[J-Pak]

I have a pair of broken Quad ESL63 speakers I'm looking to have fully rebuilt. I'm wondering what would be the best way to have these packed and shipped to the person rebuilding them. Economical, but not some risky service is what I'm looking for.

Would having the UPS Store pack them be an ok option? Then ship by UPS Ground.

Thanks

[SteveFord]

PUS, ugh.
I use my local FedEx shipper, they do the packing and ship FedEx Ground.
They've managed to get 1.6s to Norway, tube preamps to Hong Kong, guitars all over the place, no problems.

[J-Pak]

PUS, ugh.
I use my local FedEx shipper, they do the packing and ship FedEx Ground.
They've managed to get 1.6s to Norway, tube preamps to Hong Kong, guitars all over the place, no problems.

Do you take them to a Fedex store to have them packed, or do they come to your house to pick them up? I have actually never used Fedex before (only received parcels from Fedex).

[SteveFord]

I go to their store and they box the stuff up if I don't have the original packaging.  This place does FedEx, DHL and USPS and he always says to go FedEx.
We have a UPS store that's closer but FedEx has worked well for me so that's where I go. 
You'd need to contact FedEx to see about scheduling a pick up but I think that's only if it's already boxed up and you would need to set up an account.
One final thought: if you ship anything valuable overseas you're taking a gamble with the post office as it will only track the package until it reaches the country of origin.  After that you're on your own. 
My FedEx shipper says he lost a couple of grand shipping CDs to China for people: once they hit Customs the Post Office was done with it and the customers put in claims for merchandise not being received.  He got hit with the refunds.

[J-Pak]

I go to their store and they box the stuff up if I don't have the original packaging.  This place does FedEx, DHL and USPS and he always says to go FedEx.
We have a UPS store that's closer but FedEx has worked well for me so that's where I go. 
You'd need to contact FedEx to see about scheduling a pick up but I think that's only if it's already boxed up and you would need to set up an account.
One final thought: if you ship anything valuable overseas you're taking a gamble with the post office as it will only track the package until it reaches the country of origin.  After that you're on your own. 
My FedEx shipper says he lost a couple of grand shipping CDs to China for people: once they hit Customs the Post Office was done with it and the customers put in claims for merchandise not being received.  He got hit with the refunds.

Thanks for the help. These are staying in the mainland USA. I'll give Fedex a call tomorrow. I think I never used them since they are a Fedex/Kinkos here and weren't equipped for personal shipping way back when they opened.

[powerfast]

The measurement from the original box in mm is 80x33x102, use this as your guide.  You need a big box sturdy box.  In the original packaging, styrofoam holds the speaker at a diagonal supporting the base and along entire length of both sides.  the grille is alleast 2-3" from the side of the box.

To protect the grille i suggest wraping & taping cardboard across the entire length & width front and back,  wrap & tape min 2" bubble around & box.
Hope this helps.   

[thunderbrick]

Staying in the lower U.S.?

From where to where?  Maybe a traveling AC member might haul them for the price of a few MFSL LPs?   

[josh358]

I was also going to suggest that you double box them. Use the original sized box for the inside and a much larger box for the outside, whatever their shipping size regulations permit. I shipped my Tympani IVa's by Fedex and they managed to dent the metal pole piece with a fork lift that went right through Magnepan's very heavy shipping box. They paid the insurance claim, but now I have to ship my speakers out to Magnepan and if they can't unbend it with their special pole-piece undenting tool they'll have to build a new driver (amazing that they can do that).

[SteveFord]

It's not too amazing to me, it's really not so difficult to build a new forklift or FedEx driver.  Heck, even I can do it!
Who was that woman up at Magnepan?  Irma, Irnya, Sweetina, the Sports Illustrated model lady.
You're just going to have to be patient, that's all.  16 years or so and he (or she) will be ready to take his test.

I do know of one fellow (not me) who had a forklift run through a Sunfire amplifier - damned thing still worked! 
I think that was UPS at work.
Double boxing is always a good idea but it can only do so much...

[josh358]

Maybe if they lined the outer box with fragmentation grenades? That would be a strong incentive to the fork lift operator to exercise care. Of course, it wouldn't do much for our equipment if they went off. Ah, well, I guess that's what insurance is for.

[josh358]

PS -- got the double boxing idea from someone else, on one of the forums. He said it had worked well for him with Maggies, even better than palletization.

[SteveFord]

Grenades - that reminds me, I hope everyone has a happy and safe 4th of July.

[thunderbrick]

Double box them, but NO WORTHLESS BUBBLE WRAP ANYWHERE!!!!

Use i" rigid foam (Dow blue board or similar) not that crappy white stuff.  Make sure the cardboard is very rigid.  There usually are numbers relating to the bursting strength; the higher the better.

If you have a moving company nearby, see if you can get used "china barrels".  Very strong cardboard and you can use 2 or 3 to make a larger box.  When you rock the boxes back and forth make sure the speakers don't move at all.  MUST be rigid.

Grenades?  Ridiculous!  Just apply some of those diamond-shaped DOT "high explosives" placards to the box you see on 18 wheelers.  You get extra points if you use military-style stencils to spray paint "CAUTION:  LAND MINES"

If they DO blow up it'll be be easy to file a claim with Bose.  EVERYONE knows that Bose does to music what high explosives do to your ears!  Case closed!!!!!!!   

[*Scotty*]

I would make a minor change to thunderbrick's foam recommendations and advocate 2inches of the white bead-board which is very similar in density to what is used in motorcycle helmets and bicycle helmets. This type of foam can keep your speakers and components alive in the same way that the helmets made from it help keep you alive in the event of an impact.The reason for the change is that the white bead-board will deform under impact and absorb shock much more effectively than the blue or pink higher density styrofoam. You can easily feel the difference in shock absorption between the two types of foam if you punch your fist into 2inches of blue foam versus 2inches of white foam. You want to get the rigidity and strength for shipping safety from the external cardboard box and have the foam guts give enough to absorb some shock.
Scotty

[Chromisdesigns]

<snip> now I have to ship my speakers out to Magnepan and if they can't unbend it with their special pole-piece undenting tool they'll have to build a new driver (amazing that they can do that).

Here is a good picture of their special tool (known colloquially as "the BFH"):