According to the FAA, you can have any number of Lithium Ion batteries below 101 Watt hours and 2 for anything rated higher than that & must get airline approval.¹ Per the TSA, you can't have any batteries over 100 Watt hours in your checked baggage.² Are you unsure whether you'll be able to take your portable battery pack on your next vacation We have to perfect tool! Our calculator will determine whether you can take your battery on a plane or if you'll have to leave it behind. Simply enter in the mAh, or milliamp hours, of the device and the nominal voltage in the required fields and the calculator will do the rest!
As I understand it, the rules for flying with batter powered (lithium ion) tools are as follows:
However, the last time I flew with several of my Dewalt 20v tools (impact driver, drill, circular saw) my luggage had been inspected and each of the batteries had been removed from the tools and placed elsewhere in my luggage. Because I do not own any form fitting plastic totes for these tools I fashion some very tight, form fitting cardboard wraps for each tool with the express intention of avoiding accidental activation. While these tools do have some form of locking the trigger in the off position, the drill and impact driver are the weakest at this with only the middle position of the forward/reverse switch to prevent accidental activation.
How do you travel with lithium ion powered tools and have you had similar problems or worse?