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Best way to ship a Kaypro 2?

JDT

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 17, 2007
Messages
564
Location
Cicero, NY
I am envisioning a large box and LOTS of packing material, my question is in regards to position, vertically UD or DU, or horizontally? I suppose even if shipped vertically that the likelihood of it being horizontal anyway at some or most of its journey... I'm converned with the build in display being a tube and all... and I don't want the weight of itself to break itself... so anyone have any recomendations for transit of a Kaypro 2? I assume the IBM 5155 or Compaq Portable whatever would have similar concerns?

Thankfully it only needs to go from NY to NJ, but... we all know what can happen which is why I will packing it, shipping costs are not of concern.

Thanks in advance,

-JDT
 
I use dense polystyrene foam (the pink stuff that's sold as insulation at your local home-improvement store. Construct a box with it to fit inside of the (double-walled) cardboard box. Put the Kaypro in that, brace with more foam so that it doesn't move and then take a partially deflated child's play ball and place it between the screen face and the nearest solid surface.

If it can't move and the CRT can't come loose because some mounting boss has broken, it'll get there more or less intact.
 
Assume the box will be dropped 2 feet, and things will be stacked on the box in the heat and rain. Pack accordingly and nothing should happen. We ship vintage computer items almost every day (for the past month or so)...usually the items arrive in good shape, but we have had 2 damaged shipments in about 40 deliveries, shipping is a risk.
 
The method I've found to work the best is the box-in-box method is the best for anything with a CRT in it.

The idea of the game is to immobilize the unit in the inner box but to allow the inner box to move around in the outer box. Bag the computer and then cram the inner box to over-flowing with rigid foam peanuts, triangles, what have you and pack every available space.

By "move around" I mean using sponge foam between the inner box and outer box so that it can absorb any impacts.

It, unfortunately about doubles the cost of shipping, but, no matter how far I've shipped stuff with CRTs, none have ever been damaged.
 
I've been using Insta-Pak bags purchased from work. We use them for shipping industrial machinery, some of which is pretty heavy. Don't know what they cost if you buy one at a time, but work charges me $3 per bag. If you haven't heard of them, they've got two pouches with A-B foam. You squeeze pouch #1 into pouch #2, mix back and forth, and then the foam activates, bursting the pouches and filling the bag. It flows around whatever is in the box, and makes basically a molded polyurethane foam cradle for it. Often you have to cut the box or lift the entire block of foam out to unpack!
 
should I consider removing the chassis cover and putting anything inside to cradle the CRT neck? I'm damned nervous about shipping this.
 
should I consider removing the chassis cover and putting anything inside to cradle the CRT neck? I'm damned nervous about shipping this.

I wouldn't bother...both of my Kaypros had the CRT held in place very securely. All of the CRT weight is in the front section anyway.
 
It's a Kaypro. You could probably just stick a label to it and mail it as-is...

But I would put it in a box with packing material. The Kaypro is very solidly built, I don't forsee any problems. The tiny CRT in a Kaypro doesn't have a large heavy deflection yoke to worry about, so there's no danger of it breaking easily. Some CRT containing devices have very heavy yokes, and a good hard hit will cause them to shear the neck off the tube. Happened to me with a graphic terminal.

Also, the Kaypro is not very large or very heavy, so it shouldn't be too hard to find a box that it fits in with plenty of room for packing.

-Ian
 
If you can get your customer to pay for it, it's useful to put a shock indicator, such as Shockwatch, on the box. Lets the shipper know that if the package falls off the top of the loading conveyer at the airport, a claim will be successful.
 
If you can get your customer to pay for it, it's useful to put a shock indicator, such as Shockwatch, on the box. Lets the shipper know that if the package falls off the top of the loading conveyer at the airport, a claim will be successful.

Be sure to order the correct impulse though -- carriers are getting wise about Shockwatch stickers and will try to invalidate a claim if you have an impulse other than that recommended by Shockwatch for the size and weight of your item.
 
interesting... shockwatch, where does one get these? Oh... they look expensive LOL but.. interesting.
 
They're not super-cheap, but they work out to be less than $2 each in quantities of 100, which if you're shipping something expensive and delicate isn't much compared to the possibility of not being able to get your claim accepted by the handler. I believe you can order them through Amazon in smaller quantities.
 
I've shipped monitors successfully in the following way.

1. Get a box that has 6" clearance between the monitor and the box all the way around.
2. Put the monitor in a plastic trash bag.
3. Put 6" of packing p-nuts on the bottom of the box.
4. Put plastic-bag wrapped monitor on top of the p-nuts.
5. Fill the open cavity of the box with "Great Stuff" spray foam insulation. It will expand a lot. An alternate way using the spray foam is to squirt it into a plastic garbage bag and then put it into the box surrounding the monitor. If you want you can punch a hole in the bottom when you seal the box and squirt foam in around the p-nuts.

Works for me, bubble wrap is good, soft foam is good, I hate packing p-nuts but they have their uses.

Make sure you wrap the item well to protect it from the great stuff, seran wrap and then a garbage bag works well. The great stuff is s-t-i-c-k-e-y and difficult to remove.
 
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...but this isn't a monitor--it's a luggable Z80 box--the keyboard is part of the lid that covers the CRT. This has problems of its own.

Since that is the case I'd add to what I already suggested. Seperate the keyboard from the computer case, seran wrap the case but not the front. The front CRT and drives would get soft cushy foam secured with packing tape. I like the great stuff because it forms to the shape of the item and acts like a shock absorber.

For shipping I have had better luck with FEDEX Ground than UPS on fragile stuff. Lots of good suggestions in this thread, I hadn't heard of Shockwatch.
 
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