I bet you cannot beat this for poor packing .

[vinrads]

Just arrived ,what is left of a KB radio , I did expect some damage to the case because it had brown tape in places but when I inspected what was left of the case the brown tape wasn't covering any cracks. Surprise surprise the dial survived intact, Mick.

[Station X]

What packing?

[vinrads]

I wrap around small bubble wrap ,in a made up cardboard box. Mick.

[HamishBoxer]

I trust you got a full refund? Looks as though there was just a stamp on it and nothing else.

I received a poorly packed and broken set and when I sent pictures to the sender, it was denied it was the same set!

Bearing in mind I at that time had never even seen another like it.

[Reelman]

I had a heavy tape recorder arrive just covered in cling film! Actually it was undamaged on arrival. I think the courier took pity when he saw it and handled it carefully.

Peter

[Philips210]

Hi.

That's a great shame it arrived in that state. I don't know whether it can be rebuilt and resprayed?

I've also received items in a damaged state due to poor packaging. I recall receiving a 2D flourescent lamp from eBay. It was wrapped in the thinnest Jiffy type envelope and was clearly broken. I didn't even bother opening it. The seller gave a refund and other customers had a similar experience. Some people have little idea how to pack things.
On another occasion, I received a badly packed 22" regun tube and didn't have much hope. Fortunately it survived the ordeal.

I've also found that using a box within a box technique is the way to go. First a very well wrapped item in bubble wrap in a box and then place box in a heavy duty box with bubble wrap or polystyrene chips provides excellent protection. If using polystyrene then as a precaution, the item should first be placed in a polythene bag to protect against any reaction with the polystyrene.


Sometimes the couriers/postal service is to blame. I've received items with boot marks all over the packaging where the parcels have been stood on by the courier trying to locate the correct parcel amongst many in the van. I've also seen parcels being flung out of the van onto the road and others hurled back in by a bad tempered delivery man. Not good for the customer!

Fortunately, most goods arrive safely.

Regards,
Symon

[Julesomega]

There are some fabulous new packaging products. These glass jars arrived today in immensely strong ribbed wall 'pods'. It was impossible to get them out until I punctured one of the tubes that form the walls - don't knowhow they got them in, makes me think they inflate and seal them around the jars. Toner cartridge also comes in these, and I just found a huge one beside the neighbours' bin

For storing and posting I buy Double Wall Cardboard Boxes (5 layers) from Packaging2buy. They come in packs of 20 in a range of useful sizes and cost about £1 each. Short-pile carpet is a good material for protecting parcels - free from a skip outside some offices near you!

[Julesomega]

sorry, here is a picture

[Megatron]

Originally Posted by Julesomega

sorry, here is a picture

i had some gin delivered in those in a nice sturdy box.
my first thought was how well an 813 valve would fit in there

[WreckTangle]

I had a job lot of Quad separates arrive just loose in a box. Fortunately, the only item damaged was a 33 pre-amp which was still useful for parts. The rare AM3 tuner (the item I was really after) was unscathed. The seller offered a partial refund which I accepted.

[kellys_eye]

I had an Avo meter arrive wrapped in newspaper. Broken case - no good to anyone. Got a full refund though.

[Paul_RK]

So much of what happens is down to luck. The most expensive radio I've ever bought, a transistor portable weighing 40-odd pounds, had for packing a single layer of broken-up cardboard packing case, as I recall there wasn't so much as a shred of bubble wrap. It arrived seemingly none the worse for its Parcelforce journey.

Paul

[Sideband]

Originally Posted by vinrads

Just arrived ,what is left of a KB radio , I did expect some damage to the case because it had brown tape in places but when I inspected what was left of the case the brown tape wasn't covering any cracks. Surprise surprise the dial survived intact, Mick.

You might be able to superglue it carefully, hide the cracks and then spray it. They can look good if done well but make sure the chassis isn't bent or you'll never get it back in the case....

There is always a chance that someone may have a case going for sale.

[David Simpson]

I'll echo Symon's advice - always send items "double boxed" especially test equipment & bakelite sets. Likewise - if purchasing such items from others - politely demand that they do the same. The extra weight of cardboard & bubble wrap is minimal, so shouldn't cost more than a quid or two extra postage.

Regards, David

[David G4EBT]

As the dial and chassis have survived and all of the fragments of the cabinet, if you were minded to reassemble it you could do that very successfully by using 'proper' CA glue. That's not an opinion - it's based on a number of damaged Bakelite cabinets I've successfully put back to pieces including several FB10s and a Philleta (which has since found a new home in Spain).

If the dial had smashed, that would have been a show-stopper. On the face of things, it looks a suitable candidate for a waterslide decal, and I've tried and failed several times. I've supplied a copy of a scan to other hopefuls ad have yet to see a good outcome.

CA glue (generically termed 'Superglue') as found in shops such as Wilko, Poundland or wherever, doesn't have the right consistently or 'open' time to glue anything together properly, except fingers, which it excels at. I use Vitalbond 20 second medium viscosity CA quite extensively for certain woodworking, woodturning and Bakelite cabinet repairs.

Its 20 second 'open time' will enable you to accurately position two mating pieces of Bakelite together and will fill any slight gaps. In some instance, when sanded, the joint will be barely visible.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vitalbond...-/183328667179

On FB10 cabinets I've repaired, I've sprayed them gloss in just about every colour they were never intended to be - pink, red, green, powder blue.

I've used acid etch primer as used in the motor trade, but available cheaply. I use 'Auto Tek' which as well as being suitable for use on galvanised and zinc coated steel and aluminium, it's also suitable for use on GRP and plastics. It sets quickly and cures in 24 hours. It's excellent for priming die-cast aluminium boxes too.

Best of all, it's not expensive - typically under £6.00 for a 500mL rattle can.

EG:

https://carsmart.shop/product/etch-p...xoCS-MQAvD_BwE

It's obviously not a five-minute job - I'm just saying that if you were minded to, it would all go back together very well and when sprayed in a colour of choice, would be more of an eye catcher than the rather drab original rather insipid 'creamish' colour.

The FB10 and the Philetta in the pics below, where 'off the pile' at Golborne BVWS Swapmeet for a fiver with cracked cabinets with missing pieces. The Philleta have ben brown originally and after the cabinet repair, was etch primed and sprayed powder blue. The nameplates fall off the front but with the help of forum member 'Eddie CE' in German, I was able to source a replica nameplate.

Hope that might help.

[GrimJosef]

Originally Posted by WreckTangle

I had a job lot of Quad separates arrive just loose in a box ...

I once had a Quad II (no valves, thank goodness) arrive wrapped in bubblewrap. And parcel tape. And nothing else ! There was a lot of bubblewrap though. The thing looked like a giant potato. It was fine of course, or, at least, as fine as when it left the sender.

Cheers,

GJ

[turretslug]

Good luck with any repair, it looks horrendous! At least there is plenty of sage advice here, someone may even be able to point in the direction of a spare case. As mentioned, there are plenty of excellent packaging products available for not a lot of outlay, so there's little excuse for short-cutting- in normal times, even going round the back of high-street shops/supermarkets would yield yards of soft cardboard, bubble-wrap, polystyrene etc. and as they usually have to pay commercial disposal (I think), requests to pinch some would be greeted with "of course" and a smile!

I once bought a large bundle of pre-war valves for a bargain price but from the other end of the country- they arrived taped together in a roughly spherical mass and simply wrapped in a second-hand single-layer mess of that grey polythene used for so many things. Only one KTW61 had a slight hairline crack in it, I couldn't even bring myself to complain as I felt that the lot could have been destroyed in a moment simply by another box being put on them in the delivery process, I hadn't paid much after all. Really, I should have complained if only to make them buck their ideas up for other customers' sake.

[dglcomp]

A laptop and PSU in just a thin plastic mailing bag!, laptop didn't work properly on arrival (it would only boot up if left plugged in for ages, and the CPU fan was very noisy) and in the end eBay got me to send it back for a full refund. Naturally when returned it was packaged properly.

Funny thing is that the seller was claiming it worked fine when he sent it and it must have got damaged in the post, in fact it might not have and miraculously no screen damage.

[wave solder]

I had a rack mount APC UPS that was sent in a single ply box with no extra padding. The courier had managed to drop it, smash the escutcheon and bent the chassis. It was bent to a good 10 degrees. Luckily I had a hydraulic press to hand to straighten things out and got a partial discount in compensation. It now works fine.

[G6Tanuki]

I once had a 6U-height 19-inch-rack power-supply sent to me from Austria and in transit it was bounced so hard that the chassis/case became distinctly trapezoidal, so no way could it be fitted into the rack-slides. That was new gear, shipped from the factory in what the manufacturer claimed was packaging suitable for air-freight. Their insurers paid for the replacement.

I've also had an antenna-tuner delivered which was dripping wet with a suspicious yellow liquid, and no it wasn't left on the doorstep where the dog could have been responsible...