Transporting A Freezer

[humesy]

G'day all,

I have just bought a second hand chest freezer, in anticipation of filling it full of fish and bait. My question is, can I transport it lying down? Will it need regassing if I do? The freezer is about 5 years old. Perhaps there are a few raiders in the fridge business.

Cheers

[GregL]

Fridge freezers should be transported upright.

Once in place leave at least 2 hours in one place before turning on so the gases settle down after transport.

Greg

[pelican]

I theory yes but no expert. Some designs have trouble restarting so keep as upight as possible - even 15 degrees will help and keep compressor at bottom.. Leave standing upright for a hour or 2 so in case any oils or liquids have gone into places they shouldn't have.. Run for a very short time 10 sec a couple of times and then for a minute - check for big vibrations or noise . Biggest problem we have had is that the compressers on some of the commercial ones are so flexibly mounted and not secured that the copper tubes or wiring connecting to the compresser get damaged. If yours is really flexible in the mounting just Jamb some cardboard in so it doesn't rattle about while transporting. I think newer units would be a lot less problematic than the older ones I have dealt with.

Edit- ahhh Greg types faster

Edited June 19, 2008 by pelican

[michaelrdoyle@gmail.com]

My question is, can I transport it lying down?

I'm just an amateur who has moved dozens (if not over 100) fridges up and down the coast.

The reason why people suggest keeping a fridge upright is to keep the gas inside the compressor, because if the compressor starts without the gas inside it, it can overheat and die. In particular, this was a major problem for older fridges. Newer ones have much better compressors, components, and gas.

The general rule is if you do lie the fridge/freezer down, keep it upright for several hours before turning it on again. The older the fridge, and the longer it was lain down, keep it turned off upright for longer. A long trip with an old fridge I would suggest 24hours to be safe.

Anyway - I've moved heaps of fridges/freezers lieing down over 6 hours +, and never had a problem (always kept the upright and off for a long time afterward).

The fridge/freezer is more likely to die from the bumps of the trip, which can break the compressor unit. Pelican is right - be careful of the compressor unit.

Mike