My father gave me a used upright freezer because he no longer had a need for it. As I was loading into my truck he noticed that I had it laying down in the bed rather than standing upright as it would be when running. If the compressor isn’t running than I can’t see what difference it would make and I’d rather keep the center of gravity low rather than having it standing up. He says I will damage it the compressor by transporting it this way and I should stand it up and lash it in place.
Your thoughts please… can a freezer be damaged by transporting it this way?
you might notice shock mount springs under the compressor with bolts through them. the bolts should be tightened down for transport, this will keep it from shaking and maybe breaking the refrigeration lines to it. even tightened down it will ride much better upright.
No “shock mount springs” that I could see. The motor/compressor was mounted to the frame with rather weedy looking self tapping screws running through rubber bushings. I could tighten them but I’d be afraid of just ripping them out of the metal.
I have set the freezer upright in the bed but I have not yet figured out the best way to secure it. It’s pretty top heavy and there are no exterior handles or features that can serve as lashing points. It’s much more stable lying down but I guess I’ll just take my chances as is with a three hour highway journey.
you could tie or tape the compressor down to the mount to compress instead of tightening the screws.
you could also get some stability by wedging polystyrene foam or cardboard under the compressor to have it gently pushed up as far as the bushings and screws allowed, so now it can’t move downward. then do the same to the sides of the compressor within the compartment to keep it from shaking side to side.
if placed to the front of the truck bed and middle from the sides. go around appliance from the opposite side of bed with rope or straps. do this at middle and top (you might to tie a rope ring around the appliance to keep the ropes/straps from slipping out of place).
I used to deliver freezers and since I used a van I had to lay them on their side. The posters above are correct in that you had to keep them upright for 24 hours before plugging them in, so that the oil will drain properly back whereever it was supposed to be. This was in 1987.
I since asked (about 10 years ago) a freezer repair man about it and was told that the older models had to do this, but the newer ones were designed not to have this problem.
My advice is to go ahead and lay it down for stability’s sake, then stand it upright and walk away from it for a couple of days before you plug it it.