Traveling with batteries

alexdias

alexdias

Well-known member
We've been working on a doc for the last 14 months with a lot of traveling within the US.
Next Monday I'll have my first flight since the new rules for batteries have been in effect.

I normally keep 3 batteries (one original + 2 dvxuser) inside my Porta Brace camera bag that I carry with me. 2 extra batteries go on a Pelican case with the P2 Store + accesories and this is carried on by my co-director and producer.

I have never experienced any problems with these but I'm now uncertain.
Has anyone been in a recent similar situation?

Thanks.
 
The rules state that you are fine to carry on as many batteries as you want that contain up to 8g of lithium each (about 100WHr of power) .. DVX batteries are well below this.

You can also carry on 2 larger batteries that are over 8g of lithium, as long as the total of those two batteries (together) isn't over 25g.


You can't check any spare lithium batteries in your luggage though.


Though early reports on various forums are that the rules are being (mis)interpreted in different ways in various places.

- Mikko
 
Thanks Mikko,

I'm leaving from Oakland and landing in Salt Lake City.
Hopefully we'll be OK.

Alex
 
Well if you ingest it, it will make you less bipolar! :)

Wikipedia says:
"
Lithium-ion batteries can rupture, ignite, or explode when exposed to high temperature environments, for example in an area that is prone to prolonged direct sunlight.[39] Short-circuiting a Li-ion battery can cause it to ignite or explode, and as such, any attempt to open or modify a Li-ion battery's casing or circuitry is dangerous. Li-ion batteries contain safety devices that protect the cells inside from abuse, and, if damaged, can cause the battery to ignite or explode.
Contaminants inside the cells can defeat these safety devices. For example, the mid-2006 recall of approximately 10 million Sony batteries used in Dell, Sony, Apple, Lenovo/IBM, Panasonic, Toshiba, Hitachi, Fujitsu and Sharp laptops was stated to be as a consequence of internal contamination with metal particles. Under some circumstances, these can pierce the separator, causing the cell to short, rapidly converting all of the energy in the cell to heat resulting in an exothermic oxidizing reaction, increasing the temperature to a few hundred degrees Celsius in a fraction of a second.[40] This causes the neighboring cells to heat up, causing a chain thermal reaction."
 
A leaking lithium battery can also eat a whole all the way through an aircraft, seen them cause a couple million dollars worth of damage on a C-17, ate through the wiring and all the way to the ground below.
 
Back from the cold of Salt Lake.

There was no difference what so ever during the security check.
As usual we passed the camera bag (camera itself goes on the grey tray) with 3 HVX batteries, plus the pelican case with P2 Store + 2 batt. and both ways, both airports there're no concerns.

Can't say it will be like that everywhere but in this case, for this trip, it was just like before.
They tend to double check my wide angle adaptor, but that's all.

Thanks,

Alex.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top