info request send drone with more batteries in UK from UK (national shipping) Royal Mail battery restrictions

[Alchemist101]

I live in London UK and I have to ship to another UK city my Mavic Pro combo which includes 3 batteries with Royal Mail.
The post office tells me that it is not possible to send batteries not connected to a device, in this case the drone.
but I remember, I bought my drone on eBay and the seller via Royal Mail sent me the drone with 2 batteries not connected to the drone and the shipping was fine I received the box with no problem.
what do you recommend? should I avoid putting the batteries in the package? Can anyone advise me?
Thank you

 

[FoxhallGH]

I purchased my Mavic Pro on eBay (UK) and had it shipped to me with 3 batteries - 1 fitted and 2 loose. It was shipped in the original 'Fly More' box ... Any 'Fly More' Mavic Pro - or Fly More kit - shipped to a customer in the UK will have loose batteries ... Maybe you should just assume it's OK and not say anything??

 

[Alchemist101]

Maybe you should just assume it's OK and not say anything??

Thank you for your reply, I'm scared because 2 years ago I sent my Smartphone with a PowerBank aboard and the Royal Mail destroyed my item because there was a dangerous item the PowerBank.
I never had back my lose money or my item.

 

[FoxhallGH]

If you Google the 'Fly More Combo' you can get pictures of what's in the kit. Maybe if you went to the Post Office and showed them this, and asked 'How come you can send me this from the retailer, but I'm not allowed to send it?' they may see the point. Also - there is some info around about taking batteries on airline flights. I believe there are dimension and type issues that are relevant to the DJI batteries that make this OK ... that info may also help your cause. It would also be wise to make sure the batteries are not travelling fully charged (maintenance charge level is about 40%).

 

[AeroJ]

The post office are actually incorrect in telling you that you can't send LiPos - you absolutely can if you meet certain conditions - this from their very own website !

Lithium ion/polymer/metal/alloy batteries when not sent with, or contained in/connected to an electronic device, are prohibited.

Lithium ion/polymer/metal/alloy batteries are allowed when sent with or contained in/connected to an electronic device, but are subject to packaging, volume and quantity restrictions.

For more information on lithium batteries please see the IATA Lithium Battery Guidance Documentopens in new window.

You are 'sending the batteries with' the thing they power, which means your LiPos are not prohibited even if the batteries are not connected to the thing they power if they are under 100 watt/hours, but you do have to declare them to the Post Office at the time of sending.

 

[Alchemist101]

before doing this post, I had look to the Royal Mail web site restriction items, and they allow to send in UK only new battery's. I went also to my local Royal Mail post office and I did exactly this question "How is possible that I recived from a eBay seller a box with 2 battery's not connected? Is it now possible?" the reply was "No, is no possible, don't try to send a box wit 2 loose battery's.

 

[zocalo]

Royal Mail et. al apparently treat new batteries differently to used ones, presumably because smart batteries have a "safe" initial state before first use. This is how retailers can ship new batteries without problems, although they still need to put appropriate labelling and so on on the packages. Royal Mail also have different restrictions on different shipping methods - e.g. tracked parcels generally are more restrictive in what can be sent. Used batteries can be shipped, but as you've found out *must* be connected to a device, with appropriate package labelling, and in stricted limited quantities, etc.

You might be able to find a smaller courier that'll take them (£££!), but failing that the only other option seems to be to ship any spares separately to mitigate loss/destruction and play dumb about what's in the box. Or you could connect them to the charger (it's a "device", right?) and ship them like that. Regardless, I'd definitely discharge them first, make sure they are packaged well with lots of bubble wrap, and ideally placed in a specific LiPo-safe bag/container just in case.

 

[AeroJ]

*must* be connected to a device

...and yet I was able to send what I thought might be a defective Lipo battery back to Yuneec just the other week, and declared it, and they sent it, because it was in a LiPo bag, in the same box as the camera it powered and was under their max weight and power limits !

 

[zocalo]

...and yet I was able to send what I thought might be a defective Lipo battery back to Yuneec just the other week, and declared it, and they sent it, because it was in a LiPo bag, in the same box as the camera it powered and was under their max weight and power limits !

I think it's as much a case of their own staff not really understanding the ins and outs of their own regulations as anything else. I think the key bit might have been the LiPo safe bag and original packaging though - maybe if the OP were to try again and stipulate that the battery would be contained within a LiPo-safe container within the overall parcel that might get it accepted?