2007Batteries/Power forum
Lithium-ion battery regulations for air travel starting January 2008
19 years old. Gear and prices may have changed since.
DisputedParticipants disagreed and reached no conclusion. Read the findings as positions, not as an answer.
What the thread found
- A federal law effective January 1, 2008 prohibits spare lithium-ion batteries in checked baggage and requires them to be carried in carry-on luggage with terminals covered.
- The regulation allows one battery installed in a device and one spare battery per device, meaning multiple spare batteries beyond this limit cannot be transported.
- Batteries mounted on charging stations may not satisfy the requirement of being mounted on an actual device in use.
- Airport security personnel interpretations of the rule can vary, leading to inconsistent enforcement across different locations.
- Lithium-ion battery incidents increased significantly from 35 or more in 2006 to over 125 in 2007, driving stricter regulations.
- Regulations became stricter again around October 2008, indicating ongoing regulatory tightening.
Depends on
- The thread contains speculation about rule interpretations rather than confirmed information.
- Operators discussed workarounds of unclear legality and feasibility.
- Enforcement appears inconsistent between different airport security checkpoints.
- The specific watt-hour limits mentioned in the discussion are not clearly stated in the thread.
- One participant's experience describes having four BP-GL65 batteries confiscated but the exact rule applied is ambiguous from their account.