Guess it's gonna get more expensive to buy extra camera batteries

I predict that "batteries only included with surface mail" will become a standard ebay disclaimer...
 
While this pertains to shipment by air, the restrictions mentioned here appear to be primarily for passenger aircraft. For freight/cargo shipments, there appears to be new parameters for shipping lithium batteries as cargo in respect to their state of charge not to exceed 30% of rated capacity and possibly also the quantity of batteries in the shipment. Based on some of the info, it would seem UPS, for example, services a number of locations via cargo on passenger aircraft, which will be a problem. Most certainly a significant revenue stream for airlines is cargo, therefore it's likely to affect more than just UPS.

Would be good to get clarification about how this will affect spare camera battery sales/prices in layman's terms.
 
rscheffler said:
Most certainly a significant revenue stream for airlines is cargo, therefore it's likely to affect more than just UPS.
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The US are rather unique in that most cargo is carried in dedicated freighters. In Europe, less than half of all air cargo is carried in dedicated freighters, and that is mostly on the direct routes from Asia and America to the main hubs in London, Frankfurt, Amsterdam and Paris - most of the redistribution from there to other destinations within Europe utilizes the cargo bay of passenger aircraft.
 
You don't want this happening in an aeroplane!

http://youtu.be/jTbUP0sGQT8

Lithium batteries are small bombs when they or the device they're in are poorly constructed - some of you may recall that "hover boards" have been recently banned in the US as most are shoddily built in China and some have exploded spectacularly (search YouTube).
 
RichC said:
You don't want this happening in an aeroplane!

http://youtu.be/jTbUP0sGQT8

Lithium batteries are small bombs when they or the device they're in are poorly constructed - some of you may recall that "hover boards" have been recently banned in the US as most are shoddily built in China and some have exploded spectacularly (search YouTube).
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The linked video is really scaring !

robert
 
RichC said:
You don't want this happening in an aeroplane!

http://youtu.be/jTbUP0sGQT8

Lithium batteries are small bombs when they or the device they're in are poorly constructed - some of you may recall that "hover boards" have been recently banned in the US as most are shoddily built in China and some have exploded spectacularly (search YouTube).
Click to expand...

Indeed you don't...but how many aircraft fly every day and how many times has an incident like this been reported to have occurred on a plane? Got to put it into perspective! :)
 
It's not the size of the flame - any flame or explosion is obviously bad news on a plane! And lithium batteries have caught fire and caused accidents on planes, as has been pointed out.

Camera batteries might be smaller but they still explode very violently. Here's someone being an idiot with a cell phone battery. If the battery or device is of substandard design or construction, you don't need to stab it, just turn it on! For this reason I won't use cheap Chinese knock-off batteries - google "phone" "battery" "burn" to see some nasty injuries.

http://youtu.be/GEo0RhEhFYc

If you look at the restrictions, they are pretty sensible. The only change as far as I can tell is that Li batteries aren't allowed as cargo on passenger flights. Passenger planes have allowed Li batteries to be carried onto planes while banning them from hold luggage for a while now. Certainly in the UK you can still take spare batteries with you if they're made safe (taped up terminals or similar).
 
RichC said:
It's not the size of the flame - any flame or explosion is obviously bad news on a plane! And lithium batteries have caught fire and caused accidents on planes, as has been pointed out.
Click to expand...

No consumer batteries in an application setting so far, as far as known - the lost freighters were carrying containers full of factory fresh cells, the two near-fatal fires were due to the backup power batteries of the planes themselves.

Mind, there is a considerable number of home, car and workplace fires caused by Li-battery powered consumer electronics, so the risk should not be underestimated - a carry-on only policy for consumer owned devices seems wise.

But beyond that, I do think that freight plane pilots have valid reasons to object to the current policy that separates batteries from the devices they are intended for, and ships the former on freight-only planes - after the two 747 losses, we can hardly deny that bulk shipping LiIon cells by air is the most risky practice so far. If you ask me, commercial shipments of LiIon batteries should be surface/sea only...
 
I work for a company that manufactures mobile computers, and these new shipping regulations are giving our manufacturing, shipping/receiving, and warehouse folks indigestion. It's been the subject of conversation in the lunchroom several times in the last couple of weeks. So much of our stuff is sent air freight or overnight, that it will affect almost every aspect of our supply chain.

I'm just glad my job has nothing to do with that problem.

Scott
 
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