Lithium Batteries Shipping Rules Discussions

Not sure if this is the best place to put it, but in any case, I recently got a quote to send batteries from Australia to the east coast of the USA. I had an enquiry about a 5 kWh battery build, which I'm happy to do, but shipping it to Baltimore was going to cost AUD$1766.

This was for a 1 cubic metre allowance in a loose container load. So it wouldn't matter if it was 5 kWh or 50 kWh.

Still, it makes battery movements far more expensive than I'd hoped.
 
hallo guys,
I have read lot of topis and post about selling and sending the cells, but the price thing were to high for used cell so I writening this post becouse I am able to get brand new cells for you with really good prices from EU. Now I have 18650 2500mAh 3C and LG18650F1. I am now building 22s39p from 2500mAh and 22s20p from samsung30Q. And I am also wondering if I sbould use fused on positive side or just hard spot welded with nikl plate? how much experiance do you have pack with fuses? I see that it look nice and more safe but it is really needed. Has anyone alredy seen breaked fuse becouse of cell damage?
thank you
 
Humorously we've had several Dell laptop batteries (The thin, lipo type) start to swell. Dell wanted them back and said to just toss them in the mail.

Fought that baby all the way up. I talked with my IT guy and told him point blank not to ship it unless Dell sent the proper packaging, otherwise we'd get spanked with a massive fine.


I wish I could've gotten that call documented. That's the BS you deal with. At least most of my shipping guys know the right approach.
 
So I bought a couple battery packs from a Horrid Ebay seller (Southtownpowersupply) and they arrived damaged. Seller shipped each battery pack in a USPS Medium Flat rate box and used 4.... YES 4 bubble mailers as packing material. I now have a Ebay claim in for damaged items received and from what I can see (Legally) I can't even ship these back without a special shipping account. These are 200x 18650 packs in a 72c 20s 10p configuration which is well over the UPS and Fedex Limits for normal shipping.
 
Upgraded rules for shipping Lithium batteries in cargo bays of aircraft. I assume phones and laptops in the possession of the passengers (=/< 100-WH?) is still under the older rules...

Main point seems to be any allowable quantity of lithium in of a cargo-plane cargo-bay must be at or under the specified watt-hours and shall be charged to 30% for maximum safety.

No more lithium shipped in cargo-bay of "passenger" aircraft.

https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/news/us-t...unces-major-rule-strengthen-safety-provisions
 
In 2019, the shipping label requirements changed for batteries.

I found a remarkably good interactive guide to the labeling requirements:
https://hazmateam.com/uploads/2019LITHIUMBATTERYSHIPPINGGUIDEINTERACTIVEMARCH182019.pdf

But if you've got old labels, they're not good for much anymore - you can't ship lithium with the old Class 9 Hazmat label, and the medium battery shipment labels have changed as well.
 
Apparently some recalls.
https://www.google.com/search?q=Apple+Mac+book+pro+batteries
 
Does anyone have any information regarding the situation shipping in a container via sea ?

Yes it takes a lot of cells to make this workout but if one could get the required number of cells together, how difficult is it to ship via container shipping on a ship?
 
Yes, I am also interested in practice vs theory. Theoretically I know about all those hazmat and UN9473958375289356345893465 regulations, but how does it look in real life when you ship by sea, where the requirements are not that strict.

I have managed to ship my ebike on a pallet with my other goods to USA and didn't declare that there were 180 cells in it.

I also know that in Europe nobody will bother to check the contents of the package that LEAVES by sea, but what happens upon ARRIVAL to the US?

If CBP discovers batteries it will not imposed any taxes because the value is low, that's for sure, but if the batteries were shipped without those UNwhatever stickers, do they impound them? If the package is insured, do I get my money back from the post office? Do they just issue a warning that that package was improperly transported and let it go?

I think that CBP is responsible for taxing stuff and protecting borders from banned goods. Batteries are NOT BANNED, they just need special stickers and packaging... So what actually happens at the US border? I would hate to order 300-400 batteries and lose thousands of $$$
 
My understanding is you abide by the law or risk prosecution meaning fines and jail time. I would not expect a warning or mere confiscation.
 
Well, not necessarily. I am the recipient of the package so how can I be responsible for the sender not putting a sticker on the box?
 
elmo78 said:
Well, not necessarily. I am the recipient of the package so how can I be responsible for the sender not putting a sticker on the box?
Click to expand...

The sender is the one who ships the package and is responsible for following the law and rules. The recipient has no control over that.

I am stating my opinions based on trying to ship Lithium batteries a few years ago. I just gave up and only sold them to people able to pick up, cash and carry. On the other hand, I've bought quite a few, big and small, from reputable dealers who appear to always abide by the law and regulations.
 
OKI, but what happens in practice when batteries are inspected by anybody at the border or later? Do they arrive to the recipient?

My problem is very simple. I can buy really good batteries from a person in Europe. I know the guy, he is a geek, sells only perfect stuff but, as a nerd, he doesn't care about all those post office paperwork. He is just willing to pack them in plastic bubble wrap, spray poly foam in the box, put the batteries and let it swell. So he can really secure them well but will not do any paperwork other than insuring at the post office and sending.

Or maybe there is no paperwork involved and you just need to buy a 'batteries inside' sticker and that's it?
 
seems nuts when some of the latest planes use lithiun ion for there main batterys,i imagine they pose more of a fire risk than there cargo!!!
 
m3vuv said:
seems nuts when some of the latest planes use lithiun ion for there main batterys,i imagine they pose more of a fire risk than there cargo!!!
Click to expand...
Quality control may have something to do with it. Anything to do with aeroplanes has to go through very stringent safety procedures..
 
Hello,

The battery supplier wants to ship our battery module by vessel and we expect to deliver our batteries after 10 month.
The weight of the module is 49Kg and more than 150 Wh energy.
I would like to know is there any regulation for voltage level, SOC, and other things?
I checked regulation UN38.4, and it mentioned all batteries should be lower than 35 Kg.
Beside that, 10 months is so long and we definitely will have self-discharge. So if SOC is 30% we don't have DOD after 10 months?
 
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