Are laptops banned in checked luggage?
 

On a different forum, a fellow Dane reported that he'd had a laptop removed from checked luggage by security at a US airport.

And that they held it, and after some hassle, he was able to get it back.

Now, I have asked for details, since I read this

http://safetravel.dot.gov/quick_chart.html

as laptops not being banned (he indicated that they were banned because of the batteries) from checked luggage.

We're not talking about it being unsmart to check your laptop for theft/breakage reasons, just wether it is allowed by security or not.

Thanks!
DanishFlyer

Loose batteries are banned, so if you are carrying a battery it has to be installed in the laptop and they may do extra screening, but they are not banned.

Thank you, that is what I thought.

Curious to try to find out what happened to the other guy.

DanishFlyer

Didn't they step that up to Li-Ion batteries simply being banned in cargo, period?

I believe consumer electronic and medical Lithium Ion batteries are allowed in checked luggage. Industrial and larger are not.


Lithium Batteries. When you see this term alone on SafeTravel pages, it refers to both lithium ion batteries and lithium metal batteries. Lithium polymer batteries are a typeof lithium ion battery, and are included in this term.

Lithium Ion Batteries. These are rechargeable lithium batteries, similar to those found in cameras, cell phones, laptop computers, and radio-controlled toys. Lithium polymer batteries are those types of lithium ion batteries.

Larger Lithium Ion Batteries contain between 8 and 25 grams Equivalent Lithium Content (ELC). Some very large after-market laptop computer batteries, and some batteries used for professional audio-visual application, fall within this definition.

Smaller Lithium Ion Batteries contain up to 8 grams Equivalent Lithium Content. Cell phone batteries and most laptop computer batteries fall below the 8 gram threshold.

Lithium Ion Batteries with more than 25 grams ELC are forbidden in air travel.

Lithium Metal Batteries. These cannot be recharged and are designed to be discarded once their initial charge is used up.

Larger Lithium Metal Batteries contain more than two grams of lithium, and are forbidden in air travel. (No common consumer lithium metal batteries are in the "larger" category.)

Spare Batteries. Spare batteries, also called "loose" batteries, are those not installed in equipment. A lithium ion battery inside your laptop computer is an installed battery. A battery carried separately, in case that installedbattery runs low, is a spare battery.

Watt-hour. For the purposes of this page, the watt-hour serves as an indirect measure of Equivalent Lithium Content (ELC). 8 grams ELC are about equal to 100 watt-hours.

Now if you are talking about the silly USPS ban on li-ion batteries:
Effective May 16, 2012, the Postal Service™ will revise Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM®) section 601.10.20 to codify that primary lithium metal or lithium alloy (nonrechargeable) cells and batteries or secondary lithium-ion cells and bat.teries (rechargeable) are prohibited when mailed interna.tionally or to and from an APO, FPO, or DPO location. However, this prohibition does not apply to lithium batter.ies authorized under DMM 601.10.20 when mailed within the United States or its territories.
International standards have recently been the subject of discussion by the International Civil Aviation Organiza.tion (ICAO) and the Universal Postal Union (UPU), and the Postal Service anticipates that on January 1, 2013, cus.tomers will be able to mail specific quantities of lithium bat.teries internationally (including to and from an APO, FPO, or DPO location) when the batteries are properly installed in the personal electronic devices they are intended to operate.

It's actually not silly. There are a number of fires that have occured during shipment due to Lithium batteries. Since much mail flies...

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-0...w-un-rule.html

http://www.fire.tc.faa.gov/pdf/syste...y_04112006.pdf

It's not silly.

The problem is that lithium batteries have a very low internal resistance.

The result is that if something shorts one it can produce enough heat to start a fire.

Usually security removes it and doesn't return it, and the traveler has to file a theft report, so he's lucky.

BTW, if this was security at the arrivals end, the US CBP takes the position that it may inspect and confiscate any computer/laptop entering the country, based on the theory that they may contain illicit material (e.g. pirated software, media content, or child porn).

I did ask if it was arrivals-security, but didn't get a reply yet. He did report having a sticker on and a "love letter" (not his word) in his bag from security, and that when he contacted them about the missing laptop they referred him to an office - it sounds like "in person".

I will make sure to get back here with more info, if I get anything more from him.

Would customs on arrival open the checked bag without you there? I've had secondary (agricultural) several times (I often bring food, always permitted, and also lived in the UK during cattle decease times), but never (to my knowing) have CBP opened my checked bag before it got to me.

It may be a losing battle, but I do like to try to understand what goes on, to enable me to travel as easily as possible!

DanishFlyer

It seems like a somewhat odd procedure, mainly because if they think something in your luggage is unlawful they'd like to get you to confirm that it's yours. That's easier to do if they ask you "is this your bag . . . okay if I open it?" than if they confront you with contraband purportedly taken from your bag.

And lithium fires are no joke either. They cannot be put out with water. In fact using water is the worst thing you can do as an explosion will result. Normal fire extinguishers are worthless as well and can make the fire worse as the burning metal reacts with the chemical agents from the extinguisher. Typically burning metal fires have to be smothered using either *dry* sand or a dry chemical extinguisher designed specifically for use with burning metals.