You don't have to wait for 8 hours or anything.

Now, if you find you did an oops and laid the applicance the wrong way, then be concerned, there is a way to save the unit. Stand the unit up and wait for 6 hours or so before pluggin the unit in. Plug it in, and allow to run for 2-3 minutes. Unplug, and let it sit for 5-10 minutes. Repeat this for 8-10 times, then allow it to run for 30 minutes or so. DO this a couple of times, and you should be good to go.