Tips for protecting desktop PCs when moving?

[Bill_Bright]

I too have never, ever heard of anything like this. Good detail to check up though just to be extra sure.

It's all about their insurance. If you tape and seal a box you pack, there is nothing to say you didn't pack some valuable that was already broken or damaged, then try to claim the breakage or damage when you get to the destination.

As I said, I have had multiple international moves, and many more interstate moves within the United States - and several DIY moves across town too. In fact, being career military, then later a defense contractor, I have moved over 24 times where movers were contracted to pack us up and move all our household goods. And this stipulation is typically in very fine print, hidden somewhere down at the bottom between page 53 and page 78 of your contract. You always read the entire contract, right?

I'm just saying... .

Now that said, I also have to say I have rarely had anything damaged. The worst was a dinning room table badly marred. I think that was Bekins Movers that time and they didn't hesitate to pay to have the table repaired and re-finished.

We have not experienced issues with "5 finger discounts" and things coming up missing - other than a canister vacuum cleaner - which was really odd. That is not something I would think someone would target as something they wanted. But then things like jewelry, coin collections, and the like were either hand carried by us during the move, and/or received special inventories and supplemental coverage to ensure the movers knew the we knew that they knew we were watching them very carefully.

Much depends on if your goods will be transferred into and out of warehouse storage while waiting for you to find your new house.

If you are hiring the movers, you need to make sure the company is licensed, insured and and bonded.

If your company is paying, they should have done that - but also probably have a liaison you need to use. If your company transfers people a lot, they may have an exclusive contract with a specific company. Those companies generally don't want to lose that contract and tend do a good job of vetting their workers to make sure they don't have sticky fingers.

Also, homeowners insurance was mentioned. Mine did cover my state-to-state and local moves because I was staying with the same insurance company when I got to my new home. But they did not cover me during my 6 international (3 over and 3 back) moves.

Oh, I missed this earlier,

the susceptibility of PC components to static discharge is generally dramatically overstated

ESD is very real. And the problem is, a static discharge can be so tiny we (as humans) cannot see it, feel it, or hear it. Yet that "zap" can easily have the potential to torch a Grand Canyon sized (microscopically speaking) scorched trench through 1000s or even millions of transistor gates on a high density processor, or memory chip without us even being aware a discharge occurred. Note this is exactly why I said above to leave the CPU mounted when removing the HSF assembly. With the CPU mounted, (1) the CPU's pins/pads are not exposed and (2) the case, motherboard and CPU remain at the same potentials, and (3) we can easily keep ourselves at the same potential as the case. We the static potentials are equal (even if very high), no arcing/discharge can occur.

 

[Valantar]

It's all about their insurance. If you tape and seal a box you pack, there is nothing to say you didn't pack some valuable that was already broken or damaged, then try to claim the breakage or damage when you get to the destination.

As I said, I have had multiple international moves, and many more interstate moves within the United States - and several DIY moves across town too. In fact, being career military, then later a defense contractor, I have moved over 24 times where movers were contracted to pack us up and move all our household goods. And this stipulation is typically in very fine print, hidden somewhere down at the bottom between page 53 and page 78 of your contract. You always read the entire contract, right?

I'm just saying... .

Now that said, I also have to say I have rarely had anything damaged. The worst was a dinning room table badly marred. I think that was Bekins Movers that time and they didn't hesitate to pay to have the table repaired and re-finished.

We have not experienced issues with "5 finger discounts" and things coming up missing - other than a canister vacuum cleaner - which was really odd. That is not something I would think someone would target as something they wanted. But then things like jewelry, coin collections, and the like were either hand carried by us during the move, and/or received special inventories and supplemental coverage to ensure the movers knew the we knew that they knew we were watching them very carefully.

Much depends on if your goods will be transferred into and out of warehouse storage while waiting for you to find your new house.

If you are hiring the movers, you need to make sure the company is licensed, insured and and bonded.

If your company is paying, they should have done that - but also probably have a liaison you need to use. If your company transfers people a lot, they may have an exclusive contract with a specific company. Those companies generally don't want to lose that contract and tend do a good job of vetting their workers to make sure they don't have sticky fingers.

Also, homeowners insurance was mentioned. Mine did cover my state-to-state and local moves because I was staying with the same insurance company when I got to my new home. But they did not cover me during my 6 international (3 over and 3 back) moves.

Oh, I missed this earlier,
ESD is very real. And the problem is, a static discharge can be so tiny we (as humans) cannot see it, feel it, or hear it. Yet that "zap" can easily have the potential to torch a Grand Canyon sized (microscopically speaking) scorched trench through 1000s or even millions of transistor gates on a high density processor, or memory chip without us even being aware a discharge occurred. Note this is exactly why I said above to leave the CPU mounted when removing the HSF assembly. With the CPU mounted, (1) the CPU's pins/pads are not exposed and (2) the case, motherboard and CPU remain at the same potentials, and (3) we can easily keep ourselves at the same potential as the case. We the static potentials are equal (even if very high), no arcing/discharge can occur.

I never said ESD wasn't real, just that the dangers of it are dramatically overstated. Which they are. If you read that is "ESD has never damaged anything, ever", the problem lies elsewhere than with what I said. ESD damage is the least of my worries when it comes to moving the PCs, that's for sure - a box being dropped from a few inches up is far more likely to do damage than ESD to a fully assembled PC. You'd need to be exceptionally unlucky for a discharge to an assembled PC to do anything but dissipate safely through the chassis. I will of course be packing anything removed from the PCs in anti-static bags, but I'm not worried about the rest of the systems in that regard (though as I said in relation to stuffing them with clothes: I'll be avoiding synthetics and wool).

As for what you describe about the movers, it still sounds like what I would call very American modes of operation, even if they weren't all US companies: massive wads of CYA paper to avoid liability rather than mutual trust and laws stipulating who is responsible for what. My "contract" (it's just an order confirmation, really) is a single page, with zero small print, describing what is to be moved, from and to where, when, and which other services are being rendered. The company I hired has a 130-year history and is one of the only major moving companies in the country. They're also organized and certified through the biggest organization for moving companies in the country. I'd say they are about as trustworthy as they get. They offer their own insurance through a major insurance provider, but my current insurance covers moving within the Nordics (and to a much higher sum than what I would have been willing to pay for separately), so I'm all covered there. And while I haven't actually looked it up, I sincerely doubt it's legal for a company like that to operate without insurance in Norway, as that tends to be mandatory here. Who knows, I might get burnt, but I doubt it.

 

[Bill_Bright]

I never said ESD wasn't real, just that the dangers of it are dramatically overstated.

It's a matter of semantics, I supposed. The dangers are very real and, IMO, not overstated at all. And readers here need to be aware of them. The problem is, because the human senses are not sensitive enough to see, hear or feel that a tiny static discharge has occurred, and because such a discharge leaves no visible to the naked eye burn marks or other telltale signs a static spark caused damage, most users assume a dead CPU, GPU or memory module died for other reasons.

I was around in the early days of high-density solid state devices and was involved in studies by the military to determine why such devices were failing in all of our new, mission critical, state-of-the-art, solid state communications systems. ESD was an unknown phenomenon back then. And it was only under examination under microscopes that the damage was noticed.

But even then, nobody knew why that damage occurred. It was only after studies that involved how our techs were handling the devices that someone finally realized it was due to static in our bodies. And it was only then (I'm talking back in the early 70s) that tech schools started teaching ESD and ESD prevention measures. I was sent back to tech school to learn digital techniques and safety precautions and had to come back and teach others how to prevent ESD destruction.

And my point is, the "dangers" are still there, and actually greater today because densities have gotten even greater and greater as architectures get smaller and smaller and millions (billions) more gates are jammed into each die.

BUT - and to your point - we know how to mitigate those risks these days. Techs are better trained, anti-static bags are widespread, static suppression precautions are built into motherboards, etc. So to your point, I will agree while the "dangers" are still there and bigger than ever, the "chances" of ESD damage occurring may be overstated, but precautions must still be taken.

You'd need to be exceptionally unlucky for a discharge to an assembled PC to do anything but dissipate safely through the chassis.

I agree. And as I noted above, if you leave the CPU mounted in the socket, ESD damage likely will not occur, for the reasons you stated. But if you pull a CPU or RAM stick (as common examples), set it on your desk, wiggle in your chair, then grab the CPU or RAM stick you could easily destroy the device without even knowing a discharge occurred. This, I fear, leads many to assume the dangers are not real or as bad as some indicate.

So yes, because you are aware of ESD, your greater concern is certainly physical damage from rough handling.

 

[ValenOne]

Am I the only mad man who keeps the cardboard box/foam that the PC case came in for travel purposes?

No, You're not alone. One of my gaming PC's GPU has an anti-sag bracket. I still have my original OEM boxes for my PC hardware parts in storage.

 

[John Naylor]

Once had a a system built for my son because I was too busy and away from home with holidays approaching. FedEx Ground was 2 days late and I had to go to regional, not local, facility to pick it up on XMas Eve. When they brought the box out, put on counter an rotated the box to scan the label ... it rattled. I never trusted a shipper again. It went back and all he got for Xmas was a return label.

When he went away to college, I carefully tied off the Air Cooler at the 4 corners with bare wire, removed the GFX cards, packed it in the original case box and surrounded it with blankets / pillows on the floor of his back seat. He came home for thanksgiving with the PC in original box, in the roof rack (MoBo side down) of his raised off road Jeep. Yes, stiff suspension sometimes teeth rattling ride. He made 6 round trips a year ... 300 or so miles for 4 years ... 23 trips on that roof rack ... 14,100 miles a good portion of which were always under construction ... Go figure.

After the FedEx Ground Gorillas experience, no one touches my PCs .... I have always done my own moves, renting and driving the truck myself with the PCs packed by me in the car. Air cooled systems were stored, perfectly flat on a thin couch cushion, MoBo side down. Sometimes, depending on distance and road conditions, I tie the Air Cooler with bare wire to 4 case points; GFX cards and HDs removed stored in anti-static bags and original bubble wrap or foam and original boxes inside case box.

Custom loops are stored in original case boxes and foam usually in the back seat of car, box surrounded by cushions and seat belt / bungie cords. Again depending on road conditions and distance, additional measures would apply ... short trips on good roads , that's it. Long trips / bad road, I'd drain the loop. Also done the same for family and friends moving, packing their PCs and driving the truck