Customer Questions and Answers for Refrigerator Compressor by Whirlpool

Steve, Yes, transporting a refrigerator laying down, can affect the refrigerator . Basically, laying the refrigerator down, allows the oil in the compressor, and the liquid refrigerant to migrate up and into the system and can create a restriction that causes the refrigerator to not cool. An old rule of thumb is to leave the refrigerator upright for as long as the refrigerator was laid down, or longer, before you apply power to the machine. This will allow the chemicals and oil to migrate back into the compressor, and reduce the possibility of a restriction.