Shipping A123 loose cells help?

[katou]

First, let's define the playground. Ship with UPS from Canada to the US.

Second, material. A123 26650 cells loose (not built into a pack)

Third, quantity. Approximately 40 cells.

I have come across some A123 cells that I am selling to another member, and shipping is not so easy as I thought. I called UPS and they read me the riot act. They are suggesting that I should take a short course on regulatory compliance in order to ship these things, then set up an account, then get audited, holy smokes.

She kept asking me about the UN # which apparently determines the category of risk for a particular material.

Anybody out there want to help a fella out? This is entirely a new area for me, never dealt with regulatory matters.

Katou

 

[amberwolf]

There used to be a thread discussing exactly this kind of help, with links and resources in it, but I can't find it now. I found several threads about the problems, with links to regulations/etc, but none of them specifically address this in the step by step manner the other did. There are suggestions in some of the threads.

I just searched for "Shipping" and "Ship" in topic title only, and then skimmed a bit thru the various battery-related topics that came up.

Hopefully someone else has gone thru this and can help more.

FWIW, I have received 350-ish LiCo loose cells in two boxes (same shipment) via UPS, that weighed around 30-ish pounds, I guess. Only thing they had that I recall was a notice like this:
View attachment DSC02175 battery shipping warning label .JPG

I suppose if they must be packed and whatnot by a certified shipper, UPS itself must surely have certified people at one of their locations near you that could do it, or Fedex, USPS, etc., would have such a person.

 

[katou]

Missing thread? Info from the Archives? We need MitchJi !!!

MitchJi..?

Katou

 

[frodus]

I have been on the phone many times and they told me you only need UN if you are shipping AIR. Lithium, as it stands right now, CANNOT be shipped via air freight in large quantities without UN certs, and are limited in the quantity that can be shipped. Honestly, its easier to ship ground.

Basically, add your phone number to this label I found, print out, slap it on the side, go to a UPS Customer Care Center (not ups store), tell them they're batteries and you've labeled the box as such, and you want it shipped ground only.

I called many times, and so did the UPS people i worked with, and we confirmed that this is the process that they have in place. I went by their suggestions, and shipped over 40 packages of lifepo4.

If they bitch, show them this:
http://lib.store.yahoo.net/lib/buddipole/A123-Cell-MSDS.pdf

Each battery has been tested under provisions of the UN Manual of Tests and Criteria, Part III, sub-section 38.3 and are classified as non-dangerous goods

that should shut them up.

 

[frodus]

Hey, Amberwolf, is that label from the package of Sony/Sanyo batteries I shipped you?

 

[katou]

I hope that this suffices. Did you have to have a daily account? They were talking about setting me up with an account to send stuff every day.

They said that I had to be on the drivers weekly roster or something like that. Could you just ship whenever you wanted? Like one package today, another one in two months kind of thing?

There's no way I'm going to be shipping every week, or even every month.

Major appreciation of help Frodus,

Katou

 

[Battboy]

If You use UPS Ground inside the U.S. you just need to put the Code A45 on the Shipping Labels and it should go . They don't even ask. Shipping international you will need the MSDS sheet and the warning labels and other stuff.

DH

 

[frodus]

I hope that this suffices. Did you have to have a daily account? They were talking about setting me up with an account to send stuff every day.

They said that I had to be on the drivers weekly roster or something like that. Could you just ship whenever you wanted? Like one package today, another one in two months kind of thing?

There's no way I'm going to be shipping every week, or even every month.

Major appreciation of help Frodus,

Katou

I never had an account, still don't.

Just make sure its labeled properly, and don't exceed 60lbs per box (I was borderline once and they rejected it, i had to repack).

 

[amberwolf]

Hey, Amberwolf, is that label from the package of Sony/Sanyo batteries I shipped you?

Probably. I have two pics of similar labels, one from that and one of a box from the local battery fairy. I can't remember which pic is which, but it didn't matter for purposes of the post.

 

[frodus]

yeah, i was just curious....

but again, its just proof that it works.....

if its a 503 number on the label, its mine.

 

[katou]

Do you ship them discharged?

LVC for the A123 is around 2.5, but nominal is 3.3, so maybe 3volts?

How did you pack them? Did you do anything in particular to make sure that nothing touched, like separator pieces of carboard or something?

Thanks,

Katou

 

[frodus]

Do you ship them discharged?

nope, nothing in the regulations state that it has to be partially discharged.

How did you pack them? Did you do anything in particular to make sure that nothing touched, like separator pieces of carboard or something?

I packed them in their original packaging. When that wasn't possible, I made sure to pack each cell in foam or cardboard so that the cells could never touch and it would be very difficult to puncture the package and short the two cells together. If you were shipping loose A123 cells, I'd consider putting the cells in a box in layers, seperated by a thick layer of cardboard. Then put that box inside another box with foam/paper/peanuts around it to ensure that nothing is going to puncture it.

 

[amberwolf]

yeah, i was just curious....

but again, its just proof that it works.....

if its a 503 number on the label, its mine.

No, this one's 509-something. Either way, it does show that it works; I think this other one was UPS ground too; and they get these shipped all the time that way.

 

[PedalingBiped]

Do not ship air. This is considered Dangerous Goods (DG) same as Haz-mat.
The airlines charge $100 to process DG.
I take freight to the airport daily.
I see electronic equipment with a LiPo battery being the only DG item in the package.
I've wondered why they don't take the battery out and buy a new one at the other end.

 

[frodus]

No, this one's 509-something. Either way, it does show that it works; I think this other one was UPS ground too; and they get these shipped all the time that way.

Oops, yeah, my old number was 509.... UPS ground has always worked well for me, and they recognize me at the UPS place now because of all the boxes of batteries I've shipped.