Refrigerator stops cooling properly after being moved on its side
Transporting a cooling appliance on its side often causes compressor oil to shift into the refrigerant lines, which disrupts normal cooling cycles. This prevents the unit from maintaining a stable temperature, leading to erratic temperature spikes throughout the day.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1Unplugging the appliance and leaving it upright for 24 hours after a moveDid this help you?
- 2Testing electrical components like starters and thermostats with a meterDid this help you?
- 3performing manual defrosts periodicallyDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“About 5 days ago, we started to notice that the temperature display is changing pretty significantly during the day and then going back down to normal temps during the overnight.”source ↗
“As an example, right now the fridge temp is showing 52 and the freezer is showing 11.”source ↗
“The compressor has run before and became warm/hot. When it was running, one copper line became hot and the other was initially cold.”source ↗
“Later, when I set the temperature to 5°C, the temperature rose to 18°C, and the compressor became completely cold.”source ↗
“Yes, it was moved on its side. The compressor being hot and becoming cold was in the same situation today, after moving.”source ↗
“It gradually stopped getting cold enough in both compartments.”source ↗
“I completely defrosted the refrigerator for 48 hours, it worked for a little over two weeks.”source ↗
“Now the refrigerator section is becoming slightly too warm again, although the freezer section seems alright for now.”source ↗
Where this came up
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