Glass insulators and metal fittings handled in the Huasheng workshop before packing

Buying Guide

Packing And Shipping Toughened Glass Insulators

Most breakage happens between the plant and the tower, not on it. What to specify with the order so it does not.

Where Units Actually Break

A toughened glass shell in service is a compression-stressed disc on a tower, handled once. Between the plant and that tower it may be lifted, stacked, containerised, transhipped, trucked inland and offloaded by whatever equipment the site has. Every one of those steps is a handling event, and the packing has to be specified against the whole chain rather than against the first leg.

Weight Drives The Decision

Units in our range run from 1.6 kg on a U40B to 18.2 kg on a U500B. Those two do not travel the same way. A crate that is sensible for a pallet of light distribution units is not sensible for heavy tension classes, which need stacking limits and lifting provision decided in advance.

Handle On The Cap Not The Shell

A cap and pin unit is designed to carry load through the cap, the cement and the pin. Lifting or levering on the glass shell applies force in a direction the design does not anticipate. Site crews should be briefed on this before the first crate is opened, because it is not obvious from looking at the unit.

Toughened glass insulator showing the cap that handling loads should go through

Tell Us The Whole Journey

Port to port, port to inland depot, or plant to remote site over unsurfaced road are three different packing problems. So is a shipment that will sit in a laydown yard for a season before erection. Packing is specified with the order against the destination, transport mode and number of handling legs.

Marking And Reconciliation

Units are marked with class and year. Carton contents and outer marking are fixed with the order so a delivery can be checked against the schedule without opening every crate, which matters when a project takes staged deliveries against a tower erection programme.

Plan The Lead Time Backwards

The standard schedule is 30 days production plus 30 days delivery. Site programmes are built forward from a start date, so the insulator order usually has to be placed earlier than people expect. Confirm the delivery window against the programme at order stage rather than discovering the gap later.

Questions Buyers Ask

Questions On This Topic

What is your standard delivery time?

Production 30 days plus delivery 30 days.

Can you pack for a long inland leg to a remote site?

Yes, but tell us at order stage. Packing for a port to port container and packing for a run over unsurfaced road to a project site are different specifications.

How should units be stored on site before erection?

In the supplied packing, on the cap, out of the path of site traffic. A unit that has been dropped or levered on the shell should not go up the tower.