possible fake lm3886T chips from ebay ;(

[linuxworks]

bought some lm3886T chips this week and when I got them, they look very different from each other.

I have some reasl 3886's from national (from 10 yrs ago, as samples) and they don't look exactly the same.

I'll snap some shots when I get a chance, but have these been seen in the wild recently on ebay?

seller is:

LM3886T LM3886 Audio Power Amplifier 68W HIGH-PERFOR IC - eBay (item 320625524688 end time Jan-01-11 08:16:31 PST)

note that I also ordered a bunch of trimmer pots from this guy and THOSE were definitely fakes. check these fake 'bourns' pots out.

I think I should just STOP even trying ebay for parts. more than not, the sellers are crooked and pretty blatant in their deceipt ;(

[cocolino]

Originally Posted by linuxworks

check these fake 'bourns' pots out.

I think I should just STOP even trying ebay for parts. more than not, the sellers are crooked and pretty blatant in their deceipt ;(

Ouch!
Look also here:
Bourns - Press Releases -

I hope You`ll leave this seller a negative feedback for that which includes the word FAKE, as warning for other potential buyers. If the Bourns pots are faked it`s rather probably that other stuff he sells is faked too.

IMO ebay is becoming (or maybe is already) the world biggest market for fake items of all kinds, not just electronic parts. I have the feeling that buyers are becoming more and more aware of that and that therefore sales are declining already quite a bit.

[uzernaam]

I bought some 3886 kits from ebay. One seller was something like "along96650" and the other was "gigawork"

The along kit came with what the force tells me were fakes.

Pretty sure the gigawork kit had real 3886 chips. Of course, the gigawork kit cost about $25 more.

Also, one channel in the the along kit fried.

So what does that say?

[pacificblue]

Originally Posted by linuxworks

check these fake 'bourns' pots out.

At least four out of five are not labeled as Bourns, although Burans was maybe how the faker thought it is spelled.

[cocolino]

Originally Posted by pacificblue

At least four out of five are not labeled as Bourns, although Burans was maybe how the faker thought it is spelled.

I think this is intentional.
For example in Thailand I have seen sports shoes branded "abibas" exactly with the typeface "adidas" uses and with two instead of three of the white stripes. You have to look at least twice to notice this. It`s clearly intended as a scam but that way I guess they can`t be blamed to fake a brand name.

[linuxworks]

update: the seller apologized and offered a full refund including return shipping to their new england area mailing addr.

in their email to me, it was clear that they considered one blue trimmer pot to be the same as any as long as the values were the same. not sure if this was sincere just because 'a handbag is a handbag' and so why can't a pot be a pot? I agree that fake shoes or handbags isn't going to cause a circuit to malfunction later on. at least I hope not

so maybe its just a way of thinking that any knock-off is fine even if you show a photo of the actual legit brand item in the ad?

I got burned (so to speak) when I bought what I thought were B and B brand batteries for my UPS. I went out of my way to find B/B batteries (known and trusted brand) and when I found a seller using the B/B photo, I bought some. what came were some knock-offs. sigh...

if they at least state that they are free to sub some non-branded part, that would be open disclosure but they never do that. they show a photo of the real thing and then ship some other junk brand.

[linuxworks]

here is the photo of 3 lm3886 chips.

the one on the far left is a known genuine chip (from jameco, I bought a set of them in person at their will-call desk. I know these are real.)

the 2 on the right are from the vendor on ebay.

do they look 'right' to you?

I can get photos of their back sides, too, if needed. or alternate angles.

[cocolino]

Originally Posted by linuxworks

update: the seller apologized and offered a full refund including return shipping to their new england area mailing addr.

Yep, I think I begin to understand how it works that those sellers hardly have any negative feedback for selling fakes.
Most of the fake stuff they sell gets through okay unnoticed as most of the buyers either don`t care (as long as the items show up on their doorsteps at all, everything is okay) or they can`t test the items up to specifications (which would be the case for almost any type of semiconductors for all but a few buyers).

When someone complains though, they offer a "generous" refund and obviously get away in almost all cases without neg. feedback.
In Your case You are out of evidence too, as it seems that getting the refund requires to send back the fake part..... very clever.

Originally Posted by linuxworks

n their email to me, it was clear that they considered one blue trimmer pot to be the same as any as long as the values were the same. not sure if this was sincere just because 'a handbag is a handbag' and so why can't a pot be a pot? I agree that fake shoes or handbags isn't going to cause a circuit to malfunction later on. at least I hope not

I don`t believe this!
This guys are dealing with electronic parts exclusively, they know or have to know what they are doing.
I can`t tell what somebody should do but I can tell You what I would do.
I`d kiss goodbye the damn refund (provided I haven`t bought a big lot of them), invest $1,50 on top of my loss, pack a few of those fake trimmers in an envelope and send it to the next BOURNS representative with a notification from where I got them....

If people just accept refunds without leaving negative feedback, this ebay scams will go on forever.

[kevinkr]

I agree with cocolino! And to the extent that I would donate a couple of bucks to help defray the cost as would I suspect lots of others here.

Please be sure to report to eBay that these sellers are selling fakes as well, they are starting to take this a bit more seriously..

FWIW I purchase very few parts on eBay other than sockets, connectors and surplus Russian military parts from a few select vendors.

Semiconductors and electrolytics I always get from Digikey, Mouser, or Allied Electronics.

[linuxworks]

to be clear, the seller has already credited me back to my paypal account. its not even showing up in my account but seems to have passed thru back to my issuing credit card. that might only happen if it was pushed thru as a refund with a matching debit; vs just pushing a random bunch of cash to my paypal acct (which I think would show as a paypal credit).

there was not a requirement to send the parts *first*. the seller even said that if I really 'wanted to' I could keep them, but she (I do think it was a she) said she would prefer I send them back. not required, though.

I don't mind contacting bourns. if they'll 'do something' and it will help, I'd be happy to do it. anyone have any contacts over there?