A couple of years ago we went to Trinidad & Tobago, first staying on Trinidad
and then flying to Tobago. After 10 days on Trinidad we then flew to Tobago,
waiting for our luggage we noticed that everyone else had got their luggage
except for three of us. Then I saw our luggage arrive on the truck and to my
horror I could see that my luggage was flapping in the breeze! Luckily the
material the case was made from was OK, it was the stitching that had come
apart, the reason? Acid from two lead acid batteries had leaked out from
someone else's luggage. He was a local DJ and flies between the islands doing
his gigs, his equipment was all car hi-fi powered by lead acid batteries!
Luckily all my stuff had been protected by the material of the case, sadly for
the other person involved his bag and contents were completely ruined - his bag
looked like it had melted contents and all!
One hates to think what the outcome would have been if the flight had been
longer and the acid had got to the airframe as aluminium and sulphuric acid can
get quite lively!
You would have though someone might have noticed the weight of the cardboard
box when he checked in?
Phil
----- Original Message ----
From: flatcatspammed <>
To:
Sent: Thursday, 3 January, 2008 1:59:56 AM
Subject: [Nature Recordists] Re: TSA Lithium Battery madness
I used to work with lithium batteries daily, as the company I worked
for at the time used them in bulk for products. Used to ship them off
for hazardous waste disposal as well. Standard lithium batteries are
explosive when shorted out. A half size AA will take your fingers off
if it were to explode in your hand. Though you'd have to really be
numb in the hand and brain to stand there and hold it while it heated
up. We had a group of 4 of them explode on the factory floor when an
employee broke the rules and stuck some in a radio to replace their AA
alkaline batteries. Quite a few employees went to the hospital that
day to have their hearing checked for damage. The radio was splayed
open like a tin can after a cherry bomb. When we shipped out bulk
groups of lithium batteries for hazardous waste disposal, the 55
gallon steel drum was as thick as armor plating as they were
considered dangerous. The lid on the drum was the explosive release
vertically, and the drums were strapped to the pallet so they would
not tip.. Even those types of batteries have become much better
engineered over the years and are not quite so dangerous now, even
though they can still cause harm and damage when shorted. There is
reason for the T.S.A. to mark lithium batteries as hazardous, but
most of the current smart charge Li-ion batteries have protective
circuitry and are not a problem. The current line of consumer
batteries also have recessed contacts for the same reasons.
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