Advice sought: Transporting small chest freezer

It looks like I will get a small chest freezer, and it will fit, laying on its back/front, in my wagon.

-- Should I do anything (or have the seller do) to prep it for transport?

-- Should I wait a good 48+ hrs before turning it on?


I don't need it to be operational anytime soon, just need to transport it this week-end.

I laid mine right on its back brought it home and plugged it in. If you are buying it from a store it should come in a big box. If not a blanket should be sufficient to keep it from getting nicked up.

it's odd you mention it. This weekend I bought 2 standup freezers from people (and oddly they both ended up being almost identical models). One guy mentioned that he had transported one on it's side and when he got it home and plugged it in, it shot a spark fire out the back. He was referring to a pretty old model, though, so maybe that's not a worry with new ones?

Anyway, getting all the parts set up and working could take you two days to let it rest upright anyway!

And for the record, the ones I bought are out in my garage upright and not plugged in. I bleached out the interiors, cleaned the exteriors, sanded them, and tonight I'll clean the outsides again and mask them and start painting.

let it sit upright for at least 24 hours before you plug it in.

and ideally leave it unplugged 24 hours before it gets laid on its back.

has to do with the coolant and oil flowing backwards and creating problems with the compressor. Let gravity do its trick for 24 hours.

You do not have to unplug it 24 hours before you move it. Don't know what that would have to do with anything.

It IS a good idea to wait 24 hours before plugging it in if it has been on it's back for an extended period of time. If it's like 20 minutes on it's back, half a day should be fine. As posted above, when the compressor is on it's side the oil can drain into the lines. Running a compressor without all the oil is bad and the oil could sludge up in the lines and create a blockage. (no cooling) if it's like 80 in your garage, leave it there as the warmer oil will drain back faster.