Thread: That Sticky Paper on New Machinery...

High Performance Packing - SAVCOR

Brisbane: (07) 5549 2248

Savcor have a heat shrink plastic film based product that has a Vapour Phase Inhibitor impregnated into it. The product can be heat shrunk using a heat gun. I used it to pack a shipment of workshop machinery and tools for shipment to Lae, in Papua New Guinea.

I bought a roll of "MilCorr® VpCI® Shrink Film" that was, from memory about 500mm wide and about 200 mm diameter. Each machine was wrapped with the stuff (the whole machine, not just the cast iron parts). The Heat Gun was then be used to shrink the material. As it shrinks, it grips tightly to itself, but does not stick to the machine. It is not greasy, and as a result leaves no greasy residue behind.

The machinery that the owner had bought for PNG was all ex-display stock from various suppliers, or used equipment, so the anti corrosion coatings from the factory had already been removed. Before wrapping, I thoroughly cleaned each machine, then treated any unpainted cast iron or steel parts with a few coats of CRC-336 which was allowed to dry completely before each re-coat, and before wrapping. Areas of the machinery that would not be in close contact with the VPI wrap film, such as the underside of the table saw's cast iron top, were cleaned and then treated with CRC 3-36 (or any other suitable drying anti-corrosion treatment). The blade height and tilt mechanism on the table saw was cleaned and freshly greased to prevent corrosion. Similar principles applied to the pre-pack preparation of all the machinery and tools.

To meet PNG Customer & Quarantine requirements, the inside of each machine was vacuumed completely clean of any saw dust residue etc, and then treated with an industrial strength insect surface spray to ensure that no live insects were exported with the shipment. I don't know what the quarantine treatment or inspection requirements will be for import into North America - so you should check with which ever company you're using as your shipping agent to get detailed instructions.

The machinery going to Papua New Guinea was in sea containers for a total of about two months. The shipment also sat on it's pallets in a wharf side customs bond warehouse in Port Moresby for a month, before being re-containerised, and shipped by sea to Lae (on the north coast of PNG) where it again sat in the wharf side customs bond warehouse for another month or so, before being released to the owners. The weather conditions on the sea voyages, and whilst in storage in the Bond Stores, will have been tropical, very humid, and very wet, so good corrosion control was essential.

The shipping insurance company would only cover the shipment against water and/or humidity damage, if the shipment was prepared and packaged as above. With a container being shipped as deck cargo, there is always a risk of wave damage during a storm, causing the container to leak salt water or rain into the container. If that sort of damage occurs, and the cargo has been packed to the insurance company's requirements, then the insurance company will pay up. Take photos of the condition of the machinery before packing, and photos of the packing process, and photos of the finished packing. If there's an insurance claim, you will need the photos as evidence in support of your claim.

I went to Lae to receive and unpack the shipment on behalf of the owners, and we found no corrosion at all on any of the machines or tools when we unpacked. We found that the Shrink Film had stuck quite well to itself, but not to the machinery, and the shrink wrap was easy enough to cut off when unpacking.

The supplier (SPA Products) normally sells only to industry, but was happy enough to sell me just one of their smallest rolls.

Additionally, about five years ago, I used a non-shrink waxed paper based VCI product purchased from Blackwoods. It's not as easy to use as the SPA product, and really only suited to protecting cast iron tops etc. I just checked their web site, but they don't list the material any more, but might be worth trying if SPA for some reason can't supply what you need when you need it. I didn't use that Blackwoods waxed paper VCI product for the PNG shipment because it didn't meet the insurance company's packaging requirements.

Hope that info helps.

Regards,

RoyG

My only other comment would be to buy the pump action bottle, not the aerosol. I give my gear a go over, what for it to dry and redo and apply the baking paper. If you were really concerned you could then give the paper a spray as well. Make sure you get good coverage.

Cheers