Structural integrity

[Smokebreak]

I'm putting together a 50W combo, that is gonna be shipped.
I wondering what this forum's opinion is regarding standup vs. laydown transformers are, as far as assuming the amp is going to get thrown around by the shipping company, as well as for the amp's life.

I'm going to top load the chassis, Fender style. I'm using Watts' .09 aluminum chassis with the set 1/4" inserts. So the iron will be hanging upside down.

I'd rather use a standup PT, affording me more room, and ultimately a smaller total footprint. However , I'm imagining the havoc that it could wreak during shipping. This may be totally unfounded, or just as "dangerous" as a laydown, as the distance between the cutout and the mounting holes are always pretty close, not affording a ton of stability either.

Am I being ridiculous? Obviously a bazillion laydown combos have been tossed around for ages, but I'm not so sure about standups. How would you do it? Which one would you consider has more structural integrity/least chance for disaster?

[matt h]

(deleted)

[Jana]

Shipping it upside down is a good idea.

Also, double box it. Put the amp in a padded box and seal it up. Then, find another box that is a couple inches larger on all sides and have a couple inches of foam packing all around. The idea is, when it gets dropped--and it will--that the inner box with the amp doesn't come to an abrupt stop when the out box hits the floor. It is that abrupt stop that rips transformers loose.

momentum, energy, all that stuff.

[xtian]

Yes! Elementary school egg drop experiment!

Don't worry about the chassis--I've seen a hand full of 0.090" Al chassis that look fine, with PTs bent out of shape by abuse. The brackets on the PT are far weaker than the chassis.

Were you reading the thread about Jelle's amp over on TGP?

[billyz]

I'm with Jana, ship them upside down, I've seen tweed amps pull the chassis bolts right thru the cabinet.

[Phil_S]

+1 for Jana....
Also, here is everything you need to know about shipping: http://timeelect.com/Shipin.htm
Of course, you may want to reconsider not using the address provided in the instructions

[tony hunt]

I'd like to add two more suggestions:

- use oversize washers to fix the transformers
- put a sacrificial timber board in front of the griile and if you can on the back too.

I had a 50s Fender shipped internationally. The double packing was puntured through to the tweed by what looked like a forklift. It only scarred the tweed and cab up some more, but it could have been the front and through the speaker.

[Leo_Gnardo]

What matt h, jana, and tony hunt said.

Stop blocks to keep transformers in place - big +1.

Upside down - great idea & so easy to do, leave it to Jana

Baffle protection - for sure! One thing I see way too often is speakers ripped right off the baffle. Might consider shipping speakers separately as well, what a hassle and expense but they can't much tear off the baffle then.

Seems shipping personnel, not all but enough to cause trouble, take it as their personal mission to "test" anything with a "fragile" sticker on it. So save your money on that, just the address please on the box. The guys and gals who drive the trucks & deliver the boxes, they give the the cargo the gentlest handling it will see on the trip.

Computer-directed machine "sorting" has your box and everyone elses traveling from one conveyor belt to another, and getting "punched" off one to land on another belt sometimes 10 feet below. OOF! One of the best directions I ever got was, pack your box as if you know it's going to get thrown out a 2nd story window onto a concrete sidewalk. If you think your prize will survive, go ahead and ship it. Because that's what's going to happen to it.

[Jana]

The upside down was Matt's idea.

[Leo_Gnardo]

The upside down was Matt's idea.

Wups, I was just starting to sip my first coffee of the day. Now I gotta go stand on my head. Credit Matt with yet another good idea.

Let me pitch a good practice when shipping an amp, chassis only: bolt it to a board. Seen some bent & twisted chassis show up, luckily none at my workshop. I tell my crustomers "bolt it to a board or don't bother shipping, I'm not going to take the time to hassle it out with you and your shipper." Bolting speakers to a board works a treat too.

[Structo]

I understand the idea of shipping a tubes down amp with the tubes up.

But how does UPS or FedEx know which side is up and do they even care?

[eniam rognab]

But how does UPS or FedEx know which side is up and do they even care?

arrows? and no they dont...

best to ship everything on a palette

[Richie]

Some great ideas being posted. Also it may cost more, but the fastest shipping it is handled less. And arrives the quickest, less time for them to tear it up. it don't have to be next day, cause that is very expensive,but 2 or 3 day will help.

I think its just a gamble when shipping, as sometimes no matter what you do, they will break something. I've seen the whole top board of a twin reverb sitting down on the speakers. And steel chassis hooved out from the weight of the transformers. Standup transformers help to have mounting brackets. The Mounting legs or feet of most transformers are thin and usually bend.

Some box tubes too, I have seen tubes pulled out of claw retainers from amps dropped so hard.

[Richie]

sorry double post

[Smokebreak]

Thanks for the feedback , gang. It seems my concerns of standups in combos is unfounded, so long as reinforcements are made for the shipping process. Of course that guarantees nothing ;( I'll prepare for the worst and hope for the best!