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Packing A Boatanchor For Shipping
To-date, I have found VERY FEW (eBay) people who have the FOGGIEST
idea of how to properly pack a boatanchor. Especially the "trust me - I'm an eBay professional" types. So... I've been insisting on (and paying for) double boxing and heavy cardboard boxes. However. . . The "Joe Average" average double-box job can (usually) lead to a crunched front panel - or worse. A Knight transmitter I recently received was double-boxed with the inner cushioned from the outer with a 1.5" layer of peanuts. However, the front-panel of the transmitter had been stood off the side of the inner box with a thick sheet of solid, hard styrofoam. Right now I'm assuming that the "locked" shafts are simply due to the knobs being scrunched just a little bit tighter against the front panel than they should be. I hope. OTOH, a Johnson Viking Valiant (just add chain - no concrete required) I received was so well packed that despite being dropped, the only things amiss were a "floating" audio interstage under the chassis and severely bent mountings on the mod transformer: absolutely NO front panel damage or tube breakage! My quest for knowledge: Has anyone here tried DIY foam-in-place? I'm talking about embalming the hunk-o-iron in double heavy duty trashbags, shooting "some" (think of a kid with a can of whipped cream) of the DIY spray-in foam insulation into the 4 corners of the inner box and then setting the bagged anchor into the mess till it sets. A follow-up would (hopefully) lock the bagged goodie more-or-less into the middle of the box. Or am I just gonna make a nasty mess? TIA, Bill - WB1GOT Oh - getting the thing back out is someone elses problem. :-) |
Bill, I have 2 (or what's left of them) Valiant I's shipped to me via
common carrier. Neither made the trip. The 2 V-1's that I do have and that are on the air came from local buys. Of all the equipment I've bought and sold, I have to say that Valiant's appear to be the most vulnerable. I've had front panels folded back, VFO drives crunched, all manner of iron torn loose, ad nausium. Of course, one of these disasters was preciptiated by a "gentleman from the South" using old boat cushions as packing (sic) material. EFJ crated factory wired Valiants for shipment. Probably still a good idea....? Regards de Jeep/K3HVG |
Bill, I have 2 (or what's left of them) Valiant I's shipped to me via
common carrier. Neither made the trip. The 2 V-1's that I do have and that are on the air came from local buys. Of all the equipment I've bought and sold, I have to say that Valiant's appear to be the most vulnerable. I've had front panels folded back, VFO drives crunched, all manner of iron torn loose, ad nausium. Of course, one of these disasters was preciptiated by a "gentleman from the South" using old boat cushions as packing (sic) material. EFJ crated factory wired Valiants for shipment. Probably still a good idea....? Regards de Jeep/K3HVG |
"Bill Powell" wrote in message ... My quest for knowledge: Has anyone here tried DIY foam-in-place? I'm talking about embalming the hunk-o-iron in double heavy duty trashbags, shooting "some" (think of a kid with a can of whipped cream) of the DIY spray-in foam insulation into the 4 corners of the inner box and then setting the bagged anchor into the mess till it sets. A follow-up would (hopefully) lock the bagged goodie more-or-less into the middle of the box. Or am I just gonna make a nasty mess? TIA, Bill - WB1GOT Oh - getting the thing back out is someone elses problem. :-) TenTec used to, or maybe still does, use the foam method. But as I remember it, they filled the box just halfway, then set the plastic wrapped rigs in the foam, covered it and the lower foam layer and upper sides of the box with plastic film, and poured in the top foam layer. Opened like a clam shell, easy to get out. I used the original box several times for moving the rig, and I know that the fellow I finally sold it to used it the same way. I copied the technique several times on a smaller scale for shipping fragile stuff. Marty - K1FHR |
"Bill Powell" wrote in message ... My quest for knowledge: Has anyone here tried DIY foam-in-place? I'm talking about embalming the hunk-o-iron in double heavy duty trashbags, shooting "some" (think of a kid with a can of whipped cream) of the DIY spray-in foam insulation into the 4 corners of the inner box and then setting the bagged anchor into the mess till it sets. A follow-up would (hopefully) lock the bagged goodie more-or-less into the middle of the box. Or am I just gonna make a nasty mess? TIA, Bill - WB1GOT Oh - getting the thing back out is someone elses problem. :-) TenTec used to, or maybe still does, use the foam method. But as I remember it, they filled the box just halfway, then set the plastic wrapped rigs in the foam, covered it and the lower foam layer and upper sides of the box with plastic film, and poured in the top foam layer. Opened like a clam shell, easy to get out. I used the original box several times for moving the rig, and I know that the fellow I finally sold it to used it the same way. I copied the technique several times on a smaller scale for shipping fragile stuff. Marty - K1FHR |
Bill Powell wrote:
To-date, I have found VERY FEW (eBay) people who have the FOGGIEST idea of how to properly pack a boatanchor. Especially the "trust me - I'm an eBay professional" types. So... I've been insisting on (and paying for) double boxing and heavy cardboard boxes. However. . . The "Joe Average" average double-box job can (usually) lead to a crunched front panel - or worse. A Knight transmitter I recently received was double-boxed with the inner cushioned from the outer with a 1.5" layer of peanuts. However, the front-panel of the transmitter had been stood off the side of the inner box with a thick sheet of solid, hard styrofoam. Right now I'm assuming that the "locked" shafts are simply due to the knobs being scrunched just a little bit tighter against the front panel than they should be. I hope. So do I, but I fear worse. OTOH, a Johnson Viking Valiant (just add chain - no concrete required) I received was so well packed that despite being dropped, the only things amiss were a "floating" audio interstage under the chassis and severely bent mountings on the mod transformer: absolutely NO front panel damage or tube breakage! "[S]everely bent mountings on the mod transformer" would raise my ire somewhat. My quest for knowledge: Has anyone here tried DIY foam-in-place? I'm talking about embalming the hunk-o-iron in double heavy duty trashbags, shooting "some" (think of a kid with a can of whipped cream) of the DIY spray-in foam insulation into the 4 corners of the inner box and then setting the bagged anchor into the mess till it sets. A follow-up would (hopefully) lock the bagged goodie more-or-less into the middle of the box. Or am I just gonna make a nasty mess? FIRST, and * I M P O R T A N T * Cut sections of mailing tube (appropriate diameter) to go over each knob, so that the front panel bears the load, not the knob and the 'spensive stuff attached to it. SECOND, and JUST AS IMPORTANT Cut sections of mailing tube (appropriate diameter) to go over the connectors and other projections on the back (and sides, and top, and bottom), so that the panels bear the load, not the 'spensive stuff sticking out. Use mailing tube sections to brace transformers and other heavy items on the inside where possible. Consider taping tube shields and other items which might come loose. THIRD, Put the rig in a tri-wall box and then foam that sucker using the foam-in-bags stuff that I've seen a few times now. Get another tri-wall box that'll hold the first one with room for 1" or 1.5" sheets of resilient foam between the inside and outside boxes on all sides. FOURTH, Use solid sheets of resilient foam between the inner and outer boxes. Don't use peanuts or other small pieces of crushable material, as they'll shift and leave some parts of the gap between boxes unprotected. The inner box should fit *exactly* inside the outer box and foam sheets. Use additional sheets of foam to fill in any gaps. FIFTH, Securely tape all joints and flaps on the inner and outer boxes. Consider making a wood frame around the outer box. Yes, it's overkill. I figure that overkill when shipping boatanchors is just about right. -- Mike Andrews Tired old sysadmin |
Bill Powell wrote:
To-date, I have found VERY FEW (eBay) people who have the FOGGIEST idea of how to properly pack a boatanchor. Especially the "trust me - I'm an eBay professional" types. So... I've been insisting on (and paying for) double boxing and heavy cardboard boxes. However. . . The "Joe Average" average double-box job can (usually) lead to a crunched front panel - or worse. A Knight transmitter I recently received was double-boxed with the inner cushioned from the outer with a 1.5" layer of peanuts. However, the front-panel of the transmitter had been stood off the side of the inner box with a thick sheet of solid, hard styrofoam. Right now I'm assuming that the "locked" shafts are simply due to the knobs being scrunched just a little bit tighter against the front panel than they should be. I hope. So do I, but I fear worse. OTOH, a Johnson Viking Valiant (just add chain - no concrete required) I received was so well packed that despite being dropped, the only things amiss were a "floating" audio interstage under the chassis and severely bent mountings on the mod transformer: absolutely NO front panel damage or tube breakage! "[S]everely bent mountings on the mod transformer" would raise my ire somewhat. My quest for knowledge: Has anyone here tried DIY foam-in-place? I'm talking about embalming the hunk-o-iron in double heavy duty trashbags, shooting "some" (think of a kid with a can of whipped cream) of the DIY spray-in foam insulation into the 4 corners of the inner box and then setting the bagged anchor into the mess till it sets. A follow-up would (hopefully) lock the bagged goodie more-or-less into the middle of the box. Or am I just gonna make a nasty mess? FIRST, and * I M P O R T A N T * Cut sections of mailing tube (appropriate diameter) to go over each knob, so that the front panel bears the load, not the knob and the 'spensive stuff attached to it. SECOND, and JUST AS IMPORTANT Cut sections of mailing tube (appropriate diameter) to go over the connectors and other projections on the back (and sides, and top, and bottom), so that the panels bear the load, not the 'spensive stuff sticking out. Use mailing tube sections to brace transformers and other heavy items on the inside where possible. Consider taping tube shields and other items which might come loose. THIRD, Put the rig in a tri-wall box and then foam that sucker using the foam-in-bags stuff that I've seen a few times now. Get another tri-wall box that'll hold the first one with room for 1" or 1.5" sheets of resilient foam between the inside and outside boxes on all sides. FOURTH, Use solid sheets of resilient foam between the inner and outer boxes. Don't use peanuts or other small pieces of crushable material, as they'll shift and leave some parts of the gap between boxes unprotected. The inner box should fit *exactly* inside the outer box and foam sheets. Use additional sheets of foam to fill in any gaps. FIFTH, Securely tape all joints and flaps on the inner and outer boxes. Consider making a wood frame around the outer box. Yes, it's overkill. I figure that overkill when shipping boatanchors is just about right. -- Mike Andrews Tired old sysadmin |
Bill Powell wrote: To-date, I have found VERY FEW (eBay) people who have the FOGGIEST idea of how to properly pack a boatanchor. Especially the "trust me - I'm an eBay professional" types. So... I've been insisting on (and paying for) double boxing and heavy cardboard boxes. Well, you're the exception. You priced packing material lately? And please, guys- don't start with "the stores give it away," cuz it ain't so around here. You can get arrested for retrieving boxes from the dumpster. I've asked several stores and they quote "liability concerns." Wal-Mart will still give you boxes, but they don't usually have good sizes or strong-walled boxes. If you want *good, sturdy* boxes, you still have to buy them and they aren't cheap. I get tired of whines about packing fees. I don't have a problem with packing well; I *DO* have a problem getting people to accept the fact that packing an ART-13 transmitter or a DX-100 can easily cost $12-$14 or more. And if you try to double-box a biggie, you can easily box yourself right out of USPS or UPS. Truck or bus is risky, expensive and a show-stopper for most buyers. Nothing is free, and that includes packing. I add a piddling $1-$2 to my auctions to help defer the packing costs (that's about a third to a half of what it actually costs me), and people still whine and complain about it. D.S. |
Bill Powell wrote: To-date, I have found VERY FEW (eBay) people who have the FOGGIEST idea of how to properly pack a boatanchor. Especially the "trust me - I'm an eBay professional" types. So... I've been insisting on (and paying for) double boxing and heavy cardboard boxes. Well, you're the exception. You priced packing material lately? And please, guys- don't start with "the stores give it away," cuz it ain't so around here. You can get arrested for retrieving boxes from the dumpster. I've asked several stores and they quote "liability concerns." Wal-Mart will still give you boxes, but they don't usually have good sizes or strong-walled boxes. If you want *good, sturdy* boxes, you still have to buy them and they aren't cheap. I get tired of whines about packing fees. I don't have a problem with packing well; I *DO* have a problem getting people to accept the fact that packing an ART-13 transmitter or a DX-100 can easily cost $12-$14 or more. And if you try to double-box a biggie, you can easily box yourself right out of USPS or UPS. Truck or bus is risky, expensive and a show-stopper for most buyers. Nothing is free, and that includes packing. I add a piddling $1-$2 to my auctions to help defer the packing costs (that's about a third to a half of what it actually costs me), and people still whine and complain about it. D.S. |
Mike Andrews wrote: Yes, it's overkill. I figure that overkill when shipping boatanchors is just about right. Not many people will happily agree to the $35 worth of "overkill" you just defined. Sounds stupid to balk at $35 to protect a $300 radio, but you'd be surprised how many people do just that. |
Mike Andrews wrote: Yes, it's overkill. I figure that overkill when shipping boatanchors is just about right. Not many people will happily agree to the $35 worth of "overkill" you just defined. Sounds stupid to balk at $35 to protect a $300 radio, but you'd be surprised how many people do just that. |
Guys,
I've received my share of broken radios due to poor packing. In one case, I bought a pair of scarce Canadian-market-only 1960s Hallicrafters mobile CB radios from a fellow in VE7. He put the two radios into a box with NO packing materials, taped it shut, and UPS'ed it to me! Needless to say, both radios were damaged beyond salvage. There was no electrical damage, but ALL of the knobs and switches were broken, the plastic front panels were broken, the steel cabinets were dented, and the mic heads were cracked. My nice SX-101A arrived with the glass smashed because the seller packed it in stiff styrofoam that had absolutely no shock absorbency. Same thing with an S-107; the glass dial was shattered. I eventually repaired both of those receivers, but it never should have been necessary. I've gotten lucky with a lot of gear, but obviously not all the time. It's a crap shoot at best. Shipping companies have no respect. But wait... all is no lost! I have a suggestion for shipping large and/or heavy BA gear: ship it by motor freight! This is nothing new, but so many of our ham brethren don't even think of it. Get out the Yellow Pages and call around to determine the best cost and shipping times. Pack the gear carefully in a sturdy cardboard box with plenty of shock-absorbent material all the way around, take the box to the trucking company and have them strap it to a wooden pallet for shipment. Do make sure the box is centered on the pallet. With the box centered on a pallet, no other packages will get bashed into yours, no humans will pick up your package and toss it onto a conveyor belt, into a truck, or onto a plane, and if you specify that no other pallets may be stacked on top of yours, it can't get crushed from above. No damage! This method will be rather costly, but the alternative is the risk of having an irreplaceable piece of equipment damaged or destroyed. No matter how well you THINK your equipment is packed, if you ship via a normal shipper, there is still a high probability that it'll be damaged in transit. How much is that gear worth to you? Are you willing to risk it? At work, we have completely stopped using FedEx, UPS, DHL, and the other overnight shippers to transport our electronic equipment because they were damaging 75% of our shipments. Sure, they always pay the insurance claim, but in the mean time, the production line is stopped until we the equipment is repaired (which can't be done until the insurance claim is paid!). Since we changed to motor freight shipment, we have had ZERO damage! The extra cost is worth it. 73, Dean K5DH |
Guys,
I've received my share of broken radios due to poor packing. In one case, I bought a pair of scarce Canadian-market-only 1960s Hallicrafters mobile CB radios from a fellow in VE7. He put the two radios into a box with NO packing materials, taped it shut, and UPS'ed it to me! Needless to say, both radios were damaged beyond salvage. There was no electrical damage, but ALL of the knobs and switches were broken, the plastic front panels were broken, the steel cabinets were dented, and the mic heads were cracked. My nice SX-101A arrived with the glass smashed because the seller packed it in stiff styrofoam that had absolutely no shock absorbency. Same thing with an S-107; the glass dial was shattered. I eventually repaired both of those receivers, but it never should have been necessary. I've gotten lucky with a lot of gear, but obviously not all the time. It's a crap shoot at best. Shipping companies have no respect. But wait... all is no lost! I have a suggestion for shipping large and/or heavy BA gear: ship it by motor freight! This is nothing new, but so many of our ham brethren don't even think of it. Get out the Yellow Pages and call around to determine the best cost and shipping times. Pack the gear carefully in a sturdy cardboard box with plenty of shock-absorbent material all the way around, take the box to the trucking company and have them strap it to a wooden pallet for shipment. Do make sure the box is centered on the pallet. With the box centered on a pallet, no other packages will get bashed into yours, no humans will pick up your package and toss it onto a conveyor belt, into a truck, or onto a plane, and if you specify that no other pallets may be stacked on top of yours, it can't get crushed from above. No damage! This method will be rather costly, but the alternative is the risk of having an irreplaceable piece of equipment damaged or destroyed. No matter how well you THINK your equipment is packed, if you ship via a normal shipper, there is still a high probability that it'll be damaged in transit. How much is that gear worth to you? Are you willing to risk it? At work, we have completely stopped using FedEx, UPS, DHL, and the other overnight shippers to transport our electronic equipment because they were damaging 75% of our shipments. Sure, they always pay the insurance claim, but in the mean time, the production line is stopped until we the equipment is repaired (which can't be done until the insurance claim is paid!). Since we changed to motor freight shipment, we have had ZERO damage! The extra cost is worth it. 73, Dean K5DH |
Subject: Packing A Boatanchor For Shipping
From: David Stinson Date: 12/3/2004 1:06 PM Central Standard Time Message-id: PO2sd.83$3T2.71@trnddc04 Mike Andrews wrote: Yes, it's overkill. I figure that overkill when shipping boatanchors is just about right. Not many people will happily agree to the $35 worth of "overkill" you just defined. Sounds stupid to balk at $35 to protect a $300 radio, but you'd be surprised how many people do just that. I bought a SP-600JX-17 several years ago, the fellow shipped it from Michigan in a box that just fit it. Out 4 sheets of newspaper on the bottom, same on top and sealed it with tape. Someone was looking over this dufus, 'cause it arrived unscathed. It was a 23XXX serial no. JX-17 with ceramic disc caps and was beautiful. The luck of the Irish or something prevailed on that one. Les Locklear Monitoring since '57 Collins 51J4 Hammarlund HQ-120X Hammarlund SP-600JX-14 Ten Tec RX-350D Yaesu FRG-100 Alpha Delta Sloper Quantum QX Loop Various Longwires http://www.hammarlund.info/homepage.html |
Subject: Packing A Boatanchor For Shipping
From: David Stinson Date: 12/3/2004 1:06 PM Central Standard Time Message-id: PO2sd.83$3T2.71@trnddc04 Mike Andrews wrote: Yes, it's overkill. I figure that overkill when shipping boatanchors is just about right. Not many people will happily agree to the $35 worth of "overkill" you just defined. Sounds stupid to balk at $35 to protect a $300 radio, but you'd be surprised how many people do just that. I bought a SP-600JX-17 several years ago, the fellow shipped it from Michigan in a box that just fit it. Out 4 sheets of newspaper on the bottom, same on top and sealed it with tape. Someone was looking over this dufus, 'cause it arrived unscathed. It was a 23XXX serial no. JX-17 with ceramic disc caps and was beautiful. The luck of the Irish or something prevailed on that one. Les Locklear Monitoring since '57 Collins 51J4 Hammarlund HQ-120X Hammarlund SP-600JX-14 Ten Tec RX-350D Yaesu FRG-100 Alpha Delta Sloper Quantum QX Loop Various Longwires http://www.hammarlund.info/homepage.html |
I received an old HRO from some jerk in VE land (nothing against VE's) that
packed my receiver inside a flimsy cardboard toilet paper carton with empty, capped juice bottles between the rig and the box (Welch's Grape I believe). They had mold inside from the residual juice which had remained when emptied. Let me tell you - that box stunk terribly. Some of the caps were loose and the bottles were not air tight. Naturally, the main tuning knob had been bashed into the front panel when all the juice bottles had shifted during shipment. It was a mess. If I could have gotten my hands on that fellow it would not have been nice. Roger, KL7Q Bill Powell wrote in message ... To-date, I have found VERY FEW (eBay) people who have the FOGGIEST idea of how to properly pack a boatanchor. Especially the "trust me - I'm an eBay professional" types. So... I've been insisting on (and paying for) double boxing and heavy cardboard boxes. However. . . The "Joe Average" average double-box job can (usually) lead to a crunched front panel - or worse. A Knight transmitter I recently received was double-boxed with the inner cushioned from the outer with a 1.5" layer of peanuts. However, the front-panel of the transmitter had been stood off the side of the inner box with a thick sheet of solid, hard styrofoam. Right now I'm assuming that the "locked" shafts are simply due to the knobs being scrunched just a little bit tighter against the front panel than they should be. I hope. OTOH, a Johnson Viking Valiant (just add chain - no concrete required) I received was so well packed that despite being dropped, the only things amiss were a "floating" audio interstage under the chassis and severely bent mountings on the mod transformer: absolutely NO front panel damage or tube breakage! My quest for knowledge: Has anyone here tried DIY foam-in-place? I'm talking about embalming the hunk-o-iron in double heavy duty trashbags, shooting "some" (think of a kid with a can of whipped cream) of the DIY spray-in foam insulation into the 4 corners of the inner box and then setting the bagged anchor into the mess till it sets. A follow-up would (hopefully) lock the bagged goodie more-or-less into the middle of the box. Or am I just gonna make a nasty mess? TIA, Bill - WB1GOT Oh - getting the thing back out is someone elses problem. :-) |
I received an old HRO from some jerk in VE land (nothing against VE's) that
packed my receiver inside a flimsy cardboard toilet paper carton with empty, capped juice bottles between the rig and the box (Welch's Grape I believe). They had mold inside from the residual juice which had remained when emptied. Let me tell you - that box stunk terribly. Some of the caps were loose and the bottles were not air tight. Naturally, the main tuning knob had been bashed into the front panel when all the juice bottles had shifted during shipment. It was a mess. If I could have gotten my hands on that fellow it would not have been nice. Roger, KL7Q Bill Powell wrote in message ... To-date, I have found VERY FEW (eBay) people who have the FOGGIEST idea of how to properly pack a boatanchor. Especially the "trust me - I'm an eBay professional" types. So... I've been insisting on (and paying for) double boxing and heavy cardboard boxes. However. . . The "Joe Average" average double-box job can (usually) lead to a crunched front panel - or worse. A Knight transmitter I recently received was double-boxed with the inner cushioned from the outer with a 1.5" layer of peanuts. However, the front-panel of the transmitter had been stood off the side of the inner box with a thick sheet of solid, hard styrofoam. Right now I'm assuming that the "locked" shafts are simply due to the knobs being scrunched just a little bit tighter against the front panel than they should be. I hope. OTOH, a Johnson Viking Valiant (just add chain - no concrete required) I received was so well packed that despite being dropped, the only things amiss were a "floating" audio interstage under the chassis and severely bent mountings on the mod transformer: absolutely NO front panel damage or tube breakage! My quest for knowledge: Has anyone here tried DIY foam-in-place? I'm talking about embalming the hunk-o-iron in double heavy duty trashbags, shooting "some" (think of a kid with a can of whipped cream) of the DIY spray-in foam insulation into the 4 corners of the inner box and then setting the bagged anchor into the mess till it sets. A follow-up would (hopefully) lock the bagged goodie more-or-less into the middle of the box. Or am I just gonna make a nasty mess? TIA, Bill - WB1GOT Oh - getting the thing back out is someone elses problem. :-) |
TenTec used to, or maybe still does, use the foam method. But as I remember it, they filled the box just halfway, then set the plastic wrapped rigs in the foam, covered it and the lower foam layer and upper sides of the box with plastic film, and poured in the top foam layer. Opened like a clam shell, easy to get out. My last employer (Daytron World Communications) used this method to ship their radios. Very low damage rate. 73, John - K6QQ |
TenTec used to, or maybe still does, use the foam method. But as I remember it, they filled the box just halfway, then set the plastic wrapped rigs in the foam, covered it and the lower foam layer and upper sides of the box with plastic film, and poured in the top foam layer. Opened like a clam shell, easy to get out. My last employer (Daytron World Communications) used this method to ship their radios. Very low damage rate. 73, John - K6QQ |
On Fri, 03 Dec 2004 12:46:56 GMT, "Martin"
wrote: original post snippage TenTec used to, or maybe still does, use the foam method. But as I remember it, they filled the box just halfway, then set the plastic wrapped rigs in the foam, covered it and the lower foam layer and upper sides of the box with plastic film, and poured in the top foam layer. Opened like a clam shell, easy to get out. I used the original box several times for moving the rig, and I know that the fellow I finally sold it to used it the same way. Still have my TenTec boxes up in the garage I copied the technique several times on a smaller scale for shipping fragile stuff. Marty, PLEASE - How? Bill |
On Fri, 03 Dec 2004 12:46:56 GMT, "Martin"
wrote: original post snippage TenTec used to, or maybe still does, use the foam method. But as I remember it, they filled the box just halfway, then set the plastic wrapped rigs in the foam, covered it and the lower foam layer and upper sides of the box with plastic film, and poured in the top foam layer. Opened like a clam shell, easy to get out. I used the original box several times for moving the rig, and I know that the fellow I finally sold it to used it the same way. Still have my TenTec boxes up in the garage I copied the technique several times on a smaller scale for shipping fragile stuff. Marty, PLEASE - How? Bill |
FWIW, I have never seen anything damaged that was wrapped in at least 4
layers of LARGE type bubble wrap. No need to double box if you use that stuff usually. For ultimate control panel protection, go to a fabric or upholstery shop and get some high density foam in 4" or 5" thickness and place it over the control panel. THEN wrap with large bubble wrap. The HD foam is NOT cheap, however, I paid $12 for a 24" x 24" pc last time I think. But sometimes you can get smaller scraps for less. The upholstery shops are usually better about selling stuff under 18" cheap because they cant use it in a regular chair or couch cushion. Mark Oppat "Bill Powell" wrote in message ... To-date, I have found VERY FEW (eBay) people who have the FOGGIEST idea of how to properly pack a boatanchor. Especially the "trust me - I'm an eBay professional" types. So... I've been insisting on (and paying for) double boxing and heavy cardboard boxes. However. . . The "Joe Average" average double-box job can (usually) lead to a crunched front panel - or worse. A Knight transmitter I recently received was double-boxed with the inner cushioned from the outer with a 1.5" layer of peanuts. However, the front-panel of the transmitter had been stood off the side of the inner box with a thick sheet of solid, hard styrofoam. Right now I'm assuming that the "locked" shafts are simply due to the knobs being scrunched just a little bit tighter against the front panel than they should be. I hope. OTOH, a Johnson Viking Valiant (just add chain - no concrete required) I received was so well packed that despite being dropped, the only things amiss were a "floating" audio interstage under the chassis and severely bent mountings on the mod transformer: absolutely NO front panel damage or tube breakage! My quest for knowledge: Has anyone here tried DIY foam-in-place? I'm talking about embalming the hunk-o-iron in double heavy duty trashbags, shooting "some" (think of a kid with a can of whipped cream) of the DIY spray-in foam insulation into the 4 corners of the inner box and then setting the bagged anchor into the mess till it sets. A follow-up would (hopefully) lock the bagged goodie more-or-less into the middle of the box. Or am I just gonna make a nasty mess? TIA, Bill - WB1GOT Oh - getting the thing back out is someone elses problem. :-) |
FWIW, I have never seen anything damaged that was wrapped in at least 4
layers of LARGE type bubble wrap. No need to double box if you use that stuff usually. For ultimate control panel protection, go to a fabric or upholstery shop and get some high density foam in 4" or 5" thickness and place it over the control panel. THEN wrap with large bubble wrap. The HD foam is NOT cheap, however, I paid $12 for a 24" x 24" pc last time I think. But sometimes you can get smaller scraps for less. The upholstery shops are usually better about selling stuff under 18" cheap because they cant use it in a regular chair or couch cushion. Mark Oppat "Bill Powell" wrote in message ... To-date, I have found VERY FEW (eBay) people who have the FOGGIEST idea of how to properly pack a boatanchor. Especially the "trust me - I'm an eBay professional" types. So... I've been insisting on (and paying for) double boxing and heavy cardboard boxes. However. . . The "Joe Average" average double-box job can (usually) lead to a crunched front panel - or worse. A Knight transmitter I recently received was double-boxed with the inner cushioned from the outer with a 1.5" layer of peanuts. However, the front-panel of the transmitter had been stood off the side of the inner box with a thick sheet of solid, hard styrofoam. Right now I'm assuming that the "locked" shafts are simply due to the knobs being scrunched just a little bit tighter against the front panel than they should be. I hope. OTOH, a Johnson Viking Valiant (just add chain - no concrete required) I received was so well packed that despite being dropped, the only things amiss were a "floating" audio interstage under the chassis and severely bent mountings on the mod transformer: absolutely NO front panel damage or tube breakage! My quest for knowledge: Has anyone here tried DIY foam-in-place? I'm talking about embalming the hunk-o-iron in double heavy duty trashbags, shooting "some" (think of a kid with a can of whipped cream) of the DIY spray-in foam insulation into the 4 corners of the inner box and then setting the bagged anchor into the mess till it sets. A follow-up would (hopefully) lock the bagged goodie more-or-less into the middle of the box. Or am I just gonna make a nasty mess? TIA, Bill - WB1GOT Oh - getting the thing back out is someone elses problem. :-) |
"Bill Powell" wrote in message ... On Fri, 03 Dec 2004 12:46:56 GMT, "Martin" wrote: original post snippage TenTec used to, or maybe still does, use the foam method. But as I remember it, they filled the box just halfway, then set the plastic wrapped rigs in the foam, covered it and the lower foam layer and upper sides of the box with plastic film, and poured in the top foam layer. Opened like a clam shell, easy to get out. I used the original box several times for moving the rig, and I know that the fellow I finally sold it to used it the same way. Still have my TenTec boxes up in the garage I copied the technique several times on a smaller scale for shipping fragile stuff. Marty, PLEASE - How? Bill Bill, I used those spray foam cans that they sell for replacing insulation in refrigerators after repairs and for insulating around electrical outlets that leak cold air in the winter. It was just a duplication on a much smaller scale of what I described. I've shipped some ancient Weston meters, a couple of 4-400's and several fragile optical instruments that way with no damage reported. The only problem I had was guessing how much to squirt into the boxes. Had to do a bit of trimming when it expanded too much. The boxes I used were considerably smaller than the one the TenTec came in, and I recall needing only one can for two boxes. I tried to get about 4" of foam all around. Make sure the plastic bag that you put the items in has no holes or tears; that stuff really sticks to things. Marty - K1FHR |
"Bill Powell" wrote in message ... On Fri, 03 Dec 2004 12:46:56 GMT, "Martin" wrote: original post snippage TenTec used to, or maybe still does, use the foam method. But as I remember it, they filled the box just halfway, then set the plastic wrapped rigs in the foam, covered it and the lower foam layer and upper sides of the box with plastic film, and poured in the top foam layer. Opened like a clam shell, easy to get out. I used the original box several times for moving the rig, and I know that the fellow I finally sold it to used it the same way. Still have my TenTec boxes up in the garage I copied the technique several times on a smaller scale for shipping fragile stuff. Marty, PLEASE - How? Bill Bill, I used those spray foam cans that they sell for replacing insulation in refrigerators after repairs and for insulating around electrical outlets that leak cold air in the winter. It was just a duplication on a much smaller scale of what I described. I've shipped some ancient Weston meters, a couple of 4-400's and several fragile optical instruments that way with no damage reported. The only problem I had was guessing how much to squirt into the boxes. Had to do a bit of trimming when it expanded too much. The boxes I used were considerably smaller than the one the TenTec came in, and I recall needing only one can for two boxes. I tried to get about 4" of foam all around. Make sure the plastic bag that you put the items in has no holes or tears; that stuff really sticks to things. Marty - K1FHR |
"Bill Powell" wrote in message ... On Fri, 03 Dec 2004 12:46:56 GMT, "Martin" wrote: original post snippage TenTec used to, or maybe still does, use the foam method. But as I remember it, they filled the box just halfway, then set the plastic wrapped rigs in the foam, covered it and the lower foam layer and upper sides of the box with plastic film, and poured in the top foam layer. Opened like a clam shell, easy to get out. I used the original box several times for moving the rig, and I know that the fellow I finally sold it to used it the same way. Still have my TenTec boxes up in the garage I copied the technique several times on a smaller scale for shipping fragile stuff. Marty, PLEASE - How? Bill Bill, I used those spray foam cans that they sell for replacing insulation in refrigerators after repairs and for insulating around electrical outlets that leak cold air in the winter. It was just a duplication on a much smaller scale of what I described. I've shipped some ancient Weston meters, a couple of 4-400's and several fragile optical instruments that way with no damage reported. The only problem I had was guessing how much to squirt into the boxes. Had to do a bit of trimming when it expanded too much. The boxes I used were considerably smaller than the one the TenTec came in, and I recall needing only one can for two boxes. I tried to get about 4" of foam all around. Make sure the plastic bag that you put the items in has no holes or tears; that stuff really sticks to things. Marty - K1FHR |
"Bill Powell" wrote in message ... On Fri, 03 Dec 2004 12:46:56 GMT, "Martin" wrote: original post snippage TenTec used to, or maybe still does, use the foam method. But as I remember it, they filled the box just halfway, then set the plastic wrapped rigs in the foam, covered it and the lower foam layer and upper sides of the box with plastic film, and poured in the top foam layer. Opened like a clam shell, easy to get out. I used the original box several times for moving the rig, and I know that the fellow I finally sold it to used it the same way. Still have my TenTec boxes up in the garage I copied the technique several times on a smaller scale for shipping fragile stuff. Marty, PLEASE - How? Bill Bill, I used those spray foam cans that they sell for replacing insulation in refrigerators after repairs and for insulating around electrical outlets that leak cold air in the winter. It was just a duplication on a much smaller scale of what I described. I've shipped some ancient Weston meters, a couple of 4-400's and several fragile optical instruments that way with no damage reported. The only problem I had was guessing how much to squirt into the boxes. Had to do a bit of trimming when it expanded too much. The boxes I used were considerably smaller than the one the TenTec came in, and I recall needing only one can for two boxes. I tried to get about 4" of foam all around. Make sure the plastic bag that you put the items in has no holes or tears; that stuff really sticks to things. Marty - K1FHR |
Martin wrote:
"Bill Powell" wrote in message ... On Fri, 03 Dec 2004 12:46:56 GMT, "Martin" wrote: original post snippage TenTec used to, or maybe still does, use the foam method. But as I remember it, they filled the box just halfway, then set the plastic wrapped rigs in the foam, covered it and the lower foam layer and upper sides of the box with plastic film, and poured in the top foam layer. Opened like a clam shell, easy to get out. I used the original box several times for moving the rig, and I know that the fellow I finally sold it to used it the same way. Still have my TenTec boxes up in the garage I copied the technique several times on a smaller scale for shipping fragile stuff. Marty, PLEASE - How? Bill Bill, I used those spray foam cans that they sell for replacing insulation in refrigerators after repairs and for insulating around electrical outlets that leak cold air in the winter. It was just a duplication on a much smaller scale of what I described. I've shipped some ancient Weston meters, a couple of 4-400's and several fragile optical instruments that way with no damage reported. The only problem I had was guessing how much to squirt into the boxes. Had to do a bit of trimming when it expanded too much. The boxes I used were considerably smaller than the one the TenTec came in, and I recall needing only one can for two boxes. I tried to get about 4" of foam all around. Make sure the plastic bag that you put the items in has no holes or tears; that stuff really sticks to things. Marty - K1FHR Lessee...how do I compare an 8 lb TenTec rig vs a 80 lb boatanchor?. Caution, folks. Much of the 'home' spray can foam will simply collapse if you place a heavy shoe on top of it. Whats good for an old VTVM or vintage knob might not play for an HT32. Would you be willing to DROP, PUNT or TOSS your package as you enter the front door of USPS/UPS/Fedex? If not, then go home and repack. -BM |
Martin wrote:
"Bill Powell" wrote in message ... On Fri, 03 Dec 2004 12:46:56 GMT, "Martin" wrote: original post snippage TenTec used to, or maybe still does, use the foam method. But as I remember it, they filled the box just halfway, then set the plastic wrapped rigs in the foam, covered it and the lower foam layer and upper sides of the box with plastic film, and poured in the top foam layer. Opened like a clam shell, easy to get out. I used the original box several times for moving the rig, and I know that the fellow I finally sold it to used it the same way. Still have my TenTec boxes up in the garage I copied the technique several times on a smaller scale for shipping fragile stuff. Marty, PLEASE - How? Bill Bill, I used those spray foam cans that they sell for replacing insulation in refrigerators after repairs and for insulating around electrical outlets that leak cold air in the winter. It was just a duplication on a much smaller scale of what I described. I've shipped some ancient Weston meters, a couple of 4-400's and several fragile optical instruments that way with no damage reported. The only problem I had was guessing how much to squirt into the boxes. Had to do a bit of trimming when it expanded too much. The boxes I used were considerably smaller than the one the TenTec came in, and I recall needing only one can for two boxes. I tried to get about 4" of foam all around. Make sure the plastic bag that you put the items in has no holes or tears; that stuff really sticks to things. Marty - K1FHR Lessee...how do I compare an 8 lb TenTec rig vs a 80 lb boatanchor?. Caution, folks. Much of the 'home' spray can foam will simply collapse if you place a heavy shoe on top of it. Whats good for an old VTVM or vintage knob might not play for an HT32. Would you be willing to DROP, PUNT or TOSS your package as you enter the front door of USPS/UPS/Fedex? If not, then go home and repack. -BM |
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