I see many folks selling/shipping/returning batteries and thought I would post a heads up.
Shipping lithium batteries (which are phantom batteries are) - isnt like shipping a box of shoes. IATA (international air shipping regs) changed in 2015 and now again on 1-APR-16 (no not an April fools joke).
Summary (some of these apply now, but all apply 1-Apr)
Beginning 1-Apr, if you are shipping LIPOs by themselves (not installed or packed with the device it powers):
* LIPOS are dangerous goods/hazardous material and have special shipping considerations
* It must be shipping at or less than 30% of full charge/capacity
* can not be shipped as cargo in a passenger plane
* must be packaged properly to IATA regs (substantial box and packing material not padded envelope)
* Shipping container must be labeled properly and have a hazard warning label (the label depends upon some criteria defined in the link below)
If you are shipping with the device it powers, some of the rules are relaxed, but many still apply (see link below)
If you ship a LIPO like a box of shoes and something goes awry with it during transport, you are almost guaranteed to be subject to a fine (generally start at thousands IF nothing else was damaged or anybody hurt). We are hobby dudes (and dudettes I suppose but typically dudes). The fact that we dont do this for a living puts us at a disadvantage as we really dont have a way of knowing the regs. That disadvantage offers ZERO defense. You will likely find that USPS doesnt know the regs as well (I recently shipped a LIPO with a P1 I sold and the post office refused acceptance due to the label on the box, I took it to another office where they knew the regs).
Anyway, what our hobby doesnt need are reports of incidents of improperly packed LIPOs creating an issue so I am attempting to raise a bit of awareness for us hobby folks. It likely would be easiest to not ship a battery unless it is with the Phantom, and make sure you save the box the batter comes in.
IATA guidance doc here:L http://www.iata.org/whatwedo/cargo/dgr/Documents/lithium-battery-guidance-document-2016-en.pdf
Shipping lithium batteries (which are phantom batteries are) - isnt like shipping a box of shoes. IATA (international air shipping regs) changed in 2015 and now again on 1-APR-16 (no not an April fools joke).
Summary (some of these apply now, but all apply 1-Apr)
Beginning 1-Apr, if you are shipping LIPOs by themselves (not installed or packed with the device it powers):
* LIPOS are dangerous goods/hazardous material and have special shipping considerations
* It must be shipping at or less than 30% of full charge/capacity
* can not be shipped as cargo in a passenger plane
* must be packaged properly to IATA regs (substantial box and packing material not padded envelope)
* Shipping container must be labeled properly and have a hazard warning label (the label depends upon some criteria defined in the link below)
If you are shipping with the device it powers, some of the rules are relaxed, but many still apply (see link below)
If you ship a LIPO like a box of shoes and something goes awry with it during transport, you are almost guaranteed to be subject to a fine (generally start at thousands IF nothing else was damaged or anybody hurt). We are hobby dudes (and dudettes I suppose but typically dudes). The fact that we dont do this for a living puts us at a disadvantage as we really dont have a way of knowing the regs. That disadvantage offers ZERO defense. You will likely find that USPS doesnt know the regs as well (I recently shipped a LIPO with a P1 I sold and the post office refused acceptance due to the label on the box, I took it to another office where they knew the regs).
Anyway, what our hobby doesnt need are reports of incidents of improperly packed LIPOs creating an issue so I am attempting to raise a bit of awareness for us hobby folks. It likely would be easiest to not ship a battery unless it is with the Phantom, and make sure you save the box the batter comes in.
IATA guidance doc here:L http://www.iata.org/whatwedo/cargo/dgr/Documents/lithium-battery-guidance-document-2016-en.pdf
