BASEN B30 18650 3000 mAh Batteries

A couple more batteries from Basen. This time, they're a higher-current version with a capacity of 3000 mAh and a claimed continuous discharge current of up to 20 A.
And as always, scandals, intrigue, investigations, inspection, tests, comparisons, and conclusions.


As with the O35 batteries, they come in cardboard and plastic boxes.
The price also depends on the quantity. For example, one costs $6.84, two cost $12.33, and you can buy ten for $51.62, or $5.16 each.


For some reason, these batteries aren't listed on the Basen website. The closest matches have slightly different specs and different markings.
For example, the listed capacity is 3100 mAh rather than 3000, and the continuous current is 32 A rather than 20 A. It's quite possible that this is actually a completely different model, but personally, I don't know of any 18650 batteries with a capacity of 3100 mAh and a continuous current of 32 A.


The finish is neat, too, and just like on the O35, the marking means Black 3000 mAh.
There's a barcode and a scratch-off area for checking authenticity.

Unlike the previous ones, these have more conventional-looking terminals, so you can't identify them for sure at a glance. The positive terminal is slightly recessed from the front edge.


Naturally, I wanted to find out what was really under the nice-looking heat-shrink wrap, but there was no need to open it up.
The positive terminal looks a lot like the one on the well-known VTC6, both in shape and thickness. The 30Q, for example, has the same shape, but is noticeably thicker. The only visible difference is that the VTC6 terminal is a little more matte. But I found another clue: the B30 has a C10 marking on the safety vent, exactly like Murata batteries.
Given that the VTC6 specs are very close to the claimed ones (20 A continuous current and 3000 mAh capacity), and that the vent marking and terminal appearance match, there's a very good chance these are VTC6 cells.


Dimensions and weight.
The weight also matches the VTC6, by the way. You can read a separate review of those here.


The conditioning cycle results are also similar to those of the VTC6.


Next, of course, I wanted to include some data from Basen, but unfortunately, the most I could find was a few small graphs for their 3100 mAh batteries.
But here's the curious part: if you look closely at the graphs, you'll see that they're capacity-versus-temperature plots, and that, judging by the curves, the batteries are discharged down to 1.5 V. And for some reason, the capacity is 2500 mAh, not 3000.
I appreciate a sense of humor, but I think the designer who made the page got a little carried away :)


In any case, I ran the tests assuming these were VTC6 cells, so I set the charging current to 1C (3 A).
A full charge took 1 hour 21 minutes, compared with 1 hour 18 minutes for the VTC6, so that's another similarity.


Next came the usual tests at 0.2C, 0.5C, 1C, 2C, 10 A, 15 A, and 20 A, just like with the VTC6.



Even the temperatures at 10 A, 15 A, and 20 A were the same.


To make the test identical to the VTC6 test, I discharged the second battery down to 2 V in every mode except at 20 A.


The heating results are about the same. For some reason, the temperature reading was lower at 15 A, but I may have taken the photo a little after the discharge current switched off.


Internal resistance measurement: once again, everything is the same as with the VTC6.


To avoid cluttering the graph with results from tests of other similar batteries, I compared this one with the VTC6. I used VTC6 graphs from two reviews, the newer one and the older one, labeled New and Old, respectively.

I think the results speak for themselves. The comparison was done at 0.2C, 10 A, and 20 A. The B30 is shown in black, the newer VTC6 in green, and the older one in red.


In the second case, the battery from the older review was discharged down to 2.0 V at 20 A, so the results in this mode aren't entirely comparable. But even so, it's clear that these are VTC6 cells.


So, what can I say in conclusion? In my opinion, these are perfectly ordinary VTC6 cells. There's really nothing to complain about, because:
The capacity matches the stated rating.
The discharge current ratings are accurate: 20 A continuous. It's hard to say about 40 A, but I see no reason why they wouldn't handle it.
The cells are clearly not used or salvaged; there are no signs of welded tabs.
The resistance, temperature, and discharge curves are all as expected for VTC6 cells.
Shipping is free, at least to our location.
I'm not sure whether the plastic case comes with every listing, but mine arrived in one, which is convenient too.

The only thing I can legitimately complain about is that the manufacturing date is unknown. Murata prints it on the heat-shrink sleeve, but there's no date here.

That's about it. As always, I'd be glad to hear your comments.