how many lithium batteries can i take on a plane?

What is a lithium battery?

It is the battery that we commonly use for telephone, computer, digital camera or other. As the airline industry has significantly increased the regulations for lithium batteries on board in recent years, if passengers are not clear about carrying too many lithium batteries on board, they can get into serious trouble at any time.

1. Check whether to carry-on or check-in lithium batteries?

Whether it is a power supply or lithium batteries can not be checked in, must be put in hand luggage, carry-on on the plane. Because of the increasing number of accidents caused by rechargeable batteries in recent years, many rechargeable batteries are not designed to be safe enough, under certain conditions may cause sparks or the risk of explosion, so now take any flight can not check in lithium batteries.

Whether a lithium battery can be carried on board depends on its configuration and its watt-hour (Wh) rating (for rechargeable lithium-ion/polymer batteries) or lithium capacity (LC) (for non-rechargeable lithium metal batteries). When going through security at the airport, your lithium battery will be confiscated if the security officer thinks it does not meet the regulations.

As for removable backup batteries and stand-alone lithium batteries, such as cell phones, cameras, tablets, watches, calculators, computers using such small lithium batteries, as long as they can be removed, you need to carry them with you. On the plane with 3-5 electronic products or can, but also must be a single well protected against short circuit, and can only be carried in hand luggage.

In addition, each spare battery must not exceed the following quantities.

1. for lithium metal or lithium alloy batteries, the lithium content shall not exceed 2 grams.

2, for lithium-ion batteries, the total equivalent lithium content of not more than 8 grams.

Passengers can carry lithium-ion batteries with a total equivalent lithium content of more than 8 grams but not more than 25 grams, if a single well-protected against short circuit, can be carried in hand luggage. Spare batteries are limited to two per person. Other types of spare dry batteries, such as NiMH batteries, can also be carried if they are well protected against short circuit.

For lithium batteries that cannot be removed, or more lithium battery devices, such as iPhones, MacBooks and other electronic products that cannot be replaced with lithium batteries, passengers can theoretically check these products in, but airport security will conduct additional security checks on this baggage.

Please check some information before boarding. Generally speaking, there is no problem with bringing a mobile phone and computer on the plane. Generally speaking, there is no problem with bringing a mobile phone and computer on the plane.

2. What is the maximum number of lithium batteries per person?

Generally speaking, each airline uses the capacity of the battery to determine the number of lithium batteries each passenger can carry. On Cathay Pacific, for example, each passenger can only carry 20 spare batteries of less than 100Wh/2g lithium capacity (LC) and up to 2 spare batteries of 100Wh to 160Wh capacity. Large lithium batteries over 160Wh must be declared and shipped as cargo in accordance with the IATA Dangerous Goods Regulations and cannot be carried as baggage.

3. How do I calculate the capacity of a spare lithium battery?

Take out your lithium battery and check it, you will find the words mAh and V are usually printed on it. mAh is "milliampere hours", we need to convert it to "watt hours", while some devices' batteries will directly list the capacity of the battery with "Wh", but general batteries use "mAh" as the unit of battery capacity. The calculation of converting "mAh" to "Wh" is as follows

E(Wh) = Q(mAh) × V(V) / 1000

Taking the battery of Samsung GALAXY S3, the capacity of the battery is 2100mAh and the voltage is 3.8V, the conversion to "Wh" is 2100 x 3.8 / 1000 = 7.98Wh

4. Do I need special packaging for carrying lithium batteries?

Each lithium battery needs to be wrapped in a container to ensure that the positive and negative terminals of the battery will not be short-circuited. It is best to wrap them in original retail packaging or wrap the electrodes with tape. Travelers can also place the lithium battery in an insulated battery box or plastic bag.

5. Prohibit carrying lithium battery carts on board

Lithium battery scooters are electric two-wheeled skateboards, wind turbines, balance scooters, unicycles, and other balance scooters. Since December 9, 2015, most national airlines have prohibited the carriage of lithium battery vehicles and related components in checked baggage and hand luggage. If passengers bring such type of items to the airport during check-in, the items will be rejected and the passenger must be responsible for disposing of the prohibited items prior to boarding. Due to the flammability of these items, many airlines do not store them, so it is important to check the official statements before boarding.

Alkaline batteries are also not allowed to be checked in

AA alkaline batteries for normal daily use are also not allowed in the cabin and must be carried safely in hand luggage with adequate short circuit protection. You can wrap them in their original retail packaging, or tape them with electrodes or store each battery in a separate plastic bag or protective sleeve, and turn off the batteries in all electronic devices (i.e. cameras, cell phones and computers).