Bringing test equipment on a plane

[mickfred]

Going to northern Ireland tomorrow . My boss has sold some machines to a company in northern Ireland am going over to put some of it back together . Spanners screwdriver i would hope will be supplied over there but am think of bringing voltage tester multimeter and amp tester . Do you think this will be okay

 

[Gavin John Hyde]

If going by ferry its not an issue but if flying then the airlines don't particularly care, but getting that lot through airport security will be interesting, put it in a suitcase and your bag will be pulled off and almost certainly opened when it goes through the x ray machines in baggage handling... could possibly damage the electrics inside? if you take it as hand luggage then expect the security to pull you to oneside and have a very detailed look at what it is and try to decide if its okay to let you take it onboard.. given the way they over react to anything i think you will be lucky to get it on board as hand luggage maybe get it in the hold after a few checks...

 

[mickfred]

It's going on as luggage . May take my cheapo Di log voltage tester

 

[Pete999]

Going to northern Ireland tomorrow . My boss has sold some machines to a company in northern Ireland am going over to put some of it back together . Spanners screwdriver i would hope will be supplied over there but am think of bringing voltage tester multimeter and amp tester . Do you think this will be okay

Take the batteries out, put the leads and hand tools in your suit case and the meters in your carry on luggage, you will still get grief though, depends on the carrier.

 

[Toneyz]

This is something that maybe should be discussed with the airline in advance it may let things go a bit smoother.

 

[Flanders]

You cant take a pair of nail clippers in your hand luggage so you will have no chance with your hand tools , i put my tool case in the suit case and it was checked in when I went to Ireland on a plane and had no issues , that was about 5 years ago , as pete says it might be an idea to take your tester in hand luggage, but agree with anthony check with airport and airline first

 

[Lucien Nunes]

I often fly with tools and equipment - agree with above although maybe leave the batteries in. I have sometimes been asked to demonstrate portable equipment working - Presumably if it seems to work and its owner seems to know how to operate it, it's more likely to be genuine rather than a suspect device.

Probes and handtools absolutely must not be in hand baggage. I think they have a flat 'no' policy to tools because it avoids dispute over whether a particular tool could or could not be used as a weapon. A few times when I have been in a hurry, something prohibited has got left in my briefcase or laptop bag by mistake, and I've ended up going back out of security and either getting a small bag and checking it in, or a jiffy bag and mailing it to myself.

Once I had some kind of specialised crimp tool worth hundreds that got left in an inner pocket. Baggage check-in had closed so I got a jiffy bag, packed it and then found it wouldn't fit through the thin (bomb-rejecting) slot on the mail box. So I had to unpack, dismantle the tool into piece parts, go get another bag, repack and post. Made it back OK.

 

[Rpa07]

I’d email the airline ahead of travel and get a response that you could show to someone at the gate. Check in the hand tools and as lucien said be prepared to show the meter working! Please hold these croc clips - 500v dc - press button!

 

[Pete999]

I’d email the airline ahead of travel and get a response that you could show to someone at the gate. Check in the hand tools and as lucien said be prepared to show the meter working! Please hold these croc clips - 500v dc - press button!

The thing you have to look at is the power supply, the merest sniff of any type of battery will send airlines into apoplexy, if you are sending battery operated tools, test equipment overseas, the make sure you have adequate battery supplies, at you point of working, or use 110 Volt tools, lost count of the umber of times I have arrived at site only to find my tools have arrived OK, batteries no chance. That's why we changed to 110 Volt kit, more expensive but it got the job done.

 

[Rpa07]

I had to leave my 1/4 drive ratchet and 10mm short reach socket in the Miami airport because they thought that I would take the plane apart mid air! Now a Mini Cooper yes but a Boeing 747, I think I may need more than a 10 mm.
If you want to know, the ratchet was to change the wheels on my rollerblades when I glided up and down Miami Beach!

 

[stevels4]

From previous experience if you have the screwdriver bits and handle they will take either to prevent you putting them together and try to dismantle the plane, test leads will be confiscated as "they could be used to tie up hostages and the sharp pointy bits used to stab someone"
The pork pies were fine even though there were signs all over the airport regarding Foot and Mouth and restrictions on meat products!!!!