Portable battery banks

[RedSMS]

Hi All!

I am considering to upgrade my 25,000 mAh battery bank to something with greater capacity.. I use 2 phones and a laptop, so such a device is super handy for me. I require access to charging wherever I am.

The question is, what is the limit that most Airlines will allow in your carry on? I assume it hasn't changed from 100Wh/ ~27,000mAh.

I'm mostly concerned about flying domestically within Australia.


On the Qantas website, it says that Lithium Ion batteries with a capacity between 100Wh-160Wh may be permitted, but you have to request approval before check in.

Has anybody had experience in carrying anything above 100Wh, but less than 160Wh?

I would be very interested to know your experiences, and if it has been a hassle.

Any purchase is highly dependent on this.

Thanks in advance!

 

[evaret]

My interest in this is that I use a pack to run my cpap machine. The cpap machine does not have an internal battery.
The articles I have read seem to be focussing on charging phones etc and I haven't seeen any reference to cpap machines.
Has anyone seen anything about cpap?
Cheers

 

[markis10]

It’s battery size not use that dictates how it’s handled. Qantas have gone further and listed models with their limitations

https://www.qantas.com/content/dam/qantas/pdfs/fly/dangerous-goods/cpaps-and-oxygen-concentrators-medical-equipment-list.pdf

 

[anat0l]

My interest in this is that I use a pack to run my cpap machine. The cpap machine does not have an internal battery.
The articles I have read seem to be focussing on charging phones etc and I haven't seeen any reference to cpap machines.
Has anyone seen anything about cpap?
Cheers

That's actually a good point. I travel with a CPAP and do use it on board (including recently on a SQ flight before these rules came about). Most airlines don't require any clearance at all to use a CPAP (they do warn that inflight power often can't support the operation of a CPAP); QF and JL are amongst some notable exceptions where clearance must be sought prior to the use in flight (specifically for the machine, not the battery).

Surely SQ et al would allow battery bank use for medical devices, perhaps needing to apply for paperwork in advance of flight. My CPAP battery can also be used to charge USB devices, but I suspect that would fall outside the scope of acceptable (excepted) use.


Something that also isn't all that clear is whether these rules are as a result of local laws (e.g. instituted by the host country of the airline) or merely a policy of the airline. If it is the former, surely all airlines flying to and from said jurisdiction would be subject to the same kinds of rules and restrictions.

 

[evaret]

Whether through good luck or good management, my Medistrom Pilot-24 Lite is 95Whr. So I am under the 100Whr threshhold.

Cheers

 

[jb747]

I can imagine this would be practically impossible to police. Perhaps more a liability / insurance play.

Or perhaps a step along the way to banning their carriage entirely…. I would not be surprised to see that step eventually taken, irrespective of the howls.

 

[elanshin]

Or perhaps a step along the way to banning their carriage entirely…. I would not be surprised to see that step eventually taken, irrespective of the howls.

The problem is what do you define as "lithium battery pack". Just about every device own these days have lithium batteries in them. We've had thermal runaway events with Samsung Note phones years ago. Nothing to say it can't happen in another device where a company is trying to push the edge of capabilities. Then what? We ban electronics?

What about battery packs for critical medical devices. Or other similarly critical sensitive gear. I can't see a point where they ban batteries until there's an alternative form of mass market battery to force a switch.