Bringing batteries in checked luggage

Is there a limit to battery size for check bags? I know it’s 99wh for carry on but I can’t seem to find any info on checking stuff.

Do not place batteries in checked-in baggage.

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I had a battery fire yesterday. It is a stark reminder why you don’t check them.

What happened?

Cheap Chinese cells blew up while charging

It’s up to 160Wh if you get your airlines approval. The 99Wh is the maximum before the airlines can say no, and 160 is the max they can allow.

Different airlines are lenient in different ways. Call ahead, try to get approval, and if you can’t get it over the phone try in person (only if you’ve got someone who drove you to the airport who could take it if they say no)

Lipo or lion?

Hm. Ok thanks. Well my battery is definitely bigger than 160wh so I guess I’ll have to ship it

Lipo from hobby king

Make sure you ship it ground and disclose the contents as lithium batteries. You might need a sticker for the box too.

On a separate note, if you are able to split up your battery then you can likely fly with it. I forget the specific rules for better count, but if you can split it into <100wh chunks and not exceed the battery count limit, you can fly with it.

Ofc this won’t apply to 18650 packs, but people who stack hobby king lipos in series could get away with it.

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Do not fly with batteries, the risk in not worth it.

Ship them via FedEx ground before your trip

TSA says unlimited <99Wh packs. I kinda want to test the lithium ion packs. If they look professional and are under the limit then they should get through. And I doubt the TSA would really be able to tell the capacity of a battery. #actlikeyoubelong

There was another member talking about flying with his 10s4p battery a few days ago and he never had an issue supposedly. If you tell them it’s under 100wh who’s gonna know better?

Ya maybe. I’m not sure how they would be able to check and it would be a lot more convenient because my batteries wouldn’t dissapear for a few days before or after I land.

Ya it’s one big pack. I might try doing a build with easily swappable batteries at some point, but right now it takes about 1-2 mine for me to swap. (Which I guess isn’t bad, but I would want a quick release type thing like inboard

Easy for ground linked travel. I keep Aloha packs in Hawaii now that I’m on continental US