Check out how my ICs came!

[CountParadox]

Hey all!

Just thought I would show you the super safe packaging my ICs came in from china

Good to know no statics going to get them!!!


>pics =D

ULN2003:





I2C level converter(at least these came in what appears to be actual anti static bags? XD):

[c4757p]

Fairly typical. As long as they don't get immediate complaints ("these arrived broken into fifty pieces!") they don't care. At least they're bipolar, not MOS...

[PE1RKI]

i ordered 100 pull up resistors once, those 8 in one sip package types.
they arrived in an envelope and about 5 where broken in half.
their answer was "is not possible!"

[grumpydoc]

they arrived in an envelope and about 5 where broken in half.

It is a little hard to see how......



.....unless they were put in that way.

[PE1RKI]

they arrived in an envelope and about 5 where broken in half.

It is a little hard to see how......



.....unless they were put in that way.

i just put one between 3 fingers and snapped it easily. they are pretty fragile so i do beleive they broke during shipping.
and i lost 10 cent to make point    

[opty]

.....unless they were put in that way.

One time I received my chips broken and packaged in nice plastic shrouds, the shrouds were intact (initially transparent, turned white when I tried to bend them so I'm sure they were fine on arrival).
... so well, I have blacklisted that seller.

Tayada always packaged very well, but haven't used him for long time now.

[G0HZU]

Many years ago I ordered some diodes directly from Agilent in the form of an official repair kit for some RF test gear. The repair kit has an official Agilent part number for the pair of diodes.

So when I paid my £75 for these two little diodes I expected them to arrive in decent packaging. But instead, they sent the diodes in a tiny square brown envelope (like a little payslip envelope) and then they stapled the delivery/address paperwork to the blank envelope. No jiffy bag or box required!

So what arrived at my house (from USA to UK) was all looking a bit worse for wear. Luckily for me the brown envelope had just about managed to stay attached to the paperwork but it was very loose on the staple and also the diodes were still inside the frayed brown envelope.

[dannyf]

Good to know no statics going to get them!!

There are anti-static transparent plastic bags.

But for those chips, who cares.

[wraper]

I would care more if they are genuine TI, not knockoff.

[KJDS]

I received a couple of hundred bare die, shipped from the US after eight months of ITAR wrangling.

These die were tiny, about 0.3mm square, but UK customs had decided they needed to count them. I know not how they managed to lose most of them when they opened up the waffle pack, but I only received about a third of them. Never mind, another eight month delay, another ten thousand on the ICs, really left me popular with the management even though it wasn't my fault.

[dannyf]

really left me popular with the management even though it wasn't my fault.

funniest story of the month,

[free_electron]

Fairly typical. As long as they don't get immediate complaints ("these arrived broken into fifty pieces!") they don't care. At least they're bipolar, not MOS...

bipolars fry just as easy as mosfets due tot static.  keep in mind we are dealing with micrometer and nanometer structures. flashover happens very quickly...

[amyk]

I received a couple of hundred bare die, shipped from the US after eight months of ITAR wrangling.

These die were tiny, about 0.3mm square, but UK customs had decided they needed to count them. I know not how they managed to lose most of them when they opened up the waffle pack, but I only received about a third of them. Never mind, another eight month delay, another ten thousand on the ICs, really left me popular with the management even though it wasn't my fault.

For someone who hasn't seen bare die before, it's hard to describe how incredibly tiny they are.

[KJDS]

I received a couple of hundred bare die, shipped from the US after eight months of ITAR wrangling.

These die were tiny, about 0.3mm square, but UK customs had decided they needed to count them. I know not how they managed to lose most of them when they opened up the waffle pack, but I only received about a third of them. Never mind, another eight month delay, another ten thousand on the ICs, really left me popular with the management even though it wasn't my fault.

For someone who hasn't seen bare die before, it's hard to describe how incredibly tiny they are.

I've just measured some table salt using my travelling microscope. The smaller grains are about 20thou, or about 0.5mm, so bigger than the die. the die are also only 100um thick, or about 1/2 a thou thick, so there's the same volume in about 160 die as a small grain of table salt.

[IO390]

I once bought some old Nixie tube driver ICs from Ukraine. They came in a jiffy bag, nothing else. Just the parts loose in a jiffy bag.

[Bud]

Digikey still sends me 56 pon SOIC chips lose in antistatic bags without any hard backing, regardless of my multiple complains that the ICs arrive with leads bent

[wagon]

I've received resistors in antistatic bags.

[c4757p]

I've received header pins and other connectors in antistatic bags. It's pretty funny. Usually DigiKey

[IO390]

I've received resistors in antistatic bags.

Yeah. I almost always receive passive components from Farnell in antistatic bags. To make matters worse, they are always in those red oily biodegradable bags.

[Phaedrus]

I've received header pins and other connectors in antistatic bags. It's pretty funny. Usually DigiKey

Well with their type of volume it probably makes more economic sense to put everything in the same bags, rather than waste time/money differentiating what needs an AS bag and what doesn't.

[c4757p]

Sure, except for the things they don't put in antistatic bags.

[CountParadox]

These die were tiny, about 0.3mm square, but UK customs had decided they needed to count them.

Dude what

Customs what are you doing stahp are you drunk?

So when I paid my £75 for these two little diodes I expected them to arrive in decent packaging.

75 quid!? Was there more than just the two diodes ?

at that price I would have rather sent it off for repair! D:

[G0HZU]

75 quid!? Was there more than just the two diodes ?

at that price I would have rather sent it off for repair! D:

No, just two diodes in a flimsy envelope

I think the reason that the diodes are so expensive in that kit is that they have been hand selected to meet/match very strict performance characteristics. So I think that only a small percentage of a batch of diodes will pass the tests.

Agilent charge a lot of money for repairs so I would have expected a £1500 bill if I'd sent the gear to them to have the diodes fitted.

Handing over £75 for a DIY repair kit containing two tiny diodes wasn't a lot of fun but the alternative was a lot, lot worse

 

[Fraser]

What some sellers do not seem to realise is that a letter passes through an automated mail sorter that applies pressure across the surface of the envelope. This is most noticeable when receiving modern 'exotic' birthday cards that have fake diamonds or similar 3D objects glued to the cards front. The envelope gets holed whether it is squeezed over the 3D object.

I have had items like SMT chips, transistors and diodes just checked in an envelope. When I got the envelope it had a lovely impression of all the SMT parts embossed in its surface but luckily none were lost.

The only way that is safe for components is via a padded envelope or better still, a small box. I personally send most items in small boxes to avoid crush 'injuries' in transit. Padded envelopes do not pass through the same 'crushing' mail sorters as ordinary flat envelopes.

Aurora

[LukeW]

I once had two 40-pin ceramic DIP microcontrollers sent to me in the post. (Personal mail, not from a company.)

They were carefully packed in antistatic foam in an envelope... and both chips broken clean in half. I was surprised to see how much force a mail sorting machine can exert.