[R-390] Shipper Packing

[Barry Hauser]

Tell me about it!  Some people like to sell & ship whatever without a care
about packing.  Some use all new (but inadequate) materials and charge for
it.  Some use trash.  Before a seller ships me something delicate, I send an
email describing how it should be packed.  If I get "bubble wrap and
peanuts" back, I then go into my routine.

Once in a while I get something like "don't worry -- I pack very well -- 
sent plenty of this stuff...."  etc.  Good packing is in the eye of the
beholder, I guess.

There's another issue for many pieces of gear -- prepping the unit itself.
Wobbly tubes, like 5U4's with only 5 pins of the octal?  Right next to the
transformer?  Chassis loose in cases?  Fine if it's kept rightside up and
not moved.  Other missing screws?  Heavy transformers and chokes held down
with small screws... into aluminum?  (Gets dropped sideways or upside-down,
heads shear off and then it's loose-cannonball-in-the-china-shop-time. Big
dial glass -- loose?  (Crackaroonies are in order.)  Even if super packed
with foam sheet, double boxed, etc. some radios are prone to damage from an
"inside job".  Here's an example of something otherwise innocuous:

Anyone familiar with tube type Zenith Transoceanics?  A major feature
affecting their value is that big clear plastic front panel. Many have
developed a few stress cracks from vibration around the screws, or worse,
from slamming the front door closed.  The chassis are fastened to the wooden
center shelf of the cabinet with just two screws.  If they're missing or
loose, the whole chassis can shift -- then it does a number on the panel -- 
through the control shaft holes or whatever.  Those panels are all clear
plastic -- painted in black, grey and gold on the reverse side -- (or brown,
tan, gold for the leather models) -- so virtually impossible to detail out.

R-390's are more rugged, but there are plenty of opportunities.  If a tube
shield is not fully twisted down, a bounce will activate the spring and -- 
according to Mr. Murphy -- it will head straight for the ballast tube which
will have no shield.  If there are loose or missing screws all over the
place, the H-frame can twist a bit.

Sounds like you got what I call a "beanbag" shipment there.  That's when the
carton is flimsy and the stuffing is inadequate.  Got one of those a few
years ago with an SP-600 in it.  Bottom right corner of the front panel was
broken right off -- and the roughly 1 inch square piece was still in the
box -- so it wasn't that way before.  Packed in an oblong U-Haul box with a
trick/quick setup (criss-cross bottom), clearly emblazoned "for lightweight
items" -- stuffed with rags.  Didn't bother going to UPS claims with that
one.  The seller did settle privately, though.  More often, one gets
stonewalled or told to send the thing back -- right -- lay out double
shipping and keep your fingers crossed.

Oh, there's the other thing -- well-intentioned folk who fashion themselves
as crate-builders.  This was an SP-600-VLF (read @RARE@).  The guy put a
labor of love into top and bottom plywood, with firring strips and even used
a router to groove out where the front panel set in.  Then he wrapped really
good foam all around it and then put four steel strapping bands (nevermind
plastic) around the bundle.  That whole assembly went into a sturdy, but
too-tall box.  Built a perfect SP-600 Destructo-Wrench. SP-600 panels aren't
fastened to the chassis all that well -- eight self tapping screws into
stamped "combs" at the edges of the side panels.  These weren't regular
screws, but threaded studs with acorn nuts on the panel -- some loose.  The
box must have twisted a bit and the plywoods were flush with the box, so ...
ripped the upper right corner of the panel forward, wrecking the crystal
osc. switch -- yanked the shaft forward, breaking the wafers and rotors.
So, sometimes the road to Heck is also paved with good packing intentions.

Avoid crating, unless the guy knows what he's doing (hard to tell) and it's
going truck freight -- palletized.  Otherwise, the crate has to be built
just so and then padded and put into an oversized box with more padding -- 
to protect the crate, so it doesn't break and wreck the radio.  Someone can
be a pretty good carpenter/cabinet maker, but not really know how to crate
things.  Otherwise, you're putting a stronger immovable object in close
proximity to the delicate goods.  It's like that game -- paper, rock,
scissors or whatever -- plywood can break aluminum - and even steel on a bad
day.  If a good corrugated box package gets dropped a foot on its corner, it
should dent and absorb the shock and compression.  How about a wooden box?
About a half-dozen ways to go wrong.

Finally, some parts should be braced at the strong points -- not padded
over, like the front panel of a scope.  I guess that one was missing it's
front cover, which might have helped.  Without that, it needed a block of
styrofoam with indentations for the controls or similar -- like a modified
foam insert from a computer case so that the front was supported by the
edges.  Even if heavily padded with bubblewrap or polyurethane foam, the
controls can work their way through -- and sometimes, air ain't so soft, if
you know what I mean.

Y'see, here I've been quiet and you got me started ... ;-)  Well, keep up
the ol' caveat emptor-ing.  I think I've beat this dead horse enough, right?

Barry

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "B Riches" <bill.riches at verizon.net>
To: <r-390 at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Friday, June 04, 2004 4:44 PM
Subject: [R-390] Shipper Packing


A heads up!!  When you purchase a piece of equipment from someone make sure
that the seller agrees to refund your money if it arrives damaged due to
poor packing and the Post Office or other carrier refuses to honor a claim
because of poor packing.

I purchased a Tek 465 scope from a person that used shredded paper along
with a very beat up carton.  The scope took a hit on the face and bent a few
controls and ruined the attenuator.  The postal inspector laughed when I
tried to file a damage claim.  I now have an expensive parts unit.  This
person sells a bit of equipment - contact me off list if you wish more info.
Buyer beware.

73,

Bill Riches, WA2DVU
Cape May, NJ
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