I am in the process of repairing a welding machine an need some IGBTs Transistors HGTG20N60A4D.

I have been online and find the same part with loads of different prices from £20 to £1.50 !
I am in Europe so find it easier to shop from nearby countries and prefer UK as we are a British colony and our currency is pounds sterling but this part would cost me £6 in UK and £1.50 from China the only problem is the 1 to 2 months wait when ordering from china.

Are this parts the same or will quality suffer ?
both are advertised as original Fairchild parts.
Is this true or are they just cheap copies?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HGTG20N60...811439&hash=item2a86a81fa2:g:HwkAAOSw32lYoE6h

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1pcs-HGTG...298278?hash=item5b169b4466:g:aooAAOxy66pRwHrY


What do you guys think?

 

I think there's a chance those are identical and both really Fairchild. I'd probably get the cheaper one. But there's also a small? chance that one or both are counterfeit. There's simply no way to tell. You could try asking the seller, so you have something "in writing".

 

I've heard a lot of stories about Chinese counterfeits so I would be concerned about those, especially if this is for a commercial welding machine.
Think about it.
How can someone in China purchase original Fairchild parts from the US and then sell them for so much less than someone in the UK?
The economics really only make sense if the cheap ones are Chinese counterfeits.

 

I wouldn't buy if they ship from China. Also be on the lookout for Sellers in China who ship from warehouses in other countries. Most are aware that they're selling counterfeits and just don't care.

If the price seems too good to be true; it probably is.

If you're going to buy online, buy from reputable companies. eBay, Amazon, and Aliexpress.com are full of purveyors of counterfeit products.

 

Never had a problem from thesehttps://www.utsource.net/search.aspx?keyWords=HGTG20N60A4D&page=1 guys.

 

Think about it this way: These parts are critical and you are spending a valuable resource (your time) in making the repair. Consider what it would be worth to be sure of getting genuine parts that meet their specifications as opposed to running the risk of the welding machine failing soon after repair and having to wonder whether the replacement parts were to blame or whether the transistors were fine but something else in the circuit killed them.

Gray market or alternate source parts are only as good as the reputation of the manufacturer and distributor from whom you buy the parts. For some things one might not care whether the parts are "genuine" or not. In other cases the part being just a little out of spec could result in disappointment or worse.

 

Check out the Farnell site. They are UK based. There site shows back order for the device you are looking for, but offer alternative parts that should work for you. It may be advisable to replace in like pairs, depending upon the circuit.
The part you are looking for is listed here.......

http://uk.farnell.com/fairchild-sem...ey=http:en-GB/Element14_United_Kingdom/search

 

Some parts are notorious for a few fakes turning up regularily.

Theres a way to find out, you need to look at the silicon die.

A not so forensic method is to burn off the epoxy with a lighter this doesnt burn the silicon chip just gives nasty smoke.

If it is a very tiny die then its a fake. If it is large, same or almost same than original part, its less likely fake.

You should note western businessmen went Taiwan Hong Kong south east Asia in the 1970s to be able to knock off the concurrence, then also to China in 1980s and 1990s. Otherwise you can check pricing for original IBM PC, we had assemly lines in Scotland, all gone since late 1980s.

Nowadays almost all electronics are made in China.

They have welders too, nuclear power plants, subways, iPhones, you name it.

Simply ask the seller if they speak english and can give any explanation, track source, or if english is broken and they dont give a good reply.
Some chinese are pretty high standard while others are more like "brokers" trying to make a living.

Its a critical component so maybe the cost of repairing again would be far more than buying from reputable source.

Also disregard the cost, maybe support local or UK, US and Europe business, if you can.
Our economy is bad, people lining up in the post offices to collect welfare (seen all to often in Ireland),
manufacturing jobs are elsewhere but not here.

We buy and buy cheap electronics but the total cost in the end might be higher than expected.

Also check on this (Link to controversial and highly political topic removed by moderator -dc).http://headcramp.com/planet-photographs/

And no generic Arduinos are not substandard or fake or dont work.
Its identical for most purposes.

If you buy the expensive ones you simply support western economies, they usually pay tax, spend money locally.
If everybody buys in china we can close our retail shops food factories too turn to service and tourism and pay welfare to 70% simply bcx the jobs arent needed anymore. Chinese foodstuffs have started to show up in regular supermarkets already. Indian too no problem to buy here in UK supermarkets. Add these together and we are far outnumbered.

Actually I found this is where some transistors of recent make come from. The original japanese parts costed 100x as much and almost unavailable to buy anyway, traded per piece as spare parts at even higher price. Would you prefer that?

a) not available
b) even more inflated price and single piece wrapped as spare parts

Result was a largely stagnant economy, accusations of price fixing and engineered scarcity are not mine, not new, rather a fact.

Seems to be the indian engineers found some oldfashion japanese transistors highly useful. Originally they were designed for transistor radios, these are long gone from the market. Indian market may still have quite old technology cheaply made, never turns up in our markets but does exist.

 

Never had a problem from thesehttps://www.utsource.net/search.aspx?keyWords=HGTG20N60A4D&page=1 guys.

Bought from this guys and it took one month exactly and very well packed. products are great and look genuine.
Just fitted the parts so fingers crossed.

Thanks for the advice

Cheers