Shipping an LCD - can it be layed flat?

"CRT" should be "LCD". I was thinking about how much of a pain it would be to ship a 36" CRT when I was typing this.... But I'm really shipping an LCD monitor.

I fixed it for you.

Guest:

The word is FLAT, spelled F L A T !

All glass panels, sheet, and similar glass products are shipped flat to maximize the opportunity for handling personnel to do their thing which is to break the unbreakable, aggravate all parties to the purchase, sale, shipping, and replacement of fragile and hard to package products containing glass.

Buyers of large LCD monitors are especially agravated by their arrival in any but pristine condition after waiting for delivery just in time to watch the Super Bowl or some other momentous even.

In any event don't add any protection to the box or crate and label it prominently G L A S S so that the 'target' is not missed!

The enemy of a large screen LCD is torsion. The crate must be strong enough to prevent this. So if you lift one corner you lift the whole box with zero twisting. In affect you need to make wooden crate with a frame and plywood faces nailed and glued to the frame.

It can be shipped flat as long as the glass is supported with a compressible weight bearing material so if dropped it does now bow down in the middle. Typically they use a stiff foam of polyethylene. Does it not come with a suitabll shipping box?

Obviously to sharp objext can be allowed to penetrate.

They usually ship them in cardboard cartons with foam inserts and they usually ship them in a vertical position in commercial trade with up arrows on them and they box is bulked up to be a stable standing box with 2 or more in the box.

It is not safe to ship LCD monitors in flat condition as any loading on it will make it tear off. (I had been at the receiving end already in one such instance). Hence i believe a vertical packing is a better option.

regards,

Raj

most important of all: insure the shipment.

Everything that I have read or heard about LCDs leads me to believe that vertical is the only safe position. The screen is really very weak and can be broken easily. So unless you can build a box that really holds it and cushions. Why can't you stand it vertical? The expense of the shipping box is going to be high anyway.

A very rigid crate, and bubble wrap - LOTSA bubble wrap!

I know this is an old thread, but I feel all parties who read it will be better off. I currently work as a delivery driver for just about any home furniture or appliance you can purchase. I have consulted manufacturers of both LG and Samsung TVs directly as I deal with them daily, and can assure you that laying an LCD tv flat is perfectly safe IF you can guarantee nothing else will be stacked on it. The 2 most common causes of screen damage are punctures to the box (mostly by a forklift in loading/unloading) and the tv falling from a vertical position to the floor. Just remember, it's not the fall that kills you, it's that sudden stop at the bottom. And an object can't fall if it is already laying down.