Question about mainboards and wrapping

[Invisix]

Hey all, I have a question reguarding the wrapping of mainboards and daughter cards that need shipping. Can I safely wrap them in news paper, and then put packing peanuts inside the shipping box?

Thanks.

[MaDDuck]

NO!!!!!
Pony up some money and buy anti-static bags from the local electronics shop!
AND *NEVER* ship cards in an Amiga, they have a BAD habit of coming loose or causing other problems. You may write fragile on the box, but that's no gaurenty that your box will be treated as such.

Pack in anti-static bags, seal them up with tape and lay down a VERY thick layer of peanuts in the box. Lay MLB on the bed of peanuts (excelsior actually!) and then fill the box with them.

How do you know if you have enough in there? If you hear NO movement from the box when you close it (and hold it closed) and shake it.

If in doubt, add MORE excelsior to the box!!!

[Castellen]

Because I do many Amiga hardware repairs from around the country, I'm often sending lots of bare PCBs around.

As mentioned, the best way to ship the likes of Zorro expansion cards is to put them into a proper anti static bag.  Then wrap it in lots of plastic bubble wrap and place it in a sturdy box.  To make sure it doesn't rattle round, you can add bits of crumpled newspaper, polystyrene, cardboard, "peanuts", popcorn (environmentally friendly), or whatever.
Chances are you may not have a static bag that fits.  In this case, wrapping with aluminium foil is fine.

When shipping bare motherboards, it's very important to remember the real time clock battery and circuit.  Obviously aluminium foil and anti static bags have conductive properties, so can short out batteries.  A direct short circuit, like with foil, can result in fire or battery explosion.
In this case, fold an A4 sized bit of cardboard in half, and place it over the RTC area so it covers the PCB on both sides.  Use tape to roughly hold it in place.  Then use the foil or anti static bags as you would normally.

Putting lots of fragile stickers on the package can help.  The couriers interpret these as "break carefully" :-)

[kgrach]

I used to work for UPS as a kid, putting Fragile on a box is the equivelent of Please bash me repeatedly. You are much better off making sure the package is balanced and not too heavy. oh Make sure the lable is on the side you want facing up. Tape well with no crack or seams that can split
Make sure the box is much bigger than the board if you only have 1" clearance on the sides of the board get a bigger box. REMEMBER FRAGILE=BASH ME. Label ON side you want UP.
Arrows and instructions don't work.

When you have to unloads trucks by hand at the rate of 1480 boxs an hour minimum you don't have time to be gentle. throw them label side up on the belt don't read or think.
except for the ocasional fragile box to take your frustrations out on.

kgrach

[Cyberus]

kgrach wrote:
I used to work for UPS as a kid, putting Fragile on a box is the equivelent of Please bash me repeatedly. You are much better off making sure the package is balanced and not too heavy. oh Make sure the lable is on the side you want facing up. Tape well with no crack or seams that can split
Make sure the box is much bigger than the board if you only have 1" clearance on the sides of the board get a bigger box. REMEMBER FRAGILE=BASH ME. Label ON side you want UP.
Arrows and instructions don't work.

When you have to unloads trucks by hand at the rate of 1480 boxs an hour minimum you don't have time to be gentle. throw them label side up on the belt don't read or think.
except for the ocasional fragile box to take your frustrations out on.

kgrach

I found that when I worked at the Post Office over Christmas a year ago. Although I wouldn't say people throw down the boxes with 'fragile' written on them any harder, its just that when you have to sort a few thousand parcels in a night, you aren't going to carefully place the one that says fragile on it. I must admit that when you are sorting parcels (standing in front of a huge rack with mail sacks hooked in) you are throwing parcels in to the bags with the odd 'trickshot' [between the legs, behind your back etc] to help to alleviate the boredom and some parcels do miss :-o

I have found that having worked in that environment has helped me package and label parcels very well! Always write your postcode! And package items well, the postie ain't out to trash your parcel, but bear in mind it migh get droppped and is likely to have a weight of parcels on top of it whatever happens.
You wouldn't believe how many letters and parcels I sorted with addresses like:
John Smith
1 Knightsbridge
London

[whabang]

@kgrach and Cyberus

Oh, yeah!
I've spent most of my career on TNT/TPG, and yes, the packages marked with "fragile" are easy targets. :-D
In general, I'd recomend that people follow Apple's standards when sending computer equipment: Apple send their stuff in really hard (those bastard write the specifications on the boxes ! :-D) cardboard boxes. Inside there are several layers of cardboard and "peanuts" to protect the goods. I assume that they also use anti-stat bags and bubble plastic.

I also hate people who send parcels London without using a post code... :-x