Why Can't You Lay Refrigerator Down??

[MICHELLE H.]

Is it true that laying a refrigerator down on it's side ruins it and/or voids any warranty? I read something about how when you lay it on the side, that oil and coolant get up into the coils. Other people say you CAN lay it on the side, as long as you leave it unplugged for a few hours after getting home and standing it up.

Also, I am not talking about a full size fridge. We are thinking of getting one of those small "college dorm" type of refrigerators to put in our basement to keep some extra water bottles, soda cans, beer cans, etc. nice and cold, because in the Summer we go through alot of beverages.

Our local "P.C. Richard" store has a nice "Avanti" 3.3. cubic foot for sale right now for $124. That's pretty cheap considering that Wally-Mart has the same size "Black and Decker" for $168, and Target has a smaller

3.1 cubic foot one for $139.

Anyway, on the box it specifically says "Do NOT lay refrigerator down on it's side! KEEP UPRIGHT AT ALL TIMES!!". The problem is, we don't have a truck, so laying it flat on the seat would be the only option of getting it home in our small Chevy Cavalier!!!! Would laying it flat for a 20 minute drive home, really damage the fridge? It's to tall to stand it up on the seat, so without spending extra money to rent a truck, or pay for delivery, laying it down in the car is the only way to get it home.

[trader4]

I think you have the issue correct. Laying it on it's side may result in the oil going places it shouldn't. I think with some refrigerators if you then return it upright and wait a day, it will be OK. Is that true for all of them? IDK. Whether it's true for that particular one, who knows. I would suggest two options:

A - Call the manufacturer's help line and visit their website.

B - HD rents trucks for like $20 for 90 minutes.

[Stormin Mormon]

Also, I am not talking about a full size fridge. We are thinking of getting one of those small "college dorm" type of refrigerators to put in our basement to keep some extra water bottles, soda cans, beer cans, etc. nice and cold, because in the Summer we go through alot of beverages.

Our local "P.C. Richard" store has a nice "Avanti" 3.3. cubic foot for sale right now for $124. That's pretty cheap considering that Wally-Mart has the same size "Black and Decker" for $168, and Target has a smaller

3.1 cubic foot one for $139.

Anyway, on the box it specifically says "Do NOT lay refrigerator down on it's side! KEEP UPRIGHT AT ALL TIMES!!". The problem is, we don't have a truck, so laying it flat on the seat would be the only option of getting it home in our small Chevy Cavalier!!!! Would laying it flat for a 20 minute drive home, really damage the fridge? It's to tall to stand it up on the seat, so without spending extra money to rent a truck, or pay for delivery, laying it down in the car is the only way to get it home.

[micky]

You should be able to find the warranty before buying, but I wouldn't be surprised. After all, even when it's sure to put the oil back where it was, they have no way of making you let the fridge sit upright for a day, and no way to stop you from lying and claiming you did. OTOH, the only way they would claim you put it on its side is if you put in a warranty claim and a) the symptoms were that of one that was put on its side and not given time to recover (assuming it could) or b) they took it back and examined it, and then they could be sure.

And I'm sure they test every fridge before shipping it.

I thought, even before this thread, that I had heard "a day". I certainly wouldn't plug it in until at least a day after it was upright.

Anyone you know have a convertible? I can carry just about anything even in a compact convertible.

Can you tie it well right-side-up while it sits on the trunk or roof? And then drive at 10 mph over all but the smoothest roads, and 20 where it is very smooth. And run your 4-way flashers the whole way. You can tie ropes to the door and trunk hinges and will still be able to close the doors.

Doing this, and with a double bed mattress on top of the trunk and under the piano,, with a full-size convertible, I was able to move a spinet piano from mid-Brooklyn to W. 85th St. in Manhattan.

[hrhofmann]

Yeh. but NYC traffic only moves a couple of miles per hour anyway.

[nestork]

I expect that warning to never turn the fridge on it's side is just because it's small enough to fit on a large shelf or counter top, and so people might be thinking that they can have it operating on it's side. That warning is there just to keep the manufacturer out of court.

Still, I'd call the manufacturer's 1-800 customer service phone number on this one. Most likely they'll say it's OK provided you turn it upright for a few hours before plugging it in. (People often leave it for a day, but that's entirely unnecessary.) No appliance manufacturer in either the US or China would make a fridge that could be permanently damaged by merely laying the fridge down on it's side.

[EXT]

How about C - if you have tools (this is home repair newsgroup after all) remove either the front passenger seat or the back seat. The back seat is the easiest to remove, often only two bolts hold them in place, but if you have a 2 door car, you may need to remove the passenger seat and disconnect the seat belt wiring (disconnect plugs) and any other encumbrances you meet up with. This way your mini-fridge should fit when sitting on the floor, but measure first.

[Robert Macy]

From experience, after moving/jostling a fridge; leave stand OFF for

24 hours. Also from experience upon receiving our first new fridge the idiot turned it on immediately to show us how it worked! Yes, it failed in about one year.I should have declined delivery right then and there. But, one learns with age.

Checked with manufacturer of last year's new fridge. They recommended

8 hours after tilting to put in place. We still let it stand for a week, before powering it up. This oil damage has to take some time and probably is some kind of exponential decay, so longer is better.

[harry]

There are two reasons. One is the one you stated which is sometimes fixed by leaving it up right for an hour or two on some designs. On others the oil can get into the cylinder of the compressor and cause a hydraulic lock. There are lots of different sorts on compressor, that's the problem

The other is that some compressors are spring mounted (for silent running) and the compressor can fall off the springs. Especially if it's on it's back/side and jolted about in transport.

The compressor is inside the metal lump low down at the back.

So best not to tip it over, it may or may not be OK, no-one can say for sure.

[bob haller]

get friend with larger vehicle to do hauling

[Ashton Crusher]

I've moved many refrigerators by laying them down but only just long enough to move them from one house to another, rarely for more then 30 to 40 minutes. I always make sure I lay them down with the compressor on the "down" side when it's on it's side. I have never had a problem and I typically plug them back in within an hour of delivery. I'm sure that the warning is true if you were going to lay it down and leave it on it's side for quite a while, like hours and hours or longer.

[Don Phillipson]

What did the vendor say when you asked?

[dennisgauge]

Yup, it's right there in black and white on the box...

I sincerely doubt you could fit one of those fridges in a Chevy Cavalier, even laying down! Judging from the topsoil thread your sense of space calibration is way off.

The helpless woman without a friend in the world routine is only going to get you so far in life. You need to advance to the helpless single woman with several male friends who own trucks and are tripping over themselves to lend a hand stage.

[Ed Pawlowski]

Two considerations. One is the oil thing and yes, standing it up for a while should take care of it.

The other is shipping damage. I don't know how the compressor is mounted,but it is designed to travel standing upright. Bouncing in a truck for a couple hundred miles can possibly cause damage if it is on the side. A half hour in a gently driven vehicle would be OK. Watch for pot holes.

If would be good if you knew more about the design but it would not be readily available. . One side may have more or less damage potential than another, but you'd have to know about the design of the unit.

[micky]

What about what Stormin' said? It's not just that it was on its side, but that that allowed oil to get into the compressor and then the compressor was run with oil in it, oil that can't be compressed.

The time it would have to stand upright is the time it takes for the oil to get back to the bottom,.....

[nestork]

Michelle:

Try phoning the company's 1-800 customer service phone number. I can't fit it in my head that any fridge could be permanently damaged by laying it on it's side. Almost certainly that warning is on the box to disuade people from buying the fridge who are planning to USE it in a position other than upright.

[trader4]

That assumes that the oil will in fact run back away from where it doesn't belong. Depending on the design, that may not happen.

[dennisgauge]

Like some snot-nosed pimply-faced teenager is going to know anything about refrigerators?

Hell, even the store manager... He's probably got thousands of products in his store. Do you realistically believe he knows EVERYTHING about EVERY product in the store?

[HeyBub]

It is true. Putting a fridge on its side may damage the appliance, void the warranty, and cause you to lose your entire investment, including sales tax.

Why, oh why, would you question the manufacturer's admonition - printed in large letters on the box and, no doubt, in the instructions and warranty information - to not do so?

[Stormin Mormon]

That assumes that the oil will in fact run back away from where it doesn't belong. Depending on the design, that may not happen.