 
|
Audio Asylum Thread Printer Get a view of an entire thread on one page |
For Sale Ads |
|
|
Audio Asylum Thread Printer Get a view of an entire thread on one page |
For Sale Ads |
131.179.158.26
I am about to ship a pair of CJ Premier-12 monoblock amps back to Conrad Johnson for upgrades. The amps weigh 46 lbs each. They sold me a pair of sturdy cardboard boxes with foam inserts designed for these amplifiers. The amps fit in well with a lot of padding and no motion. Should I ship the amps in these boxes without placing them in external boxes? I thought you should always double-box heavy delicate equipment, but Conrad Johnson wants me to send them in their single boxes. What do you guys think?
Follow Ups:
I used them to ship a pair of Infinity Prelude MTS speakers which consisted of two heavy towers and two very heavy bass modules. Two techs came for the speakers to my house and took them to the warehouse for boxings and palletizing.
"Horse sense is the thing a horse has which keeps it from betting on people. "
― W.C. Fields
I have been quite successful with carpet padding. That foam shit. I also make wood protectors.
Hi Tantra, There is a show I've been watching called Shipping Wars where different independent truckers bid on hard to ship items. After you watch a couple of episodes you might want to drive the amps yourself to where they are to be worked on.This show is on the channel Quest....Mark Korda
I shipped a Mac MR71 with case last year....about 30 lbs. I wrapped it tightly in bubble sheet- several layers in 2 directions; front to back and side to side. I measured critical dimensions. THEN I constructed a wooden box using 1/4 in plywood and 1x1 board. My local big box store cut to size. Cost of materials was about $15 and construction took about 15 min. If you think through process it is easy. The tuner fit with just enough room to add insulating foam in places. The wooden box was placed into an oversize heavy duty cardboard box, with 2 inches of dense foam insulation in all directions. Buyer said it was the best packing job he every received.
I recently shipped a Mac 1500 receiver...about 55 lbs. I pulled the output tubes and wrapped these in bubble wrap. The entire receiver was tightly wrapped in bubble sheet in 2 directions; side to side and front to back. I added additional bubble wrap to protect the face and back. This was put into a HD cardboard box of approximately the same size as the wrapped receiver, and additional insulation was included. This box was put into a larger box with insulation, THEN into a 3rd box with insulation. Time spent was about 30 minutes. Buyer received and sent praise for integrity of shipping.
I have shipped a Mac 2100 (about 65 lbs), a Electrovoice 30 inch woofer (shipped to China !), several Fisher 500c receivers etc.
Time spent up front is multiplied by time and expense saved at the end.
Putting expensive heavy equipment on a pallet will greatly reduce the risk of damage. No hand lifting, tossing, falling off a conveyor, etc. It also assures that nothing will be stacked on top of it.
The company I work for sells very fragile and expensive used for making semiconductors and the most expensive and fragile stuff almost always goes on a pallet.
And surprisingly, it can be cheaper if you use a common carrier.
Two better than one. A wooden crate would be even better.
We would send packaged racks full of equipment.Attached would be tilt and impact indicators that would break if the rack was tilted or dropped.
I think I've seen similar things attached to high end audio equipment somewhere along the line.
I'm not sure what shippers are willing to do this and the added expense of doing it.
These products are shipped in wood frames, with various packaging from cardboard, pellets and completed wrapped in plastic film. I've seen big McIntosh amps with similar packaging.
Edits: 04/27/21
Yeah - no matter what "insurance" or "declared value" you claim?
If your UPS or FedEx Ground package cannot withstand this? You have no business sending it that way.
Company I wokred for used Silicon Wafers in the manufacture of transistors / diodes and such.
We had one line which was shipped out for irradiation. We used custom tooling and EACH 'set' of maybe 50 wafers or so was individually anti-static bagged and sealed. EACH bag also got a shockwatch sticker.
Designed to indicate an over a certain accelertion event. Such stickers were available in 1g thru 20g increments and were reliable.
We'd inspect each for a trigger event and I had to be there when these were opened to help document for the shipper and insurance and to 'scrap' out the broken material from the line.
It is NOT in the interest of shippers to adopt this system. They'd have to improve all package handling and could lose a LOT in insurance claims. Also? A trigger event would start a 'he-said / she-said' which would last months.
Too much is never enough
Vacuum tubes are often compromised by shock, although they may otherwise appear undamaged......
I'd suspect that ANY electronic device could be damaged by a shock or impact in a non-obvious way.
Modern solder, I'm told, is somewhat more 'brittle' than old formulations and subject to cracking.
I had a TV with numerous cold-solder joints Never had been bumped or dropped or mistreated.
I'd expect a detailed exmination of a tube on a tube checked to show a fault? No?
Too much is never enough
Pack it right, or live with the consequences.
Conveyor belts do NOT read "fragile" or "this way up" labels!
go way higher and the test can be adjusted to have a corner impact.
None of those simulate the drop from the top conveyor belt however high that is or the careful handling by a delivery driver having a bad day and mad at your particular package.
Minimum, as in: If your package can't survive this? You are SOL, if something happens.
Frankly? I'm good with that. If your package can't survive a 3 foot drop, landing on any side? You didn't package it properly. I did NOT appreciate such a thing, until I owned & ran a "Pack & Ship Center." Anything I pack will either meet that criteria, or I will tell the customer upfront that they are shipping "on a wing and a prayer," and any damage claims will likely be laughed at.
d
a friend's son had a roommate who worked for a couple of the carriers delivering and when I met him I asked him about packages. He said it was a crapshoot about handling but most of the time they get the shit kicked out of them, especially the heavy ones. This was all in the transport to the destination but when the truck pulls up to the house they handle with care like it says on the package.
Make sure it's insured for above value JIC.
Yup, from experience it is a crapshoot. Just got my pre back from Cary (screen print issues on the faceplates) with holes in the outer box and enough scuff marks that looked like the pushed the thing to me some of the way. Good thing Cary uses double boxes, and so the inner was still in good condition. However, when I first received the new pre from Cary, the outer box was absolutely pristine. The Cary pre (power supply and main unit) is also close to 50lbs.
From speaking to others, they all said to send sensitive stuff with FedEx. All the back and forth from Cary was through FedEx, so it really depends on the guy driving the truck. The shipping document also said someone needs to be home to sign. Although I was home, the guy rang the bell, left the package and was already halfway down the block when I opened the door - so much for signature required.
It depends. How sturdy are the CJ boxes and packing? I've seen manufacturers that use excellent packaging and some that barely get a passing grade.I often double-box using the heavy duty boxes that are available for purchase at FedEx. Not the thin ones, the thicker ones. Many FedEx boxes are larger than needed but I've gotten pretty good at scoring the excess with a box cutter and folding the flaps over then taping with heavy duty filament reinforced strapping tape. My favorite is bi-directional filament tape.
I hate packing peanuts! For my last big shipments I bought various sizes of foam blocks and sheets to insert between the two boxes. You can also buy that foam insulation with aluminum foil on one side from Home Depot. That works nicely as well. The point is to not let the inner box flop around inside the larger outer box.
Edits: 04/26/21
Last box I packed.....18x18x12 contained a 1940s Marine Compass worth 600$ at retail.....
I packed it so well that when the nice young lady at the shipping store Saw it and hefted it....It was around 28lb, she offered me a job ON THE SPOT.
I customized top and bottom piees out of sheet styrofoam. Sides reinforced. compass which was on gambles, was immobilized and padded. Compass box was wrapped in 4x layers of bubbles
NO PEANUTS. A waste, generally, IMO.
I used up almost ALL of the styrofoam I had around the house for just this purpose AND a lot of that reinforced / filiment tape. ZERO FLOPPAGE.
Too much is never enough
I sent a 145 pound McIntosh amp via UPS in the original McIntosh box and packaging with no problems.
"I've always been mad, I know I've been mad, like the
most of us...very hard to explain why you're mad, even if you're not mad..."
If you can find a shipper that handles pallets from non-commercial customers, this is likely to offer careful shipping. No guys dragging them off a truck, dropping them onto a barrow and trundling to your door. Pallets are only moved by fork trucks and not touched by anyone so cartons likely to arrive in perfect condition. Usually 750 Kg on a 120 x 100 cm pallet (or whatever is standard in your country) at very reasonable price.
You will not be able to insure the package if it is used equipment.
Trust me, I know!
You can insure used equipment, and claims for damage to used gear are paid all the time.
If the piece is in current production, insure it for the current retail price. If it's trashed, you should be able to negotiate a claim of 70-75% of that price, and sometimes the insurer will just pay out the amount you insured it for.
If the gear is not in current production, look at ebay/audiogon/etc. completed sales to figure out an average market value, and insure it for about 150% of that, so if there is a claim your settlement will hopefully end up somewhere around that value.
Pack it very securely, double-boxed where appropriate, and take pics of the packaging, which you'll need should you end up with a claim. NEVER use third party franchisees like Pack n Ship, because if there is damage, you'll have to rely on the franchisee's willingness to pursue the claim, which they are NOT required to do, according to both their franchise agreement and the fine print on your invoice. Some franchisees are willing to pursue claims, but most will not.
If in doubt, double-box. It never hurts.
Note for McIntosh gear with glass faceplates: pay whatever it takes to get factory packing. Whatever the cost, it's worth it. Follow the instructions on the packing. Some models require removing feet and screwing-on a provided plywood board, others don't.
WW
"They got a handful of gimme and a mouthful of much obliged." Alberta Hunter
Until they ram the forks into the boxes instead of under the pallet ;-)
I've seen it happen! But I get your point that it's probably safer (but not fool proof).
If there were obvious fork holes in the box you could make a claim irrespective of insurance cover. They have a legal responsibility to take reasonable care and forks through the box could not be defended.
I sent a pair of Martin Logan Expression 13Sa on a pallet without uninsured but took photos of it being loaded my end to verify no visible damage. All was well and I was much happier seeing it off on a pallet than smaller packaged in the physical hands of a courier
Place them in external boxes. I have had bad luck shipping heavier amps and the box was ripped open and the amp dented. This was done by manufacturer- so insist on double boxes on return.
You'll pay more for shipping but keeping those original boxes looking and feeling as good as possible is a must, especially if damage claims arise.Double box, yes.
Edits: 04/26/21
No worries.....I sent a 150 lb amp back to Ayre in its original box.....they sent it back to me in the same box......no problem. These are specially built boxes for their specific job.
Edits: 04/26/21
Put the amps in the boxes provided by C-J but do not seal the boxes. Take
them to your local pack-and-ship place and let them handle that as well as
the actual shipping.
I recently purchased a new transport from Audio Advisor and it was double
boxed when it arrived.
Whether or not you can observe a thing depends upon the theory you use. It is the theory which decides what can be observed. - Albert Einstein
| FAQ |
Post a Message! |
Forgot Password? |
|
||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||
This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:
Top of Page ]
[ Contact Us ]
[ Support/Wish List ]
[ Copyright © 2025, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]
