Fred is correct about a lot of things below. Li-Ion and Li-Poly batteries are generally not allowed to be transported en masse (as cargo) aboard passenger aircraft. This is true at least in the US, but I'm not sure about other countries. If it's true in the US, the more safey-conscious Europeans almost certainly have a similar restriction.
I work in consumer products. We are allowed to transport large quantities of our GPS receivers using Li-Ion batteries, as long as they're not fully charged, aboard cargo aircraft only. Single units may be carried aboard and transported in passenger aircraft. Unless your Li-based battery catches fire on a planet with a non-oxygen atmosphere, the only way to extinguish it is to deprive the fire of oxygen. Lithium combines with oxygen quite readily, producting a highly exothermic reaction with a lot of nasty gaseous products you want no part of. I suspect the same restriction applies to SLA batteries of different chemistries, in particular bulk storage (large battery banks). I doubt it has a thing to do with RoHS, it's probably a safety issue. RoHS applies only to consumer products that are user-accessible (the Cadmium in NiCD and lead in lead-acid are not accessible under normal circumstances). During a unit teardown in 2007, I damaged the battery pack in a Garmin PND (one of our competitors), and it caught fire in the lab next to my office. I breathed a lot of the products as I tried to put the fire out. Finally, I used a sheet of rubberized plastic, which burned clear through quickly, to smother the fire. As Fred said, nothing else worked to kill the fire. We came this close to clearing the building, and only venting the lab kept a major hazmat thing from occuring. I had to go to the local hospital for observation and toxicity checks. I got lucky, no issues. We also handle labeling for our products. The label for a pallet of GPS receivers indicates no passenger aircraft transport is allowed. I confirmed that this IS a TSA restriction. However, I've shown dozens of single units to TSA guys and they never ask what type of battery pack is inside. I suspect it's mostly a matter of "what you see is what's real". If a Li-Poly pack were outside the unit, the question might be asked. If it's NiCD or NiMH they won't care, but might see the Lithium on their list of no-nos. 73, matt zilmer W6NIA [Magellan Navigation] On Mon, 27 Jun 2011 19:51:15 -0700, you wrote: >David, I find the results of your research strange. Lithium batteries are >several orders of magnitude more dangerous than SLA. They catch fire and >water and ordinary fire extinguishers don't work on Lithium! Please see >http://www.bobatkins.com/photography/li_battery_restrictions.html for TSA >restrictions and comments on lithium batteries. Of course things always >appear different when viewed from the western side of the pond. >I am wondering if the restrictions on SLA batteries are based upon ROHS >restrictions on the importation of lead. Seems like lead is still ok for car >batteries but not for car wheel balancing. Which is the greater hazard? > >One bonus of lithium is its much greater energy per pound/kg than lead. >Something you really appreciate when racing through airports. > >73, >de Fred, AE6QL > >-----Original Message----- >From: [email protected] >[mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Thomas Horsten >Sent: Saturday, June 25, 2011 2:14 PM >To: [email protected] >Cc: [email protected] >Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Flying with K2 > >Hi David, > >I am flying to Denmark with my FT-817 next week, and I contacted EasyJet to >figure out what I was going to do. > >The SLA battery is a no-no. It took 4 emails and escalating the issue to >find out for sure that these are not allowed on EasyJet no matter what, and >probably the same applies to other European airlines. > >Regarding the radio itself you can carry it in your hand baggage no problem, >as long as you stay within the allowance of your airline. In EasyJet's case >that means certain dimensions but no limit on the weight, so if you pack >tightly you might be able to fit laptop as well as your rig into a suitable >backpack. You can also pack it in the hold baggage, either is allowed. > >I bought a 8Ah Lithium Polymer battery from uttings.co.uk to replace my 12Ah >SLA battery, which I wasn't allowed to bring. It's this one: >http://www.deben.com/lithium-ion/12v-8ah-lithium-ion-battery-pack-with-fuel- >gauge.html > >A datasheet for the battery can be found here: >http://www.tracerpower.com/user/pdf/Li-Poly_Data_Sheet.pdf > >This works exceedingly well with my FT-817, I don't have a K2 to try it on >but be aware that the voltage is somewhat lower than a SLA, with about 12.8 >volts when fully charged and dropping to about 9.5V when it's flat. So this >might be an issue for the K2 - the FT-817 puts out the full 5W at well under >9V. > >Hope it helps! > >73, Thomas M0TRN >K3 #4208 > >On 25 June 2011 18:21, David Andrews <[email protected]> wrote: > >> Advice please - I'm flying within Europe shortly with a K2. Do I pack >> it in suitcase (hold) or carry-on? Any problem with the SLA battery? >> What about paperwork? Is it likely to cause concern at the airports? >> >> >> >> Thanks >> >> >> >> David G4CWB >> >> >> >> ______________________________________________________________ >> Elecraft mailing list >> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft >> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm >> Post: mailto:[email protected] >> >> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email >> list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html >> >______________________________________________________________ >Elecraft mailing list >Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft >Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm >Post: mailto:[email protected] > >This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net >Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html > >______________________________________________________________ >Elecraft mailing list >Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft >Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm >Post: mailto:[email protected] > >This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net >Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[email protected] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
