Proper Packing of your valued equipment

Discussion of various shipping and packing methods, tips and tricks.
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w4clm
Posts: 40
Joined: Mon Jun 07, 2004 1:52 am

Proper Packing of your valued equipment

Post by w4clm »

RE: Proper Packing of your valued equipment

Proper packing tips for electronic equipment
http://tinyurl.com/ybuqco

If you find anything useful in these packing guidlines, please sign into EBay and check on the YES box at the bottom of the page.
Many thanks and best regards
W4CLM@qsl.net
W1CEW
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon Dec 11, 2006 11:40 am
Location: Massachusetts
Contact:

Couple more suggestions

Post by W1CEW »

For large heavy items, I'm not sure that it is enough to just put in peanuts, I think we need to double-box them, which isolates them even more.

I recently received an amplifier that I bought off of eBay, and even before it shipped I wrote the seller at least twice, saying "please, please bubble-wrap the final tubes...."

They were wrapped in terry cloth and saran wrap, which wasn't enough, or I wouldn't be telling this story. One of those 572B's is cracked. :-( Now it is supposed to be my burden to contact UPS and put in a claim. (!?).

So I would say -- in addition to what you have in this article, in principle, we need to "to isolate from shock" therefore:

1) Double-box large items
2) Bubble wrap ALL glass parts

73,

-Chuck
K2HAT
Posts: 17
Joined: Sat Mar 10, 2007 7:15 pm
Location: near Albany, NY USA

Re: Proper Packing of your valued equipment

Post by K2HAT »

w4clm wrote:RE: Proper Packing of your valued equipment

Proper packing tips for electronic equipment
http://tinyurl.com/ybuqco

If you find anything useful in these packing guidlines, please sign into EBay and check on the YES box at the bottom of the page.
Many thanks and best regards
W4CLM@qsl.net
I wish the person I bought my FT 101E from, :(
had read that Awesome information.

I wish that Ebay would make people read stuff
like that.


73's
Lee
K2HAT effective April 27, 2007
KC2RDG former call sign.



I live near Albany, NY USA :)
Odd I/O (ksym SanAntonio)
Posts: 6
Joined: Sat May 05, 2007 6:29 am
Location: San Antonio, Texas

Post by Odd I/O (ksym SanAntonio) »

Foam "Peanuts" are good for one and ONLY ONE thing: When double boxing an item, they can be used by pouring an even layer of the peanuts on the 'floor' of the empty outer box. Then place the well cushioned and sealed inner box into the outer box with the floor cushion of peanuts. Then pour peanuts all around the four sides and over the top of the gap between the inner and outer boxes. Seal the outer box. ------ Peanuts are useless as inner packaging because they can shift too easily.
To me, music amplified with tubes is the audio equivalent of a good home cooked meal; Solid state is the audio equivalent of a meal that came from a microwave oven.
KC8VWM
Posts: 15
Joined: Thu Jan 22, 2009 4:14 am

Post by KC8VWM »

The problem with using "peanuts" alone for shipping purposes (as is often done) is they have a tendancy to shift around very easily during transport (and especially when shipping heavy items.)

To demostrate this action, place an item like a large steel wrench on top of some peanuts inside a box and shake the box up and down like a salt shaker....

So what did you observe? - Did the wrench end up filtering it's way down to the bottom of the box yet?

This action occurs during shipping and usually exposes a corner of the equipment to the edge of the box and usually results in shipping damage.

(Oh, but how did that happen when I used shipping peanuts inside the box to ship the item... Well, now you know :)

The item you are shipping should not have any opportunity to move around at all. Peanuts are only "filler" material inside the box. They are not to be used as the "main method" to support items inside the box.

The item you are shipping should be fully "suspended" inside the box using at a minimum - 4" foam inserts all the way around the item. The inserts should not have any opportunity to wiggle around inside the box. The item inside should be packed "tightly" and not move around at all. It should be completely suspended inside the box. Then.... after all that is done, THEN you can fill in the empty space with peanuts.

Similarly, "bubble wrap" is not enough to use as shipping material either. The bubbles can "burst " (again, especially when shipping heavy items or items with sharp corners on them) and this results in your equipment taking the full shock while resting on a flat piece of plastic during the entire transport. That's why it's best to use a combination of materials instead of relying on one.

For example:

Styrofoam. - Great for "suspending" all corners of the items inside the box. Think "tight" You can cut syrofoam using a box knife and customize it to the right size to fit your equipment. Places like "Family Dollar" are always thowing this stuff away. It's free!

Bubble wrap. - Great as a way to fill the interior of your equipment to prevent tubes or transformers from coming loose and rattling around inside. Try to leave no empty spaces inside the gear when shipping. Bubble wrap is cheap insurance when used inside a rig or amplifier in this manner. I don't suggest you just bubble wrap a rig several times, throw the rig in a box and call it good for shipping. :) That's exactly how things get broken.

Cardboard tubes - (Used paper towel or toilet roll tubes) - Great for protecting tubes. Place a little bubble wrap around the tube, tape it in place using scotch tape and cut the cardboard tube to the appropriate height plus a little extra and place the cardboard tube over the whole arrangement.

Peanuts - Used to fill the box AFTER all the equipment is entirely "suspended" inside the box using foam and / or cardboard inserts to hold the equipment in place.

73
VE2AMN
Posts: 48
Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2003 3:34 am
Location: Beloeil, Quebec, Canada

Post by VE2AMN »

And just to make sure that peanuts and bits of foam don`t end up everywhere inside rhe rig, I first insert it in one of those fantastic plastic rectangular bags with zippers that are used to package bedspreads and other bedroom linens.
They come in a variety of sizes.
Never had a complaint...
Gilles, in the great white north..
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