Occasionally it will be necessary to ship a light engine back to our factory in Beaverton for service. On these occasions, you will receive an e-mail containing a return material authorization (RMA) and shipping instructions from our technical support department. Among those instructions are “Please ensure that the light engine is securely packaged for shipment, if possible in the original transit box in which it was delivered”. Secure and effective packaging is important in order to avoid additional costs in time and money for repairing damage incurred during transit. Here we offer some more detailed guidance on packaging microscope light engines for shipment.

It is recommended to follow Lumencor’s packaging for new light engine shipments as closely as possible. The performance of this packaging has been proven in the course of thousands of shipments all over the world. An example is shown in the adjacent photo. Particularly important are the rigid expanded foam inserts. These prevent movement of the light source within the box during transit. Bubble wrap, air pillows or loose packing material such as styrofoam “peanuts” are NOT effective substitutes and should NOT be used. Other important packaging tips include:

• Detach the liquid light guide from the light engine and from its collimating adapter. Coil it loosely in the mylar pouch that it came in, or in a 2-gallon (33 x 38 cm) “ziploc” bag. Place the bag containing the light guide above the light engine in the shipping box, separated by a layer of packing material.
• Do NOT use fibrous packing material that is liable to disintegrate during transit. Small pieces of packing material debris may end up deposited on the internal electronics and optics of the light engine.
• Disconnect the DC power supply from the light engine and pack it separately inside the shipping box.