How to safely ship a Performa 550/575?

[dzog]

With their brittle aged plastic and heavy CRTs, it seems these lovely machines (very sadly) survive shipping less often than not. Has anybody had success or know the proper methods? Any wisdom to share?

Double boxing for sure, but seems like that's not enough. Is getting one "professionally packaged" (e.g. by FedEx Pack & Ship) a good option? How have you done it, if you have done it? 

 

[Byrd]

Welcome dzog,

are you sending or receiving?

Short answer is don't do it, the plastics really are brittle and the heavy CRT on top makes it top heavy and mishandled by shipping people.

However, if you must ... a "pool noodle" cut up as a skeleton frame around all edges works + five layers bubble wrap + thick box + more bubble wrap/foam beans + thick box, a "fragile" sticker on every side.  Consider shipping it upside down (owing to top heavy arrangement) on a tiny pallet too ...

JB

 

[EvilCapitalist]

I thought I saw a thread where someone had removed the CRT from the case and shipped that separate from everything else.  It means a bit more work on both the sending and receiving sides, and transfers the burden of protection to making sure the neck on the CRT doesn't snap, but that seems the most reasonable option if you have to ship one of those machines.  The plastic is brittle to the point that I've seen 5xx series machine shipped with expandable foam used to perfectly encapsulate the machine, and the CRT still broke free from the mount points. 

 

[dzog]

Welcome dzog,

are you sending or receiving?

Short answer is don't do it, the plastics really are brittle and the heavy CRT on top makes it top heavy and mishandled by shipping people.

However, if you must ... a "pool noodle" cut up as a skeleton frame around all edges works + five layers bubble wrap + thick box + more bubble wrap/foam beans + thick box, a "fragile" sticker on every side.  Consider shipping it upside down (owing to top heavy arrangement) on a tiny pallet too ...

JB

Thanks! In this case, potentially receiving. It's about 15 hours drive away, domestic (within U.S. in my case). If it was 4-5, I'd make the trip myself, but 15 is going to be hard especially with COVID situation. 

I explained the fragility to the seller and he's willing to do professional packaging or take direction. But I think 'taking the CRT out' is probably not in the cards sadly. 

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

That's unfortunate.

I thought I saw a thread where someone had removed the CRT from the case and shipped that separate from everything else.

I was just about to make that suggestion. I think I'd want to ship easily removed internal components like FDD/HDD and logic board drawer in a third box as well if I were shipping one. Slimming any non-compact AIO to as close as possible to just the chassis and shell would be my plan and even in that case I'd think twice about shipping one.

edit: I'll second that welcome to the MLA!

 

[tyndall]

We used to ship CRT's at IBM for AIX training. Had to be fairly bomb proof. I've done it the same way with color classics.

Basically wrap it in a thick plastic bag, spray-foam the bottom of the box, wait for it to firm up a bit, put the monitor in, let it dry, foam the rest, let it dry, cut off whatever sticks out the top and close the box. This gave us at least 6 inches of protection in every direction and it was completely supported. Lining the box first and careful cutting of the foam after, meant it was all reusable. The boxes were big and the shipping wasn't cheap, but at least it got there in one piece.

 

[LaPorta]

I honestly think we should start looking for some sort of way to u[SIZE=1.4rem]se some sort of method where you cover the machine in a plastic bag, suspend it in a box somehow (or however you would do this), and use something like GreatStuff or other expanding foam to make a custom, hard foam shell within a box for shipping. This probably is not very economical with spray foam being $10 a can or so, but that's a lot less than, say, going through the damage investigation BS with the post office and what have you. Any thoughts on that sort of thing?[/SIZE]

 

[Byrd]

Thanks! In this case, potentially receiving. It's about 15 hours drive away, domestic (within U.S. in my case). If it was 4-5, I'd make the trip myself, but 15 is going to be hard especially with COVID situation. 

I explained the fragility to the seller and he's willing to do professional packaging or take direction. But I think 'taking the CRT out' is probably not in the cards sadly. 

Should have added shipping it CRT face down might be better than upside down, heaviest part at bottom and plastics padded to avoid damage.

 

[Jinnai]

Seconding that! Right where the CRT is screwed to the frame should be down, in my opinion.

 

[dzog]

Thanks for the insights everyone. And for the welcome into the community!

I am currently between the following thoughts:

1. Try for the pool noodle padding + double (triple!?) boxing. I actually have a bunch of pool noodles from an old art project that I could send the seller, if he's down to spend the time and effort. Pool noodle frame + bubble wrapping + multiple exterior boxes? Will it work? 

2. Since it's about a 15 hour highway drive (and not across seas or anything), something like https://www.roadie.com/ perhaps. It may be a few hundred dollars , and with trust that "some person with a car" is handling things well. But also a single load into a passenger vehicle sounds a lot less dicey than a shipping company. And "this side up" can be reasonably expected to actually be followed. Anybody tried something like this? 

 

[Unknown_K]

Anytime you have a heavy CRT attached directly to a very brittle plastic frame you will get broken plastics if the box is dropped (gforces on the parts in question) even if they are packed very well. Eventually things like that will have to be well packed and strapped to a skid to keep people from dropping the box.

 

[dzog]

A glimmer of hope! I searched eBay for completed auctions of these machines and started messaging sellers for "did it survive?" anecdotes. Here was the first response: 

> Hey there my friend, I shipped it with Fedex per the customers request. Fedex has this amazing new auto expanding foam (like how they do spray on insulation). It was only $70 total with packaging ground to go from Los Angeles to Texas. Customer was very happy.

Anytime you have a heavy CRT attached directly to a very brittle plastic frame you will get broken plastics if the box is dropped (gforces on the parts in question) even if they are packed very well. Eventually things like that will have to be well packed and strapped to a skid to keep people from dropping the box.

I wonder if "extra fragile, do not drop" can be paid for...

 

[dzog]

Another anecdote for those following along. (I'll edit this post with replies if more come in.)

More along the lines of the typical experience, it seems. 

 

[EvilCapitalist]

Popular Mechanics tested the theory that packages marked "Fragile" or "Handle With Care" are actually handled markedly worse than regular packages by sending test packages filled with measurement equipment.

https://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/reviews/a6284/which-shipping-company-is-kindest-to-your-packages/

Granted, this test was run nearly a decade ago, but I would wager that because package volume has only gone up since that point the results if the test were run today certainly wouldn't be any better.

 

[dzog]

I'm delighted to report back that this story has a happy ending. No depressing picture of a smashed up endangered species here. Probably because:

We didn't ship it. 

In a surprising twist, the seller drove it 10 hours north and I drove 7 hours south to pick it up. Him and his wife had planned a trip for a location much closer to me, and I was down for a long drive. (It was nice to get out of the house and look at the world for a day, even though it was all face masks and hand sanitizer every time I left the vehicle.)

This Macintosh belonged to his wife's late grandmother and they were thrilled that we were able to make an arrangement for safe hand off and that it's going to an enthusiast who will use and maintain it. Lots of happy feelings all around. 

Overall seems to be in great shape. The screen is sharp though has a slight pinkish tint which seems to subside once it has warmed up. There is a cute little circular "melt mark" or something in the plastic (see photo #2) which could be a factory defect? And the drive bezel looks like it needs snapping back in. The logic board appears to be fully operational but will need some love. A topic for another thread, I think! 

 

[Franklinstein]

Glad you avoided shipping and you got it in one piece. The 520 and 550 aren't as fragile as the 575 and later models. The 58x units usually start chunking off bits of plastic if you look at them wrong and the 52-55xx models are only marginally better.

That said, I would also suggest attempting to ship these face-down. That may seem counter to good practice, but in that position the CRT's weight is centered and at its lowest point so it's not as likely to exert excessive force on its plastic mounts from average handling. It may also prevent the CRT aperture grille from being dislodged, which is a concern for Trinitron-equipped models like the 575 and earlier color AIOs, including Color Classics. Of course, poor packaging and abusive handling will still likely result in a smashed-up machine, so it's best to avoid shipping when possible.

 

[dzog]

Glad you avoided shipping and you got it in one piece. The 520 and 550 aren't as fragile as the 575 and later models. The 58x units usually start chunking off bits of plastic if you look at them wrong and the 52-55xx models are only marginally better.

That said, I would also suggest attempting to ship these face-down. That may seem counter to good practice, but in that position the CRT's weight is centered and at its lowest point so it's not as likely to exert excessive force on its plastic mounts from average handling. It may also prevent the CRT aperture grille from being dislodged, which is a concern for Trinitron-equipped models like the 575 and earlier color AIOs, including Color Classics. Of course, poor packaging and abusive handling will still likely result in a smashed-up machine, so it's best to avoid shipping when possible.

CRT face down makes sense when you think about how the CRT is attached to the plastic frame. After reading that suggestion in this thread, that's how we transported it in our cars - bubbled wrapped in a box, CRT face-down. 

 

[Cory5412]

Glad to hear this made it safely!

These are beautiful machines and it's such a shame to see so many of them lost to shipping these days.

Over the last several years, I've had lots of luck laying cardboard, then a blanket (often folded over) down in the back of my van and placing big old Apple monitors face down, held in with some bungee straps. I've done some smaller things (AudioVision 14) face down in the van's seats as well, buckled in, and that's worked well, so it's good to hear that something similar worked well for a 575.

It's interesting to hear that the 520 and 550 are holding up better than 575s and 580s. 575, in particular, as the 575's frame is, as far as I happen to know, identical to the 520/550, but the 580's frame/case was revised a bit to accommodate the cost-reduced display and the updated motherboard. (Though, there's any number of reasons for what happens to the plastics on these things.)

 

[Scott Baret]

I actually saw one survive the mail last month on another forum.

It was packed only in regular peanuts. Now, it's likely this shouldn't have made it, but it somehow did.

The key is to not pack them too tightly and to use foam alone from what I've seen. I tried shipping a Color Classic with bubble wrap a while back, but it was a combination of too tight and too much wiggle room in the box that did it in. The packing technique I used would have gotten any SE, Classic, or Plus safely across the country.

I had a Mac TV survive the mail both ways (coming to me and shipping from me) but that was a while back when these things were a little newer and likely not as brittle. All three of the 5xx Macs I've bought in the last few years have been local pickups, and the sale I made was also a local drive (well, if 2 hours counts as local...but I figure I'd rather drive a little than risk a shipping problem, plus it was to a city I was somewhat familiar with).

I've seen similar problems with the 580 and also the LCIII+ with the newer-style case. In fact, I bought one that was damaged in the mail in January. The plastic is definitely lower grade than the older LCs.

I wouldn't trust a LaserWriter 4/600 PS in the mail at all...I have one that isn't even yellowed and seems to be getting brittle...