Test/review of Charger Basen BO-1

[size=+3]Charger Basen BO-1[/size]





This is a fairly simple single cell LiIon charger from Basen.



It arrived in a cardboard box with a lot of specification on it.



The box contained the charger, a usb cable and a instruction sheet.



The charger is usb powered with a micro usb input.



There is only one button and a couple of leds. The button will change selected current, default is 0.5A.



During power on all the leds will shortly turn on. During charge the blue leds are animated and only one green led is on.



The specifications are on the bottom of the charger, but rather hard to read.



The charger uses the classic slider construction and will handle batteries from 28mm to 70.7mm, this will give problem with the longest protected cells.






The charger can handle up to 70mm long batteries,



[size=+2]Measurements[/size]

• Power consumption from usb when idle with no batteries is 18mA
• Below 0.3V the charger will not detect a battery
• Between 0.3 and 3V the charger will charge with low current
• Above 3V the charger will use full current.
• Will restart charging if voltage drops.
• Will restart charging if battery is inserted or power cycled.

A nice CC/CV charge curve with termination current of about 35mA. The charge voltage is at the top of the allowable range.




The two other batteries also look nice.



There is no problem with this old cell.



Using 0.5A also works fine.



The low termination current is fine for smaller cells.



And also for old worn out cells.



The 2A current is only maintained for a short time due to voltage limitations, then it will slowly drop. The charging is faster than 1A charging.



Adding 0.5ohm resistance in series with the power supply to simulate a long cable or weak supply shows that the charger will reduce usb and charge current, but the charging works fine.



M1: 39.4°C, M2: 51.9°C, M3: 58.5°C, M4: 52.2°C, HS1: 60.0°C




Being a fairly simple charger I could draw the current profile.



The charger is very fast to start, it only needs about 1 seconds.



It is possible to change current at any time.



[size=+2]Conclusion[/size]

The high charge voltage and low termination current will mean fully charged cell, but will cost a bit lifetime for the batteries. I like the simple user interface and adjustable tray, it is easy to use and means that the charger can handle most LiIon battery sizes.

I will rate it as good.


[size=+3]Notes[/size]

Here is an explanation on how I did the above charge curves: How do I test a charger

I see little use for a 2 cell universal charger (NiMH & LiION) but a single cell. Come on do we really need a one cell charger. The others are not that big nor does anyone carry them in their pockets. LOL

A good 4 cell is the best all round bang for you buck with (in most cases) room for a properly designed circuit board and cooling abilities. They're light as well. In this case I doubt the circuit boards contains the components needed to do a good job.

tripplec said:

I see little use for a 2 cell universal charger (NiMH & LiION) but a single cell. Come on do we really need a one cell charger. The others are not that big nor does anyone carry them in their pockets. LOL

A good 4 cell is the best all round bang for you buck with (in most cases) room for a properly designed circuit board and cooling abilities. They're light as well. In this case I doubt the circuit boards contains the components needed to do a good job.

Click to expand...

This series from Basen contains 1, 2 and a 4 cell charger. I will be posting reviews of all 3.