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Thomas W

Mon Jun 25 2012, 08:53PM

Registered Member #3324 Joined: Sun Oct 17 2010, 06:57PM
Location:
Posts: 1276

is it just me or does this look fake?

at those prices should we trust?

Thanks,
Thomas

Mads Barnkob

Mon Jun 25 2012, 11:09PM

Registered Member #1403 Joined: Tue Mar 18 2008, 06:05PM
Location: Denmark, Odense C
Posts: 1968

They do not have that exact FET, but I have bought from here many times and all have been good.

nixie

Wed Nov 20 2013, 07:47PM

Registered Member #3908 Joined: Tue May 24 2011, 09:40PM
Location: Gilbert, Arizona USA
Posts: 68

Well, fake chips do happen. I learned it yesterday. I bought a few rails of what I thought were ~30 yr old disk controller chips on ebay.
A couple years had passed before I needed them, and yesterday I discovered they were all fakes -after testing 50+ parts.
On close inspection I could see the cover on the 40 pin DIP packages were sandblasted, with a new marking applied that appeared a lot different from the OEM marking font/point.
My bad for not testing the lot on receipt. The seller (FukMiSlo) shipped them from Hong Kong. He's since gone dark.
On the plus side -these fakes did not damage the controller board they were installed into.

Dr. Dark Current

Wed Nov 20 2013, 08:03PM

Registered Member #152 Joined: Sun Feb 12 2006, 03:36PM
Location: Czech Rep.
Posts: 3384

IRFP470? All I found was IXYS datasheet, and the part on ebay is IR... I would say its fake.
You can even find HGTG40N60A4D on ebay, which oficially doesn't exist. (only the part without the diode).

Shrad

Wed Nov 20 2013, 08:57PM

Registered Member #3215 Joined: Sun Sept 19 2010, 08:42PM
Location:
Posts: 780

I once bought a carburator for my motobecane engine, and only found it was plated zinc when it fell on during service and my bike stopped, benzine dripping on the hot engine and the magnetic spinner...

I really feared for my life that time...

As always, the seller was lost in nature as soon as I opened my browser to complain...

testtest

Wed Nov 20 2013, 09:38PM

Registered Member #3271 Joined: Mon Oct 04 2010, 02:29AM
Location: Canada
Posts: 159

About 30% of electronics in circulation has a fake or a rebranded or reworked component in it from what I see in a failure analysis company here.
Do a Google search on the issue, you will be amazed.

This is from mp3 players to military ( example where the Canadian govt said that they had no issues... and then 6 months later emails for the department showed they knew about it...), cars, planes, heart-lung machines, GPS systems, brake pads... You get the picture.

The real issue is the paper trail. Nobody is responsible because it came with the "right" papers, all along the long chain of providers.
Second issue is like the banks and big companies: never admit you have a problem, it might hurt sales, even if it kills someone.

When I buy stuff from eBay I expect this (been fairly lucky overall) but then I pay $2 per xyz part, not $200 for a certified xyz part in my airbag controller or some other critical use
Time to put some teeth in the system, otherwise the issue will get worse.

It used to be easy to spot the conterfeits from a thinned case to poor markings. The counterfeiters are now getting much better and x-ray to identify the chip and mask markings are sometime the only way to find out.

Patrick

Fri Nov 22 2013, 07:05PM

Registered Member #2431 Joined: Tue Oct 13 2009, 09:47PM
Location: Chico, CA. USA
Posts: 5639

NTE rebrands other makes all the time... the ICL7107 LED A to D for example, thought not fake, its still scary.

testtest

Fri Nov 22 2013, 08:27PM

Registered Member #3271 Joined: Mon Oct 04 2010, 02:29AM
Location: Canada
Posts: 159

Patrick wrote ...

NTE rebrands other makes all the time... the ICL7107 LED A to D for example, thought not fake, its still scary.

No issue with re-branding here as the original parts are genuine and meet factory specs. NTE is pretty established and you know that you buy parts for replacement/substitution that comes from varied manufacturers.
Although it will fit a generic function, the specs sheet will be fairly accurate. I have been using them for decades (from the SKA RCA and the Sylvania ECG lines in the old days....).
You just have to know what you are doing when using them. If critical you buy the specific OEM part direct or from an authorized dealer.
There is no deception intended here.

\OPEN RANT

The scary stuff are those components removed from e-waste boards or batch rejects or re-branded lot dates from dumpster diving to put them back in the fold that may not meet specs or fail prematurely or are simply unsuitable.

I have seen, for example, a part with F (brand) markings with a die from S (brand) inside that did not meet the speed rating of the F part (x-ray will show the mask set, some date code sometime, missing mask level and even a completely different layout from the different manufacturer). Most of them failed in the field over a 2 year period. The IC packages had been polished and laser (re) marked with the higher spec markings. A whole batch of board had to be reworked. Of course two years later, after the board/device manufacturer clued in to the issue (with some outside help), they were not able to find the original distributor that sold these component wheels. Marketing/procurement was then suitably uncomfortable admitting they should have known the price was too good to be true. The engineers just sampled and tested a few of the chips at the front of the wheel assuming the next 500-10000 would be the same! The return rate was "normal" at first but kept increasing with time. I assume the bogus chips were just at the edge of the design envelope for the circuit and as component aged (like capacitors and such...) things became erratic. All the while the designers though they had built an ample margin for the life of the product. That is what happens if you are a small to medium size company and are not buying by the million from the big guys. Even then...

Fortunately this was not used in a critical system, but how many unsolved accidents are the result of such things. Think of counterfeit brake pads on a plane for example. They work, wear a bit faster and the breaking distance is longer: who will notice in normal use, until... The whole procurement protocol and certification paperwork is there. What is missing is are fail safe checks and much stronger consequences when a crook is exposed. The crooks don't know or care if the components they sell might kill someone, they just want the quick profit, and the next step in the line just want the quick profit, and the next... (x25)

\END RANT

Conundrum

Sat Nov 23 2013, 04:44AM

Registered Member #96 Joined: Thu Feb 09 2006, 05:37PM
Location: CI, Earth
Posts: 4061

I had an expensive projection screen blow up because the HOT was replaced with an identical but obviously fake (after the 2nd blow up) part.
Obtained and fitted the right part and it worked again, but the damage was done.

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