Question Building a "flight safe" wii portable?

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Hey folks!

I had to put my (very, very, very early stage) build on hiatus for financial reasons, but now I've got a new job, I can start again. The job is going to involve some regular flights and hotel stays, and I'd like to use that time revisiting some old favourite games. What I really don't want is airport security going into lockdown because of a DIY console with a jury-rigged 18650 battery pack being mistaken for a really creative IED on an xray scanner and my hard work getting a visit by a remote detonation robot.

I've been thinking, and the only real solution I've got so far is to make a battery-less portable, which I can pair with some commercial, flight safe USB power banks, which would also have the advantage of making the console itself smaller/slimmer and not have to worry about charging/BMS circuitry, as that would be integrated into the power bank itself.

So, yeah. while I think that should be technically viable, I figure I should at least ask the forums if I'm not missing something stupidly obvious.

Thanks.
 

CrazyGadget

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I've taken my portables on flights, as have many of us, and from previous conversations we've had about it, no one has expressed that they've ever had any issues with TSA when flying with our portables. Pretty sure @Shank had a case with all of his portables go through the scanner and they didn't bat an eye.

So as long as you believe your work to be worthy of not spontaneously catching fire, you should be fine.
 

Stitches

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Any portable with neat internal wiring should be safe. Modern scanners have enough detail to show that it's a game system, and most personel will see it and think "Oh that's a Switch"
 

dababy

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Any portable with neat internal wiring should be safe. Modern scanners have enough detail to show that it's a game system, and most personel will see it and think "Oh that's a Switch"
then u stare em dead in the eye and say swiitch
 

Shank

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I've never had trouble with my portables. Often they will bug me for other things in my bags, like cookies or my laptop, but not my portables. I bring them through in a single aluminum flight case with pluck foam cutouts for all the portables. My thought process is this gives them a clear, unobstructed view of them so they don't have to look at them further, unlike the stuff in my backpack. You cannot check them, as lithium batteries cannot be checked.

Mine have gone through the older x-ray systems that provide views from multiple angles, and the newer ones that generate 3d models. To them, they just look like plain old game systems. I even had one TSA agents ask if it was one of those GameCube portables he's seen on YouTube.

Make sure your wiring is safe and tidy. And don't be an idiot about it. You are at the mercy of however the TSA agent decides to interpret their pretend security on a given day. Some are cool and friendly, while others are rude and take their jobs way too seriously. If you have an agent with an authority boner who decides to go on a power trip, you are gonna have a rough day. Arrive early any time you plan to fly with a portable so you can make sure you have enough time to resolve issues if they do arise.
 
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