Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Shipping a DSS200 through UPS, USPS

This is topic Shipping a DSS200 through UPS, USPS in forum Digital Cinema Forum at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Justin West (Member # 920) on 10-07-2018, 11:29 AM:

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

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 10-07-2018, 01:05 PM:

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.

Posted by Jim Cassedy (Member # 4115) on 10-07-2018, 02:29 PM:

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.)

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 10-07-2018, 03:41 PM:

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.

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 10-08-2018, 03:04 PM:

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.

Posted by Martin Brooks (Member # 1269) on 10-08-2018, 11:59 PM:

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.