New rules for spare batteries in checked and carryon luggage

[rtphokie]

New rules go into effect Jan 1 limiting the spare batteries you can bring aboard flights. The guidelines are complicated (of course) and based on the actual lithium content of the battery. This has the potential for passengers being asked to throw out expensive batteries needlessly so know before you go.

Official TSA announcement with guidelines

News story on the new policy

 

[Furgus]

Seriously, who comes up with this crap??

 

[BeautyLLM]

Apparently, Li batteries can ignite or even explode under certain conditions. No one wants a fire in the cargo hold of a plane at 35,000 feet!

But the question is...how much Li is in our camera batteries? You can carry spares with up to 25g aggregate Li if I read this correctly?

 

[Amy]

Can anybody with a PhD tell me if I'm allowed to carry my spare set of Energizer lithium AA batteries on the plane? 4 AA batteries, 1.5v. Nowhere on the battery does it say what the lithium gram equivalent is or the "watt-hours."

Why can't the TSA tell us exactly what size batteries they're talking about? Something like: "You can carry on up to X number of size AA lithium batteries, or X number of size C lithium batteries" rather than talking about stuff like gram equivalents or watt hours!!!

I suppose my rechargeable NiMH batteries are ok? So according to the TSA website, I CAN put my spare lithiums IN my camera and they'll be ok. But if I want to carry them in my camera bag as spares, I'd better figure out the gram equivalent and watt-hours.

 

[Sha]

Can anybody with a PhD tell me if I'm allowed to carry my spare set of Energizer lithium AA batteries on the plane? 4 AA batteries, 1.5v. Nowhere on the battery does it say what the lithium gram equivalent is or the "watt-hours."

Why can't the TSA tell us exactly what size batteries they're talking about? Something like: "You can carry on up to X number of size AA lithium batteries, or X number of size C lithium batteries" rather than talking about stuff like gram equivalents or watt hours!!!

I suppose my rechargeable NiMH batteries are ok? So according to the TSA website, I CAN put my spare lithiums IN my camera and they'll be ok. But if I want to carry them in my camera bag as spares, I'd better figure out the gram equivalent and watt-hours.

I dont have a PhD but my understanding for rechargeable batteries is for them NOT to be recharged for the trip. And it would help with better examples but we get what we get i guess. I keep mine in their package until I need them anyways so that the ends are not exposed to anything which is also a point I was reading in the update. Again that is just my understanding of it.

New rules go into effect Jan 1 limiting the spare batteries you can bring aboard flights. The guidelines are complicated (of course) and based on the actual lithium content of the battery. This has the potential for passengers being asked to throw out expensive batteries needlessly so know before you go.

Official TSA announcement with guidelines

News story on the new policy

Thanks for the info!!! have a trip in June that that info is greatly appreciated.

 

[boBQuincy]

It's not that bad. This new rule may affect those who carry extra laptop computer batteries but it won't have much effect on photographers.

A typical Canon BP-511 contains about 0.84 grams of lithium and appears to be exempt from the rules (under 8 grams of lithium). The rules limit us to two batteries that contain anywhere from 8 to 25 grams of lithium, pretty big batteries for a camera!

The biggest concern may be untrained and overzealous TSA droids who try to limit everyone to two batteries regardless.

Funny, the rules are not as concerned about batteries in devices as they are about spare batteries, yet most (all?) of the flame-outs were from batteries that were in use.

This is a good time to check with your favorite battery vendor to get assurance that their batteries contain the recommended safety devices.

 

[Anewman]

I dont see how "extra" batteries would be any more hazardous than a single battery.

Kinda like only allowing ONE GUN per passenger, either a hazard or not.

But seriously, how are they(tsa agent) going to be able to tell how much lithium is in each battery that crosses???
Is it reasonable to expect them to know each and every battery(generic china ones)?
I smell even longer lines, pretty soon we will have to arive 5 hours b4 scheduled departure time.

 

[AndrewWG]

Maybe I read it wrong, but it seems to me that you can carry as many smaller batteries as you want to. As long as they are each under 8g lithium and in your carry on bags rather than checked luggage. It seems as though they are only really concerned with some big honkin batteries that have 8-25g lthium in them, not AA's or regular sized camera batteries.

Is this correct? I may have read it wrong, but that is how I understood it.

 

[handicap18]

Maybe I read it wrong, but it seems to me that you can carry as many smaller batteries as you want to. As long as they are each under 8g lithium and in your carry on bags rather than checked luggage. It seems as though they are only really concerned with some big honkin batteries that have 8-25g lthium in them, not AA's or regular sized camera batteries.

Is this correct? I may have read it wrong, but that is how I understood it.

This is also what I understood from the news reports I heard today.

No lithium batteries in your checked baggage. Batteries in carry on bags must be in plastic bags in your carry on. I'm guessing it must have something to do with the air pressure... ?? The cabin is pressurized for normal breathing and what not, but the cargo/baggage area isn't. ?? This might have something to do with their possible implosion issue.... ????

Who knows. As a photographer with 4 lithium batteries I wouldn't worry about it based on the news reports. I only have 1 battery for the laptop that works and that stays on the laptop when flying and the only other lithium I have is for my camcorder which doesn't always travel with me when we fly. So I wouldn't be putting any in my check baggage.

 

[boBQuincy]

It's not really an implosion issue but more like a really good flame. Lithium is the lightest of the metals and the most active, good for batteries but bad for combustion. Lithium can react violently with air and the fire suppression systems in the cargo hold of a plane will not extinguish a lithium fire.

One of the other properties of lithium is the fire is hot, really hot, as in "melt a big hole in aluminum" hot!

Lithium ion batteries are bad enough but lithium polymer batteries come with more warnings than battery in the package. The warnings claim never charge the battery on anything flammable, never charge them unattended, and keep them in a fireproof safe when not using them.
I am using them in my N scale monorail model.
There are some really good videos on the web showing lithium batteries going up in flames, most impressive!

What really got this going is a laptop computer burst into flames on a jetway, 15 minutes more and it would have been in flight. Most of the fires have been traced to aftermarket or counterfeit batteries but with so many of these in use the FAA/DOT has decided to play it safe. Or to at least try to make it look more safe...

 

[rtphokie]

My concern here is how it's going to be implemented. They are entrusting determination of whether I have to throw out my $50-$100 spare battery (laptop of camera) to a TSA employee with little or no training or experience. I understand why these batteries may pose a danger but this rule is so poorly written it's of no value.

I guarantee you the way it's going to be enforced is that TSA is going to ask you to put batteries in their original packaging or in a ziplock bag to protect the contacts (they love zip lock bags), which is all that's really necessary for 99.99999999% of passengers with these batteries in their luggage.

 

[KimAshton]

I am so confused by this. Shrugs. I usually leave the laptop battery in the laptop and the extra camera battery has a protective case it goes in.

 

[Furgus]

I got this off of Thom Hogan's website:

Fly the Unfriendly Skies
Dec 29--Remember all those news stories about exploding batteries and laptops that caught fire? Well, apparently so does the Department of Transportation, which has decided to do something about it. To wit, starting with the new year here in the US, we have new travel regulations to follow while flying in the US.

Short version: in your checked luggage, all lithium or lithium-ion batteries need to be in the device they power and that device needs to be turned off. Any spare batteries you might wish to bring need to be in your carry-on luggage. There are limits to capacities that can be carried, but only laptop batteries come close to those limits--Nikon camera batteries are well within the limits. And remember this only applies to lithium-based batteries.

However, there's going to be a lot of hassle and confusion on this one, I think. The limits are expressed in grams (which is grossly translated into watt hours), which is not how most of these batteries are marked. Make sure you know how to calculate watt hours (amp hours * voltage; an EN-EL3e battery is 1500mAh and 7.4 volts, so it is 11 watt hours, well under the limits). Second, make sure that the terminals for any extra battery are covered, either by using the cover supplied by the maker, taping over the terminals, or by putting each battery in a separate plastic bag. The rules are also confusing over the number of spare batteries you can carry. It appears that you can carry many under 100-watt hour spare batteries, but only two over 100-watt hour spares. I'm sure there's going to be confusion on this, too. Finally, make sure you know which of your batteries are lithium-based and which are not. And yes, it will be the TSA that is doing the enforcing.

Unfortunately, this new directive intersects with other flying issues: specifically, the weight of your carry-on. More and more the airlines are realizing that heavy carry-ons impact their fuel consumption, and gas prices are one of their biggest costs. Thus, you find more places weighing carry-ons, and in some places, the limits are draconian (the typical limit is 10kg (22 pounds), but some are more limiting than that. A couple of extra EN-EL4a and laptop batteries in your carry-on pushes up the poundage quite quickly.

And yes, this was a last minute change (though apparently brewing behind the scenes for quite some time as the DOT played with blowing up batteries in different ways).

 

[Geoff_M]

I guarantee you the way it's going to be enforced is that TSA is going to ask you to put batteries in their original packaging or in a ziplock bag to protect the contacts (they love zip lock bags), which is all that's really necessary for 99.99999999% of passengers with these batteries in their luggage.

While I agree that there's likely to be some confusion as the new rule is put in place, it's important to note that this is a DOT rule, and NOT a TSA rule. As such, I doubt that the TSA will even be in charge of enforcing it. I'd guess that the responsibility will fall on the airlines themselves as it does for other "no fly" hazards like oxygen cylinders, high proof alcohol, etc. or rules about in-air cell phone use.

As noted by Thom Hogan, unless you with a commercial TV production crew or a mega-"road warrior" laptop user... the only thing this will mean to you is that any spare Li batteries will need to be in your carry-on baggage. The DOT's concern isn't terrorism, it's the oft repeated stories of explosions and fires involving such batteries. In addition to the Li fires burning hot, another problem reportedly is that the on-board fire suppression systems in the cargo holds of planes aren't too good at putting out light-metal based fires.