Don’t Pack the Batteries Dear…

As of 1st January 2008 the every thoughtful Transportation Security Administration brings in some new daft rules for the frequent and business traveller.

“Spare lithium batteries – extra batteries not installed on devices – will no longer be allowed in checked baggage. Spare lithium batteries may be packed in carry-on baggage and lithium batteries installed in a device may be packed in either checked or carry-on, as long as the battery is installed in the device.”

www.tsa.gov

To be clear on this, if your battery is installed in the device you can check it in BUT if not don’t bother as it is a security risk?

Just to make the whole thing even harder there are limits on the size/capacity of any spare battery as well.

• 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.
• 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.
• 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.

Got it? Nah – me neither. Thankfully I don’t travel much in the US, but certainly these silly rules will spill over into the global scene soon enough.

So for all you hardcore gadget freaks you will need to purchase a humble calculator soon as, just to add up all those batteries you are toting around before you next hit the terminals.

For help with all the wierdness of the new rules head over to safetravel.dot.gov.