[R-390] Transit cases

[2002tii]

Jerry wrote:

>I have found the spray foam filled bag packing works best and if you
>are careful the equipment is more than well protected from all sides with
>about 6 inches of soft but firm packing all around.

If something -- anything -- is damaged in transit, the fault is with 
whomever packed it more than 99% of the time.  My old company made 
equipment similar in weight, size, and fragility to boatanchors.  We 
shipped many thousands of units all over the world in corrugated 
cardboard boxes, and could still count the instances of shipping 
damage on one hand.  Yes, we had packaging engineers design the 
packing, but anyone who understands the principles can do it at home 
-- it's just that almost nobody seems to understand the principles 
(judging by the items I receive).

Mostly, people don't understand what Jerry points out above -- that 
packing material must cushion the item, BUT ALSO must restrain it 
from moving very much in relation to the container.  In other words, 
it must be pretty firm (how much depends on the weight of the item -- 
crumpled newspaper or packing peanuts are great for a bone china cup, 
but not for a BA).  The box and packing constitute what an automotive 
engineer would call a "crumple zone," and you don't want the 
equipment being shipped to run out of that zone under any 
circumstances, or it will take the impact load directly.  A soft 
packing medium yields too easily, allowing that to happen.  Second, 
one needs to think about what part of the item is going to take 
impact loads from every direction.  This means that knobs, 
connectors, and structurally weak areas must have impact forces 
directed around them, to stronger/less fragile areas (generally, the 
corners of items like boatanchors).  The packing materials should not 
even touch things like front panel controls and rear panel 
connectors, to prevent any possibility of damage to those fragile parts.

I do not have foam packing equipment, so I generally use the 
styrofoam sheeting material used for building construction.  The 2" 
thick sheets are easy to cut to size.  Use 4-6" of styrofoam on all 
six sides (lots of folks seem to forget that all six sides need protection).

Additionally, I use this same material to make the "stress 
re-directors" that contact the radio.  For example, the sides of 
rack-mount equipment are built out with slabs of styrofoam until they 
are slightly wider than the rack ears, and slabs are skeletonized and 
applied to the front and rear panels (by "skeletonized," I mean that 
areas occupied by fragile parts -- controls, connectors, etc. -- are 
cut away).  When you're done with this, you should have a purely 
rectangular block of radio-with-attached-stress-re-directors.  I hold 
the "stress re-directors" to the unit by wrapping with plastic 
stretch wrap (sometimes called "pallet wrap"), which comes in 6-8" 
widths on convenient roller handles and can be purchased at any 
packing store or large office supply store.  You can build out from 
the radio with its attached "stress re-directors" to the corrugated 
box with the styrofoam sheet, as long as you have 4-6" of additional 
styrofoam on all six sides and everything fits TIGHTLY with no wiggle 
room.  Or, alternatively:

Wrap the item, with its "stress re-directors" attached, TIGHTLY in 2 
or 3" on all sides of the large-cell (~ 1" cells) bubble wrap.  I 
cannot emphasize strongly enough that the bubble wrap must be TIGHT 
around the unit.  The bubble wrap is also held on with stretch wrap, 
and its finished size should be a tight fit into the box and its 4-6" 
styrofoam lining.

It doesn't hurt to put a layer of 1/4" plywood, or several sheets of 
corrugated cardboard, immediately inside the corrugated box to help 
prevent puncturing -- this will be necessary if you use the wimpy 
boxes you buy at most packing or office supply stores.  If you use a 
good, stout box in the first place, this can be omitted.  Use good 
clear or brown plastic packing tape to hold down the box flaps (do 
the corners, too), then wrap the entire box IN ALL THREE DIRECTIONS 
-- TIGHTLY -- with 2" fiberglass packing tape.  Use 2 or 3 tape wraps 
per direction, spaced on the "thirds" or "quarters" of that box 
dimension.  Each wrap of the fiberglass tape should go around the 
package two full turns.

Written out this way it sounds like a lot of work, but I can pack a 
390 in about 20 minutes starting with a box, a sheet of styrofoam, 
and a roll each of bubble wrap, stretch tape, packing tape, and 
fiberglass packing tape.  Total cost of the materials is under $50.

I have shipped hundreds of BAs and pieces of test equipment this way, 
and never once had one damaged.  I ship exclusively by UPS, FWIW -- 
in my view, the best of the lot in North America.  Please, if you 
disagree, just use the shipper you like best -- no need to put the 
list through another flame war or litany of horror stories about 
shipping.  As I said at the top, shipping damage is almost always the 
fault of the packer, not the carrier.

Ben wrote:

>A local packer actually builds the cardboard box
>and then foams it.  I had one made for a 30L-1 and I've used it
>numerous times.  They charged $35  to make the box and foam it.

That is a great deal -- easier and no more expensive than doing it 
yourself, and the box is custom-sized.  The only "local packers" I 
know of are the Mailboxes, Etc. type of store, and the work I've seen 
from the high schoolers who work at those doesn't impress me.  Any 
suggestions for finding the sort of professional packers you found 
(Yellow Pages category, etc)?

If you do less than what is described above, and the unit is damaged 
in shipping, it is YOUR fault, IMO.

Best regards,

Don