Beomaster 2400: Packing up the Beomaster for shipment

The Beomaster 2400 played continuously for about forty-eight hours without any problem. I exercised all of the source inputs and even made a test recording from a Beogram 8002 to a Beocord 9000.

Now it is time to properly pack the unit up and ship it home.

The following pictures show how to pack the Beomaster 2400 for safe shipping.

It is a good idea to use a plastic bag to protect from any packing material scratching of the audio component and to act as a moisture barrier.

I like to use 1 1/2 inch eggcrate foam for protecting the Beomaster and secure it with non-adhesive packing wrap).

For the shipping box I glue the bottom flaps together with wood glue then glue polyethylene padding to the floor and walls of the box.

I place the wrapped Beomaster into the padded shipping box and use more eggcrate foam for the ends and the middle of the Beomaster .

Now I can place the polyethylene lid over the packed Beomaster and seal up the box.

This Beomaster 2400 is ready to go.

Beogram 4004 Type 5526: Second Beogram 4004 from Texas - Shipping to new owner

After this second, original owner, Beogram 4004 turntable restoration the owner decided to put it up for sale here on the Beolover Blog.

I am pleased to say that this beautiful Beogram 4004 now has a new owner.  This post shows how to prepare and pack the Beogram 4004 for shipping.

We have had quite a lot of experience now in packing and shipping various Bang & Olufsen components. Our methods have tweaked here and there. Turntables are the most critical to pack safely. Mechanical parts must be secured and of course the turntable itself must be protected.

As tempting as it is to secure the turntable for shipping without removing the phono cartridge it is still best to remove it.

The removal and installation of a Beogram MMC phono cartridge is not too difficult.  I always make sure the stylus guard is in place when handling the cartridge.

In this first picture of the cartridge removal process I show how I secure the tonearm with my fingers so it won't move when pulling the cartridge off.

With the other hand I grasp the phono cartridge and stylus guard to pull the cartridge from the tonearm connector. It will resist coming off as the fit should be tight. Do not wiggle the cartridge horizontally. It comes off straight and slightly down. Don't force it.

Here you can see the connection points of the MMC cartridge and tonearm connector.

The Beogram 400x turntables have a floating chassis for the platter and tonearm assembly.  There is a chassis lockdown procedure to secure the floating chassis for shipping (or even transporting to a friend's house :-) ).  In the case of the Beogram 4004 turntable there are three floating chassing lockdown screws. They are accessible from inside the cabinet and from outside the cabinet. The normal case for an owner is to use the outside lockdown screws.

The screws are on the underside of the Beogram 4004 cabinet and you DO NOT want to turn the turntable upside down to get to them.

I hang the edge I am tightening or loosening over the edge of a table and operate the screw from underneath.

This photo shows the three Beogarm 4004 lockdown screws as seen from underneath (hanging over my workbench table). The lockdown screws do not need but a couple of turns to loosen them. Gently turn the screw driver until it won't turn but do not apply a lot of torque. Don't over tighten the screws.

Now that the phono cartridge is safely removed and the chassis is locked down for transport the packing can begin.

My first step on this turntable packing was to put a protective plastic film (like you find on new products) over the outside of the Beogram dust cover. I didn't photograph that process but the film just lays over the dust cover.

After that I remove the Beogram top platter. It is another one of those things that is tempting to leave in place but it is better to removed it and pack it separately.  Why take any chances?

I cut and place a foam insert where the top platter was and a couple of strips of foam padding over the keypad and speed display.

Then I cut to fit, a piece of polyethylene foam to secure the remaining space between the dust cover and inside of the Beomaster.  I wrapped the polyethylene foam with the same plastic film I put on the outer surface of the dust cover.  Although the foam is pretty soft I worry that movement during shipping could result in swirl scratches on the underside of the dust cover. The film should prevent that.

Now I can close the dust cover and secure the main parts of the Beomaster.

I don't like to use any tape with adhesive if possible so I wrap the Beomaster dust cover down on the cabinet with packing wrap.  After that I like placing the audio component in a plastic bag to protect against any moisture. I also hate the way the electrical cord and phono cable can dangle and the plugs potentially scratch something.  So I wrap them in foam.

The next step is wrapping the Beogram lengthwise and crosswise with egg crate type soft foam. The foam is secured with plastic wrap.

This Beogram 4004 is now ready to go into the shipping box.

Over the last few years I have found that it is better to use as small a shipping box as possible. Too large of a box becomes difficult for shipping carriers to handle and increases the chance of a drop.

With the Beogram securely tightened down and padded the job of the box is for rigid support and protection from handling mishaps (bumps and small drops).

I use double-walled cardboard shipping boxes and glue the bottom flaps together.  After that I glue polyethylene foam sheets to the bottom and the four walls.

The wrapped Beogram 4004 fits right into the foam lined area.

This is where the Beogram 4004 top platter gets packed. I like to use a vinyl record shipping box to hold the platter.  I also add some small polyethylene pieces on the side of the Beogram and slide the box with the phono cartridge in there.

The final steps are to add the last polyethylene foam sheet for the lid and then secure the shipping box.

This turntable is now on its way to a new home.

Beomaster 8000 From Canada: Packing for shipment home

The day finally arrived to ship the Beomaster 8000 from Canada back home. All tests have passed and loose end tasks completed.

This receiver is quite heavy. The packed shipping weight can be from 57 pounds to 65 pounds depending on packing materials. I was able to get this shipment prepared at 57 pounds in a 30 inch x 20.5 inch x 12 inch box.

I glue the bottom flaps of the cardboard box together with a common wood glue.
After that I lined the bottom and sides with 1 inch thick, 2.2 pound rated, polyethylene foam. Those pieces are attached using 3M Super 77 spray adhesive. Polyethylene foam has some give to it but is sturdy enough to resist puncture. A good material for the first line of defense.

The old type styrofoam and styrofoam peanuts are the absolute worst packing material ever devised. They should never be used!
They generate a lot of static electricity and small pieces get into everything...especially the audio component you are shipping.

Bubble wrap is not very good either. It is okay for small, light things but heavy shipments can puncture the bubble wrap leaving no protection at all.

For this Beomaster 8000 my first step in wrapping it up for placement in the shipping box is to place it inside a clear plastic bag. That will protect against any liquid and keep packing materials from rubbing directly against the Beomaster.

Next I use 1½ inch thick eggcrate foam to wrap the Beomaster providing another layer of padded protection. This foam has more cushion than the polyethylene outer foam. I do one wrap lengthwise and one wrap crosswise.

The eggcrate foam wraps are taped and everything is placed into the shipping box. I use extra blocks of the polyethylene foam to fill in any gaps.

The last rectangular piece of polyethylene foam is the lid followed by taping shut the cardboard box.

This Beomaster 8000 receiver is now on its journey back home and I hope to hear happy results from the owner after it arrives.

Beomaster 8000: Shipping Back Home

After a couple of weeks of functional testing it is time to pack up this Beomaster 8000 receiver and send it home. I hooked up an FM antenna, a Beocord 9000 and a Beogram 8002 as music sources to the Beomaster. It has been a joy playing the system in my workshop while I clean up to begin work on some new projects.

This Beomaster 8000 unit came to me packed better than any I had received before. The owner had it packed in a custom kübox and filled with special foam padding that was molded to the shape of the beomaster.

Packing it back up was just a matter of putting the Beomaster in a plastic bag then onto the bottom foam mold.

The rest of the side and top mold pieces were added and this box is ready to take to the shipping office.

The shipping place will add some banding straps to the kübox and off the package will go.

I am sure the owner will love this Beomaster 8000 again...as I have for the past few weeks :-).

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.

Beogram 8000: Packing for Shipment Home

On my previous Beogram 8000 project I packed the turntable using an original Bang & Olufsen Beogram 8000 shipping box plus an outer box. Here are some pictures of that shipment.

In an amazing feat, the shipping company managed to damage the Beogram during shipment. There was no real visible damage to the shipping box so it was assumed that the box was dropped straight down and flat. The impact caused the transform upward so that it knocked the metal door above it off its hinge. On the downward stroke it broke the main Beogram PCB.

Fortunately I had a spare Beogram 8000 main board so I was able to repair the damage. The door hinge was not broken so I reset that. The shipping company insurance paid for all of the damage and shipping costs.

For the return shipment I did some rethinking about the packing. The monster packing box had failed to protect the Beogram in this case and that was with the B&O original Beogram inner box. So how do I improve the odds?

One thing I decided was the double boxing in this case made for an extra large shipping box and was probably difficult to handle. That isn't really an excuse but if I can improve that it should lessen the chance of a drop.

I decided to go to a custom, single box rather than the original B&O box inside an outer box. The new box however is double-wall. Twice the thickness of a normal cardboard shipping box.

The other issue was with the super dense, three inch thick foam. It is very strong but doesn't provide enough cushion. The new box would have dense, polyethylene foam glued to the inside walls and floor of the double-thick cardboard box.

I also decided to custom cut the polyethylene foam to fill the cavities under the dust cover and tonearm compartment lids.

To protect against any impact force driving the transformer anywhere I wrapped the tonearm compartment door completely before wrapping the whole Beogram with firm eggcrate foam.

I used a nice strong vinyl record shipping box to pack up the Beogram platter and put that on top of the foam wrapped Beogram.

Here are some pictures of the new shipping box packing. Of course it begins with locking down the floating chassis for shipment. Here is one of the three lock down screws in the lock position.

Next is making the foam insert to hold down the sub-platter. Note that there is a part of the foam insert that goes into the back of the case where the tangential arm moves. That foam piece prevents any arm movement during transport.

The next picture shows the packing stretch wrap around the Beogram (under the lids and over the lids).  That lid is not able to move at all now.

Now the Beogram is wrapped with a clear plastic bag then wrapped twice with firm eggshell packing foam.

The securely wrapped Beogram is placed in the double-thick box that has the polyethylene padding. Extra polyethylene foam blocks make the fit tight and create storage compartments for anything else included in the shipment (i.e. phono cables).

The platter box is placed on top then covered with another firm foam pad.

The top polyethylene protective foam sheet is placed on top of all of that and the shipping box can be closed up.

This packing method worked out very nice. The overall smaller box dimensions made for an easier box to handle and reduced the shipping cost by $10. I am happy to say this time the Beogram made it safely back to its owner.

For this latest Beogram 8000 project I am using the new shipping box method as well. Another double-thick shipping box with the same foam padding. I changed my wrapping a little bit on this one. With the previous shipment I used packing tape around the eggshell packing foam. This time I used stretch wrap. That made for a little tighter wrap of the Beogram so I had to add another polyethylene foam wall. That resulted in some nicer mini compartments.

The platter box still goes on top of that followed by another eggshell foam piece and the top polyethylene sheet.

This Beogram is safely packed for the journey back home.