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Multiple Asian Airlines Ban Power Bank Usage Mid-flight

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A number of Asian airlines have implemented policies banning the usage of power banks mid-flight. (www.gatechecked.com) More...

Roger Anderson
News junkiePromoter

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jkeifer3
Joe Keifer 6
They ban the use of them but you must still bring them on board and not stow them in your checked baggage.
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Budlake
Mike Monk 3
The article clearly states that there is no evidence that the fire on the Air Busan aircraft was started by a power bank, so it is wrong to legislate on the assumption that it was.
The investigating authority would serve air safety much better if it were to categorically identify the cause of the fire first!
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turbohawk
turbohawk 1
WELL documented issues with LI-Ion batteries so they are just, thankfully, reacting on an abundance of caution. I don't see a problem with their decision.
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KicksOnRouteA66
Roger Anderson 1
Indeed. The changes are the airlines' choices (except South Korea).
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a1brainiac
a1brainiac 2
Cheap batteries from China
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MikeInPA
Mike InPA 2
I wonder how I will power my CPAP machine. I currently use a battery pack.
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crchall
Chuck Chall 4
Amazing. I have flown thousands and thousands of miles without need of any power at all. I read.
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dittoheadadt
Andrew Tl 4
Anecdote and data are not synonyms.
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Bugleboyb
John Burdett 1
Agree
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Highflyer1950
Highflyer1950 -1
Probably a good safe idea. Passengers today have zero knowledge of maximum charging amperages and what their power banks are rated for? A 2.3 mili-amp charger on a unit rated for 2.0 mili-amp will overheat eventually. Also certified chargers are usually not used jn favour of the cheaper WalMart China devices which sometimes do not meet standards. IMO
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rbozlaV3H1oUuloRphWxNxRmDrr8H0
rbozlaV3H1oUuloRphWxNxRmDrr8H0 3
Current is pulled, not pushed. In the scenario you appear to describe where the power bank is rated for a higher current than the device is, the device will just pull whatever it wants, and the power bank will just not be operating at full power. Not an issue at all.

In the opposite scenario of a device rated for more current than the power bank can supply:
- Devices that want more than about 1.5A will usually not just take it, and will almost always attempt to negotiate for it. (And at higher power levels where higher voltage is also required, the device will definitely need to negotiate to get the higher voltage.)
- Power sources (especially "dumb" ones that don't support negotiation) almost always have a voltage dropoff as you approach their current limit, and devices almost always can detect this and back off
- Even the cheapest of the cheap power banks I've seen literally get handed out for free have overcurrent protection to turn off the power as a last resort if something is drawing too much power

So really, the worst case outcome with this particular kind of scenario is that it won't work
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Highflyer1950
Highflyer1950 1
If the power bank is being charged and starts to demand more current than it is rated for the internal batteries can overheat to the point where they can damage the internal circuitry to where power demand causes overheating, especially in non rated devices. imo. We had that issue in the 80’s where a battery relay could get hot enough to fuse so the battery itself could not be removed from the power source ( engine gen’s) so the only way to get the battery off the circuit was to turn off all generators. All I’m saying us there is a reason power banks are not allowed in checked luggage.
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rbozlaV3H1oUuloRphWxNxRmDrr8H0
rbozlaV3H1oUuloRphWxNxRmDrr8H0 2
If a power bank, or any other consumer device, attempts to charge itself fast enough to damage itself, that is a design issue of the device in question, not user error
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Highflyer1950
Highflyer1950 1
And isn’t that why the airlines are banning them. Internal overcharging protection failure, severe overheating and/ or possible physical damage causing a thermal runaway. IMO
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TonyLeverett
TonyLeverett 0
Plugging a mobile phone into the USB socket to recharge is known to present the phone as a whole to all other devices connected to the USB system - the plane acts a a very large USB hub, thus exposing the phones' data to all other devices - a security nightmare.
By recharging a power bank from the port, then powering the phone of that, removes this vulnerability, as the power bank only is only connected for power; not data.
Will be interesting to see how this develops.
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randomnumber
randomnumber 4
USB has separate pins for power and data. Most chargers do not even have the cabling for data. If you are concerned, and yes, some public chargers are comprised and dangerous, you can get a power only cable to carry with you.
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TonyLeverett
TonyLeverett 2
Indeed so, but I wonder how many people know the difference between a charging cable and a data cable?
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turbohawk
turbohawk 1
EXACTLY!
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