CAA Lithium Battery Warning

A quote from the new issue of AP:

I sincerely hope that, when the flight crew put the battery in the lavatory, that it did not make contact with water!! That said - it is important that people understand that airport check-in staff ask you to confirm that there are no "dangerous" items packed in your baggage (whether it be hold baggage, or cabin baggage). A lot of the dangers are not always "obvious" - for example, Braun used to sell curling brushes and tongs (not sure if they still do) that were filled with butane gas. If in doubt - declare it.

My K-5 batteries each have their own 3-d printed holder. They get checked at security every time I fly from Schiphol, and I have had a couple of compliments on the holders from security bods.

There is a very real possibility that the cause of the mysterious Malaysian airlines crash was Li-Ion batteries being carried as cargo, despite recommendations that they not be carried as cargo on passenger planes.

I'm not sure how we are supposed to buy cameras, phones, laptops etc and spare batteries online if they can't be sent by post though. Not everyone has access to a good shop close by.

Why am I not at all surprised by this news article?

All my batteries are in plastic containers when travelling thanks to one of Gwyn's previous posts

I've never been questioned about batteries when going through airport security either here or abroad. The K5 batteries are in their own compartment in my camera bag which always goes as hand luggage. I usually carry a pack of Lithium AA's as well, in case I get "caught short" and away from an AC supply.


Shall we just forget that the on-board navigation equipment was manually disabled some time before the plane appears to have ditched? Sorry, but your statement is nothing but ill-informed speculation.


To take this to its logical conclusion and using your own brand of wild speculation: "carrying anything with a lithium battery in it is dangerous and we mustn't do it any more".

Clearly, there is a market for photo-voltaic headgear that remains untapped... Like most things, it comes down to plain old common sense; sadly a commodity that seems to be in short supply these days.

I've had some nice cases for AA batteries but I'm now needing a case or two for K-30 batteries .

Can anyone tell me where I can get one quickly - flying out to Dublin again soon - one battery will be in the camera and the other one , at present , is in a small think tank case

link

But I'm not sure if this will satisfy the requirements now . I only have one battery in it - the other pocket usually has a pen drive in it

No so, Gwyn. The first officer would have been made aware of any dangerous cargo on board, and he has the power of veto whether it stays in the hold, or gets "bumped". Moreover, if anybody is found to be in such a serious breach of IATA/ICAO regulations that states quite clearly that certain DGR's are "cargo aircraft only", then they face prosecution for reckless endangerment of an aircraft. The airline also becomes "vicariously liable" for such an event, thus they will be driven out of business.

The demand and market for 'fake' batteries would diminish considerably if the camera manufacturers priced their genuine batteries at a more realistic level. If a dSLR costs £1000+ then a battery costing £50 isn't such a big deal, but if a compact costs less than £100 then fifty quid for a spare battery is taking the pee a little..!!

Without meaning to sound elitist, it's the compact users on their two-week holiday to Majorca who are more likely to buy fake batteries. Not because they are fake, but because they are cheap.

Genuine OEM batteries are way overpriced. A cash cow if ever there was one..!!

It also beats me why virtually every camera needs a different battery? If ordinary batteries like 'AA' or 'AAA' or 'PP3' for example can be standardised, then why not camera batteries?

It's possible for manufacturers to certify that their shipping containers will contain any fire from the batteries inside long enough to divert the plane (and such containers do exist), but naturally the cost of shipping will be hire (such containers are heavier than standard ones).

For people who are tempted to ignore the advice about hand-luggage, it's not worth it. The x-ray scanners used for hold-luggage are capable of identifying the lithium in the battery by its back-scatter. I think at least one pacific based carrier is now considering charging, for the cost of the delay to the flight, any passengers who break this rule and are found to have li-ion batteries in the hold luggage.

My spare battery for my Canon G12 has a slip on plastic contact cover. It would be sensible if all lithium batteries were supplied with something similar. It could only be pennies extra cost.

Idea's ok Phillip, but would no doubt go the same way as my hot-shoe cover and thirty-thousand lens caps..!!

Well actually only ten-thousand....

Probably the only 'safer' way is to have a flip cover attached to the battery which uncovers the terminals when inserted into the camera.

However the camera manufacturers would add another twenty quid on for that..!!

Just going on from this, I recently sent my mobile phone to a recycling company, they provided all the packaging and address label.

When I went to post it at the post office I was asked if the phone had the battery in it, I said it did, the post office lady then went through a check list and placed various stickers on the package. The package was only going internally in the UK and not abroad.

Kevin

Quite a bit of internal mail still goes by air. So the distinction is not very relevant.

My more recent batteries have come with dedicated plastic clip on covers. Prior to that they just came in plastic bags inside a cardboard box, but even that should prevent shorting.

I still use the original boxes for my day to day storage, putting the battery in a bag if its charged. This means I can tell at a glance which ones need charging when I get home.

I have three batteries - one genuine Hoya that came with the K-7, one spare genuine Pentax from SRS and one genuine Ricoh that came with the K-5iis.
My logic, camera costs best part of a £1000 so £60 for a battery? Is it really worth the risk for a couple of quid?
Not for me.

I always have one in the charger, one in the camera and a spare in the bag with one of these on it that came off a Sony battery Luckily they were the same size and shape.

When I got my K10, it came with a battery terminal cover like that Sony one. The K5 battery didn't. Either is vastly overpriced by Pentax to justify the price on these items.

Most people here would probably want a couple of spare batteries and that adds around £100 extra to the £1000 you already paid for the camera. I don't think £50 for a battery can ever be justified, when alternatives can be sold at much lower prices.
I wonder what the evidence is for saying that the fires were caused by cheap batteries anyway. The article, as usual with scary journalism, mixes several concerns but no real evidence for the conclusion that it is the non-branded items that cause the problems.

Some standardization of the shapes and capacities needs to be done for these companies to stop ripping us off!