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Baggage Allowance

Yoshi0909
Explorer C

i want to bring the largest possible power bank I can onboard to charge my devices. I believe I'm limited to 100 Wh or less and that it. There's no output voltage maximum or mAh maximum? Power banks normally use lithium ion cells which are 3.u volts but use a boost converter to get it up to 5 volts. So largest lithium ion power bank I can bring on board is (100 Wh)/(3.7 V) = 27027.027 mAh? Can someone please confirm? I have a 26800 mAh  power bank that uses 3.7 volt lithium ion cells that has 99.68 Wh written on bottom of power bank that uses 3.7 volts in the calculation and not the 5 volts it outputs because the cells are 3.7 volts. Can u please confirm I can bring this power bank onboard?

3 REPLIES 3

Re: Baggage Allowance

franktravel
Aviator B

Hi  Check here and click on batteries on the left hand side.  http://swa.is/2oITCif

Re: Baggage Allowance

Yoshi0909
Explorer C
I did it didnt answer my question

Re: Baggage Allowance

DancingDavidE
Aviator A

It does - the restrictions are based on energy content instead of power or current. So 100 Wh is one of the thresholds, and 160 Wh is the other threshold. (i.e. 0.1 kWh.)

 

If your device says 99 Wh then I believe it has been designed with the 100 Wh requirement in mind. For a mass-market power bank I think this will be common.

 

The restrictions as posted don't refer to power or current, although as you mentioned in your equations these are interelated (volts x amp-hours = watthours). A 100 Wh power bank will deplete much faster at higher power (W) consumption rates which may be more of a function of the devices you are charging than the power bank itself. The power bank may have maximum voltage and current limitations, but operate at lower levels.

 

Anyway - TSA is not going to want to see your equations, they'd probably prefer a Wh label if you are near the limit. This isn't solely a Southwest issue, it's a TSA issue:

 

https://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/ash/ash_programs/hazmat/passenger_info/med...

 

I hope this helps clarify.

Home airport MDW, frequent visitor to MCO to see the mouse.