Is there any problems with laying a Trimble 5600 flat? Any risk to the instrument?
I want to build a case with foam inserts that would open like a clamshell type case instead of a drop in type case. I am trying to get the gun with case in a cargo box only 12" high. I am estimating that a min. of 2" of foam would surround all parts of the case.
It looks like a Trimble Geodimeter case is this type of case and might fit the 5600. Minor modifications might be required.
Scott Bordenet
I was told that the compensators can will be damaged by laying them flat and then transporting them. Never tested it myself
Norm Larson, post: 365024, member: 7899 wrote: I was told that the compensators
canwill be damaged by laying them flat and then transporting them. Never tested it myself
Our 5600 has always travelled flat, never had a compensator problem and it must have done 50,000 miles by now.
When I bought an R8 I got the Trimble branded Pelican case that was made for it. It lays flat in that case. Can't imagine Trimble would do that if it were a danger to the instrument... Or would they...!
Make sure it is not laying flat, in the field, or construction site. With the tripod attached. It voids the warranty.
🙂
N
chris mills, post: 365047, member: 6244 wrote: Our 5600 has always travelled flat, never had a compensator problem and it must have done 50,000 miles by now.
Yet another Trimble white lie. I always wondered if it were really just for the earlier compensators from the ninties that seemed to fail if you looked at them wrong
Response from Trimble service provider:
"I spoke with our service department and they recommend storing the 5600 in an upright position, hence the layout of the case it comes in... All of this is due to the compensators in the instrument getting thrown out of adjustment by being stored in a flat position."
Norm, you were right on from the get go. Glad I asked this question before I constructed a new truck case.
You'll be fine. Just run a collimation routine when you get to the job.
Seriously though, This thing has NOT gone in for service since it decided to lay down on the job. I had to hammer the tribrach back into shape. Other than that, she keeps on giving consistently good results. I do store/transport in in an upright position.
I bought a Geodimeter 650S DR200+ (similar to 5600) from the USA and it was packed flat in a cushioned box (in its toploader case) by the guy I bought it from and air freighted to us in Fiji (via Hawaii and Australia). We then air freighted it to New Zealand for battery change and servicing, so I asked the guy I bought it from if there were any special packing requirements. I have lost the email reply, but he did advise to pack it flat the same way he did and gave a reason why - something along the lines of it not being a good idea to subject it to vertical vibration. So that is how we sent it, packed flat, and have transported it that way ever since, including a 5601 that we also bought shortly after. I also saw a video on station setup, where the guy doing the setup was widely criticized for standing on the tripod feet to push them in the ground while the instrument was on the tripod - something to do with the shock damaging the instrument, i.e. similar to the vertical vibration advice. So after seeing that we always do the tripod set up and centering with just the tribrach. Having said all that, the Geodimeter and 5600 case are toploader so one would assume that is the way to carry it - vertical - as that is where the handle is, and also the orientation of the backpack straps. Other brands of instrument are not toploader cases so I assume at times these instruments are carried/stored flat.
I know the older Geodimeter/Spectra Precision total stations were stored and transported laying flat and they had dual compensators....
Truthfully we will probably never know.
Norm Larson, post: 365077, member: 7899 wrote: Yet another Trimble white lie. I always wondered if it were really just for the earlier compensators from the ninties that seemed to fail if you looked at them wrong
No, just the honest truth. The instrument was purchased in 2008 (used) and has been in continual use since. It has the standard upright case, but this has to be laid on its side in order to fit into the car with all the equipment.
We also have a GDM 640 which travels in a similar manner, also without any compensator problems. That instrument is fully calibrated and used for precise measurement works.
chris mills, post: 365293, member: 6244 wrote: No, just the honest truth. The instrument was purchased in 2008 (used) and has been in continual use since. It has the standard upright case, but this has to be laid on its side in order to fit into the car with all the equipment.
We also have a GDM 640 which travels in a similar manner, also without any compensator problems. That instrument is fully calibrated and used for precise measurement works.
I wasn't saying you were the white lie. I was saying Trimble was for telling me that. I know for a fact you could not lay down their early compensators, but, they were very early and not what you are speaking too. They (Trimble) told me it applied to the newer compensators as well and now it sounds like the were just repeating what they heard for the earlier version
If your unsure why risk it? I don't think this thread will have totally clarified it and you are unlikely to get a correct answer from a sales rep. Trimble will probably just tell you use their box.
A couple of days ago I had the opportunity to ask a 5600/GDM service technician whether they should be transported flat or upright - the reply was
"It doesn't make any difference which orientation it is transported."
Leica total stations have been boxed flat for years. I can't imagine the compensator technology is all that different.
When I bought an R8 I got the Trimble branded Pelican case that was made for it. It lays flat in that case. Can't imagine Trimble would do that if it were a danger to the instrument.
Compensator damage in GNSS receivers is rarely a problem. *Very* rarely.
Norm Larson, post: 365077, member: 7899 wrote: Yet another Trimble white lie.
If you take the 5600 and the upright case it comes in, and transport it lying flat, the instrument is going to bounce around in the case. That is quite a different thing from transportiong it flat in a case intended to hold it snuggly while flat.
The Spectra Focus 30 (It's a Trimble according to the salesman) comes with the same sort of upright style case that the 5600 did. The crews at a former employer transported their '30s lying flat in the upright case, the only way it would fit in their trucks. Those units had some maintenance issues (radio link, mostly) but the compensators were fine.
One thing to be aware of.
The servo knobs are vulnerable to internal damage if they are left under pressure - so when using the manufacturer's case always ensure the instrument either sits on the tribrach or on a foam pad, so that the weight isn't carried by the knobs. If you design your own case then leave ample cut outs around the knobs. (Information from a Trimble service department in Scotland)
I used to use an old T2 exclusively (before total stations). It came in a bullet case, and we always kept it upright, as that is what I was taught by the old timers. Now I have a newer model T2 that lays flat in its case. It does have a compensator similar to one in a level (i.e. not electronic), but obviously not affected.
I don't usually travel with my S6, usually just GPS. But when I did I put it in the shipping case that came with it, and put "This side up" and "Fragile" stickers all over it. I wouldn't doubt that it was thrown in the cargo hold and laid down flat. Those brutes never pay any attention to those stickers.
I just ended up just making a taller equipment box so it could travel upright. I was able to get everything into the Jeep TJ. That is all I wanted.