I just ordered some 1N34 Germanium diodes from Amazon. What are the chances they'll be fake? It was from an "Amazon's Choice" seller, so hopefully that's a step up from ebay. They were 10 for $7.

 

I am not sure why you are complaining so much about your purchase. . You only paid a fraction of the full price for them. They all work and each has a unique address. The slight temperature reading inaccuracy can be corrected very easily in software so it really does not matter if they are original or "fake". I would consider that you got a bargain.
Regards,
Keith

 

I just ordered some 1N34 Germanium diodes from Amazon. What are the chances they'll be fake? It was from an "Amazon's Choice" seller, so hopefully that's a step up from ebay.

Amazon is just as bad as eBay. The last time I checked, they were more like $1 each from reputable sources. Do you have a picture of the package?

 

Do you have a picture of the package?

I have not received it yet, but the listing showed this picture. I will follow up here once I receive them.

 

I have not received it yet, but the listing showed this picture.

That's a good start.

 

I just ordered some 1N34 Germanium diodes from Amazon. What are the chances they'll be fake? It was from an "Amazon's Choice" seller, so hopefully that's a step up from ebay. They were 10 for $7.

I found the video in this post useful for confirming that I did *not* have germanium diodes:

https://forum.allaboutcircuits.com/threads/1n60-diode-is-germanium-or-silicon.171532/#post-1534494

FWIW, authentic 1N34a diodes from Digi-Key are $0.76 each.

 

I find funny if not ridiculous when people talks about "buying on eBay". It has as much identity as saying "buying on the street". Millions of vendors.

I know, the next ten posts most probably will state bad quality or fake materials lavishly provided with ghastly examples of cheating and deception, which is, in my opinion, equivalent to the many cases where so many bought things of good quality and even with good prices. You are invited to peruse in the forums of your preference, posts of people dedicated to homemade PCBs.

 

Amazon is just as bad as eBay. The last time I checked, they were more like $1 each from reputable sources. Do you have a picture of the package?

I bought a bunch of 1N60 Ge diodes on eBay. When there arrived I compared them with some 1N60 Schottky diodes I have. They look similar, and the voltage drop was very similar. Then I measured the voltage drop while being heated. The voltage drop across the eBay diodes had a much higher temperature coefficient than the known Schottky. I'd say you have a good chance of getting the real thing and you can check by observing the temperature coefficient of the forward voltage.

 

Where do folks think all of those parts that do not pass inspection at the end of the production line go? Of course, to be sold at ebay. and an occasional OK part may accidentally be rejected so a good part might occasionally appear.

 

Where do folks think all of those parts that do not pass inspection at the end of the production line go? Of course, to be sold at ebay. and an occasional OK part may accidentally be rejected so a good part might occasionally appear.

When I worked in IC's we spent a significant amount of time and money working on getting initial release yields above 90+%, and real high runners we'd push for 97-98%. I doubt even discrete part manufactures want to see low yields and stacks of bad product on the black market. Once a product was being manufactured the two largest costs were the raw materials and test time.

I suspect that most parts on the black market are intentional fakes - not trash bin parts.

 

Another reason.

 

Hello,

Here are some documents about counterfeit parts and other stuff.

Bertus

 

Counterfeit parts are a big problem for much of the electronics industry now and the problem goes far beyond Ebay purchases. Making things worse, even complete functional testing will not always detect those parts that are simply a lesser grade represented as the better grade.
So there are bad parts all around, along with the good ones.
My complaint about ebay is that stuff is often over-priced for even what it is claimed to be.

 

...the problem goes far beyond Ebay purchases.

I buy all of my parts from digikey/mouser/newark... never had a problem *fingers crossed*. I've always assumed they buy direct from the manufacturer. I advise all of my students to buy from reputable sources such as these. I feel like I pay a small premium to buy from these sources, but it's worth the money to not have to deal with fake parts.

 

My most recent orders from Jameco and Newark included letters attesting to the authenticity of their parts. Tayda doesn't give any statement to that effect, but they claim they only buy directly from manufacturers.

I took a chance and bought some logic level MOSFETs from AliExpress (AO3400 and AO3401) because I wanted something inexpensive. I bought 100 of each, tested a couple random parts from each lot and then bought more. I only plan to use them as switches, so I only care about threshold voltage, on resistance, and maximum current.

 

When I was young and with an extremely limited budget, I would purchase those $1 “grab bags” appearing in the back pages of electronic magazines, which came with dozens of components.

However, I fully expected that I would have to either test or sort them, and only use them for non critical hobby uses.
Even with a high rejection rate, it still allowed me to pursue my hobby with very little money.

For occasional hobby-grade projects, Ebay components are similar.

 

I have had a lot of disappointment over what I received from eBay over the last few years but also had some successes. For things that go in IC sockets (with my old shaky hands smd is not easy) I always have some of the original parts bought through official distribution channels on hand as a reference just in case something "smells funny."

There are bargains to be had, but beware of the junk. Note: This is not condemnation of any country but a warning about gray market goods in general.

 

For Hobby use only! I buy quite a bit from china mostly from Alix and some from eBay. AliX typically has better prices. Resistors, capacitors, transistors, inductors, and mechanical parts/hardware are typically good. Any IC is suspect! I now test all ICs on arrival and most, ~90%, are OK and some are obviously chinesium generic brand parts. They have been trying to clean up their act with counterfeit products and do exclude vendors they catch selling them although it is a bit like draining the swamp with a bucket. Every time you throw a bucketful out it comes right back in. A lot of major name brand high-quality products are now being made in china although in some cases I do think the quality level has taken a hit doing so. It takes patience and since CV shipping has gotten a lot worse and with the trade war prices, including shipping, have increased. Unless expensive expedited shipping is specified, expect 1-3 month delivery times. Amazon is not a whole lot better except the delivery is fast but the price is much higher than buying the item directly from china and cutting the middleman out along with his profit share. You have to be careful with Amazon as the devil is in the detail. Prime products are stocked in their warehouses, others are shipped from china with long delivery times. Caveat Emptor! The only saving grace of AliX, eBay, and Amazon are they will relatively painlessly reimburse for bad goods received and typically not require shipment back to the source to do so. Good luck!

 

It's discovered that Arduino clones out of china use fake MCU's, which is cause for concern. Hard enough to get an embedded system going without oddball quirks.

 

It's discovered that Arduino clones out of china use fake MCU's, which is cause for concern. Hard enough to get an embedded system going without oddball quirks.

I have been using Arduino clones from China for some years now and have not experienced any problems. They may use "fake MCUs" but they always work reliably. I have no concerns.