Rack setup for move

[tazman]

Hi - I'm about to ship some of my equipment due to an upcoming move. Out of curiosity, I have a 12 space portable rack with some of my gear in it. Currently there are a couple of empty spaces, is it better to not leave any empty space for the move or does it matter?

Thanks,

[Remoteness]

Empty spaces don't really matter if the devices are properly mounted with rear supports and such.

If you're just moving (shipping) and you don't plan to build a (real) portable rack, I recommend that you place the largest; deepest; heaviest items to the bottom of the rack and completely support the top device so it could nothing moves or twists if the rack drops in transit.

Hard packing foam is a great solution.
Don't even consider lighter material and such; this will not do you any good.

[Kyle S]

Originally Posted by Remoteness

Empty spaces don't really matter if the devices are properly mounted with rear supports and such.

If you're just moving (shipping) and you don't plan to build a (real) portable rack, I recommend that you place the largest; deepest; heaviest items to the bottom of the rack and completely support the top device so it could nothing moves or twists if the rack drops in transit.

Hard packing foam is a great solution.
Don't even consider lighter material and such; this will not do you any good.

Steve-

Do you have your HD24's mounted with rear rack ears?

[Remoteness]

All our portable (road case) racks have some sort of rear support when applicable.

• Some have threaded rods with T-nuts, covered with heat shrink and/or foam
• some have rear rack ears
• Some have angle brackets bolted to the racks
• Some have hard foam sandwiched in between each piece of gear

There's even a mixture of the above.
Basically, whatever it takes to make sure the equipment does not twist, bend or rattle when in transit.

We have modified SKB (and other style) cases to handle full support when necessary.

[tazman]

Ok. I already have the heaviest at the bottom, but with empty spaces, some of the equipment can twist not having any support. I am not sure how I would support it from the rear, none of the equipment is that deep.

Thanks,

[bishopthomas]

Mounting input panels or just blank panels in the rear can help with the twisting factor.

[Remoteness]

Originally Posted by tazman

Ok. I already have the heaviest at the bottom, but with empty spaces, some of the equipment can twist not having any support. I am not sure how I would support it from the rear, none of the equipment is that deep.

Thanks,

Well, that's a good start.
Now, move all the gear so there are no spaces, then place hard foam to keep them in place.
If the gear is not too deep and very heavy you may be good to go.
It's hard to say for sure without looking at it directly.
In any event, make sure you drop all the gear (no spaces) and support the top device with hard foam.

[tazman]

When you say hard foam, you mean hard foam wedged between the gear, right? So that there is no air space between them?

[Remoteness]

Yes sir!

[7rojo7]

What kind of case is it?, I could only get insurance for an ATA approved case.

[tazman]

It's a Road Runner case. Since we are moving, as in relocating, to Europe, it will be shipped in a shipping container with the rest of our stuff.

[7rojo7]

should be Ok then!

[tazman]

Any idea where I can find the rigid foam?

Thanks

[Remoteness]

Do you still have any boxes and shipping material from your new gear purchases?
That's a great resource for the stuff.

[tazman]

Yeah I keep most of the boxes. In fact I thought about de racking the gear and boxing it, but I decided that it was probably safer to keep it racked, since the rack should protect it better (boxes get squashed etc). I guess I could also use cardboard sheets between the gear. The space is less than 1/4" between them.

[Remoteness]

I disagree...

Based on your description of your rack set up, those equipment boxes are your best bet.

Keep In mind they have traveled all over the world to get to their final destination.
Will you rack handle that kind of travel log?

Do you really think those boxes will get squashed in that shipping container?
Aren't you packing the container?

Cardboard will work if you go that route, but remember that you will need to support the top device so everything stays tight in transit.

[tazman]

Unfortunately I only have the box for 1 unit (I checked). For some reason I thought I had kept them all, but since the last move they must have been thrown away!!!

I am not packing the container, but I will be supervising. The moving company is going to for insurance reasons.

The top device is a Furman power conditioner (the small 1u one, not the big heavy ones). All of the units are half or less of the depth of the rack, so I'm still trying to figure out how to support the top unit. I'll figure something out.