I bought some 2N3904's from a new vendor because my old reliable vendor ran out in May and doesn't expect to get any more until October - of NEXT YEAR(!).
It was amazing that this new vendor could sell them for2¢ (U.S.), half the price from my old reliable vendor, and being mainly a supplier to hobbyists how did the get almost 400,000 of them when my distributor goes without any for over a year?
It gets more suspicious. These are supposed to be Fairchild but they don't avlanche like the Fairchild part and ONSemi parts. The vendor told me that is because they came from an ONSemi fab. Ok, but what about the date code: "331" which means they were produced in the 31st work week of a year ending with a "3". They are too new and shiny to be from 2013, its not 2023 yet...then I spotted a lot of ads on an Asian storefront like Amazon. To wit:
There were over a dozen vendors on that site with this same photo some offering these Chinese-made transistors for 1¢ (U.S.) each. They are made in China and I suspect counterfeit. So, if you find your shiny new bargain-basement 2N3904's don't quite work the way you expect, it is probably because they are not really 2N3904.
It was amazing that this new vendor could sell them for2¢ (U.S.), half the price from my old reliable vendor, and being mainly a supplier to hobbyists how did the get almost 400,000 of them when my distributor goes without any for over a year?
It gets more suspicious. These are supposed to be Fairchild but they don't avlanche like the Fairchild part and ONSemi parts. The vendor told me that is because they came from an ONSemi fab. Ok, but what about the date code: "331" which means they were produced in the 31st work week of a year ending with a "3". They are too new and shiny to be from 2013, its not 2023 yet...then I spotted a lot of ads on an Asian storefront like Amazon. To wit:
There were over a dozen vendors on that site with this same photo some offering these Chinese-made transistors for 1¢ (U.S.) each. They are made in China and I suspect counterfeit. So, if you find your shiny new bargain-basement 2N3904's don't quite work the way you expect, it is probably because they are not really 2N3904.