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Author Topic: Shipping a DSS200 through UPS, USPS
Justin West
Master Film Handler

Posts: 271
From: Peoria, IL, USA
Registered: Jul 2001


 - posted 10-07-2018 11:29 AM      Profile for Justin West   Email Justin West   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
I expect to send a heavy DSS 200 (which is fairly large and heavy) and I do not have the original Dolby durable cardboard box. Is there any common box found out there that could work (maybe a cast-off from a BestBuy or a computer store) or would I have to craft a custom container? The unit weighs 65lbs and dimensions 27" x 19" x 5.25" Thank you

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Leo Enticknap
Film God

Posts: 7474
From: Loma Linda, CA
Registered: Jul 2000


 - posted 10-07-2018 01:05 PM      Profile for Leo Enticknap   Author's Homepage   Email Leo Enticknap   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
I don't know about UPS or the USPS, but my local FedEx office can package up pretty much anything you show up with for shipping (at an extra fee, obviously).

If you are selling this server, I'd suggest giving UPS a call (if this is your preferred shipper), giving them the weight and dimensions of the DSS200, ask for a quote for them to package it, and pass that along to your customer.

If UPS can't do it, or you don't like their quote, your local UHaul depot will likely sell cardboard boxes of every shape and size imaginable, and enough bubble wrap to cocoon an A380.

I've never seen much in the way of packaging facilities at any USPS post office, besides small boxes, so I doubt if they'd be able to handle this. No harm in asking them, though.

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Jim Cassedy
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1661
From: San Francisco, CA
Registered: Dec 2006


 - posted 10-07-2018 02:29 PM      Profile for Jim Cassedy   Email Jim Cassedy   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Having recently pulled a DSS-200 out of a rack so I could
do some maintenance, I can confirm that they're not only
uncomfortably heavy, but seem to have an obscure center
of gravity.

As far as shipping goes, I've always been of the belief that
it makes little economic sense to risk damage when shipping
anything for lack of a few extra dollars of packing material.

Any time I've had to ship something delicate and/or expensive,
I've just paid whatever it cost to have it professionally packed.

Check the 'fine print' on the contract of whoever you decide to
ship with. In the event of damage, it's often a lot easier to
collect insurance compensation if THEY packed it, as opposed
to you doing it yourself, as they might try to blame any damage
was caused by YOUR failure to pack it well.

One other thing- - I'd recommend wrapping your DSS-200 with
newspaper or a cut-up plastic trash bag.

I have twice received electronic equipment that was simply put,
unprotected, into a box, with plastic 'peanuts' surrounding it.

During shipping, many of the 'peanuts' broke into small pieces
which found its' way into the interior of the equipment, covering
the components with tiny, electrostatically charged styrofoam bits.

In one case it took some time for me to get it all cleaned out, and
the 2nd incident actually resulted in an insurance clam because it
took professional servicing to get the machine back in runnable
condition.

(This was some time ago, and it was an expensive SONY professional
3/4in tape editing deck. Tiny styrofoam pieces got all over the insides,
including into the gap under the tape-head scanner drum, and also stuck
to the lubricants used on the tape load/unload mechanism. It took several
hundred dollars of 'professional cleaning' to make the machine usable again.)

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Leo Enticknap
Film God

Posts: 7474
From: Loma Linda, CA
Registered: Jul 2000


 - posted 10-07-2018 03:41 PM      Profile for Leo Enticknap   Author's Homepage   Email Leo Enticknap   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Oh yeah - Styrofoam fragments in a UMatic VCR sounds like a nightmare situation, to put it mildly. And agreed - it's just possible for one, reasonably fit person to manhandle a DSS200 in and out of a rack, though not comfortably. I'd always ask for help if any is available.

I guess it might be an idea to remove the HDD caddies from the server and bubble wrap them separately for shipping; though when we ship DSS200s from our shop, we always do so with the drives in, and none has ever been DOA. I believe that's how the servers shipped from Dolby, too, though Doremi DCP2000s and Showvaults came with the drives in a separate padded box, shipped inside the main carton.

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Mark Gulbrandsen
Resident Trollmaster

Posts: 16657
From: Music City
Registered: Jun 99


 - posted 10-08-2018 03:04 PM      Profile for Mark Gulbrandsen   Email Mark Gulbrandsen   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
I use Craters & Freighters and Navis Pack and Send. They would probably charge you about $50 to custom make a heavy gauge box that would be reusable.

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Martin Brooks
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 900
From: Forest Hills, NY, USA
Registered: May 2002


 - posted 10-08-2018 11:59 PM      Profile for Martin Brooks   Author's Homepage   Email Martin Brooks   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
It should probably be packed protected in a carton and that entire carton should be packed into another carton with peanuts or foam around it to absorb any shocks.

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