Such Pictures prove the people tasked with packaging, don't really care. Either that, or they just have little grasp of physics, and / or are improperly trained, or are so rushed that taking the extra steps to prevent shipping damage is just not possible, or some combination of all three.
I've received so many packages where they stuff a box in a box, and pack it only so the box inside the larger box cannot rattle, instead of the product's box, in the middle of the shipping box, surrounded and basically floating in packing material and the product itself kept from rattling inside the product box. Its usually fine with light products, but once the product has significant mass, packaging becomes so much more important.
Recently, On a boat I am working on, we needed 8 new deep cycle 'house' batteries. Boat owner told me to do my thing, tell his guy what to order.
I have dealt with one battery guy before with Concorde/Lifeline AGM batteries. and one Crown AGM too. He delivered them (concorde) fresh from the factory in West Covina, about 90 minutes north of me. One cannot do better than that. The Concord batteries arrive in thick boxes, and each corner of each battery has the same dual layered thickness of cardboard, bent and doubled on each corner, and a piece of foam to prevent the terminals from touching the box top, should it be turned up side down, soaked in water and compressed.
This guy, this time, when dealing with the guy in charge of ordering, tried to sell him cheaper GC-2 AGM batteries( likely dusty and old) he had in stock, saying he did not have any Lifeline gpl-4ct's in stock. Ordering guy asked me and I was like NO, Boat owner wants top quality and the other two banks of starting batteries are already Lifelines, we need Lifeline so all share the same charge profile and temperature compensation.
I found an online outfit saying free shipping of the Lifeline GPL-4ct batteries, and Amazon had them too but for 60$ more per battery, and a few other places but with significant shipping costs. I provided several links to the guy in charge of ordering and said, your choice, but recommended calling back guy number one and saying meet this price for the Lifelines.
They arrived 3 days later, on a pallet, 528 LBs of battery from online vendor. Shrink wrapped. freight Driver complained at residential delivery. He had electrified pallet carrier.
Oh well.
Each Lifeline GPL-4CT ( 6 volt golf cart battery---GC-2 BCI size) arrived in the same thick white cardboard boxes as the single battery delivered to me 5 years earlier( Lifeline gpl-31xt). Each and every edge and corner of battery protected with doubled cardboard and a foam pad should they be turned upside down.
3 of the 8 boxes showed damage when I removed the saran wrap and separated them on delivery.
I immediately pulled all batteries with damaged boxes and the batteries showed Zero signs of damage adjacent to the damaged cardboard, and we sent the annoyed delivery driver off.
The undamaged boxes, are so well built, I kept them. For what, I am not sure but they are too good to recycle
Shipping batteries is not rocket surgery.
Rock Auto, or other purveyors selling them online, need to step up and have people who have the strength to actually protect them properly, and make the boxes easy to manhandle, so delivery drivers don't just slide and kick and drop them.
View attachment 31666
These are Mil-spec 6v AGM batteries, but each serial pair rests at 13.16v +/- 0.02 fully charged @ 75f+.
Each 6v battery was 6.56 to 6.58v on arrival.
Each 220 AH pair took about 3.9 Amp hours from my adjustable voltage power supply, before amps stopped tapering at 14.3v @ 77f.
That's 2/0 tinned marine cable with heavy duty tinned lugs double crimped with an FTZ 94284 and covered with dual wall, adhesive lined heatshrink .
3520 CCA, 528 Lbs, 880 AH capacity,
and
OSHA approved footwear.......
.
Owners of AGMs should know they are not magical physics defying lead acid batteries. These Lifelines would not be worth their premuim price, If the charging sources were not more than adequate to recharge them properly, which means quickly return them to a true full state of charge. Something Vehicles voltage regulators are not designed to allow.
The shore power charger, is only 100 amps but is infinitely programmable to insure full charge even if it cannot meet the specified recharge rate in deep cycle duty.
20% minimum, as lifeline specs in deep cycle duty (and more is better), is 176 amps for 880 Ah of battery.
Enter the Leece Neville 320 amp alternator J-180 mount behemoth, here pictured next to a 120 amp Nippon Denso small frame Automotive alternator for a size reference.
I've converted the Leece to external voltage regulation, and have a programmable voltage regulator which will control it. But mostly to throttle it back to keep the Dual V belts from smoking when the batteries are depleted. Each pair could easily suck up 150+ amps when depleted to 50%, and there are 4 pair.
I did not get the go ahead to convert to 10 rib serpentine belts, which could handle 320 amps output......
Do you hear the maniacal laughter in the distance?
There's a second Detroit Diesel I can add a second behemoth alternator too, as well.
Online ordering is great, but one is at the mercy of whomever packages it, and who delivers it and all the people in between.
Vendors should insure those people in between can not easily damage them.
If they can't, then they should not get one's business.
