Lithium Ion Battery Rule Bad for Videographers

The recent rule put into effect (effective January 1, 2008) by the DOT and NTSB limits the number/weight of lithium ion rechargeable batteries that can be checked and carried onto planes. The government-speak ruling isn’t exactly clear, so we’ll try and outline what we think are the critical changes as they apply to filmmakers who travel for work.

Here’s the government’s statement on the issue:

Effective January 1, 2008, the following rules apply to the spare lithium batteries you carry with you in case the battery in a device runs low:

• Spare batteries are the batteries you carry separately from the devices they power. When batteries are installed in a device, they are not considered spare batteries.
• You may not pack a spare lithium battery in your checked baggage
• You may bring spare lithium batteries with you in carry-on baggage – see our spare battery tips and how-to sections to find out how to pack spare batteries safely!
• Even though we recommend carrying your devices with you in carry-on baggage as well, if you must bring one in checked baggage, you may check it with the batteries installed.

The following quantity limits apply to both your spare and installed batteries. The limits are expressed in grams of “equivalent lithium content.” 8 grams of equivalent lithium content is approximately 100 watt-hours. 25 grams is approximately 300 watt-hours:

• Under the new rules, you can bring batteries with up to 8-gram equivalent lithium content. All lithium ion batteries in cell phones are below 8 gram equivalent lithium content. Nearly all laptop computers also are below this quantity threshold.
• You can also bring up to two spare batteries with an aggregate equivalent lithium content of up to 25 grams, in addition to any batteries that fall below the 8-gram threshold. Examples of two types of lithium ion batteries with equivalent lithium content over 8 grams but below 25 are shown below.
• For a lithium metal battery, whether installed in a device or carried as a spare, the limit on lithium content is 2 grams of lithium metal per battery.
• Almost all consumer-type lithium metal batteries are below 2 grams of lithium metal. But if you are unsure, contact the manufacturer!

Clear as mud, right? The reaction the statement received has been somewhat muted by the holidays, but I think that this might create problems for those of us that carry heavy batteries that exceed weight and hour wattage requirements.

The last shoot we traveled on, we took a big rig (XDCAM) and a small rig (Z1U). The Z1U had 6, 6600 mAh 7.2 volt batteries plus a 4 battery charger. These batteries are run about $250 street price. The big rig had 3 spare and an anton baeur brick - which I’m guessing is over the lithium weight restriction (that was sarcasm). Half of the shoot we were plugged in, so no big deal. The other half we were out side in freezing cold weather (bad for batteries, as shooting life is at least halved), so the spares came in handy.

We should note here, that this does not include batteries below the 100 watt-hour limit in carry-on luggage. Bring as many as you like - and this includes laptop batteries etc. It also does not include the batteries installed on or in your electronic devices. This one didn’t make sense, as I would guess there would be a higher instance of fire with a battery connected to a laptop or a camera than one just floating around not connected to anything.

So, really, the only group this actually effects, is professional videographers who travel. We’ll get to take one battery on board the camera body, plus two spares. That’s three batteries per person. I suppose if you travel with someone who serves as your grip, you could get away with bringing 5 total, all checked on (they’re not that light), but for the solo videographer, s/he’ll have to hope there’s power nearby or at the very least a rental house. I’m guessing they’ll do well in coming months.

Oh, TSA agents, I can’t wait to see you crunching numbers to calculate the lithium ion content (0.3 x voltage x Ah). Glad we have this terrific charade that is our security check ins. Par for the course - just one more thing to deal with before we travel.