New Travel Rules In US For Lithium Ion Batteries

[Ed Hansberry]

<a href="http://safetravel.dot.gov/whats_new_batteries.html">http://safetravel.dot.gov/whats_new_batteries.html</a><br /><br />Effective January 1, 2008, the following rules apply to the spare lithium batteries you carry with you in case the battery in a device runs low:<br />• Spare batteries are the batteries you carry separately from the devices they power. When batteries are installed in a device, they are not considered spare batteries. <br />• You may not pack a spare lithium battery in your checked baggage <br />• You may bring spare lithium batteries with you in carry-on baggage – see our spare battery tips and how-to sections to find out how to pack spare batteries safely! <br />• Even though we recommend carrying your devices with you in carry-on baggage as well, if you must bring one in checked baggage, you may check it with the batteries installed.<br /><br />Check out the site for more rules. It makes me wonder how big my <a href="http://www.socketmobile.com/products/accessories/mobile-power-pack/">Mobile Power Pack</a> is and if I can no longer take it with me on trips, thus rendering it useless. :? Be sure to check out the new rules before getting on that plane starting in January.<br /><br />By the way, were any of the batteries that caught fire larger than the specs on this page? I don't think so. This seems like more feel-goodisms to me than anything worthwhile. :roll:

[Joelacrane]

I am getting really sick and tired of people sitting around thinking up more rules! When is this going to end?!

[PhMajerus]

Well, larger batteries are probably not more likely to catch fire, but are definitely more likely to help you use your computer during the whole trip without paying a business class to get an in-flight power plug.

This might not be just a feel-goodism rule, they might have real reasons to enforce this... force people to pay more if they plan to work during the flight.

[Stik]

I am getting really sick and tired of people sitting around thinking up more rules! When is this going to end?!

Hopefully it doesn't ever end when it comes to passenger safety. How would you feel if a fire started in the cargo hold during flight with no way to estinguish the flames? Terrified I would think. I know I'd start saying my prayers.

My question is what took the FAA so long to make these new rules when they knew of the lithium battery risks over 3 years ago?

"Halon extinguishing agent has no effect on fire intensity"

"Lithium batteries may represent the ultimate hazardous material, especially when shipped in bulk as cargo, with the potential to breach all defenses should they catch fire. That is the principal finding of a June report of lithium battery fire tests conducted by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Technical Center at Atlantic City, N.J."

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0UBT/is_29_18/ai_n6280925

[JvanEkris]

I don't think that many people run into trouble with this one: when I look at the biggest battery extender for a PDA I could find (I hadmy eye on the APC UPB10 (http://www.apc.com/resource/include/techspec_index.cfm?base_sku=UPB10%2DEC) for a while), it still is about 0.8 grams of Lithium. Unless you pack a lot of spare laptop batteries, you probably are safe. My Portable Media Player has batteries of 5Wh, allowing it to run for 4 hours. So most devices are safe.

But it is something you have to be aware of and make sure doesn't change.

Jaap

[sofene]

So what about purchased batteries posted by airmail? Does this say that replacement batteries cannot be shipped by air?