Royal Mail bans ALL lithium batteries

[slowcoach]

From 10th January 2013 it will be a criminal offence to send any lithium battery via Royal Mail.
LINK

[Cobbydaler]

Bloody ridiculous!

[papa smurf]

just use nuclear batteries much safer

[Osem]

Seems like overkill to me.

Why couldn't they just insist on redesigned packaging to prevent short circuits etc.? Are airlines going to prevent devices with such batteries installed being carried on aircraft?

Seems Royal Mail would rather delivery junk mail and wrongly addressed post that items which are exempt from the rules in the first place.

[Sirius]

Royal Mail why are you intent on ruining a once great service

Originally Posted by Osem

Seems Royal Mail would rather delivery junk mail and wrongly addressed post that items which are exempt from the rules in the first place.

Just dump the junk mail in a post box

[progers]

Here's the real story from the Royal Mail Website:

Alkaline, nickel metal hydride (NiMH) and nickel cadmium (NiCd) batteries batteries, may only be sent when new and in their original packaging. Please see www.royalmail.com/restrictedgoods.

So, not really a problem

[denphone]

Originally Posted by Sirius

Royal Mail why are you intent on ruining a once great service



Just dump the junk mail in a post box

Indeed our postal service was the envy of the world many decades ago.

[Graham M]

Originally Posted by progers

Here's the real story from the Royal Mail Website:

Alkaline, nickel metal hydride (NiMH) and nickel cadmium (NiCd) batteries batteries, may only be sent when new and in their original packaging. Please see www.royalmail.com/restrictedgoods.

So, not really a problem

But you still can't send Lithium batteries...

[blackthorn]

Just a query regarding this. Does that mean you couldnt send a mobile phone or a camera through Royal Mail. Not that I want to I`m just curious.

It actually states

Batteries that are classed as dangerous goods by the latest edition of the International Civil Aviation Organisation’s technical instructions are prohibited. Please contact the manufacturer for transport information.
Lead acid batteries (e.g. car batteries) are prohibited.

Alkaline, nickel metal hydride (NiMH) and nickel cadmium (NiCd) batteries batteries, may only be sent when new and in their original packaging. Please see www.royalmail.com/restrictedgoods.

Some lithium batteries may be sent using our Royal Mail Tracked service (limited to high volume commercial customers). Restrictions apply. Please see www.royalmail.com/tracked.

It looks like this has been imposed by the ICAO, not Royal Mail.

At the top of the page, it states it is for Contract customers - here is a more consumer facing page

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), Department for Transport (DfT) and the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) have agreed new rules with Royal Mail Group for sending small quantities of specific consumer items through the post to UK addresses.

The updated set of rules will limit the risk posed by those items when sent in the post. The change means that customers will be able to post toiletry and medicinal aerosols, nail varnishes, perfumes and aftershaves, which are currently prohibited, to UK addresses. They also mean customers can post alcohol up to 70 per cent ABV and electronic items sent with or containing lithium batteries within the UK. Customers posting such items will need to comply with volume/battery capacity, quantity, packaging and labelling requirements.

Nothing to see - move along, now.....

[murfitUK]

These batteries are dangerous as even slightly damaged they can start to over-heat. The fire in the UPS cargo plane that crashed last year killing its crew was started by lithium batteries. Thankfully, the pilots managed to avoid going down in a nearby residential area.

Many other cargo planes have caught fire - usually on the ground - and it is a serious issue.

You can send them by any parcels service, including Parcel Force - just not via your friendly local postman. And you can still send them via Royal Mail packet post if they are in, or accompanied by, an electronic device that relies on them.

The only people likely to be affected by this are those who like to buy small quantities of lithium batteries on fleabay or from other sellers on the interwebs, because the delivery costs are going to go up if they have to send by parcel rather than by packet post.

The solution is to buy larger quantities, less often, to get better value from the delivery charge.

Originally Posted by Graham M

But you still can't send Lithium batteries...

Indeed my plan to send a battery powered wheelbarrow full of plastic flowers to Nigeria* has been well scuppered

Royal mail have not banned this a law has been passed.

Blooming crazy law

---------- Post added at 09:50 ---------- Previous post was at 09:49 ----------

Originally Posted by murfitUK

These batteries are dangerous as even slightly damaged they can start to over-heat. The fire in the UPS cargo plane that crashed last year killing its crew was started by lithium batteries. Thankfully, the pilots managed to avoid going down in a nearby residential area.

Many other cargo planes have caught fire - usually on the ground - and it is a serious issue.

this law is not going to change that anyway

[jonbxx]

Transport regulations are a 'mare. These regulations have been in place for some time now, I'm surprised they haven't been enforced before to be honest.

There are some strange variations in shipping regulations. The company I work for ships materials in 20% ethanol which is regarded safe by IATA. If you were to ship in 20% methanol, that would be an explosive hazard. It's down to lobbying from the wine industry that less than 24% ethanol is regarded as 'safe' to ship by air. Don't even get me started on WEE regulations - if we wanted to strip equipment we take back for parts and ship those parts to Sweden where our factory is, the amount of paperwork just wouldn't be worth it.