Yup, the old ceramic ones didn't either. They used a separate 2-row one that was a bit shorter. Even with the power rails on the board you still have to jumper power into the circuit though. Just a shorter jump.

 

Watch out for these on Ali Express:
View attachment 265842
If you need 3V, the ones I bought will only go down to about 3.6V. They do appear to be able to source 3A though...

I have an update on this type of power supply.

They also have poor regulation. I tested 3 at the lowest voltage they could be adjusted to and at 6V with a 6 ohm 1% power resistor. Voltage regulation, far below the rated current, is poor and the built-in voltmeters are not accurate (do not reflect the change in the output voltage).

For one supply, I measured 3.55V with the supply set to 3.67V. With the 6 ohm load, the supply dropped to 3.54V indicated (3.38V measured). At 6V, it was even worse. Supply set to 6.04V (6.02V measured), the voltage dropped to 5.75V (measured), but the supply still indicated 6.01V.

I bought these from two different sellers, so it's a design issue.

EDIT: There is no UL certification on either "brand" of these power supplies, making them unsuitable for use in the US or Canada (cUL).

EDIT2: After several days of the seller trying to get me to repack, drive to the post office, fill out customs paperwork, and stand in line to mail them back, Ali Express decided in my favor for a refund with no return. Without requiring me to jump through more hoops (I did provide noload/load pictures showing I couldn't get 3V and the voltage drops with a load and one showing the lack of UL certification). I'm still a bit surprised because I thought for sure this was a high enough dollar amount that they'd tend to side with the seller.

 

I have an update on this type of power supply.
I bought these from two different sellers, so it's a design issue.

There is no specification given for accuracy or regulation. They are recommended for DC motor speed control or light dimmer, etc. So, for the price, they are a pretty good deal.

 

I was curious about the 9V lithium ion batteries that include a 9V voltage regulator, so I bought some on impulse (8 to amortize shipping cost over more batteries). Without thinking about realistic capacity, I bought some advertised as 12800mAh. When I received them, I decided to do a capacity test.

It turned out that the capacity was closer to 300mAh. When I tried to get a refund from the seller, he kept telling me not to worry. Charge them and use them. He had no clue what I was talking about.

I got AliExpress dispute involved and they told me I needed to post a video. To make the video shorter, I loaded the batteries (I tested all 8 at least once) with a 25 ohm load. At that current, they would discharge in less than an hour. I had reservations about applying such a high load current to that form factor, but I tested an EBL 9V 600mAh lithium ion battery (actual voltage 8.4V) with the same load and got the advertised capacity.

Seller Shop1102660308 Store. They have since raised their price and shipping so high that no one will purchase them.

 

I was going to use those 9V lithium replacements but I don't know their self-discharge i.e. would it be OK 3 months from now or would it be dead, boost converter running all the time I think.
That store has only been open since Feb and 87.1% is a dismal review score. I go with higher rated stores, high 90%'s and open for a longer time period.

But Aliexpress prices and shipping are very high lately, so it's lost its advantage on many things.
The posted price is fake - it's always for some low priced accessory (not the actual item) and then they pile on cost to shipping as some sort of game to keep the item price appearing low. Or it's the "Welcome Deal" pricing. It takes a long time to shop and then the website changes language or price in the middle of it all. Ick.

 

I have been purchasing most of my electronic components from Ali Express for many years. In spite of all the bad publicity I have read on this forum about questionable products, I have never had a quality problem until now. A few months ago received a batch of 10 LM317 regulators. I just recently used a couple of them in a dual bench supply I was making. It worked but the current on both sides was limited to a maximum of 170mA. After some very frustrating trouble shooting I finally found that the problem was caused by the regulators . The whole batch of 10 had the same problem of low current limit, all around 170mA. I ordered a new batch and now the supply is working well.
I didn't bother to report the bad components. I had them several months before I used them, and the batch of 10 only cost $2.47cad. I will continue to use Ali Express because, in spite of this one bad batch, I still consider their products are usually very dependable and are comparatively very inexpensive.

 

I was going to use those 9V lithium replacements but I don't know their self-discharge i.e. would it be OK 3 months from now or would it be dead, boost converter running all the time I think.

I had the same concern. I'll check the capacity of a couple of the batteries in a few months and let you know.

Another bit of information is that load regulation is poor.

That store has only been open since Feb and 87.1% is a dismal review score. I go with higher rated stores, high 90%'s and open for a longer time period.

I'm of the opinion that feedback ratings have little meaning. Most of the feedback for the batteries I bought wasn't helpful. Some said they'd report back if there are capacity issues, but none did and the 5 star ratings remained. Most of the feedback didn't have comments.

The thing about AliExpress is that you're buying quality that's "good enough", often for pennies or dimes on the dollar for what other online sources are asking for. In some cases, they're selling the same product as AliExpress; even using the same stock photos and descriptions. I'm willing to take a chance and the vast majority of my purchases have been "good enough". My intent is to document the egregiously bad experiences in this thread.

 

I bought some of these 18650 batteries with capacities that seemed too good to be true.

The batteries weighed 25g; 10g less than the real 1.6Ah 18500's I bought on AliExpress.

I have since found out that a more realistic capacity is 3-4Ah and I've ordered some that advertised a "real capacity" of 2.5Ah.

Discharge video

 

View attachment 299023


12800 milli amps hour from a 9V battery? Seriously?

Perhaps they actually meant 12800 micro-amps hour.

 

12800 milli amps hour from a 9V battery? Seriously?

Perhaps they actually meant 12800 micro-amps hour.

It seems that a reasonable capacity in that form factor is more like 600mAh. I have some EBL rated at 600mAh and they provide that capacity. But the output voltage is around 8V.

There are sellers advertising 16800mAh and that's what they claim because it's labeled on the batteries. Mine were an impulse buy because I had always been curious about those batteries with the internal 9V regulator. Unfortunately, capacities are grossly misstated, load regulation is poor, and ripple is significant. It's a nice idea, but poorly implemented with grossly overstated capacities.

Someone on AAC gave me a dozen or two 16340 lithium-ion batteries rated at 1-2Ah. They all appear to be fake too.

 

Indeed, the previous ceramic models lacked this feature as well. They utilized a distinct two-row version that had slightly reduced dimensions. Despite the presence of power rails on the board, there's still a need to establish a power connection within the circuit, albeit a shorter one.

 

Welcome to AAC!

It would be helpful to quote the post you're replying to if it's not one of the most recent posts in the thread. The post you were referring to was from a year ago and I had forgotten about it.

The ones I really liked were the ceramic breadboards. They were made much more precise than the plastic ones and didn't melt from a hot component.

Indeed, the previous ceramic models lacked this feature as well. They utilized a distinct two-row version that had slightly reduced dimensions.

 

Thank you

 

Why aren't we mentioning the Ali store names that sell fake semi's?
I bought ADC TC835 from liaoxiyuan/SICSTOCK and they ran fine for about 2 minutes, then shorted.
Bought a bunch of JFETs from shenzen IC store, like always there is only one laser in china doing all markings so they look vanilla but appear to work OK. I have to do more tests on them. TO-92's the leads are only plated up near the body.

Which store and vendor did you bought was it online purchase? Did you track the order?

 

This seller is advertising 18650's with the unbelievable capacity of 88.8Ah:

I decided to call their bluff and got assurances from them before buying that the capacity had been verified and that they would give me a no-return refund if that wasn't the case.

I tested the batteries with this tester that I purchased from AliExpress:


It gave capacities of about 1600-1800mAh for the 4 batteries I tested. When I presented this as evidence that the capacity wasn't what they advertised, they claimed that I needed to use "professional" equipment to prove it. In the past AliExpress has accepted videos showing batteries being with a simple resistive load and a capacity calculation that was favorable to the battery, so I made a video and calculated capacity as 2.28Ah. The tester reported capacity of this battery as 1822mAh. From the discharge, this would make a good 2Ah battery. Better than the "real capacity" 2.5Ah I bought from AliExpress (tester claims 2078mAh) that dropped below 3V after about 15 minutes with a 1 ohm load.

 

LOL They pulled that crap on me once. It's something they just recently started. So, I took and sent them a pic of my bench and the breadboarded circuit with the function generator probe, bench and portable DMM connections, and oscilloscope with 3 probes connected in the circuit that also showed all the test equipment displays and asked if that was "Professional Enough?" They never replied but did OK the refund. It seems "Their" test equipment isn't "Professional Enough" as if their minions that work customer support could tell otherwise! I had one jerk ask me for the transistor test paperwork (transistor curves all over the place except where they should have been as well as not the same transistor part number that was advertised for sale) and when I said sure, I do consulting work for 125USD/hr so where should I send the invoice with the test results" I never heard from him again. Their "Customer Support" is not as supportive as they once were... Wondered it was some anti-US bias coming into play.

 

Fake 16340 2.8Ah Li-ion batteries:

Tester gave capacity as 175mAh.

Discharging with a 3.3 ohm resistor took 14 minutes. Should have taken 2.5 hours.

 

Another fake 18650 9900mAh:

I don't have the seller. I bought some of these when I didn't know they were fakes and that I had to test them.

Actual capacity is closer to 125mAh. These batteries weight about 25g; about the same as the 19900mAh batteries from post #168. A "good" 2.5Ah 18650 weighs about 40g.

 

I was going to use those 9V lithium replacements but I don't know their self-discharge i.e. would it be OK 3 months from now or would it be dead, boost converter running all the time I think.

2 of 8 were discharged after a little over 1 month.

I'll do a discharge test in another month or so if any of them still have any remaining capacity.

 

Another fake 18650 9900mAh:

Good offer! I know they do not have 9900mAh capacity. I used to order such items and used to open disputes with test videos. So I used to get a partial refund and the final cost was too cheap.