InkUnderNails

New SOP today at SLC. I carry electronics, ICP power supplies to be specific, that use 9V alkaline batteries. I have a total of six installed at any one time. I also carry six spares in the rare instance that all of my devices go dead on the same trip. It's rare, but it happens.

The person inspecting my bag said specifically that the bag was pulled out because of the 9V batteries. She also said the policy was specific to SLC at this time and may be expanded to other airports. The reason was the the 9V battery was powerful enough to directly set off explosives.

The action required to resolve my possession of these batteries was that my carry on had to be completely emptied of all electronics and cables and tools and the two bins and the Pelican 1510 case were all run through separately. I got six ETD swabs of the case and its contents before losing count. I then had to completely repack the bag. The repack was not a huge deal as I often have to do this but in this particular case I was guarded by a screener that watched every movement I made until the bag was repacked. He may have been there all along, but I had not noticed.

Now, I realize that not a lot of folks use a large number 9V batteries except me and now terrorist bombers, so this information is of limited use to most people. However, it will become a major hassle for me if this moves nationwide.

She suggested that I remove any items with 9V batteries and all of the spare batteries and place in a bin for a separate screening. I could find nothing on the TSA web site about 9V batteries or any kind of alkaline batteries.

There was an assumption that if the 9V batteries were in the case, the bomb components must also be in the case. They did not check my backpack. I got no scan or frisk, just the WTMD. So even if I was carrying the newly dangerous batteries for a bomb, they failed to check me or all of my possessions for related components.

The statement that the 9V battery is dangerous just because it is 9V is ridiculous. At the same time, I was carrying 30 AA batteries for my equipment that uses AA's, a mix of lithium ion and alkaline. These were not a problem even though if I hook them up in series I would be pushing 45 volts or so. And let's not even think about capacitors. Or my computer and its back up battery which was purchased with special 6-cell Li-ion batteries.

Add all of this to the fact that this same case, with the same components, passed though the x-ray with no secondary in 5 of the last 6 airports before SLC. Only SLC has this requirement for now.

TSA, please, please at least get all of the airports on the same page and use some consistency. No, wait, bad idea. They would certain make the good ones like the bad ones, not the other way around.

bluenotesro

For crying out loud! When you thought TSA has reached the lowest (or highest) level of stupidity, it gets worse!

My finger can set off a bomb. Will they ban fingers next????

KenHamer

Reminds me of a scene in "This is Spinal Tap"...

"It goes up to eleven."

halls120

When you think about it, TSA is really a cleverly designed entertainment program for the traveling public. Our government has recognized the miserable plight of being stuffed in a metal tube with uncomfortable seats and crappy leg room, so they've devised TSA as a solution - an agency that sets the level of stupidity at new highs - or lows - on a daily basis, to make us laugh.

Global_Hi_Flyer

Idiots.

Why does TSA hate business travelers?

RadioGirl

Obviously they hate people like our friend Ink who a) can successfully multiply 30 by 1.5 (without a calculator) and b) knows that 45 is more than 9 (again, without having to check on a calculator).

They prefer people who think a single 9V battery is more dangerous than any quantity of AAs because the 9V just looks scarier. Remember that this is an organization that gets confused by decimal points and "them pesky furrin metric units".

InkUnderNails

Just this afternoon I bought two new batteries for my garage door opener remote. They are about the size of a AAA, just a little fatter and a little shorter. They are labeled 12V. I need to be certain to not take these with me as well.

Actually, as I think about it the garage door opener electronics would make a nifty and very efficient det........... Uh, never mind.

Remember, I had 12 9V batteries, 108V in series. That is enough to run a toaster, for a very, very short time. (Current is related to voltage, of course, but try explaining that to a screener.)

See was actually very apologetic as if she may may realized that the SOP was goofy, but had to enforce it anyway.

AmyJo

9V are better than the other batteries because a person can put
one on their tongue and feel the electricity. Maybe they are worried
about some newfangled whole body bomb that uses way more than
just body cavities. Mentos might be next.

InkUnderNails

Folks, do not try this even with what you think are dead batteries. It will give you serious hit. "Feel the electricity" does not do justice to the effect. It is not particularly dangerous but you would not think that at the time it is happening.

But, if you really want to try it, go ahead, but consider yourself warned.

N965VJ

Let's not confuse the TSA with something that any kid that ever got a Radio Shack Science Fair kit would know more about.

MikeMpls

Just when you think it can't get any dumber.

I'll bet you can still buy tons of 9V batteries at shops in the sterile area at SLC.

InkUnderNails

Shhhhh......

They will throw them in the HazMat bucket and make me buy them in the terminal, just like my incredibly dangerous Diet Coke. (See Mentos reference above from AmyJo.)

AngryMiller

Because we know TSA's SOP better than they do and because of that we are perceived as a threat.

jtodd

I think you're really undershooting this by a very large margin.

RadioGirl

I predict an epidemic of stunned screeners found with 9V batteries in their mouths.