Hello,

I really appreciate Taydae Electronics, but they don't carry some parts I need. Would anyone be able to recommend a similar parts supplier?
(I know about mouser, jameco, digikey, etc.), Is alliexpress any good?

Sincere thanks,
TonyAm

 

Is alliexpress any good?

It depends.

If you're experienced and know how to test components and troubleshoot circuits, it could be worth taking a chance on AliExpress (or Amazon, eBay, etc).

If you're inexperienced, you should stick with reliable distributors to save yourself some grief.


While I rarely buy significant dollar amounts of individual components from AliExpress, I will do it buy some when the prices from reputable sources are more than I want to pay. For example, I wanted to start using power MOSFETs, but balked at paying almost $1 each (qty 10) for IRFZ44N, so I bought some on AliExpress for about $0.15 each (qty 10). Naturally they came packaged improperly and I had test 100% of them (50) for excessively high gate leakage (sign of ESD damage) and functionality. I tested them at about 6A and measured ON resistance.

I had intended to buy IRLZ44N, so bought them at $0.20 each. They came packaged improperly (plastic bags again), so I had to test 100% of them (60 this time).

I wondered about the threshold voltage difference, so I designed a circuit to measure it. IRFZ44N were supposed to be 2-4V and IRLZ44N were supposed to be 1-2V. What I found was that all of them had a threshold voltage less than 2V.

Wanted some P MOSFETs to complement the N MOSFETs, so I bought some IRF4905 and IRF9540. Same thing. They came packaged improperly and I had to do 100% testing.

Since I know their origins, I won't treat them as authentic parts.

 

yp... buyers beware. if you are not comfortable testing/troubleshooting/fixing things, stick with reputable suppliers. if you are have specific parts that you are having hard time finding, list them and let other help you. i buy things on AliExpress mostly for experimenting and entertainment value. but if it is going into commercial project, i don't waste time... i need good parts from known sources that can be reordered any time.

 

Thanks very much for the info, appreciated.

 

Try Futurlec.

https://www.futurlec.com/

 

....and I had to do 100% testing.

The story isn't complete without revealing how many if any failed.

 

Forgot about Futurlec, thank you.