Things To Know When Traveling With Lithium Batteries

We all love to travel with our electronics, but you should probably know more about traveling with lithium batteries. So many of today’s electronics like cellphones, laptops, and tablets use lithium batteries to provide power. Although these batteries are for everyday use, problems can arise. For example, lithium batteries can catch fire if they become damaged or if battery terminals are short-circuited. In the past, there have been a number of documented cases of cellphones catching fire, tablets exploding, and other mishaps involving lithium-ion batteries. It’s important to know how to properly use, store, and recharge lithium batteries to prevent damage to the battery of injury to yourself.

The more facts that you know about how to store and travel with lithium batteries the better off you will be at avoiding possible incidents involving them. By exercising good judgment and caution with them, you can also avoid potential injury and even potentially death. There are a number of steps that you can take when traveling with lithium batteries to keep both them and yourself safe.

What Passengers Should Know About Traveling With lithium batteries?

Lithium-ion batteries have been around for a number of years, however, as of lately they have become a hot topic. In fact, the topic is fire, fires and what is causing lithium-ion batteries to catch fire or explode. Some might question why then do we keep using these batteries if they are dangerous.

Well, we continue to use these types of batteries for all sorts of applications. They’re found in everything from power tools to cameras and laptops because lithium-ion batteries are incredibly efficient. They are so much so that they stand apart from other batteries because of their high charge density. Plus, add the fact lithium batteries can be recharged which saves money. This also helps to create less waste, which makes these batteries very economic. They also utilize much more advanced and mature technology in their construction. Inside the battery are two electrodes that if come into contact with each other will heat up very quickly. The electrolyte that the electrodes sit in is highly combustible and volatile in the presence of oxygen. Making matters worse is that there’s also another compound added that can burn the skin.

With all these hazards, it’s important to know how to properly handle these batteries when traveling. There can be a lot of different factors involved when a lithium battery catches fire or explodes. The source of the problem can come from places like its production or design flaws. User inflicted damage or even a bad charger can also cause a battery to short or overheat. That’s why it’s always important to use the appropriate chargers or power cords because some devices require more electricity than others need. With the wrong power cord, you might oversupply power and cause the battery to overheat.

Flying With Lithium-Ion Batteries In 2019

Due to the risk associated with batteries, especially lithium-ion batteries, they are subject to some restrictions when flying aboard aircraft. With the recent spike in battery fires and explosions related to lithium-ion batteries, the FAA has created a guideline for all airline passengers who are carrying batteries.

Passengers can carry most consumer-type batteries and portable battery-powered electronic devices in their carry-on luggage without a problem. However, passengers carrying lithium metal and lithium-ion batteries may not place them in checked baggage. For battery-powered devices that can be completely turned off they, however, are the exception and can go inside checked-in luggage.

Spare or uninstalled batteries, including e-cigarettes and vaping devices, can only be carried in your carry-on luggage. In fact, if you check-in luggage containing lithium batteries, they’ll need to be removed. You can either discard them or choose to keep them with you in the cabin. This is to make sure the cabin crew can address incidents involving lithium batteries overheating or catching fire quickly.

Traveling Safely With Lithium-Ion Batteries

Anytime you plan on traveling and have lithium batteries or battery-powered devices, you should certain precautions to ensure prompt awareness of an issue. One of the things that should be most obvious is to not fly or travel with a damaged, recalled, or defective battery. If the battery poses a safety risk to crew members, aircraft, or passengers, it can not come with you in your checked baggage or your carry-on. If you are in doubt, it’s best to just leave the battery behind.

Lithium-ion batteries come in different sizes and when traveling there are limits on the size and quantity of batteries that you can bring. Typically, non-rechargeable lithium batteries are limited to 2 grams of lithium per battery. Rechargeable lithium batteries, on the other hand, normally have 100 watt-hours and are limited to batteries of up to 160 watt-hours or less. With the approval of the airline, passengers are allowed to carry up to two of these larger size batteries in their carry-on.

It’s important to prevent your lithium batteries terminals. Some batteries come with the terminal contacts highly exposed. These terminal contacts must never come in contact with other metals or anything that might complete the circuit. You can protect the batteries by leaving them in the manufacturers packaging, covering the terminals with tape, or using a battery case. You can also use the battery sleeve or pouch in a backpack or camera bag. Also putting them snugly in a plastic bag or protective pouch works just as well.

Conclusion

Lithium-ion battery safety is a very important part of traveling with electronic devices. Traveling safely with these types of batteries is everyone’s responsibility although not everyone may be aware of safe practices. In today’s busy world it’s easy to neglect battery safety. If you’re curious about flying with lithium batteries in your possession then you can check out the?TSA’s?website. On their website, it goes over what you can and can’t bring regarding batteries as well as other items too. Staying well educated and prepared will help you to know how safely store, use, and travel with lithium-ion batteries.