Taking the GBZ on a flight

[wermy]

True, but if you have a short that causes an internal battery to explode, you probably have the same short that would cause a power bank to have problems

Right. If it were me I don't think I'd do it either way (internal LiPo or power bank). That's just me though.

[Boondoggle]

Just got back to US over an international flight and was surprised to see how many warnings about batteries on flights. It might just be the airline, or the fact I was coming out of china, but they were really cracking down on it. I saw people leaving behind portable power banks.

[tronicgr]

I'm not sure how security is these days, but I remember back in 2011, when I took a flight from Greece to USA, I had on me my totally DIY e-cig, fully built by me with a cellphone Li-ion battery in an enclosure of portable AAA power bank and all kind if wiring in there for the DC booster. They didn't care about it at all, since the battery was not exposed.

I mean, they don't ask you to remove the battery from your cellphone when you are boarding the plane. And the main reason they ask to keep the cellphones off during take off, is that the sudden change of altitude can alter the chemical balance of such li-ion batteries if in use during ascent or descent.

And the reason that some lithium batteries took fire on board planes in the past, is because they were probably multi cell batteries. If one of the cells fails it will cause the rest of the cells trying to balance the difference in power to the failed cell, that can cause explosion if the failed cell has too low resistance.

[chiz]

Just got back to US over an international flight and was surprised to see how many warnings about batteries on flights. It might just be the airline, or the fact I was coming out of china, but they were really cracking down on it. I saw people leaving behind portable power banks.

Mind sharing which airport and airline this is? We also got back from an international flight 3 weeks ago but didn't go through this rigorous check. But as you said, since some airports require to leave their power banks behind, I won't risk bringing my GB Pi2 with me.

[kakan]

Where I live you are supposed to detach the lipo battery from any device and use tape or any other material to protect the leads (if they are exposed). But on the safe side I would use a lipo bag. And the batteries can also only be taken on with carry baggage.

[chiz]

For those who are seriously considering bringing their GBZs on flights, I strongly recommend testing/observing your unit's temperatures. While I've not experienced my GB Pi2 explode yet, I've detected the overheating issue early that I'm now in the process of finding a solution.

The RPi Zero might not be generating heat as high as the RPi2, still it won't hurt doing thorough testing for overheating before taking it with you on a flight. Not that I'm paranoid but just really want to inform everyone on the potential for harm.

[Boondoggle]

Just got back to US over an international flight and was surprised to see how many warnings about batteries on flights. It might just be the airline, or the fact I was coming out of china, but they were really cracking down on it. I saw people leaving behind portable power banks.

Mind sharing which airport and airline this is? We also got back from an international flight 3 weeks ago but didn't go through this rigorous check. But as you said, since some airports require to leave their power banks behind, I won't risk bringing my GB Pi2 with me.

I was flying out of Beijing on Air Canada. I assume it's probably because a lot of Westerners buy really cheap usb power banks while they're in China. I didn't see anyone getting searched or having anything confiscated, but I saw a lot of Westerners voluntarily leave behind power banks because of all the posted signs. They even had the maximum specs on a "legal" lithium battery posted. I wish I remembered the specifics but I do remember thinking the posted limit was pretty restrictive and that some phones themselves were probably over that.

I'm kind of torn on the whole thing. I think you'd get it through, but if there was a freak battery combustion you would have caused a fire on a plane by technically breaking the rules and that would SUCK. I think if I'd thoroughly tested a GBZ and was getting no hot spots I might risk it.

[dirtybeagles]

Okay, so I do not take the battery at all. I take my powerbank instead. How do I power on the GBZ with just the powerbank? I tested this with a USB 5v cable to the micro USB that is soldered to the BAT connection point on the powerboot.. but that will not power on the GBZ it will only charge the battery. Is there another connection I need to use?

[Ganreizu]

Okay, so I do not take the battery at all. I take my powerbank instead. How do I power on the GBZ with just the powerbank? I tested this with a USB 5v cable to the micro USB that is soldered to the BAT connection point on the powerboot.. but that will not power on the GBZ it will only charge the battery. Is there another connection I need to use?

Maybe we need to figure out a way to extend the micro usb port on the powerboost in order to be able to do this. Are there solder points on the board, or would we just get a male to female micro usb and just make another window port somewhere?

[dirtybeagles]

Looks like it works pretty will this way. I had an extra port.

[spoiler="Connected micro usb to PINs"]

IMG_20160710_164045.jpg (1.99 MiB) Viewed 12763 times

[/spoiler]
[spoiler="Had to sand down the front as much as I could to get it to fit with case"]

IMG_20160710_165452.jpg (1.82 MiB) Viewed 12763 times

[/spoiler]
[spoiler="Connected to the Powerboost"]

IMG_20160710_165655.jpg (2.28 MiB) Viewed 12763 times

[/spoiler]
[spoiler="Looks like it is a tight squeeze"]

IMG_20160710_165744.jpg (1.2 MiB) Viewed 12763 times

[/spoiler]
[spoiler="I removed the little plastic part with a knife, closed good now"]

IMG_20160710_172140.jpg (1.17 MiB) Viewed 12763 times

[/spoiler]
[spoiler="success with the power bank"]

IMG_20160710_171144.jpg (1.67 MiB) Viewed 12763 times

[/spoiler]

If anyone knows a good place to get an L shape USB PM me. I cannot seem to find on that will go behind the GBZ when connected.