LIPO Batteries i nAustralia - Whats going on ?
07-03-2016, 12:49 AM
#16
I believe many/most/all passenger flights have banned certain lipos/quantities, (ICAO Reg changes), but some dedicated air cargo companies may still be able to carry them in certain areas of the aircraft in limited quantities.
Some air cargo aircraft may have upgraded fire suppression systems in place to allow carriage.
So where you buy lipos from overseas may affect the time frame, (do they have dedicated air freighters flying to Aus), do they fly lipo air cargo via Europe, or do they ship via sea?
Lets hope the Aussie distributors/retailers anticipate orders and have regular sea shipments arriving to compensate.
07-04-2016, 04:59 AM
#19
Hearns hobbies have Fantom on the shelf. Excellent batteries and you can order online.
07-05-2016, 03:55 PM
#26
Not sure if I'll get in trouble for posting here considering my business but here goes.
Yes the laws for Lipos have changed since the 1st of May, from that date onwards no commercial airlines are permitted to carry lipo batteries on there own regardless of packaging in the cargo hold, this includes passenger aircraft which was the common way of shipping Lipos in recent years, Lipos can still be shipped if they are part of another product i.e. iPhones,laptops, rtr RC cars etc but not singularly.
There always was freight airlines that would ship quantities of Lipos under a dangerous goods license, this is how I did it prior to 1st May after June 30 2015, this is now frowned apron by the freight companies as they are expected to follow Australian aviation authority or at least be seen to try, simply put if there's an accident with Lipos on these freight companies it will be a huge shit fight for them.
Now to Sea freight, this is how we all have to do it now and as someone previously stated its not as expensive, it actually is compared to same costs of airfreight, the difference would be if you could fill a container up totally would work out cheaper per pack but I doubt any Australian company will do this, the problem I have found with sea freight and what has held my shipments up is a lot of the Chinese freighter companies won't ship Lipos either or if they will they want a massive amount of paper work, including msds and UN numbers for safety etc, now whilst the msds is easy the UN number isn't and is expensive to attain and a lot of factories will not go to the expensive of doing it for a small market like Australia, so this is the problem, we are to small for 80% of the factories to give a shit etc or our prices have gone through the roof because we ask for this documentation which they charge us massively for.
Don't worry I will continue to bring in SMC packs into Oz, my next shipment is due on the 18th at port of Brisbane, yes I may run low at times but I'll continue to do my best and I'll continue to charge the lowest prices I can. The problem will work it self out over 6 months I imagine but I'm not sure that all the packs we've all enjoyed will be available in the future.
Ps anyone that buys direct and gets them airfreight is doing so illegally and the fines are huge (for me anyway, not sure on individuals as you could pled dumb), just be careful, if a plane was to go down because if Lipos and they can pin it on someone they will, especially if it's on that plane illegally.
I hope that clears up some people's questions.
Cheers Justin
Coast2coastrc
Ps Nexxus delete if I've overstepped my boundaries again
Yes the laws for Lipos have changed since the 1st of May, from that date onwards no commercial airlines are permitted to carry lipo batteries on there own regardless of packaging in the cargo hold, this includes passenger aircraft which was the common way of shipping Lipos in recent years, Lipos can still be shipped if they are part of another product i.e. iPhones,laptops, rtr RC cars etc but not singularly.
There always was freight airlines that would ship quantities of Lipos under a dangerous goods license, this is how I did it prior to 1st May after June 30 2015, this is now frowned apron by the freight companies as they are expected to follow Australian aviation authority or at least be seen to try, simply put if there's an accident with Lipos on these freight companies it will be a huge shit fight for them.
Now to Sea freight, this is how we all have to do it now and as someone previously stated its not as expensive, it actually is compared to same costs of airfreight, the difference would be if you could fill a container up totally would work out cheaper per pack but I doubt any Australian company will do this, the problem I have found with sea freight and what has held my shipments up is a lot of the Chinese freighter companies won't ship Lipos either or if they will they want a massive amount of paper work, including msds and UN numbers for safety etc, now whilst the msds is easy the UN number isn't and is expensive to attain and a lot of factories will not go to the expensive of doing it for a small market like Australia, so this is the problem, we are to small for 80% of the factories to give a shit etc or our prices have gone through the roof because we ask for this documentation which they charge us massively for.
Don't worry I will continue to bring in SMC packs into Oz, my next shipment is due on the 18th at port of Brisbane, yes I may run low at times but I'll continue to do my best and I'll continue to charge the lowest prices I can. The problem will work it self out over 6 months I imagine but I'm not sure that all the packs we've all enjoyed will be available in the future.
Ps anyone that buys direct and gets them airfreight is doing so illegally and the fines are huge (for me anyway, not sure on individuals as you could pled dumb), just be careful, if a plane was to go down because if Lipos and they can pin it on someone they will, especially if it's on that plane illegally.
I hope that clears up some people's questions.
Cheers Justin
Coast2coastrc
Ps Nexxus delete if I've overstepped my boundaries again
07-05-2016, 06:10 PM
#27
Nothing wrong with that post Justin
I just find it funny that these air freight companies / regulatory bodies are clamping down on it now when Lipos are the safest they've ever been. Maybe 5 or 6 yrs ago when the technology was new and failures were more common etc. Funny thing is we can still air freight a Nimh pack, now I've seen a Lipo fail with little more than a bit of smoke, but an Intellect 4200WC Cell explode and put a hole through a rolladoor yet they will air freight one and not the other. Crazy.
I just find it funny that these air freight companies / regulatory bodies are clamping down on it now when Lipos are the safest they've ever been. Maybe 5 or 6 yrs ago when the technology was new and failures were more common etc. Funny thing is we can still air freight a Nimh pack, now I've seen a Lipo fail with little more than a bit of smoke, but an Intellect 4200WC Cell explode and put a hole through a rolladoor yet they will air freight one and not the other. Crazy.
07-05-2016, 06:21 PM
#28
I totally agree, Lipos are safer then ever and generally don't self combust, a fire is generally caused by user error, faulty components hooked to the battery or a crash in which the battery is torn apart or the positive/negative somehow come in contact with each other.
I can only assume that the powers that be feel that a liquid polymer in a sealed bag may in someway be damaged by the pressures inside a non-pressurized cargo hold, that's my guess anyway, to my knowledge this is their way of thinking but I don't think it's ever been proven but in any case it's never been proven not to happen and when it comes to people's lives it's not worth the risk.
I can only assume that the powers that be feel that a liquid polymer in a sealed bag may in someway be damaged by the pressures inside a non-pressurized cargo hold, that's my guess anyway, to my knowledge this is their way of thinking but I don't think it's ever been proven but in any case it's never been proven not to happen and when it comes to people's lives it's not worth the risk.
