Counterfeit or "overstamped semis"

I saw one today, on I-80, a simple Ford dressed as a Freightliner. Luckily the checkstation entering Michigan caught the guy and impounded the truck. Can't have these fake Semis roaming the streets. Seriously though, I've never had a fake transistor because I know my parts distributers. Don't buy crap that normally costs $10 for $2 at some of these "discount* places or this will happen.

Some quality distributors here in the UK have been affected by fake semis as I had the unfortunate luck to buy some, and they weren't what I'd call dirt cheap either. In my case though an Email to the company was all it needed for them to re-supply me with a different brand which were bona fide.

Bob

With my distributor, I can make my own choice. When they stock fakes, it is clearly indicated in the part-number. A fake or off-brand 30 cent BU2520AX is good enough to substitute for a 1 euro original BU2508AX... I would never try to use it in place of a real BU2520, though.

I think he means fake as in that they are not the device indicated on the package. often a cheap bipolar transistor of a few pennies, illegally masquarading as a very expensive chopper transistor and not suitable in the slightest for the intended purpose. It,s becoming more and more of a problem with TV PSU transistors and dedicated i.c`s.

Ron(UK)

Got burned again on counterfeits. A difficult repair on a Pioneer SX-3900 made worse by flaming out the first time the customer played it loud. My supplier, whom I won't name here because they've always treated me very well, is taking them all back, even the shorted ones and the ones I busted open to prove they were fake.

Also had to recall another repair, that of a $2500 Marantz SR-9200 on which I had rebuilt 2 amp channels. These fakes were even worse than the others. SO grateful I got that one back before it blew! Only had to mech out the outputs themselves, not a ton of other parts, and no extra troubleshooting.

Going to have to buy power semi's from B & D or the manufacturers only from now on.

Mark Z.

Well, I have a batch of those BU2520AX's that look like Philips to a casual observer, but are not. They may or may not be manufactured as BU2520AX, so to be on the safe side I am not using them to full specs, which is okay by me since they are cheap enough. I'd rather have their manufacturer mark the with a brand name instead of making them look like another brand if it's the real stuff.

That should read "mark them with THEIR brand name", meaning I'd rather buy some obscure brand that supports its products instead of making them only look good.

Sidney wrote: : I just found out that anyone in the USA can file a complaint with the : government concerning counterfeit semiconductors among many other : products at:

:

: or call 866-999-HALT (4258)

I work for a very large computer manufacturer and we've also seen tantalum capacitors that have been sanded off on top and relabled with more expensive capacitor markings. The overrating of the mislabeled capacitors didn't allow as much margin and were apt to be a quality problem. They appeared to originate from mainland China.

b.