Home > Support > How to pack an Optra S or T series lasr printer
How to pack an Optra S or T series laser printer:
As an alternative to servicing your own printer, you might decide to ship it back to us for a complete
refurbishment. If you decide to do so, you must pack the printer carefully or it might suffer a significant
amount of damage in transit. Experience has taught us that most couriers are not particularly careful when
handling their cargo. We have developed a series of practices that we follow when packing a laser printer to
minimise the chance of a printer being damaged by rough handling.
We find that many couriers drop cartons from some height onto the ground rather than bending over and
placing the carton on the ground. The ground impact often leads to spring catches and clips that retain plastic
door or side panels springing open. When the plastic door panels spring open or the plastic side panels
become dislodged from the printer chassis, the chances of their getting broken are extremely high.
To protect against this eventuality, we recommend securing all exterior plastic panels that are likely to spring
open or come adrift as a result of an impact. We suggest you do this by taping them with 20mm or 25mm
wide fibre-reinforced Scotch Strapping Tape cut into strips at least 150mm long. This particular tape is very
strong and does not leave any sticky residue when removed from the plastic panels during the unpacking
process. If you handle the tape carefully, it can be re-used. The photographs below show the positions where
we recommend you place the Scotch fibre-reinforced Strapping Tape. We suggest you fold over 10mm of
tape at one end of each strip to form a tag to facilitate the subsequent removal of the tape.
We usually ship the toner cartridge by installing it inside the printer. We have found that sending the toner
cartridge as a separate, small carton is more likely to result in damage due to transport than installing the
cartridge inside the printer. Couriers tend to throw small cartons around instead of placing them down gently.
Cartridges are held together with springs and spring clips that are likely to come adrift due to rough handling.
If this happens, the cartridge will leak toner and damage the printer. Any cartridge that is dropped (eg by
being knocked off a desk onto the floor) is most likely to be damaged beyond repair.
Lexmark also ships the cartridge inside the printer. Admittedly, there is some chance that the cartridge might
be damaged by impact and then leak toner inside the printer. We recommend (as Lexmark does) wrapping
the drum section of the cartridge with a layer of soft foam about 100mm wide and 3mm thick. This should
prevent the photoconductor drum ( an aluminum roller about 30mm in diameter coated with a green or blue
light sensitive film) inside the cartridge being damaged by vibrating against other components such as the
primary charge roller or transfer roller. We also recommend using the Lexmark designed red plastic shipping
lock to prevent the developer roller inside the cartridge from vibrating against the photo-conductor drum.
We recommend selecting a strong carton that is constructed of double layered cardboard with walls at least
6mm thick. We use cartons that are made of 8mm thick double layered premium quality cardboard. Cartons
made of re-cycled cardboard are too soft to resist side impacts. You can test the rigidity of the cardboard wall
by attempting to squash it between your thumb and forefinger. Choose a carton size that allows a minimum of
50mm clearance all around the printer ? all sides, top and bottom. We recommend placing plenty of impact
absorbing material in the bottom of the carton, underneath the printer. It is important that the printer be
wedged tightly into the carton on all sides, top and bottom. A printer that is left free to float around inside the
carton is likely to be damaged during transport.
Avoid using an excessively large carton as most couriers will charge for printers by volume rather than by
weight. A courier will usually calculate freight costs by weight and by volumetric weight equivalent. They will
charge you whichever amount is the larger ie light items will be charged by volume and heavy items will be
charged by weight. The volumetric weight equivalent of a carton is usually calculated by multiplying the
volume in cubic metres by 250 and calling the answer kilograms. For example, we use cartons that are
500mm wide, 600mm deep and 500mm or 600mm high.
At 500mm high, our cartons have a volume of:
(0.600 * 0.500* 0.500 = 0.150) cubic metres, yielding a volumetric weight equivalent of 37.5 kg
At 600mm high, our cartons have a volume of:
(0.600 * 0.500 * 0.600 = 0.180) cubic metres, yielding a volumetric weight equivalent of 45kg.
By comparison, the actual weight of a Lexmark T620N laser printer is approximately 25kg.
Packing procedure:
1. Secure the bottom of the carton with several runs of 50mm packaging tape. Choose a packaging
tape that will adhere well to the particular cardboard used to manufacture your carton - many do not.
2. Secure all plastic panels on the printer with Scotch Strapping Tape as shown below.
3. Place at least six layers of 30mm bubble wrap (P32 or equivalent impact absorbing material) on the
bottom of the box underneath the printer. Place the printer in the centre of the carton. Note any
protruding panels that may need special protection.
4. In the absence of factory-designed moulded foam inserts, pack 30mm bubble wrap or other impact
absorbing material around all sides of the printer to make it a tight fit inside the carton. We use small
plastic bags filled with foam pieces or polystyrene beads to form pillows. We wedge them firmly
around all sides of the printer.
5. Cover the top of the printer with at least four layers of 30mm bubble wrap or similar impact absorbing
material. Consider adding an additional layer of cardboard inside the top of the box to protect the
printer from any heavy loads that might be placed on top of it. Close the carton.
6. Place one address label on top of the carton (not the bottom) and another on one side. Most couriers
will want you to include the postcode and telephone number of the addressee on the address label. It
is best to use self-stick, glue-backed labels so that they are not easily torn off the carton. Press the
whole surface of the label firmly against the cardboard to expel any air bubbles. If you have to use
ordinary paper, seal all edges of the label and cover the whole surface with clear plastic tape.
7. Place ?THIS WAY UP? stickers and ?FRAGILE? stickers on all sides of the carton. Handle the carton
so that the printer is always kept upright. Avoid dropping or otherwise jarring the carton.
8. Place two tie straps around the carton eg using blue plastic webbing.
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