Hong Kong Post Office Explosion - parcels delayed

[Fraser]

I was just on the UTSource web site and they had a warning regarding delivery delays in the Honk Kong postal system :

" Dear customers, we are regret to inform you that because Hong Kong Post Office warehouse explosion recently, our shipment Hong Kong registered first class post online show will be delayed 5-10 days, the time arrival will have delays also, please note that, we are very sorry about this. "

I wonder what exploded ? Lithium batteries ?

If you are waiting for a parcel from HK that is overdue, it may have been a victim of this event ?

[mcinque]

I wonder what exploded ? Lithium batteries ?

I bet.

[SeanB]

Is there anything made in PRC that does not explode? They even have exploding chairs......

[gibbled]

I get the occasional Chinese firework that fails to explode...

[smashedProton]

Pressure cooker

[iloveelectronics]

I got to ask the post office what happened when I go there today. I haven't heard anything and I go there everyday.

[SeanB]

I get the occasional Chinese firework that fails to explode...

With those normally the factory explodes.......

[iloveelectronics]

I got to ask the post office what happened when I go there today. I haven't heard anything and I go there everyday.

The officer at the post office wasn't aware of any explosion. I suspect the original post might be referring to this:

http://www.hongkongpost.hk/eng/publications/notices/2013/20130910a/index.htm

So it seems like registered air mail might suffer some delay due to them having to x-ray scan every package! Thanks to those that ignore the policy and keep sending lithium batteries through air

[SeanB]

So if I want lithium batteries I will have to have them sent by sea mail? Still, will just add an extra 3 weeks to the delivery time.

[Wytnucls]

In China, these lithium batteries are not allowed in airport luggage going into an aircraft hold either, but they are allowed in the cabin, in small quantities, I guess (All luggage is x-rayed). Nobody else seems to care about batteries, except in Oz perhaps, where I was asked to remove a small alkaline Duracell 9V battery out of my suitcase. Go figure.

[iloveelectronics]

So if I want lithium batteries I will have to have them sent by sea mail? Still, will just add an extra 3 weeks to the delivery time.

Yes, sea mail is the only legal way for us to send lithium batteries. I sent some to Martin (mjlorton) in the US for his review (just for my own curiosity as I have no plan to sell any) by sea and it took more than 2 months! Normally air mail to the US from HK only takes about a week.

BTW, I don't even send ANY battery (not just lithium) by air mail simply because the post office here has the right to request the sender to come to the air mail center, open up the package and prove that it's ordinary battery instead of lithium in case they have any suspicion. Obviously I don't really fancy doing that, hence the decision to not include any batteries in products I sell.

[TerraHertz]

So, I guess having that drum of brake fluid and sack of pool chlorine consolidated to one carton wasn't such a great idea after all. Sorry everyone. Next time I'll get them sent separately.

[SeanB]

Air carriers will flat out to transport anything containing mercury liquid in any glass vessel, unless it is packed and sealed so it will not escape if it breaks. If you have seen just how fast mercury will alloy with aluminium you will not be surprised why. It makes a block of aluminium into a pile of flakes in very short order, once it has penetrated the oxide film just a little.

[Fraser]

This may well explain why several of this forums members, including me, did not receive our first consignments of multi-meter Voltage references that contained a mobile phone lithium battery.

I guess the X-Ray examination caught them. The seller sent replacements that took a very long time to arrive in the UK so maybe surface mail was used to avoid the battery issue.

This is bad news for me as I need some Dallas DS1643L RTC chips from UTSource and these contain a little CR1216 lithium battery that cannot be removed  Maybe they will send them surface mail as well ?

[SeanB]

At least it was not the Helderberg. My sister was going to be on that flight, but did not catch it, luggage in Kowloon, her in Hong Kong..........

[KedasProbe]

With 'warehouse explosion' they probably just mean a lot packages coming in.

[kayvee]

At least it was not the Helderberg. My sister was going to be on that flight, but did not catch it, luggage in Kowloon, her in Hong Kong..........

An ex-colleague of mine had a girlfriend on that flight.

[amyk]

This may well explain why several of this forums members, including me, did not receive our first consignments of multi-meter Voltage references that contained a mobile phone lithium battery.

I guess the X-Ray examination caught them. The seller sent replacements that took a very long time to arrive in the UK so maybe surface mail was used to avoid the battery issue.

This is bad news for me as I need some Dallas DS1643L RTC chips from UTSource and these contain a little CR1216 lithium battery that cannot be removed  Maybe they will send them surface mail as well ?

There's something about an exemption here: http://www.maximintegrated.com/qa/iata/
But I haven't looked at the regulations in detail to see what they mean exactly.

[G7PSK]

According to the information I got from the post office you can send lithium batteries in the post, which means air, as long as they are fitted inside equipment. So those voltage references should have been OK unless they are seen by someone who does not know the rules and or is being over zealous.

Attached is a pdf scan of the information I was given listing what is prohibited.

[Fraser]

I have been given a lot of grief when sending radio equipment via airmail. The Main Post Office clerks seem to believe that the equipment cannot contain any batteries no matter whether part of the equipment or removable. There appears to be much confusion surrounding what can and cannot be sent    I heard of a case where a Divers Halogen light switched on in transit and started to cause clothes to smoulder in  front of it. I was surprised to read that spare batteries are not permitted but fitted batteries are. There is far more chance of a battery overheat due to the equipment suffering an internal fault than a spare battery going critical and self destructing. The  Chinese voltage references would be a good example. A basically DIY design, with soft power on/off control, in a plastic case. A short in the power circuits could present an overload to the Lithium battery. The battery may have management on board to save it though ?

[Neilm]

According to the information I got from the post office you can send lithium batteries in the post, which means air, as long as they are fitted inside equipment. So those voltage references should have been OK unless they are seen by someone who does not know the rules and or is being over zealous.

The trouble is people see Lithium battery and promptly panic thinking it is about to spontaneously explode. I work at a company that has just started producing equipment with Li-Ion batteries in and we have had cases where representatives of our shipper (a major well known company) either didn't know the rules, or didn't care. They just refused to ship our products. This despite the fact that before we produced the equipment we had the companies hazardous goods team review every thing we had done before they put us on the internal list of companies that could produce goods containing Li-Ion batteries.

Of course, if a product is found that isn't correctly labelled, they would be entitled to ask what else is wrong and pull the shipment.

I heard of a case where a Divers Halogen light switched on in transit and started to cause clothes to smoulder in  front of it. I was surprised to read that spare batteries are not permitted but fitted batteries are. There is far more chance of a battery overheat due to the equipment suffering an internal fault than a spare battery going critical and self destructing

The rules state that there must be a physical interlock to prevent equipment from powering up at full power during transport. (there is a bit that allows a small current to continually run something like a real time clock). UN38.3 says that a battery pack should have a circuit in to prevent over discharging the Li-Ion batteries.

Neil

[iloveelectronics]

According to the information I got from the post office you can send lithium batteries in the post, which means air, as long as they are fitted inside equipment. So those voltage references should have been OK unless they are seen by someone who does not know the rules and or is being over zealous.

Attached is a pdf scan of the information I was given listing what is prohibited.

That may be the case for packages initiated from the UK, but over here in China and Hong Kong lithium batteries are very strictly prohibited in all air postage channels, including not only air mail, but also Speedpost or EMS. There are very clear signs all over the place in every post office here. The only other "legal" options for us to send anything with lithium batteries are either surface/sea mail, or private courier services such as Fedex/DHL/UPS/etc, which may have their own rules.

[wkb]

Below a photograph a friend sent me from the LiIon battery of his el-cheapo Android tablet.

Original thickness about 3mm, now 21mm.  He was a bit puzzled observing the tablet 'grow'.
On pulling it apart he found this nice surprise 

It was a typical Shenzen no-brand unit btw

[Rick Law]

...The trouble is people see Lithium battery and promptly panic thinking it is about to spontaneously explode. I work at a company that has just started producing equipment with Li-Ion batteries in and we have had cases where representatives of our shipper (a major well known company) either didn't know the rules, or didn't care. They just refused to ship our products. This despite the fact that before we produced the equipment we had the companies hazardous goods team review every thing we had done before they put us on the internal list of companies that could produce goods containing Li-Ion batteries....
Neil

The shipping company may have more than postal rules to worry about.  The shipper may have insurance contract that prevents them from handling those kinds of packages.

[Neilm]

...The trouble is people see Lithium battery and promptly panic thinking it is about to spontaneously explode. I work at a company that has just started producing equipment with Li-Ion batteries in and we have had cases where representatives of our shipper (a major well known company) either didn't know the rules, or didn't care. They just refused to ship our products. This despite the fact that before we produced the equipment we had the companies hazardous goods team review every thing we had done before they put us on the internal list of companies that could produce goods containing Li-Ion batteries....
Neil

The shipping company may have more than postal rules to worry about.  The shipper may have insurance contract that prevents them from handling those kinds of packages.

We were using them as they claim specialism in this area.