Counterfeit MC34063A - Opinions

[CJay]

   The very first question that needs to be answered is; where did you buy the part?

  FWIW EVERY IC that I've tried to buy from anyone on Ebay, etc has been counterfeit.  The problem is so bad that IMO anything bought from anyone other than a very well established dealer like Digikey is likely to be counterfeit.

You have been insanely unlucky then.

[Andy Chee]

I was just curious if anyone had an opinion regarding the legitimacy of these parts.  They look counterfeit to me.

As others have commented, if true, I'm surprised that there's any value in counterfeiting this particular part.  I myself scavenge this part from e-waste, as shown in the attached picture.

[Mechatrommer]

As others have commented, if true, I'm surprised that there's any value in counterfeiting this particular part.  I myself scavenge this part from e-waste, as shown in the attached picture.

counterfeit usually works so so... and in most low tech products can work within spec, just put bulky caps on. scavenging is different business $0 and maximum time involved, and scavenging counterfeit parts is a part of it.

[rteodor]

I was just curious if anyone had an opinion regarding the legitimacy of these parts.  They look counterfeit to me.

As others have commented, if true, I'm surprised that there's any value in counterfeiting this particular part.  I myself scavenge this part from e-waste, as shown in the attached picture.

It might be just a bad batch that failed tests. Instead of being discarded into a furnace it was "recovered" and sold by some "entrepreneurs".
This sort of things happen all the time.

[Jay_Diddy_B]

Hi,

The only thing that makes this counterfeit is the use of the On Semi logo.

There are many parts that have produced to be pin compatible with the original manufacturers part.

The 555 was developed by Signetics. Any other 555 could be considered a clone. I would not think twice about using a clone from a major manufacturer.

The MC34063A that is shown in the photograph is almost certainly a counterfeit. The On Semi datasheet shows the marking should be three lines:



There are many reasons why the circuit is noisy. Is the diode in the circuit correct? Have you substituted a known good part?

Regards,

Jay_Diddy_B

[GnomeZA]

Who would counterfeit a part that's only 3 cents for a genuine one?

This seems to be a common problem for computer chips too, ie. Intel ethernet cards are practically guaranteed to be fake from eBay unless it has YottoMark or BradyId.  They work, they just don't work very well.

The reality of why it makes sense is as follows (IMO):
You have a "friend" that works for the factory that makes this chip. (in reality probably lots of different chips)
The chips that don't make spec aren't marked and are to be thrown out.
Friend then boxes up the 1000s of chips that didn't make spec, you mark them and sell them on a local market for pure profit.
You kick some money back to friend.

Taking this further, the reason RS and Digikey have all accidentally sold fakes in the past, is likely (again opinion) because when they've bought from sellers who deal in large volume and aren't afraid to compromise their business by throwing a couple of fakes in there to pad the bottom line.

Just like viruses have evolved in many ways, I'm sure there are variations on this theme.

ie. you used to make a chip for OnSemi and they terminated their contract with you (maybe not even because you did anything wrong), so now you sell all the inventory that didn't meet spec to "recoup" your "loses" and so on.

Or Digikey bought from you because they were introduced to you by your uncle (a large reputable seller).  The twist is you only sell fakes and promised your uncle you are legit (or he is in on it or variations).  Later uncle says he didn't know when questioned by Digikey.  But Digikey wouldn't have bought from you without that recommendation but here we are now.

etc. etc.

[magic]

It really is a matter of supply meeting demand. If there is enough people looking for cheap MC34063, somebody will figure out an industrial process to make them cheaply, possibly even cheaper than possible.

You might as well ask why anyone even makes 3 cent parts at all. Would you go through all the effort of manufacturing, testing and packaging an integrated circuit to sell it for pennies? Yet somebody does.