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Electronics => Beginners => Topic started by: czbaterka on June 04, 2025, 09:33:09 pm

Title: WARNING! DO NOT BUY ALIEXPRESS CAPACITORS!
Post by: czbaterka on June 04, 2025, 09:33:09 pm
DO NOT BUY ALIEXPRESS CAPACITORS! 1uF 50V (RS branded) capacitor from this package https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005006515170970.html (https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005006515170970.html) just exploded into my eyes when I was debugging a new board. TWICE!
After testing another in a box, I am sure they are all fake... Rated maybe for like 10V because the explosion is very violent 😄 Take a look 😄 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iqni6FLkICc (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iqni6FLkICc)
(https://i.imgur.com/PX62eYd.jpeg)
Title: Re: WARNING! DO NOT BUY ALIEXPRESS CAPACITORS!
Post by: SteveThackery on June 04, 2025, 09:52:43 pm
Wow!!

Thanks for the warning. But FWIW I don't trust AliExpress for any components. I always go to a big player like RS or Farnell.

Why are we so sanguine about the Chinese selling us fake components? In fact fake all sorts of items?

Why do the Chinese think it's OK? Do they feel contempt for us in the West?
Title: Re: WARNING! DO NOT BUY ALIEXPRESS CAPACITORS!
Post by: incf on June 04, 2025, 09:56:27 pm
That's awesome! Actually, I mean.... that stinks.

I worked for an Asian company for a number of years - and conning a sucker was something they took great pride in doing. "If you can't trick a gullible fool [westerners whom they viewed as dumb and backwards, sometimes rightly so], it means you are less than they are, and therefore it follows that you surely must be one yourself" was the sort of thinking and values they seemed to enjoy. And it worked practically every single time without meaningful consequence. (As always, the "art" is in the outcome)
Title: Re: WARNING! DO NOT BUY ALIEXPRESS CAPACITORS!
Post by: SteveThackery on June 04, 2025, 10:09:57 pm
I worked for an Asian company for a number of years - and conning a sucker was something they took great pride in doing. "If you can't trick a gullible fool [westerners whom they viewed as dumb and backwards, sometimes rightly so], it means you are less than they are, and therefore it follows that you surely must be one yourself" was the sort of thinking and values they seemed to enjoy. And it worked practically every single time without meaningful consequence. (As always, the "art" is in the outcome)

Fuck me, that's like they're a nation of psychopaths - absolutely zero empathy, absolutely no qualms about ripping us off, absolutely no respect for their customers, and incidentally, absolutely no respect for IP..... I could go on. I hope the bastard who re-labelled those caps gets his balls blown off, the fucker.

PS: I hope you got the polarity of your power supply right! 😄. It looks like you did.
Title: Re: WARNING! DO NOT BUY ALIEXPRESS CAPACITORS!
Post by: Psi on June 04, 2025, 10:17:30 pm
Also possible the cap is fine but the sleeving got put on around the wrong way, so polarity is wrong
Title: Re: WARNING! DO NOT BUY ALIEXPRESS CAPACITORS!
Post by: wraper on June 04, 2025, 10:18:32 pm
Most likely they screwed up polarity during manufacturing. You can try connecting them in reverse polarity and see what happens.
Title: Re: WARNING! DO NOT BUY ALIEXPRESS CAPACITORS!
Post by: incf on June 04, 2025, 10:22:22 pm
I don't know... working in that environment for a number of years lead me to believe they were generally correct in their assessment of westerners like me. Poorly educated (taught and cultured nonsense), backwards, naive, etc. Not nice words or concepts, but they were fairly systematic and well organized in the ways that "mattered" (and quite the opposite in all of the "irrelevant" areas of practice) The world is a tough place, and it cares nothing about "fairness."

Some of their technical designs left a great deal to be desired, but they got paid, and the customers got deeply invested in doing things the so called "Won Hung Lo" way

"you want too good to be true? you get too good to be true!" ('and maybe you deserve it too?' no think before you ask!)
Title: Re: WARNING! DO NOT BUY ALIEXPRESS CAPACITORS!
Post by: czbaterka on June 04, 2025, 10:26:25 pm
Yes I did, but the spark seems to indicate that it was most probably labeled opposite...
Title: Re: WARNING! DO NOT BUY ALIEXPRESS CAPACITORS!
Post by: czbaterka on June 04, 2025, 10:28:36 pm
Yeah. The sparks when connecting are probably the indication. And the fact that only 4 out of 6 tested has failed also supports that.

The package also have some from other brand and those seems to be fine..
Title: Re: WARNING! DO NOT BUY ALIEXPRESS CAPACITORS!
Post by: richnormand on June 04, 2025, 10:50:35 pm
@incf
Sounds like a variation of
"If you are not cheating, you are not trying hard enough...."

@wraper
"screwed up polarity during manufacturing"
Interesting point.
Is it possible to read the leakage current at rated voltage in both direction to find out the right one?

But I do remember getting a bargain wheel strip of 100  30uF 25V caps in the past where some were reading an ESR in the several 100 ohms while others were perfectly in specs.... variation was wild.
I dumped them all.






Title: Re: WARNING! DO NOT BUY ALIEXPRESS CAPACITORS!
Post by: temperance on June 04, 2025, 10:50:45 pm
Oh, really, an other one? How much money did you save by buying those capacitors on aliexpress. 0.5 cent. And now you come and cry AND WARNING PEOPLE because YOU DID SOMETHING STUPID AND some cheap capacitors ruined your day?

IN ORDER TO AVOID SUCH STUPID TOPICS I WOULD LIKE TO FIX THIS FOR ONCE AND FOR ALL: DON'T BUY ANYTHING ON ALI FROM THE FOLLOWING CATEGORIES AND IF YOU DO, DON'T COMPLAIN:

Women's Fashion: Dresses, Tops, Bottoms, Outerwear, Lingerie, Swimwear, Plus Size Clothing, etc.
Men's Fashion: T-Shirts, Shirts, Jackets, Pants, Jeans, Suits, Hoodies, etc.
Phones & Telecommunications: Cellphones, Mobile Phone Accessories, Mobile Phone Parts, Communication Equipment.
Computer & Office: Laptops, Desktops, Tablets, Computer Components, Peripherals (keyboards, mice), Storage Devices, Networking Equipment, Office Electronics, 3D Printing.
Consumer Electronics: Smartwatches, Headphones, Speakers, Cameras & Photo, Smart Home Appliances, Video Games, Portable Audio & Video, Home Audio & Video.
Jewelry & Accessories: Necklaces, Rings, Earrings, Bracelets, Brooches, Hair Jewelry, Fashion Accessories, Watches.
Home & Garden: Home Decor, Home Textile, Kitchen, Dining & Bar, Household Merchandise, Pet Products, Garden Supplies, Arts, Crafts & Sewing, Festive & Party Supplies.
Lights & Lighting: LED Lamps, Chandeliers, Indoor Lighting, Outdoor Lighting, Lighting Accessories.
Sports & Entertainment: Fitness & Body Building, Camping & Hiking, Cycling, Water Sports, Team Sports, Fishing, Hunting, Musical Instruments, Racquet Sports, Skiing & Snowboarding, Entertainment (e.g., puzzles, games).
Health & Beauty: Makeup, Skincare, Hair Care, Nail Art & Tools, Personal Care Appliances, Health Care, Tattoo & Body Art, Oral Hygiene.
Automobiles & Motorcycles: Car Electronics, Interior Accessories, Exterior Parts, Car Repair Tools, Auto Replacement Parts, Motorcycle Accessories & Parts.
Home Improvement: Electrical Equipment & Supplies, Hardware, Bathroom Fixtures, Kitchen Fixtures, Plumbing, Doors, Gates & Windows, Heating, Cooling & Vents, Painting Supplies.
Toys & Hobbies: Dolls & Stuffed Toys, Building & Construction Toys, Remote Control Toys, Games & Puzzles, Learning & Education, Classic Toys, Action & Toy Figures, Hobby & Collectibles.
Shoes & Bags: Women's Shoes, Men's Shoes, Children's Shoes, Boots, Sandals, Sneakers, Backpacks, Handbags, Wallets, Luggage.
Mother & Kids: Baby Clothing, Toddler Clothing, Baby Shoes, Diapering, Baby Feeding, Strollers & Accessories, Safety & Gear, Maternity.
Security & Protection: Video Surveillance, Access Control, Security Alarm, Self Defense Supplies, Workplace Safety.
Tools: Hand Tools, Power Tools, Measurement & Analysis Instruments, Machine Tools & Accessories, Garden Tools, Tool Sets.
Hair Extensions & Wigs: Human Hair, Synthetic Hair, Hair Tools & Accessories.
Food: (Less common for international shipping of fresh goods, often includes dried goods, snacks, coffee, tea, and sometimes specialized food products.)
Office & School Supplies: Pens, Pencils & Writing Supplies, Notebooks & Writing Pads, School Supplies, Art Supplies, Desk Accessories.
Electronic Components & Supplies: Active Components, Passive Components, Integrated Circuits, Connectors, Cables, Sensors.
Title: Re: WARNING! DO NOT BUY ALIEXPRESS CAPACITORS!
Post by: thm_w on June 04, 2025, 11:10:40 pm
Good video, thats a disturbingly long time before it blew up. I was thinking it would go in a few seconds.
Title: Re: WARNING! DO NOT BUY ALIEXPRESS CAPACITORS!
Post by: TimFox on June 04, 2025, 11:24:51 pm
I find use of the name Ali Baba and its variants interesting.
In the Thousand and One Nights, otherwise known as the Arabian Nights, collection of folklore, there is a famous story that was added to the original collection by a French translator:  "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves".
In that story, the poor woodcutter Ali Baba is an honest man who discovers the cache of a gang of thieves, guarded by the password "Open Sesame".
The thieves, in turn, try to kill him, but his faithful slave-girl foils them, and he gains the treasure.
Later, especially in Asian cultures, the story has been inverted to make reference to Ali Baba as a thief, as in the admonition "Be careful, there are many Ali Babas here."
Title: Re: WARNING! DO NOT BUY ALIEXPRESS CAPACITORS!
Post by: wraper on June 05, 2025, 12:01:27 am
Is it possible to read the leakage current at rated voltage in both direction to find out witch is the right one?
You don't need rated voltage. Apply lower voltage and measure leakage current. Correct polarity will have lower current.
Quote
But I do remember getting a bargain wheel strip of 100  30uF 25V caps in the past where some were reading an ESR in the several 100 ohms while others were perfectly in specs.... variation was wild.
I dumped them all.
They could be just old capacitors of not particularly good quality in some some of which electrolyte dried out due to age.
Title: Re: WARNING! DO NOT BUY ALIEXPRESS CAPACITORS!
Post by: SteveThackery on June 05, 2025, 12:23:56 am
The world is a tough place, and it cares nothing about "fairness."

I was talking about trust rather than fairness. When I shop at my supermarket I trust completely that they are not deliberately marking up a 250g product as 300g. When I reach for a bottle of Coca Cola I trust completely that they haven't deliberately put a Coca Cola label on their cheaper own brand Cola.

I buy most of my tools from an outlet called Screwfix. They have never sold me a fake DeWalt drill. When I bought a Sherline lathe from America I knew for certain that I would get a genuine Sherline because I trust Americans. Here in Britain we don't sell fake or substandard cars, steel or automotive components to the US, because it would be wrong. We are not that kind of people. Plus we don't want the US doing that to us.

Trust is everywhere. Trust is the basis for almost every relationship.  So why do we tolerate the Chinese treating us like that? We just sigh, and say "Should have known better, what do you expect?"

Personally I detest being treated like a mug by AliExpress sellers. They lie or mislead most of the time. It is blatant, bare-faced, and shameless.

It is not OK. Fuck them.
Title: Re: WARNING! DO NOT BUY ALIEXPRESS CAPACITORS!
Post by: all_repair on June 05, 2025, 01:55:48 am
There are many types of sellers on aliexpress.  As long as you have not signed off, then Aliexpress can get you back the money.

The English speaking Chinese selling to the West, either work on big volume for big order, which means buyers shall be qualifying, etc etc and problem here is tarrif and occasional some workers trying to cheat without the boss knowing.

Other than that, for lesser value, you are dealing with drop shippers.  To maximise profit, the drop shippers are not going to source for the highest quality or even normal parts to sell.  Factory rejects are sold with clear labeling on China street, the drop shipper likely pick those and sell you.  Don't expect your seller to know electronics, they know English and sell everything.
Title: Re: WARNING! DO NOT BUY ALIEXPRESS CAPACITORS!
Post by: coppercone2 on June 05, 2025, 02:07:00 am
I am certain that wars were started (probably long forgotten) when a 'government' decided to defend shitty merchants. Sounds exactly like why a village might attack another village lol, or conflicts between city states

Like the unification of Egypt. Or Incas. You would wonder why the hell people want to make a central authority spanning thousands of miles when you don't even have wheeled vehicles. Part of it was probobly to ensure quality standards for trade goods. Rigged communal balances in trade centers, skimming, adulteration, lies about remaining shelf life...

Like if there is way too much scamming coming from some foreign place it eventually becomes easier to attack them then to try to teach people to avoid them.*

I am just saying honest trade is probably important on a long term :-//

Just because you value a culture above others does not really change anything related to market value for physical goods. They are there on the planet along with the other crap, have mass, etc.


*sometimes I wonder how much "tribute" that armies asked for might just be a payback fee for shitty internal policing of merchants that deal with external customers. Like if the Roman army shows up and asks for a pound of silver.  Some of it was probably pure burglary but I assume that they had lots of spies, informants, etc that would bring complaints to someone like the king/pharaoh/emperor. There must have been some useful stuff he was doing besides the 'divinity' role. Things like that this town is known to scam hungry poor travelers, ripped off the grain merchant, etc. I find it hard to believe that people were LESS practical back then then now. I think basic history lumps this into "administrative roles" and makes it out that its like some power hungry city planner lol.. I bet its more like a ghetto court system / fbi
Title: Re: WARNING! DO NOT BUY ALIEXPRESS CAPACITORS!
Post by: Psi on June 05, 2025, 02:14:47 am
I found some fake caps years ago in an ESC.
The printing just wiped off with your finger.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fe1pvCDRwYI (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fe1pvCDRwYI)
Title: Re: WARNING! DO NOT BUY ALIEXPRESS CAPACITORS!
Post by: radiolistener on June 05, 2025, 03:06:06 am
DO NOT BUY ALIEXPRESS CAPACITORS! 1uF 50V (RS branded) capacitor from this package, just exploded into my eyes when I was debugging a new board. TWICE!
After testing another in a box, I am sure they are all fake... Rated maybe for like 10V because the explosion is very violent 😄 Take a look 😄

That is a lack of experience, their Volts, Amps and Watts are different than our, and you didn't take this into account.  :D
Title: Re: WARNING! DO NOT BUY ALIEXPRESS CAPACITORS!
Post by: anvoice on June 05, 2025, 03:46:45 am
Personally, while I understand the resentment after purchasing something (especially a possibly safety-critical component like a capacitor) that should work properly only to find that it doesn't, Aliexpress in general is popular for a reason: vastly reduced prices for electronics, with the quality to price ratio often being quite high. Yes, you need to test much of what is sold, and they do mess up occasionally, and sell a lot of fake products (Jewellery from Aliexpress? Not a good idea). It is unlikely that they would try to completely rip you off on electronics though, because then you'll just get your money back without sending them back the bad part, as shipping back to China is typically notoriously expensive. True, I would not purchase something that I can't afford to have failing from them, unless I can test it properly from the start to exclude such a possibility. So do your diligence to buy only what is more or less safe, and test, test, test. Just my opinion.
Title: Re: WARNING! DO NOT BUY ALIEXPRESS CAPACITORS!
Post by: pcprogrammer on June 05, 2025, 05:32:21 am
Personally, while I understand the resentment after purchasing something (especially a possibly safety-critical component like a capacitor) that should work properly only to find that it doesn't, Aliexpress in general is popular for a reason: vastly reduced prices for electronics, with the quality to price ratio often being quite high. Yes, you need to test much of what is sold, and they do mess up occasionally, and sell a lot of fake products (Jewellery from Aliexpress? Not a good idea). It is unlikely that they would try to completely rip you off on electronics though, because then you'll just get your money back without sending them back the bad part, as shipping back to China is typically notoriously expensive. True, I would not purchase something that I can't afford to have failing from them, unless I can test it properly from the start to exclude such a possibility. So do your diligence to buy only what is more or less safe, and test, test, test. Just my opinion.

That is my opinion too.

I do buy a lot of electronics related stuff on Aliexpress and my overall experience is not to bad. Sure there are fake components and under spec appliances, but as long as you keep this in mind and test what you receive as much as possible, there is no reason not to do it.

My latest, somewhat expected, bad experience was with two power supplies. One rated 12V 5A for euro 3.52 and the other 12V 6A for euro 5.52. The 5A only did 1A at nominal voltage and went down to ~5V at 3A. The 6A worked fine to ~3A and went to ~0V at 3.5A. Due to having a good reputation, I got my money back without having to return the supplies.

With active SMD components, my experiences are that when the components are still in the tape from a reel, they usually are what they are supposed to be. When loose in a bag, not so much.

There are reputable sellers on the platform, you just need to find them, and when you did, stick with them.

@every negative remarker on cultural and national differences!!!!
As to cultural issues, there are bad things to say about every single one on the planet, so cut the crap on that and look at your own culture, and maybe more, yourself first.
Title: Re: WARNING! DO NOT BUY ALIEXPRESS CAPACITORS!
Post by: jonpaul on June 05, 2025, 05:36:40 am
Change title?

 DO NOT BUY ALIEXPRESS CCP commie junk
Title: Re: WARNING! DO NOT BUY ALIEXPRESS CAPACITORS!
Post by: Psi on June 05, 2025, 06:05:30 am
I do buy a lot of electronics related stuff on Aliexpress and my overall experience is not to bad. Sure there are fake components and under spec appliances, but as long as you keep this in mind and test what you receive as much as possible, there is no reason not to do it.

Yep, if you're getting 50-90% off the normal price there is going to be a downside.
Thankfully the fact that you sometimes get fake stuff means that you get legit stuff a lot of the time.

Title: Re: WARNING! DO NOT BUY ALIEXPRESS CAPACITORS!
Post by: MariuszD on June 05, 2025, 08:04:45 am
IN ORDER TO AVOID SUCH STUPID TOPICS I WOULD LIKE TO FIX THIS FOR ONCE AND FOR ALL: DON'T BUY ANYTHING ON ALI FROM THE FOLLOWING CATEGORIES AND IF YOU DO, DON'T COMPLAIN:

Women's Fashion: Dresses, Tops, Bottoms, Outerwear, Lingerie, Swimwear, Plus Size Clothing, etc.
Men's Fashion: T-Shirts, Shirts, Jackets, Pants, Jeans, Suits, Hoodies, etc.
Phones & Telecommunications: Cellphones, Mobile Phone Accessories, Mobile Phone Parts, Communication Equipment.
Computer & Office: Laptops, Desktops, Tablets, Computer Components, Peripherals (keyboards, mice), Storage Devices, Networking Equipment, Office Electronics, 3D Printing.
Consumer Electronics: Smartwatches, Headphones, Speakers, Cameras & Photo, Smart Home Appliances, Video Games, Portable Audio & Video, Home Audio & Video.
Jewelry & Accessories: Necklaces, Rings, Earrings, Bracelets, Brooches, Hair Jewelry, Fashion Accessories, Watches.
Home & Garden: Home Decor, Home Textile, Kitchen, Dining & Bar, Household Merchandise, Pet Products, Garden Supplies, Arts, Crafts & Sewing, Festive & Party Supplies.
Lights & Lighting: LED Lamps, Chandeliers, Indoor Lighting, Outdoor Lighting, Lighting Accessories.
Sports & Entertainment: Fitness & Body Building, Camping & Hiking, Cycling, Water Sports, Team Sports, Fishing, Hunting, Musical Instruments, Racquet Sports, Skiing & Snowboarding, Entertainment (e.g., puzzles, games).
Health & Beauty: Makeup, Skincare, Hair Care, Nail Art & Tools, Personal Care Appliances, Health Care, Tattoo & Body Art, Oral Hygiene.
Automobiles & Motorcycles: Car Electronics, Interior Accessories, Exterior Parts, Car Repair Tools, Auto Replacement Parts, Motorcycle Accessories & Parts.
Home Improvement: Electrical Equipment & Supplies, Hardware, Bathroom Fixtures, Kitchen Fixtures, Plumbing, Doors, Gates & Windows, Heating, Cooling & Vents, Painting Supplies.
Toys & Hobbies: Dolls & Stuffed Toys, Building & Construction Toys, Remote Control Toys, Games & Puzzles, Learning & Education, Classic Toys, Action & Toy Figures, Hobby & Collectibles.
Shoes & Bags: Women's Shoes, Men's Shoes, Children's Shoes, Boots, Sandals, Sneakers, Backpacks, Handbags, Wallets, Luggage.
Mother & Kids: Baby Clothing, Toddler Clothing, Baby Shoes, Diapering, Baby Feeding, Strollers & Accessories, Safety & Gear, Maternity.
Security & Protection: Video Surveillance, Access Control, Security Alarm, Self Defense Supplies, Workplace Safety.
Tools: Hand Tools, Power Tools, Measurement & Analysis Instruments, Machine Tools & Accessories, Garden Tools, Tool Sets.
Hair Extensions & Wigs: Human Hair, Synthetic Hair, Hair Tools & Accessories.
Food: (Less common for international shipping of fresh goods, often includes dried goods, snacks, coffee, tea, and sometimes specialized food products.)
Office & School Supplies: Pens, Pencils & Writing Supplies, Notebooks & Writing Pads, School Supplies, Art Supplies, Desk Accessories.
Electronic Components & Supplies: Active Components, Passive Components, Integrated Circuits, Connectors, Cables, Sensors.
Impressive list. Is it complete list of all Ali categories? Is there anything left? Anything safe to buy?
Title: Re: WARNING! DO NOT BUY ALIEXPRESS CAPACITORS!
Post by: Aldo22 on June 05, 2025, 08:36:57 am
Well, Aliexpress is just a platform that gives the buyer certain guarantees and standards in the process.
The other thing is the dealers there, some of whom are for sure selling junk.
But you can also buy Fluke or Siglent etc. from Aliexpress and they are certainly not of poorer quality.
Sometimes you can tell by the price whether it is “too cheap to be good”.

I have bought a lot on Aliexpress and have only had positive experiences.
Incorrect deliveries etc. have always been refunded without any fuss.

It's a question of personal preference.
If you want to play it safe, buy elsewhere, but at a much higher price.

Title: Re: WARNING! DO NOT BUY ALIEXPRESS CAPACITORS!
Post by: SteveThackery on June 05, 2025, 09:17:30 am
Just because something is cheap doesn't mean the vendor can lie about it.

FWIW I, too, have bought plenty of stuff from AliExpress, with a mixed experience. Many sellers do not offer free returns, so that effectively means no refund because shipping to China costs silly money.

I now try to avoid buying stuff made in China because I don't want to support a regime with such appalling human rights, and with a psychopathic attitude to its customers. Of course it's a ridiculous position to take and virtually impossible to stick to, but for example my Samsung mobile phone was not made in China. So I do what I can.
Title: Re: WARNING! DO NOT BUY ALIEXPRESS CAPACITORS!
Post by: Gyro on June 05, 2025, 09:44:25 am
Simple practical diagnostic advice...

1. The positive lead of the capacitor should be slightly longer than the negative one. Obviously the band on the sleeve should be adjacent to the negative lead. If they don't correspond, the sleeve is wrongly fitted.

2.  Connect the capacitor across a low voltage power supply with a series resistor say, 1k. Connect with the indicated polarity first (noting lead crop length and sleeve), followed by 'reverse' polarity. Note the current in each direction. If the capacitor acts a a near short with indicated polarity and very low (leakage) current in 'reverse' polarity, the leads have been cropped wrong, resulting in the sleeve also being fitted incorrectly.

3. Don't waste your time buying cheap, probably fake, capacitors from Aliexpress in the first place.
Title: Re: WARNING! DO NOT BUY ALIEXPRESS CAPACITORS!
Post by: Zero999 on June 05, 2025, 09:47:14 am
That's awesome! Actually, I mean.... that stinks.

I worked for an Asian company for a number of years - and conning a sucker was something they took great pride in doing. "If you can't trick a gullible fool [westerners whom they viewed as dumb and backwards, sometimes rightly so], it means you are less than they are, and therefore it follows that you surely must be one yourself" was the sort of thinking and values they seemed to enjoy. And it worked practically every single time without meaningful consequence. (As always, the "art" is in the outcome)
Then they're cunts, pure and simple. If you worked there for so long, the same must go for yourself. No decent person take pride in conning people, even more so boasting about it here. It's a shame you can't be done for fraud.
Title: Re: WARNING! DO NOT BUY ALIEXPRESS CAPACITORS!
Post by: Aldo22 on June 05, 2025, 09:51:35 am
I now try to avoid buying stuff made in China
Good luck!  ;)
Title: Re: WARNING! DO NOT BUY ALIEXPRESS CAPACITORS!
Post by: Zero999 on June 05, 2025, 10:10:02 am
I now try to avoid buying stuff made in China
Good luck!  ;)
There's nothing wrong with products made in China. Indeed almost everything is. Reputable brands, especially Western ones, but also some Chinese are fine. It's sites like AliExpress and obscure brands which are the problem.

Many sellers do not offer free returns, so that effectively means no refund because shipping to China costs silly money.
Don't forget assuming your flag is correct, in the UK, you're protected by the distance selling regulations. If it's faulty, then you can return it and the seller has to pay for the postage, irrespective of how costly it may be. In reality, they'll just let you keep the item and issue a refund.
Title: Re: WARNING! DO NOT BUY ALIEXPRESS CAPACITORS!
Post by: SteveThackery on June 05, 2025, 11:57:09 am
Then they're cunts, pure and simple. If you worked there for so long, the same must go for yourself. No decent person take pride in conning people, even more so boasting about it here. It's a shame you can't be done for fraud.

I totally agree with your sentiment, but I think you are wrong to accuse @incf of endorsing what they did. He said no such thing.
Title: Re: WARNING! DO NOT BUY ALIEXPRESS CAPACITORS!
Post by: SteveThackery on June 05, 2025, 12:05:09 pm
There's nothing wrong with products made in China. Indeed almost everything is. Reputable brands, especially Western ones, but also some Chinese are fine. It's sites like AliExpress and obscure brands which are the problem.

I think it is too sweeping to say there's nothing wrong with Chinese-made products. Yes, China is perfectly capable of manufacturing products to top-flight quality standards. The fact that they also stamp the CE mark on products which don't comply and are actually highly dangerous is even more unforgivable, because they are choosing to ignore the safety risks to their customers. It's not like they are incompetent and don't know better - they deliberately design dangerous products (to save the odd penny) and then lie about how safe they are.

This is never OK.
Title: Re: WARNING! DO NOT BUY ALIEXPRESS CAPACITORS!
Post by: temperance on June 05, 2025, 12:05:59 pm
Quote
Impressive list. Is it complete list of all Ali categories? Is there anything left? Anything safe to buy?

No, because you never know what you get. An example. A store which is part of chain of stores in our town has all this low cost stuff from China. Name something and they have it. Not so long ago they put up some A4 sized posters asking people who bought some wooden toy to return the toy because the paint contained lead.

There was a documentary on YT from a french journalist investigating all this low cost stuff. More often than not the stuff is dangerous. Cadmium in plastics, lead in paint to general cleaning products which you better not handle without gloves.

But people just keep on buying all that stuff because it is cheap. Children toys, kitchen utensils, small furniture like chairs and stuff all not lasting very long... And who knows what comes out of those plastic kitchen utensils when you work with them. Meanwhile they say my car must now run on batteries gasoline is BAD.
Title: Re: WARNING! DO NOT BUY ALIEXPRESS CAPACITORS!
Post by: Zero999 on June 05, 2025, 12:07:51 pm
There's nothing wrong with products made in China. Indeed almost everything is. Reputable brands, especially Western ones, but also some Chinese are fine. It's sites like AliExpress and obscure brands which are the problem.

I think it is too sweeping to say there's nothing wrong with Chinese-made products. Yes, China is perfectly capable of manufacturing products to top-flight quality standards. The fact that they also stamp the CE mark on products which don't comply and are actually highly dangerous is even more unforgivable, because they are choosing to ignore the safety risks to their customers. It's not like they are incompetent and don't know better - they deliberately design dangerous products (to save the odd penny) and then lie about how safe they are.

This is never OK.
I didn't say that all Chinese-made products are good. I suggest you look into where most things are made. No doubt the device, PC, laptop, phone, tablet, you've posted this message with was made in China.


Then they're cunts, pure and simple. If you worked there for so long, the same must go for yourself. No decent person take pride in conning people, even more so boasting about it here. It's a shame you can't be done for fraud.

I totally agree with your sentiment, but I think you are wrong to accuse @incf of endorsing what they did. He said no such thing.
He said he worked there for a number of years. At the very least, as soon as he found out they're fraudsters, he should have look for another job and quit as soon as possible. That's the only morally correct thing to do. Heck, if I found out my employer was doing something like that, I would gather evidence and report them to the authorities.
Title: Re: WARNING! DO NOT BUY ALIEXPRESS CAPACITORS!
Post by: tatel on June 05, 2025, 01:24:47 pm
Fuck me, that's like they're a nation of psychopaths

Go in history to about 1903 and see what UK did in South Africa, then speak about psychopaths. Even better, look into the mirror.

Quote
- absolutely zero empathy, absolutely no qualms about ripping us off, absolutely no respect for their customers,

Speak about the opium wars. That's what's called "a cunning plan" in english... Now you are on the other end of the deal. You deserve it. It could easily be much worse, and you would still well deserve it.

Quote
and incidentally, absolutely no respect for IP.

I understand you don't want to know it, but any business manufacturing in China signed a contract giving their IP to them. It was a sine qua non condition. Western business rather wanted to give that IP to chinese government than to pay you a decent wage. Get over it, man.

Quote
.... I could go on. I hope the bastard who re-labelled those caps gets his balls blown off, the fucker.

I know you hate chinese and, probably, any non-british guy but, anyway, getting these dirty cheap caps blown, was to be expected. No need to blow any balls, just not buying from them again should give them more than enough problems, like, say, bankruptcy.  This can't be done with any british/US bully because then, 7th of Michigan charges right into you.

To the OP: how much you paid for those capacitors? How much  more money to get them from a reputable seller? You got what you paid for. I also got bitten once, since then, I buy from other sellers.  End of history

Title: Re: WARNING! DO NOT BUY ALIEXPRESS CAPACITORS!
Post by: Aldo22 on June 05, 2025, 02:38:49 pm
Tatel is a little bit right.  ;)
I hate moralism, no matter which side it comes from.
But if someone makes a racist argument on the pretext of a "regime with such appalling human rights", then he has to expect a response.

From my point of view: calm down, this is going nowhere ;)
Title: Re: WARNING! DO NOT BUY ALIEXPRESS CAPACITORS!
Post by: grumpydoc on June 05, 2025, 03:00:45 pm
Good video, thats a disturbingly long time before it blew up. I was thinking it would go in a few seconds.

Takes a little while for the electrolyte to boil. Or, if connected reverse polarity the oxide layer to remove itself by electrolysis, then the electrolyte to boil.

I agree with everyone who says the cap polarity was incorrectly marked - I've only seen caps explode like that with reverse polarity or significant over voltage - from the case size it's probably at least 10V rated and 24V shouldn't explode a 10V cap immediately.

But it's Aliexpress so anything can happen - might have been a batch the manufacturer knew was flawed and some "enterprising" employee "saved" the batch from the dumpster.
Title: Re: WARNING! DO NOT BUY ALIEXPRESS CAPACITORS!
Post by: DavidAlfa on June 05, 2025, 03:02:08 pm
It seems they still had April Fools Caps in stock!  :D
It really looks like the polarity is wrongly printed in the case.
As they said, put the ammeter and a 1K resistor in series to prevent instant explosion, check the flowing current in both polarities at 5V or so.
Connecting the cap reversed will cause continuous current draw, in the correct polarity it shouldn't take more than few uA.

I've never had problems with Ali caps, I have a "DIY all values cap kit" which I've used plenty of times over the last years...
Title: Re: WARNING! DO NOT BUY ALIEXPRESS CAPACITORS!
Post by: temperance on June 05, 2025, 03:04:53 pm
This kind of topics are opened about every two weeks and still people keep buying junk and then come to complain how they got ripped of.

I can't find the documentary on dangerous goods coming from China anymore. But if you search YT, you don't need to look very far to find some pretty nasty examples.


It's almost summer here. Shops are filled with all kind of stuff to go on holiday. Do you think those Chinese manufacturers and stores owners give a toss about your health? Money is what they care about. Where I live, one of those chains (with six letters printed in blue) has a revenue of 10 million euro on normal weekends.

Cheap flip flops are appearing everywhere. Those cheap flip flops might contain whichever carcinogenic material. Know that the soles of your feet are pretty good at absorbing the plasticizes coming out of those flip flips. If you don't believe me, rub the soles of your feet with an onion and tell me which taste you've got in your mouth.

Or how about some harmless looking shower gel? Some years ago they caught in France a container filled with shower gel containing highly carcinogenic substances which have nothing to do with shower gel. They just dump whichever waste they have into shower gel and stick some known brand label onto the bottles.

But if you really want to save one euro and keep this scam alive then just keep on buying stuff on Ali.
Title: Re: WARNING! DO NOT BUY ALIEXPRESS CAPACITORS!
Post by: Zero999 on June 05, 2025, 03:26:06 pm
Fuck me, that's like they're a nation of psychopaths

Go in history to about 1903 and see what UK did in South Africa, then speak about psychopaths. Even better, look into the mirror.

Quote
- absolutely zero empathy, absolutely no qualms about ripping us off, absolutely no respect for their customers,

Speak about the opium wars. That's what's called "a cunning plan" in english... Now you are on the other end of the deal. You deserve it. It could easily be much worse, and you would still well deserve it.
That's like saying to someone who's never done anything wrong, your great, great grandfather was a murder, so you're just as bad.

It looks like trolling to me:

Off topic. History. Zero relevance.  People who did that are dead. The people SteveThackery are talking about are still alive today.
Title: Re: WARNING! DO NOT BUY ALIEXPRESS CAPACITORS!
Post by: SteveThackery on June 05, 2025, 05:11:12 pm
Go in history to about 1903 and see what UK did in South Africa, then speak about psychopaths. Even better, look into the mirror.

When I look into the mirror the person staring back me has absolutely zero psychopathy. To the extent that it is sometimes a nuisance. Fairness, trust and morality are the foundations of who I am. My empathy is sometimes too much for comfort, and I am stricken with guilt if I do something wrong, or say something unkind.

So you don't know me.

Let me be perfectly clear: I am absolutely NOT responsible for what my forebears did, and I don't hold you responsible for the crimes of your forefathers. Any other position would be absurd.

... Now you are on the other end of the deal. You deserve it. It could easily be much worse, and you would still well deserve it.

Why? I haven't harmed a single Chinese person, so why do I deserve to be punished?  I wonder if you realise: that statement of yours demonstrates exactly what I've been saying. You seem to think it is OK to punish someone just because they are British. Sending dangerous mains-powered products to Britain, which have the potential to kill someone, is perfectly OK because they deserve it?

That is an astonishing position to take, and I'm afraid it demonstrates exactly what I've been saying. You should listen to yourself.

I know you hate chinese and, probably, any non-british guy

Wrong, wrong, wrong! When I worked at the university I was the only British person in my office and we all rubbed along brilliantly - I loved them all. And the two colleagues I felt closest to were both Chinese. Currently my two best friends are Indian and Irish. Again, you don't know me at all.

To be clear: I absolutely do not hate every Chinese person. I hate those Chinese people who sell me fake products; I hate those Chinese people people who deliberately design dangerous products because it's cheaper that way. I hate those who lie by putting a CE mark on those products, and I hate those Chinese people who knowingly sell those products to me. And according to you, if my mum gets electrocuted by one of those products, it's perfectly OK because she deserves it

But unlike you I don't think people "deserve" anything just because they are Chinese.

There is one more thing to say, though. This anti-West "They deserve what's coming to them" attitude must come to some extent from the top. The government has a big influence on the culture and the moral values. The government of China really does have a dreadful human rights record. People get jailed for openly disagreeing with the government. Over 1 million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities have been detained in a vast network of detention camps. I won't go into what happens to them inside those camps, because I expect you know.

So, my position is this: I hate the Chinese regime because of its human rights record, and I hate those individuals who lie to me, rip me off, and who don't care if I get hurt by some shoddy product because I deserve it.

And finally:

anyway, getting these dirty cheap caps blown, was to be expected.

You had a perfect opportunity to agree that the person selling those capacitors - which are either faulty or not what the label says - is in the wrong. But no, "it was to be expected". Blame the buyer.

Anyway, @Aldo22 is right: this is very off topic! I don't intend to say any more.
Title: Re: WARNING! DO NOT BUY ALIEXPRESS CAPACITORS!
Post by: ME on June 05, 2025, 05:22:51 pm
did the cap not have a marking of 10uf and 10v?, psu says 24!!!!.
Title: Re: WARNING! DO NOT BUY ALIEXPRESS CAPACITORS!
Post by: grumpydoc on June 05, 2025, 05:31:57 pm
did the cap not have a marking of 10uf and 10v?, psu says 24!!!!.

50v

But I wouldn't expect a 10V cap at 24V to fail quite so quickly.
Title: Re: WARNING! DO NOT BUY ALIEXPRESS CAPACITORS!
Post by: Terry Bites on June 05, 2025, 05:39:13 pm
Ali used sell HV film caps with high horseradish.
I think they fixed that typo recently.
They probably meant horseshit.

Title: Re: WARNING! DO NOT BUY ALIEXPRESS CAPACITORS!
Post by: pcprogrammer on June 05, 2025, 05:57:07 pm
In the video the length of the legs of the capacitor seem to be the same. Either the OP cut them to length, but when not some suspicion should have arisen as to what would be what. So I concur with others that it might be that the sleeve is on backwards. Normally the positive lead is longer.

On China being bad and Chinese morality, don't kid yourself, it can be found every where. As soon as money is involved people can do bad things. Also ask yourself, how is it that China came to be in this position. The west provided the opportunity to get there, because big companies saw opportunities to save money, and the general public was only to happy with cheaper products.

That some abuse this stuff for cheap to sell fakes or rubbish is a shame for sure, but it is not just Chinese mentality, it is the mentality of a lot of people, rich and poor.

And it is not just Aliexpress that provides means for sellers to sell crap, Amazon is similar. You can get the same "Chinese crap" there for often inflated prices. And what about drop shipping, where westerners set up a website with the same products that can be found on Aliexpress for a very inflated price, just to pray on the gullible.

So bottom line, bad people are everywhere, it is not just a Chinese mentality.
Title: Re: WARNING! DO NOT BUY ALIEXPRESS CAPACITORS!
Post by: Siwastaja on June 05, 2025, 06:15:08 pm
Fuck me, that's like they're a nation of psychopaths - absolutely zero empathy, absolutely no qualms about ripping us off, absolutely no respect for their customers, and incidentally, absolutely no respect for IP..... I could go on.

That is not only unnecessary, it is just plain wrong.

It's just that China is nowadays "land of everything". You will find both the most reliable partners, and most horrible con artists from there.

I have mostly very good experience with technical co-operation with the Chinese, and their customer support. It is actually possible to get comments from a knowledgeable person who knows the product in and out, by email, within a day or two. It is more typical in the Western setting to hit the wall of arrogance; if you are "too small", you just get ignored, if you are big enough, you can get there, but everything is slow and you need to interact through chains of managers. With the Chinese, I have never felt I'm dealing with psychopaths.

Buying most types of electronic components at Ebay or Aliexpress is just the wrong thing to do. All the Chinese con artists are there. And yet, something like LCSC is not any worse than e.g. Mouser or Digikey, despite being Chinese.
Title: Re: WARNING! DO NOT BUY ALIEXPRESS CAPACITORS!
Post by: TimFox on June 05, 2025, 06:16:45 pm
did the cap not have a marking of 10uf and 10v?, psu says 24!!!!.

50v

But I wouldn't expect a 10V cap at 24V to fail quite so quickly.

Why would you expect a slower failure at x2.4 overvoltage?
Title: Re: WARNING! DO NOT BUY ALIEXPRESS CAPACITORS!
Post by: tatel on June 05, 2025, 06:37:01 pm
When I look into the mirror the person staring back me has absolutely zero psychopathy. To the extent that it is sometimes a nuisance. Fairness, trust and morality are the foundations of who I am. My empathy is sometimes too much for comfort, and I am stricken with guilt if I do something wrong, or say something unkind.

So you don't know me.

Steve, you and me already had this kind of argument on this forum. You said China is going after UK because ... well, whatever. And something should be done about that? Because you are under threat from China? Then you regurgitated all that stupid british propaganda nobody with a couple brain cells could believe in? I told you  it couldn't be taken seriously, but here you are again at it.
 
This is what I know about you. Not that you are a bad guy, but obviously you have some kind of disorder when the word China is heard. Perhaps it is some kind of infectious disease because you indeed are not the only one suffering from that here.
 
Quote
Anyway, @Aldo22 is right: this is very off topic! I don't intend to say any more.

OK, then I will also shut up. Just remember, this is an international forum and -at least- some of us, find that china bashing behaviour, not only ludicrous but also disgusting.
Title: Re: WARNING! DO NOT BUY ALIEXPRESS CAPACITORS!
Post by: DavidAlfa on June 05, 2025, 06:41:33 pm
But, sometimes Aliexpress sellers are totally honest about their products:


[attachimg=1]
Title: Re: WARNING! DO NOT BUY ALIEXPRESS CAPACITORS!
Post by: Xena E on June 05, 2025, 06:43:50 pm

[...]China is nowadays "land of everything". You will find both the most reliable partners, and most horrible con artists from there.

Just as is the rest of the world.


I have mostly very good experience with technical co-operation with the Chinese, and their customer support.


Same here


Buying most types of electronic components at Ebay or Aliexpress is just the wrong thing to do. All the Chinese con artists are there. And yet, something like LCSC is not any worse than e.g. Mouser or Digikey, despite being Chinese.


My only experience with fake components was with RS ! It was due to a restocked parts scam. It was sorted, but was a complete PITA, boards had to be reworked etc., etc.,

Caveat emptor in all things.
X
Title: Re: WARNING! DO NOT BUY ALIEXPRESS CAPACITORS!
Post by: Analog Kid on June 05, 2025, 06:49:51 pm
Change title?

 DO NOT BUY ALIEXPRESS CCP commie junk

Now that's a really, really intelligent take on this. NOT.

Yeah, sure, Ali Express is a wholly-owned and controlled subsidiary of the Chinese Communist Party, whose sole mission is to fuck up things for people buying electronic components there.

Honestly, how do you manage to make it through the day? You must be constantly checking under your bed and in your closet for boogeymen out to get you.
Title: Re: WARNING! DO NOT BUY ALIEXPRESS CAPACITORS!
Post by: SteveThackery on June 05, 2025, 06:59:22 pm
It's just that China is nowadays "land of everything". You will find both the most reliable partners, and most horrible con artists from there.

I have mostly very good experience with technical co-operation with the Chinese, and their customer support. It is actually possible to get comments from a knowledgeable person who knows the product in and out, by email, within a day or two.

(I was going to step out at this point, but I feel I should describe the other half of my thoughts about China for the sake of balance.)

When it comes to business-to-business relationships the situation is very different. In my experience Chinese companies are usually excellent in every way. Their people are highly educated (often much higher than us in the West), highly motivated, and highly professional. I was very impressed by some work Huawei did in competition with several other major players in the industry. In my opinion they beat the others comfortably.

At risk of more generalisations, I think the Chinese work ethic is way better than ours in the West. I've seen it all the way from school children to adult professionals. I think we in the West are taking our foot off the gas pedal now that so many of us have an adequate - or better - standard of living. Our "hunger" has faded. I believe we are in a slow decline, much as every great civilisation before us has grown, peaked, declined and disappeared. I would say America is a hundred years behind Europe, but I expect it will go the same way. China is in the ascendant, and it deserves it based on what I said in the previous paragraph.  I think future historians will see this as the "Chinese century". (For context, I think we can safely say that the 20th century was the American century - their achievements were outstanding; the 19th and 18th centuries were probably Britain's heyday; the 17th and 16th were surely the height of Spanish influence.)

I fear the decline of democracy and Western values. It will be interesting to see to what degree - if any - China adopts those values. Democracy, maybe? I doubt it.

None of this contradicts the outrage I feel when I get lied to and ripped off.
Title: Re: WARNING! DO NOT BUY ALIEXPRESS CAPACITORS!
Post by: SteveThackery on June 05, 2025, 07:08:36 pm
You said China is going after UK because ... well, whatever. And something should be done about that? Because you are under threat from China?

Actually I don't recall saying the "going after" part. Surely the UK must be an irrelevance to China? It's a tiny country with very little clout, and already circling the drain. I don't believe "something must be done" - the UK deserves to go down the pan. I was wondering whether China deserves to do well, and largely I think it does, although my concerns about the horribly oppressive regime and the terrible human rights issue give me pause. It's a tricky one.
Title: Re: WARNING! DO NOT BUY ALIEXPRESS CAPACITORS!
Post by: Zero999 on June 05, 2025, 07:21:30 pm
When I look into the mirror the person staring back me has absolutely zero psychopathy. To the extent that it is sometimes a nuisance. Fairness, trust and morality are the foundations of who I am. My empathy is sometimes too much for comfort, and I am stricken with guilt if I do something wrong, or say something unkind.

So you don't know me.

Steve, you and me already had this kind of argument on this forum. You said China is going after UK because ... well, whatever. And something should be done about that? Because you are under threat from China? Then you regurgitated all that stupid british propaganda nobody with a couple brain cells could believe in? I told you  it couldn't be taken seriously, but here you are again at it.
 
This is what I know about you. Not that you are a bad guy, but obviously you have some kind of disorder when the word China is heard. Perhaps it is some kind of infectious disease because you indeed are not the only one suffering from that here.
 
Quote
Anyway, @Aldo22 is right: this is very off topic! I don't intend to say any more.

OK, then I will also shut up. Just remember, this is an international forum and -at least- some of us, find that china bashing behaviour, not only ludicrous but also disgusting.
I think it was obvious he didn't mean everyone in China is bad.

The odd thing about your response was the anti-Western slant, when concepts such as anti-racism and that we should treat foreigners equally originated in the West. Such values are scarce in the rest of the world. It's fairly routine for foreigners to be overcharged and denied jobs, for no other reason than being foreign, in most non-Western countries.

Anyway, I don't think the the Chinese are bad, just that they are different to us Westerners. They have fundamentally different values and culture and there's nothing wrong with that.
Title: Re: WARNING! DO NOT BUY ALIEXPRESS CAPACITORS!
Post by: SteveThackery on June 05, 2025, 07:22:13 pm
On China being bad and Chinese morality, don't kid yourself, it can be found every where. As soon as money is involved people can do bad things. Also ask yourself, how is it that China came to be in this position. The west provided the opportunity to get there, because big companies saw opportunities to save money, and the general public was only to happy with cheaper products.

That some abuse this stuff for cheap to sell fakes or rubbish is a shame for sure, but it is not just Chinese mentality, it is the mentality of a lot of people, rich and poor.

(...)

So bottom line, bad people are everywhere, it is not just a Chinese mentality.

Of course that last bit is true, but I don't buy the argument that as soon as money is involved we're all as bad. I buy, and have bought, loads of stuff from Europe (and here in the UK), some stuff from the US, quite a lot from Japan, and some stuff from India. To the best of my knowledge I have never bought anything that was fake, mislabelled or dangerous from America, Europe or Japan. The stuff I've got from India is sometimes of dubious quality, but I've never known it be mis-described.

So no: it's not right to suggest that when it comes to money we're all as bad.
Title: Re: WARNING! DO NOT BUY ALIEXPRESS CAPACITORS!
Post by: grumpydoc on June 05, 2025, 07:29:08 pm
Why would you expect a slower failure at x2.4 overvoltage?
Because in a decent brand there's going to be some margin for overrating and 24V is not a massive stress for even a thin oxide layer.

I can't exactly duplicate the conditions we would be talking about because I couldn't quickly put my hand on a 10V cap - but did find a Panasonic branded 100uF 16V cap. My bench PSU (HP U8002A) is notionally 30V but will output 31V so nearly 2x the rated voltage which is not that far off..

After 5 minutes of absolutely nothing happening I got bored and turned the PSU off.

But I have (oops) put caps in the wrong way round a couple of times and the result is about what we saw in the video.

The Slo Mo guys had some fun overvolting caps - but they didn't mention, unless I missed it, how much voltage they applied. They'd got a variac on the bench though so presumably not 24VDC

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WUxgmMDts4 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WUxgmMDts4)
Title: Re: WARNING! DO NOT BUY ALIEXPRESS CAPACITORS!
Post by: UnijunctionTransistor on June 05, 2025, 07:29:28 pm
The problem was because the capacitor is labeled in metric volts, and you must have applied imperial volts.

I know; it is a pretty lame attempt at humor. But I wanted to defuse this thread’s bickering, it has become nasty.
Title: Re: WARNING! DO NOT BUY ALIEXPRESS CAPACITORS!
Post by: SteveThackery on June 05, 2025, 07:39:49 pm
But I have (oops) put caps in the wrong way round a couple of times and the result is about what we saw in the video.

Isn't the end of the capacitor, where it is scored, supposed to split open, relieving the pressure and thus preventing a big bang?
Title: Re: WARNING! DO NOT BUY ALIEXPRESS CAPACITORS!
Post by: ME on June 05, 2025, 07:42:58 pm
i buy from ali and ebay as the reputable folks ie farnell etc have ripoff postage etc,or 500 min order.
Title: Re: WARNING! DO NOT BUY ALIEXPRESS CAPACITORS!
Post by: grumpydoc on June 05, 2025, 07:49:20 pm
Isn't the end of the capacitor, where it is scored, supposed to split open, relieving the pressure and thus preventing a big bang?

Physically bigger caps, yes, but for small electrolytics the case isn't large enough.
Title: Re: WARNING! DO NOT BUY ALIEXPRESS CAPACITORS!
Post by: Perrold on June 06, 2025, 05:24:03 am
You get what you pay for and time is money. Yet to encounter a situation where gambling on components bought directly from china makes the least sense. The few times I did it with things like RF connectors and such the variation in unit to unit quality was obvious. Having spent time troubleshooting a project because of a bad chinese connector right out of the bag I think I won't cheap out next time. Small cheap passive components let alone semiconductors are a hard no.

The fewer times I bought things from china in a professional fashion there were ironclad agreements drawn up by the legal department to hold the US distributor fully accountable. The moment stuff arrived it was either extensively tested in house or sent out to a lab.
Title: Re: WARNING! DO NOT BUY ALIEXPRESS CAPACITORS!
Post by: pcprogrammer on June 06, 2025, 05:55:48 am
On China being bad and Chinese morality, don't kid yourself, it can be found every where. As soon as money is involved people can do bad things. Also ask yourself, how is it that China came to be in this position. The west provided the opportunity to get there, because big companies saw opportunities to save money, and the general public was only to happy with cheaper products.

That some abuse this stuff for cheap to sell fakes or rubbish is a shame for sure, but it is not just Chinese mentality, it is the mentality of a lot of people, rich and poor.

(...)

So bottom line, bad people are everywhere, it is not just a Chinese mentality.

Of course that last bit is true, but I don't buy the argument that as soon as money is involved we're all as bad. I buy, and have bought, loads of stuff from Europe (and here in the UK), some stuff from the US, quite a lot from Japan, and some stuff from India. To the best of my knowledge I have never bought anything that was fake, mislabelled or dangerous from America, Europe or Japan. The stuff I've got from India is sometimes of dubious quality, but I've never known it be mis-described.

And yet it happens either intentionally or unintentionally. Just lately in the Netherlands a batch of 1kg "cola bottles"* of Haribo contained cannabis.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/may/29/haribo-recalls-sweets-in-the-netherlands-after-traces-of-cannabis-found (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/may/29/haribo-recalls-sweets-in-the-netherlands-after-traces-of-cannabis-found)

Nestle and the French government are involved in a scandal around bad water being sold.
https://www.lemonde.fr/en/environment/article/2025/05/19/how-nestle-and-the-french-government-tried-to-conceal-the-perrier-scandal_6741426_114.html (https://www.lemonde.fr/en/environment/article/2025/05/19/how-nestle-and-the-french-government-tried-to-conceal-the-perrier-scandal_6741426_114.html)

I'm sure there will be many more of these type of issues in every country in the world.

* straight translation of the Dutch name for these sweets.

So no: it's not right to suggest that when it comes to money we're all as bad.

And that is also not what I wrote.

Quote
As soon as money is involved people can do bad things.

Money CAN drive people to do bad things, this does not imply that every body does bad things when money is involved.
Title: Re: WARNING! DO NOT BUY ALIEXPRESS CAPACITORS!
Post by: tske on June 06, 2025, 06:00:03 am
https://www.reddit.com/r/avoidchineseproducts/top/?t=all (https://www.reddit.com/r/avoidchineseproducts/top/?t=all)
Title: Re: WARNING! DO NOT BUY ALIEXPRESS CAPACITORS!
Post by: tske on June 06, 2025, 06:02:51 am
When I see people buy Chinese shits, I pity them.
When I see people buy Chinese shits then complain, I laugh at them.
China is a worthless country, which should not exist at all.
Title: Re: WARNING! DO NOT BUY ALIEXPRESS CAPACITORS!
Post by: pcprogrammer on June 06, 2025, 06:11:32 am
Buying most types of electronic components at Ebay or Aliexpress is just the wrong thing to do. All the Chinese con artists are there. And yet, something like LCSC is not any worse than e.g. Mouser or Digikey, despite being Chinese.

For production type development, yes, not a good idea to get your parts from Ebay or Aliexpress, but as a hobbyist it can save you a lot of money, especially with all the offers and bonuses plus the free shipping they provide. But always be aware of what you buy and test it when it arrives. Again for a hobbyist not such an issue, because, at least for me, time is not always money.

In my opinion, Ebay is far worse by the way, because there hardly is a buyer protection setup like on Aliexpress.

Getting your parts from so called reputable stores like Mouser, Digikey, etc, does not mean that the components you buy do not come from China. Most of the components will be manufactured in China because it is cheap. And a lot of the same components can be found on Aliexpress for less money, but yes there is more of a risk that you get lesser quality or even fakes.

It is a choice!

So taking advice from a single buyer not to buy capacitors on Aliexpress, just because they got a bad batch is nonsense. A better advice is to always be aware when buying on Aliexpress that things might be fake.
Title: Re: WARNING! DO NOT BUY ALIEXPRESS CAPACITORS!
Post by: pcprogrammer on June 06, 2025, 06:13:34 am
When I see people buy Chinese shits, I pity them.
When I see people buy Chinese shits then complain, I laugh at them.
China is a worthless country, which should not exist at all.

Take a look at most of the products you have in your possession. A good chance that the label says "Made in China"

What I pity is the people that can only see in black and white and nothing in between.
Title: Re: WARNING! DO NOT BUY ALIEXPRESS CAPACITORS!
Post by: anvoice on June 06, 2025, 06:46:58 am
China is a worthless country, which should not exist at all.
That's just pathetic.
Title: Re: WARNING! DO NOT BUY ALIEXPRESS CAPACITORS!
Post by: bdunham7 on June 06, 2025, 07:22:47 am
DO NOT BUY ALIEXPRESS CAPACITORS! 1uF 50V (RS branded) capacitor from this package https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005006515170970.html (https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005006515170970.html) just exploded into my eyes when I was debugging a new board. TWICE!
After testing another in a box, I am sure they are all fake... Rated maybe for like 10V because the explosion is very violent 😄 Take a look 😄

Maybe don't buy capacitor kits priced at 1% of what they should cost from "bargain garden" sellers that also have sex toys and athletic socks.  You can get some halfway decent stuff from AliExpress but you have to be careful and lucky.

I don't know how you distinguish between "fake" and "poor quality" unless RS is a legit capacitor brand I haven't heard of.  The only time I've seen explosions like that were when small non-vented caps were subject to AC from a failed rectifier.  I suppose reverse polarity would do something similar if the current were high.  You'd need to test further to know whether you should toss the kit or not.  These capacitors may be marginal or they may be total crap.  FWIW I still salvage caps from discarded equipment for test and prototype purposes and then buy from reputable distributors when I want to make or repair something. 

Title: Re: WARNING! DO NOT BUY ALIEXPRESS CAPACITORS!
Post by: tatel on June 06, 2025, 08:01:18 am
When I see people buy Chinese shits, I pity them.
When I see people buy Chinese shits then complain, I laugh at them.
China is a worthless country, which should not exist at all.
Yeah, that virus is spreading. Like a wildfire in summer. This is just entitled westerners seeing China doing extremely well, and willing to go to war to protect their "rights" from competition.

Too retarded to understand their billionaires sold them just to increase profits.

As the song from Jethro Tull says, "Thick as a brick"

Disgusting.
Title: Re: WARNING! DO NOT BUY ALIEXPRESS CAPACITORS!
Post by: SteveThackery on June 06, 2025, 08:16:52 am
Yeah, that virus is spreading. Like a wildfire in summer. This is just entitled westerners seeing China doing extremely well, and willing to go to war to protect their "rights" from competition.

That's certainly not where I'm coming from. I don't want to stop China competing with the West, and I'm not complaining about it. My complaint is specifically about cheating and lying, and selling dangerous products with fake CE markings. That is unacceptable whoever is doing it, and right now the only people who have done that to me are Chinese.

One of my electronic devices (made in the UK) failed, so I contacted the manufacturer who said he'd had a batch of bad power transistors, and all of them were failing. Further investigation showed that someone in China was encapsulating signal transistors in power transistor packages. This is the sort of thing I hate: it is calculated, bare-faced robbery. I would hate it just as much if it were a British or American person doing it. But it never is.
Title: Re: WARNING! DO NOT BUY ALIEXPRESS CAPACITORS!
Post by: pcprogrammer on June 06, 2025, 08:31:06 am
This is the sort of thing I hate: it is calculated, bare-faced robbery. I would hate it just as much if it were a British or American person doing it. But it never is.

Keep on dreaming.

You might not have come across it directly yourself, but this happens everywhere. The things people do to save a penny can be awful. And to clarify, I'm not saying that every person on the world is doing this, but I'm sure you would go bankrupt if you have to feed the ones that do.

That is what I mean that things are not black and white. I also think that you know this just as well.
Title: Re: WARNING! DO NOT BUY ALIEXPRESS CAPACITORS!
Post by: Aldo22 on June 06, 2025, 08:35:41 am
One of my electronic devices (made in the UK) failed, so I contacted the manufacturer who said he'd had a batch of bad power transistors, and all of them were failing. Further investigation showed that someone in China was encapsulating signal transistors in power transistor packages.

Did the UK manufacturer buy these transistors via Aliexpress?
Title: Re: WARNING! DO NOT BUY ALIEXPRESS CAPACITORS!
Post by: tatel on June 06, 2025, 09:56:54 am

That's certainly not where I'm coming from. I don't want to stop China competing with the West, and I'm not complaining about it. My complaint is specifically about cheating and lying, and selling dangerous products with fake CE markings. That is unacceptable whoever is doing it, and right now the only people who have done that to me are Chinese.

One of my electronic devices (made in the UK) failed, so I contacted the manufacturer who said he'd had a batch of bad power transistors, and all of them were failing. Further investigation showed that someone in China was encapsulating signal transistors in power transistor packages. This is the sort of thing I hate: it is calculated, bare-faced robbery. I would hate it just as much if it were a British or American person doing it.

Please note I was not replying to you.

Quote
But it never is.

Well in the 80s here in Spain we had the "toxic syndrome". Officially the cause was denaturalized rapeseed oil, but that doesn't hold water. True cause was a farmer putting some german pesticide into his tomatoes less than 15 days until harvest. Moreover he stocked that pesticide in just some shed under Almeria's sun, so it got over 40º celsius so it became some kind of Sarin/Tabun/VX. Point 1 is: it was a spaniard, not a chinese guy.  Point 2 is: even WHO said the rapeseed oil red herring was true (and still does) The fact that there were affected people that never consumed that rapeseed oil doesn't seem to matter, even for the WHO. Moreover, sellers of that rapeseed oil extracted the denaturalizing agent before selling it. It has been proven on trial it couldn't make suffer from symptoms like any nervous agent, yet officially it is still the cause of that syndrome. Again, even for WHO.

What's the probability for WHO to have UK/US high-ranking officers?

Not to mention, UK and US are the main enablers of a genocide happening right now, just in case anyone want to use "things of the past" alibi. Yet that doesn't seem to matter to you. Instead you are fuming for a bunch of bad caps.

Please don't be so blindsided

Title: Re: WARNING! DO NOT BUY ALIEXPRESS CAPACITORS!
Post by: PascalNE on June 06, 2025, 10:52:09 am
I'm not interested in a big debate so I'll just say this china exports $917,000,000,000 of electronics every year the UK only exports $27,000,000,000 so yes there is a lot of cheap rubbish but that's still only a tiny percentage of what they export it just seems like a lot since you are particularly exposed to it going on Aliexpress etc.

It is also in no way a cultural thing saying "Fuck me, that's like they're a nation of psychopaths" is offensive and obviously untrue, there is no cultural difference that makes people more likely to be dishonest.  For the UK you only have to look back to the 80s when some British products were seen as inferior quality to more innovative Japanese counterparts. And nowadays all you have to do is look at the quality of our new build houses (absolutely terrible lowest cost possible) 

 Additionally, I think it is clear the lack of low quality products from the UK is only a symptom of economic development, low skill manufacturing has left the UK and only high skill remains so quality (and prices) are higher for British made goods. So when you think of electronics you are right there isn't much bad quality British electronics but electronics only makes up 2.26% of our GDP.

In conclusion, people are the same everywhere, no country is wholly good or bad and there's probably no point in arguing about it.  :-+
Title: Re: WARNING! DO NOT BUY ALIEXPRESS CAPACITORS!
Post by: Zenith on June 06, 2025, 11:48:51 am
So taking advice from a single buyer not to buy capacitors on Aliexpress, just because they got a bad batch is nonsense. A better advice is to always be aware when buying on Aliexpress that things might be fake.

I've bought things from Aliexpress and I've been pleased with them.

I wouldn't buy components from there because I've heard too many stories about fakes. It's not worth the risk to save not much. Bad components cause a lot of frustration and wasted time, and I prefer to buy from Farnell etc.

I'm wary about buying components on ebay, particularly electrolytics, for the same reason. There are a few ebay sellers you can assume don't sell rubbish, such as Langrex.
Title: Re: WARNING! DO NOT BUY ALIEXPRESS CAPACITORS!
Post by: tske on June 06, 2025, 12:23:39 pm
When I see people buy Chinese shits, I pity them.
When I see people buy Chinese shits then complain, I laugh at them.
China is a worthless country, which should not exist at all.
Yeah, that virus is spreading. Like a wildfire in summer. This is just entitled westerners seeing China doing extremely well, and willing to go to war to protect their "rights" from competition.

Too retarded to understand their billionaires sold them just to increase profits.

As the song from Jethro Tull says, "Thick as a brick"

Disgusting.
Guess you are one of those rotting CCP agent.

Show us anything PRC benefit the world please?

No kidding, without China, the world's average life quality will be improved.

I'd rather dealing with demons than with Chinese pests.
Title: Re: WARNING! DO NOT BUY ALIEXPRESS CAPACITORS!
Post by: SteveThackery on June 06, 2025, 01:16:54 pm
Not to mention, UK and US are the main enablers of a genocide happening right now, just in case anyone want to use "things of the past" alibi. Yet that doesn't seem to matter to you. Instead you are fuming for a bunch of bad caps.

That's interesting - I don't know anything about it. Could you give a bit more information so I can read more about it?
Title: Re: WARNING! DO NOT BUY ALIEXPRESS CAPACITORS!
Post by: Aldo22 on June 06, 2025, 01:18:03 pm
No kidding, without China, the world's average life quality will be improved.

I'd rather dealing with demons than with Chinese pests.

Now I would be interested to know which great country you come from.
Unfortunately, your details only say "Country: 00".
00 is the symbol for "restroom" in our part of the world.  ;)
Title: Re: WARNING! DO NOT BUY ALIEXPRESS CAPACITORS!
Post by: SteveThackery on June 06, 2025, 01:34:11 pm
It is also in no way a cultural thing saying "Fuck me, that's like they're a nation of psychopaths" is offensive and obviously untrue, there is no cultural difference that makes people more likely to be dishonest.

I disagree strongly - there is exactly that going on in China. Oppressive regimes like China and Russia can easily create an anti-West attitude amongst their citizens by controlling the news outlets and using propaganda. After enough of that, the citizens will start to see countries like the US and UK as evil, as inferior to them, as deserving of punishment, and so on. Very few people are immune to sustained propaganda.

Once Chinese citizens see UK customers in this way, it is much easier to feel OK about lying to them and electrocuting them, because - according to that astonishing racist rant by @tatel earlier - we deserve it.

I think that is why AliExpress vendors are so happy to cheat us and lie to us: because we aren't quite human and because we deserve it.

So yes: the Chinese government is definitely responsible for the anti-West attitude amongst Chinese citizens. And yes, controlling the news outlets and using propaganda definitely changes the Chinese culture.

  For the UK you only have to look back to the 80s when some British products were seen as inferior quality to more innovative Japanese counterparts. And nowadays all you have to do is look at the quality of our new build houses (absolutely terrible lowest cost possible) 

I'm not really sure what this has to do with our discussion. Nobody is talking, or complaining, about poor quality. We are talking about deliberate lying and cheating. That is very different. I don't care about low quality products - they have their place. China is brilliant at producing top quality stuff, and rubbish stuff. I just don't want them to lie about what they are trying to sell me.
Title: Re: WARNING! DO NOT BUY ALIEXPRESS CAPACITORS!
Post by: UnijunctionTransistor on June 06, 2025, 01:34:45 pm

Guess you are one of those rotting CCP agent.

Show us anything PRC benefit the world please?

No kidding, without China, the world's average life quality will be improved.

I'd rather dealing with demons than with Chinese pests.

How did this thread evolved from a guy having a bad experience with Aliexpress components, to the Chinese being a subhuman species?

But to you I say: throw away the computer/ tablet/ phone you’re typing your rant with, because it was either wholly made in China or it has key components made only there.
While you are at it, throw absolutely all of your electronics devices for the same reason.
Follow it up with the furniture and even your clothes, as I understand that a significant portion of the textile fibers also come from over there.
If you or an acquaintance is taking prescription drugs, might as well dispose of them all and just let the ailments be.

Title: Re: WARNING! DO NOT BUY ALIEXPRESS CAPACITORS!
Post by: SteveThackery on June 06, 2025, 01:39:12 pm
How did this thread evolved from a guy having a bad experience with Aliexpress components, to the Chinese being a subhuman species?

Hey, now steady on! Nobody has even suggested that, so you really shouldn't be accusing people of saying it. It is very offensive.
Title: Re: WARNING! DO NOT BUY ALIEXPRESS CAPACITORS!
Post by: SteveThackery on June 06, 2025, 01:41:37 pm
How did this thread evolved from a guy having a bad experience with Aliexpress components, to the Chinese being a subhuman species?

Hey, now steady on! Nobody has even suggested that, so you really shouldn't be accusing people of saying it. It is very offensive.

I'm saying that the Chinese government has created an anti-West culture amongst its citizens, such that some of those citizens feel little or no guilt about cheating us, because according to the government propaganda, we deserve it.
Title: Re: WARNING! DO NOT BUY ALIEXPRESS CAPACITORS!
Post by: PascalNE on June 06, 2025, 01:41:54 pm
When I see people buy Chinese shits, I pity them.
When I see people buy Chinese shits then complain, I laugh at them.
China is a worthless country, which should not exist at all.
Yeah, that virus is spreading. Like a wildfire in summer. This is just entitled westerners seeing China doing extremely well, and willing to go to war to protect their "rights" from competition.

Too retarded to understand their billionaires sold them just to increase profits.

As the song from Jethro Tull says, "Thick as a brick"

Disgusting.
Guess you are one of those rotting CCP agent.

Show us anything PRC benefit the world please?

No kidding, without China, the world's average life quality will be improved.

I'd rather dealing with demons than with Chinese pests.

I've reported this post I don't think this kind of vitriol has any place on a civilised Electronics forum. If anything I'd say this topic should be closed this is on the beginners section and do you really want new people  to see this? And nobody is talking about capacitors.
If you want to talk about your political opinions maybe check out http://www.politicalforum.com/index.php (http://www.politicalforum.com/index.php) (not that I've used it just seems more appropriate.)
Title: Re: WARNING! DO NOT BUY ALIEXPRESS CAPACITORS!
Post by: SteveThackery on June 06, 2025, 01:45:45 pm
But to you I say: throw away the computer/ tablet/ phone you’re typing your rant with, because it was either wholly made in China or it has key components made only there.
While you are at it, throw absolutely all of your electronics devices for the same reason.
Follow it up with the furniture and even your clothes, as I understand that a significant portion of the textile fibers also come from over there.
If you or an acquaintance is taking prescription drugs, might as well dispose of them all and just let the ailments be.

Again, I'm not sure of your point. Nobody is disagreeing that the West is almost totally dependent on Chinese made goods and components. Almost all of the technology embedded in these products is American, but China can take credit for turning that tech into extremely cost effective products.

This sub-thread is focused on the problem of fake and dangerous goods coming out of China. That's all. And that is, after all, completely pertinent to the original post about fake/faulty capacitors.
Title: Re: WARNING! DO NOT BUY ALIEXPRESS CAPACITORS!
Post by: madires on June 06, 2025, 02:02:37 pm
I'm saying that the Chinese government has created an anti-West culture amongst its citizens, such that some of those citizens feel little or no guilt about cheating us, because according to the government propaganda, we deserve it.

They are also cheating their fellow Chinese citizens. It's very common.
Title: Re: WARNING! DO NOT BUY ALIEXPRESS CAPACITORS!
Post by: Aldo22 on June 06, 2025, 02:15:54 pm
They are also cheating their fellow Chinese citizens. It's very common.

Yes, but of course only the Chinese are cheating.  ;)
We can do that too. E.g.:
https://www.oliveoiltimes.com/business/europe/top-italian-police-official-explains-how-olive-oil-fraud-works/133568 (https://www.oliveoiltimes.com/business/europe/top-italian-police-official-explains-how-olive-oil-fraud-works/133568)

To be honest, a lousy capacitor bothers me less than adulterated food or “low-priced” car parts.
Title: Re: WARNING! DO NOT BUY ALIEXPRESS CAPACITORS!
Post by: tatel on June 06, 2025, 02:24:57 pm

Guess you are one of those rotting CCP agent.

Show us anything PRC benefit the world please?

No kidding, without China, the world's average life quality will be improved.

I'd rather dealing with demons than with Chinese pests.

 :-DD :-DD :-DD :-DD

Thick as battleship armor
Title: Re: WARNING! DO NOT BUY ALIEXPRESS CAPACITORS!
Post by: tatel on June 06, 2025, 02:28:31 pm
That's interesting - I don't know anything about it. Could you give a bit more information so I can read more about it?

Where do you think IDF gets the bombs/ammo/whatever?

Who vetoes any UN resolution against it?

You don't want to know about it. Please spare us the posturing
Title: Re: WARNING! DO NOT BUY ALIEXPRESS CAPACITORS!
Post by: gnif on June 06, 2025, 02:36:44 pm
Locked, this thread has devolved into racist and derogatory remarks.

@tske has been removed from the community.