I'm not sure if this belongs in this forum....

Anyone have any advice on shipping my Isomac Tea? I just sold it, and need to ship it. I have the original box, and a box my Duetto came in, so i'll be double boxing it.

Other than emptying the boiler (how do i empty the boiler completely?) anything else i can do to protect it as much as possible?

thanks

There are several threads from the FAQs and Favorites on this subject below:

Draining an HX boiler for storage and shipping
Packing & shipping tips for an espresso machine
Preparing Espresso Machine for Storage
Advice about bringing an espresso machine out of storage?

Having the original packing material helps a lot; make certain the boiler is drained well (doubly so if it will be going to "hard freeze" areas of the country). It's wise to enclose the machine in a large plastic bag just in case there's a leak (e.g., they ignore the "THIS END UP" label ) so the cardboard box isn't compromised. Believe it or not, the standard for proper packaging should allow for a THREE FOOT DROP onto a cement floor without damage. Although not specific to your machine, Orphan Espresso's Packing Your Espresso Machine to Ship offers good advice on packing, especially guidelines for the inner/outer shell padding.

I have had more than a few machines damaged in shipping. This time of year, getting it drained completely is very important. The threads Dan listed are good starters. Getting the HX clear and all the water left in the tubing can be difficult since you need to partially disassemble the machine to let all the lines drain but it beats freezing and rupturing a line in shipping. When the receiver unpacks it. If there is any moisture in the bag around the machine it would be best to take the case off and just let it sit for 3 or 4 days to make sure the electronics are not wet. It would be a shame to blow the brain box because it had a little moisture in it.

cannonfodder wrote:Getting the HX clear and all the water left in the tubing can be difficult since you need to partially disassemble the machine to let all the lines drain but it beats freezing and rupturing a line in shipping.

You could blow out the lines with low-pressure air. Or some suggest using a mixture of vodka and water as "anti-freeze"; I've never tried it and thus cannot vouch for its effectiveness.

I have always either disconnected the fittings and let the lines drain or used the air compressor. You can disconnect the power to the heater, disconnect the pump power, disconnect the supply line on the outbound side of the pump. Then turn the machine on, hit the brew lever to open all the valves/solenoids and blow 90psi air into the water line. That will blow out the water in the HX and supply lines.

Using compressed air is a good idea, thanks. I will do that.

Wait, why do i need to turn the machine on to blow out the lines? Can't i just disconnect the outbound pump side, open the brew lever and hot water wand/valve and blow air through it?

Edit 2: oh i see...is it to have the machine open the boiler solenoid valve? I guess i need to blow it out twice then. Once through the Hx and once through the boiler when the machine thinks it need to refill.

The SAFE standard is a 6 foot drop. We used that standard for any packaging and nothing was ever damaged, including off the back of a delivery lorry travelling 70mph down the motorway. My first Vibiemme, even though well packed and double boxed, did not survive a drop by the driver from waist height.

FedEx Your Guide to Proper Packaging

HB wrote:.... It's wise to enclose the machine in a large plastic bag just in case there's a leak (e.g., they ignore the "THIS END UP" label ) so the cardboard box isn't compromised..

You assume that they can read...

Reading the UPS stipulations, if it was damaged in shipping then, by definition (or nearly so), the fault is the person who packed it because it wasn't properly protected. I suppose that a tire track across the box might be an exception, but even then they would probably make you prove it was one of their tires.

HB wrote:You could blow out the lines with low-pressure air. Or some suggest using a mixture of vodka and water as "anti-freeze"; I've never tried it and thus cannot vouch for its effectiveness.

Alcohol was the "original" automotive anti freeze ingredient back before the ethylene glycol mixtures came around. Interestingly enough- both are flammable. Well.. maybe not all that interesting.

What are the chances that the boiler supports will survive a 6' drop!?
is there anything i should do internally to add support structures to the boiler and tubing?

So the original Isomac Tea box is smaller than the duetto box, so the outer box that the duetto was shipped in, which i was going to re-use, is quite a bit too big.
Since there is no way i'm going to find a properly sized outer box (need 23x18x24), i'm going to fill the space between the boxes with Styrofoam boards...

whats the best place to buy these? Any ideas?