Discharging batteries before traveling

[captain-marvel]

Hello!

I will be doing some traveling with my drone via a couple plane trips. I have read up on all the threads about checked bags vs carry on, etc.

I have one question that hasn't been answered.

Would it make sense to fully discharge the battery before traveling?

Also, has anyone had any issues with the LiPo Fire bags?

Thanks.

 

[PilotHarry]

Not fully discharge, take them to 30%

 

[JohnK]

Is this actually documented somewhere with a specific reason given? I didn't find it anywhere in the regs, but I admit I gave up after a few attempts.

 

[msinger]

It's not possible to fully discharge DJI batteries. Just ensure they are packed securely in your carry-on bag and there is no way for the battery contacts to touch anything.

 

[JohnK]

Still want to know the origin of the "discharge before air travel" thing comes from. I will defer to actual factual info, but my sad attempts at finding anything in actual documentation have failed. (And I realize with that statement that I open myself up to abuse from the "know it all" crowd. I'll live through it just fine, should it occur. )

There is no mention of it in the TSA regs.

The TSA Blog: Travel Tips Tuesday: Safely Packing Batteries for Your Trip

 

[JohnK]

Not fully discharge, take them to 30%

Why? Link? Specific reason? Serious questions. I don't find it anywhere, but I may just suck at The Google.

 

[msinger]

From the FAA:
https://www.faa.gov/about/office_or...edia/faa_airline_passengers_and_batteries.pdf

Note: There is no mention of discharging the batteries.

 

[JohnK]

From the FAA:
https://www.faa.gov/about/office_or...edia/faa_airline_passengers_and_batteries.pdf

Note: There is no mention of discharging the batteries.

I have seen that many times, and have yet to find any mention of the need to partially discharge LiPo batteries before air travel. The word "discharge" does not appear in the document, as you mentioned.
Seems to be another of those "conventional wisdom" myths which are quite numerous in this hobby.

.

 

[JohnK]

I did not mention this. See above.

Uhh ... yes, you did. Here's your post:

"From the FAA:
https://www.faa.gov/about/office_or...edia/faa_airline_passengers_and_batteries.pdf

Note: There is no mention of discharging the batteries."

 

[JohnK]

From the FAA:
https://www.faa.gov/about/office_or...edia/faa_airline_passengers_and_batteries.pdf

Note: There is no mention of discharging the batteries.

If this devolves into a matter of word order and parts of speech, then you win. I don't really care that much. The question is now asked and answered. No mention of discharge in the regulations means no need to do so.

 

[JohnK]

From the FAA:
https://www.faa.gov/about/office_or...edia/faa_airline_passengers_and_batteries.pdf

Note: There is no mention of discharging the batteries.

JohnK, I'm not sure what game you're playing, but I'm totally lost here. I guess I should exit this thread now...

Are you kidding? Go back and read through it again, and try to take context into account. lol. A graceful exit is indeed called for.

 

[JohnK]

There is no mention of discharging the batteries in that document. I'm not sure what you want me to read

It seems our wires have crossed. We are in agreement. I respectfully suggest you read through the thread again to see what happened.

 

[JohnK]

<sigh> All I can tell you is this: here is a line from my post, which came BEFORE your second entry in this thread:

There is no mention of it in the TSA regs.

Go have a look. I then said "as you mentioned", confirming that it is not in the regs.

Dont' really understand the problem here, so my exit is now final.

 

[msinger]

captain-marvel, to answer your other question, you do not need to store your batteries in LiPo bags when flying. A plastic Ziploc bag would be good enough to protect the battery terminals.

 

[JohnK]

Yikes ... honestly I don't see how you can read what I wrote and come away not realizing that we are agreeing about this issue, and that I never once suggested that you were recommending discharge. We BOTH specifically pointed out that the regs do NOT mention discharge. Geez. Ordinarily these sorts of things don't bother me, but I don't know how I could possibly have been clearer in what I wrote.

(I know I made my exit, but honestly this is maddening. lol )

On to other topics. I'm unwatching this thread to avoid further agitation. ;-)

 

[FunN4lo]

I think the discharge when flying advice comes from the storage charge advice for lipos. The further out you are on the end of the charge spectrum (fully charged or full discharged) the less chemically stable your battery is. Lipo batteries are most stable at 50% charge. So when flying, I want my batts in their most stable state.

 

[captain-marvel]

It sucks that every thread ever on this form devolves into an argument of some sort

At any rate, I do appreciate the comments and suggestions!

Thanks.

 

[N017RW]

Arguments are verbal expressions of disagreements, that's all.

The 'web' is full of BS and one should verify anything read here or elsewhere.

I don't understand why so many questions are brought here rather than just simply Google-ing for the answer from a lower-level source such as the TSA.gov website in this case.

 

[Meta4]

Whether partial discharge is a good idea or not, no-one at the airport is going to ask to see if your batteries are full, empty or anywhere in between.

 

[captain-marvel]

Arguments are verbal expressions of disagreements, that's all.

The 'web' is full of BS and one should verify anything read here or elsewhere.

I don't understand why so many questions are brought here rather than just simply Google-ing for the answer from a lower-level source such as the TSA.gov website in this case.

Sure, but it makes searching through old threads hard as you end up reading about 6 pages per topic of people arguing over the meaning of words half the time.

As to googling, my question wasn't "What does the TSA say about LiPo batteries" - but rather the spirit of the question was more to the health of the battery itself. I wasn't sure if there would be negative impacts to flying with a fully charged battery. In which case, the TSA website is worthless to me for that info.