Is it just me or does this look like a crappy job of packaging. I've bought used tubes on Ebay that were packaged way better. I don't think a little bubble wrap is asking too much for an 80.00 quad of tubes and 40.00 worth of 12ax7's. I even asked ahead before ordering about proper packaging and was assured that the shipping dept really does an excellent job. I was worried that ordering a can of Deoxit 5 might bounce around in the box with the tubes. They made sure to put the can in with the 12ax7's and put the bag up against the Quad. It all bounced around nice and loosely all the way from Az. to Fla. It's no wonder we lost all of our jobs and companies to China.
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I'd call that medium from what I have seen.... Once, I won a pair, octal, and they were shipped in a fedex envelope, the thin cardboard type for flat documents, with just a very thin layer of foam, not bubble wrap- around each. I'm still amazed they were not actually broken into bits-
I suspect that the problem here is training. (Training is mostly telling dim people things which bright people can work out for themselves.)
The packer has probably been trained to wrap delicate items in bubble wrap. He thinks wrapping protects what is inside it. In the case of most valves, being very light in weight, they merely need protection from being crushed. So the valves don't need bubble wrap, but the heavy can does so that the impulse from collision is spread over a longer time so reducing the forces. The packer thinks the can is strong so doesn't need much wrapping. Inverting your training, which is what is required here, is difficult for people to do.
The packer has probably been trained to wrap delicate items in bubble wrap. He thinks wrapping protects what is inside it. In the case of most valves, being very light in weight, they merely need protection from being crushed. So the valves don't need bubble wrap, but the heavy can does so that the impulse from collision is spread over a longer time so reducing the forces. The packer thinks the can is strong so doesn't need much wrapping. Inverting your training, which is what is required here, is difficult for people to do.
I can tell by the packaging who you ordered this stuff from. Looks normal for them. All I can say is NEVER order tubes and transformers from them at the same time. Don't expect them to be able to count correctly past ten either. I have yet to get the correct number of tube sockets if I order 50 or more. Usually the error is in their favor too.
I was expecting something worse before seeing the pics. I too would say it's a medium bad packaging job. Time and again it's surprising how much abuse some tubes can take...
I just got some tubes from a fellow who sells them regularly on eBay, the tubes were inside of two small pieces of cardboard taped together and thrown in a padded envelope, somehow they made it intact. The kicker is they are Holland made Amperex PQ series 6688 (from a bulk pack I guess) - so I would have expected a little more care! 😱
the best packing of tubes I have seen is parts express. the worst packing of tubes was me. me during a time I was selling some 12ax7's that I got new a boat load of and did not need them. so I offered them up for cheap and offered different shipping choices and cost. I was able to ship two tubes from east to west coast for 60 cents. tube in original box, a few of them wrapped in a spin or two of bubble wrap, and brown paper bag around that. 70 or so tubes that I sent out all arrived ok. Before shipping and offering this as a shipping option...I actually bounced a few around to see if they would take it and they did. So maybe, these things can handle more transit shock than we think.
Luckily the customer service apologized for the packaging and is issuing a call tag to pick them up and send out new ones. It's good to know there are still reputable companies still out there. On a side note: TAD's own packaging is really poor. The tubes are floating loosely inside the box with a thin layer of corrugated cardboard wrapped around them but the way they tape the quads together causes them to sound like a pin ball machine when shaken. They should wrap them in tissue paper too to take up the slack inside the box. By the time these tubes made it from Germany to AZ to me I would think the would at least be rattly.
I've ordered and received via Ebay some cheap Russian equivalents 6L6GC, EF86, ECC83, 5AR4, EB91, EM80 all were wrapped very well and none were damaged.
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