US Transportation Dept bars loose Lithium Batteries

jiseson

Flying well-equipped for business and pleasure gets a bit more complicated on Jan. 1, as the U.S. Transportation Department bars travelers from packing loose lithium batteries in checked luggage.
The move is designed to help minimize the risk that such batteries could overheat and catch fire on board, the agency's Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration said in a statement on Friday.
The new rules say travelers can bring a laptop computer, digital camera, cellphone and other equipment on board or in checked luggage if their lithium batteries are installed in the items.
And flyers can bring spare batteries in carry-on luggage if they're stored in plastic bags or if they're in the original retail packaging. But travelers can bring only as many as two such spare batteries, and each must be packed separately.
Additional points about lithium content:
Passengers can fly with lithium-ion batteries containing no more than the equivalent of 8 grams of lithium content. All lithium-ion batteries in cellphones and almost all laptop-computer batteries meet this rule, the agency says.
As for spares, flyers can bring as many as two, but the batteries' total lithium content must be less than 25 grams.
And for lithium-metal batteries, whether installed in a device or carried as a spare, the maximum lithium content is 2 grams per battery. Almost all consumer-type lithium-metal batteries meet this rule, the agency says.

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Jonathan D Iseson

tele

Interesting! There are some videos on youtube of LiIon batteries that have been damaged (one is shot with a gun). The results are amazing... very violent fire is produced. Large ones need to be shipped HazMat, unlike normal Sealed Lead Acid and AGM type batteries.