[Lyndon]

I will be shipping my Eico HF-81 for restoration, and wanted advice as well as links to previous threads as to the best methods.  I understand the removal of tubes, and knobs, but where to get the double boxing and how much space and packing between the boxes and unit, etc.  i have seen enough pictures from previous threads to make me very nervous about all this.
Thanks in advance,
Lyndon

[SteveFord]

Take it to a FedEx shipping location and they'll wrap the unit in bubble wrap like you won't believe, the tubes will go in a separate box (more bubble wrap) and it'll go into a brand new, heavy duty box.

[Lyndon]

Steve,
Is bubble wrap better than peanuts?  I seem to remember a combination of packing items was the most efficient.  I have a Kinkos/FedEx center three blocks from my house.

[SteveFord]

I've sent tube preamps to Hong Kong and tube tuners to Russia without mishap and they used a mountain of bubble wrap.

[JakeJ]

One caveat about having the shipper pack is you should stay and watch them do it, don't leave and expect a good job.

That said, when I pack a delicate electronics item I use two boxes with the outer box made of double-walled corrugated cardboard construction.  I try to find a box combo that allows ~3" or more inches on all sides of the item for the inner box and again ~3" between the inner and outer box.  I place the item in a heavy-duty plastic bag or wrap or if that's not available heavy-duty small size bubble wrap (you know the type that has bubbles about 1/4 to 3/16" in diameter).  Then I buy styrofoam insulation sheets at Home Depot or Lowe's and cut it to fit in around the item in the inner box.  Once the item is packed and sealed in the inner box I pack it in the outer box with styro peanuts and keep the box centered with just a bit more room under it.  Pack it tight with the peanuts as there wil be settling during shipping.  This should have it ready for the gorillas.

One problem with your situation is it is going to be shipped back to you and will the person on that end pack it as well as you did. 

Another alternative I have used is to pack as I described for the inner box above but using a double-wall one and ship it 2nd day air both ways (pre-paid for the return trip).

Always buy insurance then hope and pray you don't have to use it.

That's my .02, hope it helps.

[Lyndon]

Thanks for the good advice guys.
JakeJ,
The person looking this over is the authorized US Quad ESL speaker rebuilder, so I have no qualms how he will ship it back to me.
Time to whip out the sandblaster on that rear chassis!

[S Clark]

Fortunately, the Eico HF 81 is a small, light amp.  A couple of inches of buble wrap, a double boxed, with filler to take up any empty space should do the trick. The heavier the item, the greater the danger of the shipper destroying it.
BTW, that's a nice little amp.  I have two HF12's that Gary Dodd modified for me several years back.. great sound.

[Lyndon]

Love the Eico gear out of Long Island City.  My brother just got an apartment there above the old family restaurant, Manducottis, about three blocks from the P.S. 1 Museum, which my sister started from scratch 40 years ago.  I have an Eico ST-40 in my bedroom system paired with 2-way Coral speakers from the Vietnam era.  Great sound!
This packing will be a bit more difficult, as I can't locate the outer chassis cage, nor faceplate.

[JohnR]

The HF-81 is not that light... here is how I would do it. Wrap the amp in heavy plastic. Put it in a box lined with styrofoam (insulation sheeting) - half an inch thick minimum, an inch would be better. Use extra sheet where needed so the fit is snug. Seal it with tape and put that box inside another box also lined with styrofoam, again with a snug fit.

Wrap the tubes in bubblewrap and leave them inside the amp. (However, if you're sending it for restoration I'm not sure why you need to send the tubes.)

Chances of survival are good.

[Lyndon]

Thanks, JohnR.
I seem to remember you owning a pair of Eico monoblocks when you were living in California, many lifetimes ago.
I saved this unit, and its matching Eico tuner from a box of junk, when the 92 year old owner of Salt Lake Tubes, sold his business to a Japanese firm four years ago.
I am hating myself for taking off that faceplate.  I can't find it, and if it is at my audio friend's garage, I might as well give up.  That is like the Black Hole of Audio Gear.
Here are some shots of this unit.   Sorry in advance, as I don't know how to crop and reduce image size.  Thought I could just give the url to my flikr page.

[ken]

Ship it in double corugated boxes and use as much bubble pack and polystyrene as possible.  If you happen to have a pool and are in possesion of some noodles cut those up and use as a cheap alternative. - very effective   If you don't mind me asking who is doing the resoration on your amp.   Jim Nicholls from JWN amps did a restoration on a pair of Eico HF20 amps and I can't say enough good things about them

[JohnR]

I seem to remember you owning a pair of Eico monoblocks when you were living in California, many lifetimes ago.

Hi Lyndon, still have the HF-30s, although sadly I will need to refurbish and sell them this year. Still have my HF-87 too, although it needs replacement of the input tube socket, and the stepdown transformer thing is a constant PITA.

[a63vette]

Lyndon, I recently shipped my JWN amp for woodwork
And used a solid cardboard box, lined it with pink foam (stiff) insulation board
From Home Depot, wrapped the amp in bubble wrap
And put foam peanuts in between the pink foam and the unit so it couldn't budge. And lots of tape.
Cheap, easy and worked great. I also suggest fedex.