Preview/Quick test: 9 BASEN Li-Ion batteries (IMR and NCR) - FINISHED

Today I’ve got 9 pairs of BASEN branded Li-Ion batteries in order to test them.

Full list:
Basen IMR 18350 700mAh 10A
Basen IMR 18490 1100mAh 15A
Basen IMR 18500 1100mAh 22A
Basen IMR 18650 1500mAh 20A
Basen IMR 18650 2100mAh 30A
Basen IMR 18650 2500mAh 35A
Basen NCR 18650 3000mAh
Basen NCR 18650 3200mAh
Basen NCR 18650 3400mAh

I don’t have such good equipment as HKJ has, but my iCharger 106B+ is accurate enough for good preview and it can do the graphinng

Methodology of the test - you can comment it if you like.

  • measure the voltage of all batteries as they came
  • make one charge/discharge at 1A using Basen own charger/charge cycle of each
  • topping each battery to 4.23V with intellicharger i2 which is very consistent (bit over, but very consistent)
  • resting a battery for a day and measure the voltage drop
  • measure internal resistance
  • discharge each pair simultaneously with iCharger 106B+ at 2A (1A for smaller one) recording discharge graphs
  • another charge with topping
  • discharge each battery with iCharger 106B+ at 5A (3A for smaller ones) recording discharge graphs
  • publish the results as we go

I think this would be good enough for the consistent preview of the batteries. Not very quick nor very long.

First impression. Nice good looking design. Each packed in small cardbox without any marks. All packed in 3 bigger cardbox and everything in biggest one. Very well packed. About design, I would suggest to clearly mark the positive side with narrow yellow ring similar to Nitecore batteries. This would help to quickly recognize wrongly inserted one in the charger. It happened me few times I’ve inserted it wrongly.

I have realized I have to prepare new leads to do consistent and reliable test. So I will postpone test for some time….

2A discharges are almost done, already working on some 5A…… done! All the graphs are collected in the post #1


Click on the table above to see the full size.

Final verdict

All the batteries are very good. Under wrapper there are some Sony, Sanyo, Samsung and Panasonic cells so the results are not surprise. It looks the IMR 18350 is underrated, it might be declared as 800mAh. The curve implies it could be discharged down to 2.50V. Also the cells are all very equal they don’t show any anomalies.

I have to emphaze I’ve topped batteries with i2 charger so the cells were charged as much as possible. This has gave some higher results than Leaftye and HKJ test. Still good to know what are the highest marks you can expect.

That’s all folks…… I hope it gives you some (good) feeling about those batteries.

Results

1. Voltage on arrival

Name of the cell 1st 2st
Basen IMR 18350 700mAh 10A 3.83V 3.50V
Basen IMR 18490 1100mAh 15A 3.78V 3.78V
Basen IMR 18500 1100mAh 22A 3.86V 3.84V
Basen IMR 18650 1500mAh 20A 3.81V 3.82V
Basen IMR 18650 2100mAh 30A 3.60V 3.61V
Basen IMR 18650 2500mAh 35A 3.63V 3.63V
Basen NCR 18650 3000mAh 3.81V 3.81V
Basen NCR 18650 3200mAh 3.64V 3.63V
Basen NCR 18650 3400mAh 3.63V 3.63V

Comment: except the first one all pairs are equal enough ± 0.01V.

2. First cycle discharge with Basen own charger
Discharge has been done at 1A except for 18350 at 0.5A. Batteries were topped with i2.

Name of the cell 1st 2st
Basen IMR 18350 700mAh 10A 918mAh 946mAh
Basen IMR 18490 1100mAh 15A 1173mAh 1190mAh
Basen IMR 18500 1100mAh 22A 1271mAh 1277mAh
Basen IMR 18650 1500mAh 20A 1688mAh 1653mAh
Basen IMR 18650 2100mAh 30A 2260mAh 2300mAh
Basen IMR 18650 2500mAh 35A 2647mAh 2639mAh
Basen NCR 18650 3000mAh* 2890mAh 2907mAh
Basen NCR 18650 3200mAh 3370mAh 3406mAh
Basen NCR 18650 3400mAh 3551mAh 3573mAh

*Basen NCR 18650 3000mAh is 4.35V battery, but tested here at 4.20V

It looks like Basen charger overrates the real capacity. Regardless different current they should be much closer to the ones iCharger measured - see below.

3. Discharges at 2A

Basen IMR 18350 (700) at 1A - 876mAh

Basen IMR 18490 (1100) at 2A - 1097mAh

Basen IMR 18500 (1100) at 2A - 1151mAh

Basen IMR 18650 (1500) at 2A - 1509mAh

Basen IMR 18650 (2100) at 2A - 2033mAh

Basen IMR 18650 (2500) at 2A - 2471mAh

Basen NCR 18650 (3000) at 2A - 2713mAh **charged to 4.20V

Basen NCR 18650 (3200) at 2A - 3071mAh

Basen NCR 18650 (3400) at 2A - 3203mAh


4. Discharges at 5A
Basen IMR 18350 700mAh at 5A

cell1: 800mAh

cell2: 827mAh

Temp.

Basen IMR 18490 1100mAh at 5A

cell1: 1100mAh

cell2: 1084mAh

Temp.

Basen IMR 18500 1100mAh at 5A

cell1: 1149mAh

cell2: 1155mAh

Temp.

Basen IMR 18650 1500mAh at 5A

cell1: 1550mAh

cell2: 1539mAh

Temp.

Basen IMR 18650 2100mAh at 5A

cell1: 2017mAh

cell2: 2044mAh

Temp.

Basen IMR 18650 2500mAh at 5A

cell1: 2483mAh

cell2: 2468mAh

Temp.

Basen NCR 18650 3000mAh at 5A (charged to 4.20V)

cell1: 2670mAh

cell2: 2667mAh

Temp.

Basen NCR 18650 3000mAh at 5A (charged to 4.35V)

cell1: 3013mAh

cell2: 2997mAh

Temp.

Basen NCR 18650 3200mAh at 5A

cell1: 3072mAh

cell2: 3072mAh

Temp.

Basen NCR 18650 3400mAh at 5A

cell1: 3157mAh

cell2: 3153mAh

Temp.

The End (at last)

Wow, this is a big sample pack. Happy testing :)

Someone's hobby charger is going to be very busy!

Please test internal resistance and max current draw :slight_smile: thanks

Internal resistance can be tested with a hobby charger, but it should only be used as a frame of reference. It needs to be compared to other cells, ideally with the same hobby charger. HKJ's method of measuring internal resistance is much better. Max current draw is another issue, either requiring involving a big lead acid battery for regenerative discharge or resistors, and I believe the results are +/- 20%. Another problem is that 35A cell. My charger only claims to work up to 20A with regenerative discharge.

Sirius can you be serious :wink: ! Testing high current drains is not an easy task and impossible with proper equipment. None that I know on BLF except HKJ (to some extent) has that equipment. You can see the topic - it says Preview and Quck test. AFAIK HKJ needs few days up to one week to test 1 pair of batteries. :open_mouth:

A few days is not enough, usual I say a week. The actual time varies with the cell capacity and number of currents and voltages I test. A 4.35V takes about 3 week, because it gets 3 runs.

It will be some time before I get around to the Basen cells, ledoman will probably be finished with his tests before I begin.

Yes I thought so it is a week, but hoping it can be less too. It is very, very time consuming job.
There is also Leafty who is going to test in parallel his batch, but in more diverse manner regarding discharge currents. Also time consuming :~

Yes, low current 14440 and 16340 is faster to test. I have not kept track of days to test them, but it is probably 4 days.

Generally I do not really do much on the testing stations. I have a pile of batteries to test besides the station and then I simply put the next one in when it is finished.

Later on I will fetch the test data and write the review. This can be weeks later, or months (I have a few alkaline tests that old).

I'll try to follow HKJ's lead as much as possible. I have little interest in separately testing and calculating internal resistance, and I probably won't test each cell more than once at the same current unless I have free time after doing everything once, and I have little confidence in the calibration of my equipment compared to HKJ with his skills and equipment, so I'll be very interested in seeing how my results compare. They won't be directly comparable though since one of my chargers only goes does to 3.0V, but there's only a small handful of mA between there at 2.8V anyway. There are also certain things I still need to do to prepare for high current testing, and I didn't have equipment to fully charge 4.35V cells either. Basically that means the high current and high voltage cell will have parts of their reviews that may not be finished for a couple weeks.

I may be able to post full results for the 3200mAh cell on Friday, and almost certainly by Saturday. The lower current cells may actually take me longer since there's more tests and I'm charging everything at 0.5A in order to keep things simple and prevent mistakes. Unless I missed something on the data sheets, that current will allow maximum charge.

Very glad to know that you have received batteries, and look forward to your wonderful test results :slight_smile:

Hmmm,

so, you don’t have

- charger that can charge up to 4.35V

- dis/charger that can discharge below 3V

- way to discharge with 1+A

- way to test internal resistance (indicates how good unknown cell is)

- experience

  • time!!!

That’s exactly why I avoid testing batteries…

Do you have usb ttl uart for your hobby charger? it would make the job so much easier…

Who you are taking to? If it’s me, read the OP :wink: .

That does not make the test invalid, they will still be useful.

When reading the test it is, of course, important to know the limitations. As a extreme: A sub-ohmic vapor will not be able to use the results.

Oh, ok, discharging at 5A sounds interesting :slight_smile:

Basen IMR 18350 at 1A - 876mAh

Basen IMR 18500 at 2A - 1151mAh

Basen IMR 18650 at 2A –> 1509mAh

Basen IMR 18490 at 2A - 1097mAh