Beogram 4004 Type 5526: Packing for Shipment

I know the owner of this nice Beogram 4004 is ready for it to come home so I went through the packing steps and have it ready to take to the shipper.

The first steps I do in packing a Beogram is to remove the cartridge and lock down the floating suspension. The Beogram 400x series of turntables have three locking screws that are accessible inside the case if you remove all of the deck panels or from underneath the turntable if you don't want to open it up. In this case I preferred the latter.

Note: Only use a hand screw driver and don't over torque the screws. They just need to gently reach their travel limit and stop.

Now on to protecting the deck and tonearm for travel. The suspension is locked but the top platter and sub-platter could come loose during shipment should the box be turned upside down (a very real scenario).

I remove the top platter and pack it in a nice vinyl record shipment box.

I leave the sub-platter in place and cut a matching platter circle from packing foam. I also cut out packing foam to take care of the deck and tangential arm assembly. After aligning everything I glue my foam circle to the deck protective foam and fit it into place.

As you can see the dust cover closes over the foam packing insert. Now I put the turntable into a plastic bag and seal it up with clear packing wrap.

The Beogram 4004 is now secure where nothing should be able to move during shipment no matter what side the box is set on.

For outside protection I double-wrap the turntable using eggshell crate type shipping foam.

That entire bundle is set into my double thick walled shipping box. Instead of two separate shipping boxes I have been opting for a single box that has two layers of cardboard instead of the usual single layer. I cut and glue white shipping foam to the bottom and sides of the cardboard box.  The Beogram and platter fit nicely inside. Cables and cartridge boxes fit in the little compartments I created with extra foam blocks (also glued to the sides of the box).

The last two pieces are another eggshell foam top piece and a shipping foam lid.

This type of Beogram packing has worked well for me. The resulting size of the box is a little smaller than my old double boxed container so it is easier for the shipping guys to handle. That will reduce the chances of a drop.

It is always sad to see a project unit go but there is already another turntable waiting for restoration. Here's to a safe journey home.