Subject: DBF Q&A #3
2004 DBF Q&A #3
Nov 17, 2004

Q: In the rules it states that "For safety, battery packs must have shrink-wrap or other protection over all electrical contact points. The individual cells must be commercially available, and the manufacturers label must be readable (i.e. clear shrink wrap preferred)."  We want to take the shrink wrap off of the cells and wrap them with Kapton tape. Would a vendors receipt be sufficient to verify that the cells are over the counter NiMH?

A: The rule "the manufacturers label must be readable" must prevail. Therefore, the factory cell wrap must be present. You may wrap the individual cells with Kapton over the factory label and then wrap the assembled pack in Kapton, but the manufacturers label must be readable.

Since we opened up the battery requirement to include more available cells, we WILL emphasize this rule this year and battery packs that do not adhere to this will not be allowed to fly.



-Greg
Gregory S. Page
ITT AES B210
2560 Huntington Ave
Alexandria, VA 22303
202-404-1251
202-767-6194 FAX

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