Candidly, there is no proof of the 'damage' a bunch of LiON batteries could do, terror-wise speaking; yeah, we could all speculate. The TSA/DOT merely is imposing sanctions on airline customers at the behest of the airlines so airlines can charge money for 'in-flight' services.

You see, by limiting the # of batteries, you run out of juice to watch your DVD and then need to pay for a movie on their screen; e.g. in-flight services charged at premiums.

If I remember correctly these type of batteries can not be extinguished easily because they make their own oxygen or something like that. Now I may be wrong about that so if someone corrects me then I stand corrected.

It has been a few years since I have flown on an airliner, but don't they have charging facilities in the armrest or something? So during a long flight you could watch a video of Dr Zhivago on your whatever and not run the battery down.

Now all of that being said I guess this could seriously affect photo and video journalists and such who travel with a lot of batteries.

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Guest wrote:

You see, by limiting the # of batteries, you run out of juice to watch your DVD and then need to pay for a movie on their screen; e.g. in-flight services charged at premiums.

While there are longer flights out there, I think that for most people, 3 batteries would be enough to get them through a flight.

I seriously doubt the airlines are pushing this just so they can trap people on 7+ hour flights who want to use their laptop the ENTIRE time (i.e., they don't have an iPod or any other device with them.)

Obviously that's going to come up from time to time, but not often enough to make any difference in the airline's profits!

Airlines may well be doing this to bolster their in-flight services for fees. But they could go a long way toward mitigating this suspicion by offering the Empower power ports on their planes. Very few have been adding them to their fleets. Adoption has been slow, much slower than DVD screens and other amenities. This would wipe out the need for batteries in the cabins.

Is it any wonder people mistrust the airlines?

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Tiger wrote:
Airlines may well be doing this to bolster their in-flight services for fees.

I'm just surprised by the number of people who think that the different airlines all got together and secretly bribed the government to change their policies...all with no one finding out.

Not only am I disinclined to believe such convoluted schemes, I'm even LESS likely to believe they can be pulled off without anyone finding out about it! Both 'airlines' and 'government' are two entities I wouldn't trust to pull off a huge secret caper. And I'm supposed to believe that when you put them together they turn into James Bond or something?

How many Li ion batteries in bubble packs have caught fire while languishing in a store sales rack?

I've never heard of one spontaneously burning, but then what do I know?

maybe its because a bomb could be made to 'look' like a battery during xray process.
Thats what i would do if i was a terrorist

... the issue is fire risk ... and very difficult to put out once started.

My concern has more to do with professionals who rely on these batteries. Photographer's camera batteries as well as video camera operator's batteries are lith ion and we cannot travel with only one in the camera and one spare. That will not get any one through a day of shooting. What are the implications here? Are we supposed to buy new batteries when we arrive at our location?

The real issue here is that this is nothing more than yet another imposition on the general public for no useful purpose.

If there were truly a fire risk, then the rules should apply to all cargo, not just the passengers. Cargo companies (i.e. Amazon) ship cargo on commercial airlines all the time, and this rule does not apply to them. So light'em up, this is yet another ineffective imposition. Money talks, science walks.

Nick

I think I must be missing something. Airlines don't pass the laws so I doubt that they are the ones responsible for limiting LiON batteries on flights. If this was their plan and they were lobbying for this in order to charge more, wouldn't they have included NiMH batteries? NiMH are used more often by video and photogs anyway as they are able to be recharged and are more cost efficient in the long run.

The Lithium Ion batteries in my Nikon D2xs are rechargeable. I always carry two spare charged batteries when I travel. I am willing to bet they exceed the total weight in grams that TSA has set. I could FedEx my spares to my destination, and charge the client. But would those batteries I am shipping be on an airplane also? Another stupid reg by an overzealous bureaucracy set free of any constraint in the name of national security!

It seems that nearly everyone has missed the point, perhaps because they didn't actually read and check out the rules. Consider this:

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Under the new rules, you can bring batteries with up to 8-gram equivalent lithium content. All lithium ion batteries in cell phones are below 8 gram equivalent lithium content. Nearly all laptop computers also are below this quantity threshold.

According to that page, 8 gram equivalent is about 100 watt-hours. For example, batteries for the 17" MacBook Pro are 68 watt-hours and they're the largest in Apple's line. You can carry any number of these. Read the rules. All they ask is that they be packed so that nothing can bridge their contacts. (That's also why installed batteries are not of as much concern.) For example, you could put them in plastic bags. Thus, you can carry 100 spare batteries for your MacBook, if they would fit in your carry-on bag and you wanted to tote them around. You could watch an entire season of Law & Order without a problem.

Batteries for digital cameras and camcorders are even smaller, though their capacity usually isn't expressed in watt-hours. To take an example, the batteries for my Canon 30D, a "prosumer" DSLR, have about 1400 mAh at 7.4v. If one assumed that the voltage would be constant (it actually decreases as the battery is discharged), that would be about 10.4 watt-hours, way under the 8 gram-equivalent=100 watt-hours threshold. So, the guest with the Nikon D2xs probably had nothing to be concerned about. In addition, many camera batteries come with a little cover for the area with the contacts. If not, put them in a plastic bag.

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You can also bring up to two spare batteries with an aggregate equivalent lithium content of up to 25 grams, in addition to any batteries that fall below the 8-gram threshold. Examples of two types of lithium ion batteries with equivalent lithium content over 8 grams but below 25 are shown below.

Shown are two large batteries, one a 130 watt-hour "universal" external battery for laptops, the other a large 160 watt-hour battery used by AV professionals. Anyone have one of those? It weighs about 2.5 pounds, a bit much to hang under your digital SLR or on the back of your camcorder, and costs nearly $400. (It is for professional video cameras and lights.) Those would fit under the rule, up to a maximum of about 300 watt-hours. If you use batteries like that, check with the manufacturer for their exact lithium equivalent.

Re: the comment about shipping batteries. When batteries are commercially shipped, they are packed to ensure that nothing can bridge their contacts. That cannot be guaranteed with checked-in baggage.

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For a lithium metal battery, whether installed in a device or carried as a spare, the limit on lithium content is 2 grams of lithium metal per battery.

Almost all consumer-type lithium metal batteries are below 2 grams of lithium metal. But if you are unsure, contact the manufacturer!

Lithium metal batteries, as opposed to lithium ion batteries, if what I read is correct, are non-rechargeable batteries like lithium AA batteries. Again, 2 grams would be about 25 watt-hours, way more than any AA battery can pack. (They're more like 2-3 watt-hours, at most.)

You won't be able to carry spare batteries in checked baggage, but can in carry-on.

- Checked baggage can easily be hand-checked to ensure that the batteries are properly stowed.

- A fire in the passenger area would actually be easier to handle than one in the cargo hold, as flight attendants can focus their efforts on the small source. In the hold, the crew can only apply the general fire extinguishing systems, which, apparently, are not sufficient to extinguish a small but very hot source.

It does help to read the rules and do a little research. That would avoid the "Chicken Little" remarks, not to mention the inevitable conspiracy theories.

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John Martellaro wrote:
The most important change is that spare lithium batteries, not installed in a device and over a certain size, may not go into checked baggage. Also, the number of spare batteries carried on board is limited by the total lithium equivalent in grams.

Two significant errors:

1. NO spare (not installed in devices) lithium batteries can go in checked baggage, regardless of size.

2. The limit on the total lithium equivalent applies only to batteries over 8 grams equivalent.

Again, it helps to carefully read the entire article.