Safe To Stretch Warp A Tolex Coverd Amp?

[rp]

My stuff is going into a container and overseas. I was told things can get damp and even wet. I'm trash bagging or stretch wrapping everything before putting in boxes. I was going to stretch wrap my amps and cabs but am a little worried the wrap may react or meld with the tolex. They might be wrapped up together for 3 months or more.

Anyone have any experience with this?

-rp

[billyz]

Put them in a big black heavy trash bag first. It will not hurt the tolex and will keep out any moisture. Tape it up good to seal it. I have done this to guitars and amps that I stored for years and they came out just like I put them away.

[Structo]

Maybe pack in a few of those desiccant packets (silica gel) you see in some packing to remove any moisture in the package.

[selloutrr]

try to get them air tight it's the salt water in the air that can cause issues later on down the road. Make sure you wipe down all your metal surfaces inside and out with alcohol when you unpack them.

follow the suggestions above and you should have a positive result.

[rp]

billyz: Put them in a big black heavy trash bag first.

I'm thinking this way too. Stretch-wrap requires two people too, is exhausting, and is incredibly noisy. I'm doing this mostly late at night. I'm putting one trash bag on the inside of all the boxes zip tying it shut and will now put each box in a big contractor trash bag with a zip tie pulled tight before going into the container.

Structo: Maybe pack in a few of those desiccant packets

Like a few thousand packs I fear. Do they make big giant packs? Maybe take a couple big plastic trash cans, hit them with a shotgun, fill them with desiccant! I've actually been saving packs from work (A/V) and will use them for the critical stuff.

selloutrr: try to get them air tight it's the salt water in the air

Reason I got uptight is I asked around about shipping overseas and one friend told me he shipped all his stuff form living in asia once and it arrived all wet. Wish I hadn't asked but at least I know. Airtight isn't possible and double bags is all I got and hopefully will do. My acoustics are going in there too - mega stress.

BTW one friend told me the containers have plywood flooring that you can nail studs to to keep stuff from sliding around. Mine's got going to be anywhere near full. Anyone verify this? This thing will pull up to my storage and I'll have just a few hours to load it myself. Be nice to know what to expect, what to have ready.

[davent]

Lee Valley is one place where you can get silica dessicant in large quantities, bound to be others around.

http://www.leevalley.com/en/garden/page ... 2194,40727

Also have these these 'anti-corrsion emitters'?

http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/page.a ... at=1,43456

dave

[rp]

Lee Valley is one place where you can get silica dessicant in large quantities, bound to be others around.

So that's way cool (is it really safe?) A few of those anti corrosion things might be in order for my Naim hifi, my Spendors and my Linn LP12, and my amps. I'm pretty worried about stuff I'm attached to and likely never have the dough to replace.

Lee Valley is a strange place I must look them over carefully, here's some more unexpected interesting oddities I've seen there:

http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/page.a ... 2965,20002

http://www.leevalley.com/en/garden/page ... at=2,51555

No hum AND no damn slugs!!!

Anyone else have any advice about sticking all your stuff in a container please let me know. Would you all stick a 1960 D18 (in a Calton-trash bag-box-trash bag) in there or take it on the plane? Planes these days really suck big time too. Never know if you can carry it on or what kind of hassle you'll get. And the container at least will be insured, whatever that turns out to really be.

[Cliff Schecht]

For the acoustic I would take it with me on the plane. Call ahead to the airport and make arrangements beforehand, this way they know what to expect when you get there and you aren't pissed off when they say you can't bring it on board. Worst comes to worst you can ship the Martin to me and I'll store it safely in my hands...err house until you're ready to get it back .

[ToneMerc]

BTW one friend told me the containers have plywood flooring that you can nail studs to to keep stuff from sliding around. Mine's got going to be anywhere near full. Anyone verify this? This thing will pull up to my storage and I'll have just a few hours to load it myself. Be nice to know what to expect, what to have ready.

I'm making an assumption that you shipping items in a Conex box (metal shipping container), they do have plywood floors. Verify with the shipper that your box is both air and water tight, as you do not want a ventilated box on a weather deck with an acoustic guitar in it.
For a 40' box you are going to need at least 2 kilos of desiccant for the entire container. The only problem with silicia gel is that once it reaches it's saturation point is no longer useful and will have to be recharged. I also would have a concern for a box that is not fully loaded, can you get the smaller 20' box?

PM me more specific info and I can provide more info.

TM

[brentm]

Is it possible to use a temperature humidity controlled container? My buddy imports products from Bali and has had a ton of mold problems using non-controlled containers. He said it wasn't much more money to upgrade to one with a generator and climate control.

[selloutrr]

If you can get insurance I would max it out at least that will give you some piece of mind. I would try to put all soft goods in vacuum seal bags. If you have a final address consider shipping your valuables directly. Or investing a water tight case like a pelican.

Can't you contact the shipping company directly and get your questions answered?

I would plan for the worst and hope for the best.

[rp]

brentm: Is it possible to use a temperature humidity controlled container?

When I first started dealing with this I did some googling. The climate controlled ones are a big part of the shipping business it seems, all the fruit, meat, vegs go this way. They plug into the ship which must have a hell of a plug strip. God knows what it costs and too much extra confusion for me.

selloutrr: Can't you contact the shipping company directly and get your questions answered? I would plan for the worst and hope for the best.

It's an Italian company out of my town which is a big plus once I'm there, they aren't really movers just shippers, so far I've had a friend deal with getting me an estimate. I'm doing this totally DIY as I can't afford to just hire a door to door company. Unfortunately they work out of Florida here and don't have a depot in NYC, so I've got to meet them somewhere, I'm planning on a storage place in the burbs of NYC. By the time I'm done I will likely have a destroyed back and a worn out mind. Hopefully I'll have my stuff dry and safe, but yeh I'm planning for the worst.

ToneMerc: PM me more specific info and I can provide more info.

It'll be a 20 footer, even that won't be close to filled, no furniture just boxes of 'my stuff' as George Carlin would say. I can't do shrink wrapped pallets as it's supposed to be done as it's all DIY. My hope is that I can lay out one layer across the floor and will have exactly enough stuff to lock it all together, think tetris lying down, but it's looking more like some stacking may be involved - I have more crap than I ever imagined including 17 boxes of vinyl LPs and some 15 boxes of books (If I was born 20 years later all that heavy crap would be in an ipod!)

What I need is a shipper with a local depot where I have a few days to load it and figure how to secure it all (w/a chance to run to back and forth to home depot) rather than just a few hours to load it at a storage place while the driver waits for me.

A PM will happen soon with some questions.

[brentm]

brentm: Is it possible to use a temperature humidity controlled container?

When I first started dealing with this I did some googling. The climate controlled ones are a big part of the shipping business it seems, all the fruit, meat, vegs go this way. They plug into the ship which must have a hell of a plug strip. God knows what it costs and too much extra confusion for me.

I believe they're diesel generator powered. Perhaps the ship has a diesel resivoir they all draw from, I'm not sure exactly. And the cost for the container didn't increase much (few hundred bucks). The mold problems my buddy experienced were seasonal (humid summer months for bali).

[Lonely Raven]

I'm sure it will all be fine!!

[img:600:450]http://www.creativetheory.co.uk/ianmedia/ship.jpg[/img]

[rp]

Yeh, great, I needed that. I also heard that there are millions of containers at the bottom of the ocean and that thousands get swept off ships every year. Hope Davey Jones enjoys my guitars and my 17 boxes of vinyl, not a bad LP in the lot.