-
shipping drivers is all about shock absorption - and
protecting the cones/domes
Ciare domes bought from www.audiosud.it.
 
Drivers packed with shredded paper and in a too
small box. Both drivers damaged with bent front panels.
Shredded paper is probably the worst packing material due
to huge amounts of dust coming from the paper.
I strongly suggest finding another
supplier should you want these fantastic tweeters. Seller
has no idea of how to pack loudspeakers properly.
German green-cones bought on eBay:
 
This
is what happens when packing is poor. Drivers wrapped in
paper and put into a box no wider than the driver.
The basket in bend and the cone is bend and the surround
is wripped apart.
"Das was doch sehr gut verpackt!" Sorry eBay
seller, it was not. Probably the worst case ever seen.
 
For small light-weight drivers like the
greencones, wrap in heavy cardboard and secure with tape.
Wrap in bubblewrap to make at least 5 cm on all sides.
For small drivers the bubblewrap seen above will do.
For larger drivers, 8-10", use 1"
bubblewrap to make at least 7-10 cm on all sides. Secure
bubblewrap with tape.
(1" bubblewrap is where the air bubbles are
1" diameter)
For heavy drivers I suggest screwing the driver onto a
12-15 mm piece of plywood before wrapping.
Pack with loads of polyester nuggets -
more than seen here - to improve chock absorption.
If you feel confident your packing
will take a 2 metre
dump onto a concrete floor - then you have done it right.
I've spoken to people in the shipping business - and yes,
this is what they do.
Dynaudio D5406 bought on eBay
Above another example
from a German eBay seller of vintage drivers.
These close-to-mint condition Dynaudios were
nicely packed in polystyrene foam and drivers in
a plastic bag. What seller didn't realise was the
impact on domes from loose pieces of polystyrene
and when un-packing, a chuck of this was sqeezed
into the dome. ANY driver MUST have a piece of
heavy cardboard or 4 mm masonite taped in front
to protect dome/membrane. Do NEVER assume seller
knows this!
To summarise my experience from
eBay:
- seller will NEVER admit not
packing properly.
- seller will blame any damage to drivers on the
shipping company and if you make a complaint,
you'll be advised to get a refund from the
shipping company.
- blaming the shipping company is futile. These
will never admit not having handled the items
properly unless you can show a box that is
smashed beyond recognition. In the case of the
Dynaudios, the box was in perfect shape.
Always communicate with
seller on packing before buying!
|
  
What
he should have done is this:
- add a piece of heavy (double-walled) cardboard in front
of drivers fixed with tape.
- wrap in bobble wrap, at least 1" thick.
- pack with polyester nuggets as seen for the green
cones.
State-of-the-art packing from
uncle-papa
   
Here's an eBay Seller who's got it right
too:
elgato1128
The tweeters were put face to face with
heavy duty hard rubber washers in between them and zip
ties holding them together (I was going to put cardboard
in between them but it was pushing on the foam rings and
leaving an impression on them so I decided not to...)
then I wrapped them tightly with pallet wrap. Beleive me,
they are NOT going to move at all .I could not show you
how the midrange was packed because it had already been
packed beforehand, but trust me, it was packed well. Just
so you know, the drivers were packed in the boxes with
heavy duty packing paper until they could not move and
then the boxes were taped all the way around with thread
reinforced packing tape. Then those boxes were put into a
bigger box with foam all the way around (top, bottom and
sides...) and one piece of foam in between the two
boxes. The packing peanuts are to compensate for the
height differnce in the two boxes. Then the outer box was
completly covered twice with the reinforced packing
tape. I hope you feel comfortable with this.
 
 
 
|