FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - New (to me) lithium battery limits from the TSA
Old Dec 28, 2007, 12:57 pm
  #2  
gardener
 
Join Date: Sep 2001
Location: Philadelphia, PA, USA
Programs: UA 2P, AA LT Gold, Marriott LT Titanium
Posts: 3,159
Read the rules carefully. Forbidden are lithium METAL batteries (non-rechargeable) with over two grams Li. The rules you are concerned with are those for Li ION batteries (rechargeable).

You need to check the watt-hours of your battery. Often a battery will express milliampere-hours - I believe if you multiply this by the voltage and divide by 1000 you will have watt hours.

The reason for the new rules is that Li batteries are a very concentrated source of energy. Shorting of the terminals turns them into at best an incendiary device and at worst a bomb. That is why different rules apply for batteries in a device - that provides protection against shorting.
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