LM3886 fakes??

[norture]

Originally Posted by bichi

...if newer parts are "laser-imprinted," as opposed to "printed."

I heard one guy here at a local electronics store mentioned that nowadays current batches of LM3886T/TF come with laser-imprinted markings.

[linuxguru]

Yup, the current batches (probably RoHS-compliant) have fine laser engraved markings, and an 8-digit batch code as opposed to the earlier 6-digit JMxxyy batch codes.

Another feature of the genuine parts is clean right-angled lead bends, as opposed to curving bends on some fakes.

[wintermute]

well for comparison here are a couple of pictures of my LM3886TF's I have no reason to suspect they are fake, they work fine

The leads on db!'s pic really look dodgy, even bichi's did at first (the profile shot shows them better) but I think it was just the camera angle.

Note that the second pic I have clipped off the NC leads since I was using them in a very tight P2P implementation.





Tony.

[linuxworks]

I got some from a shady ebay seller (sigh) and just sent them back for a refund.



the one on the far left is a known good (real brand) device. the other two on the right came from the same seller where I got the set of VERY fake blue trimmer pots from.

the trimmer pots, fwiw:



any parts you buy from ebay - assume they're fakes unless you KNOW otherwise. (deep sigh)

[bcmbob]

Comming from the other side of the issue - does anyone in the chip amp community have a source for valid LM3886TF's. If there are original manufacturerers producing the chip there must be a reputable supplier somewhere.

[linuxworks]

go to the main supplies. I would completely and fully trust digikey, mouser, newark, jameco and companies like those.

can't you also buy direct from national, too?

[mrVetz]

I ordered a set of 4 LM3886TF from a Chinese seller via eBay and then saw the thread about fakes. Then I ordered samples of the same chip directly from National. I received both and they are identical, new laser etched serial numbers and everything. There is a minor difference in the casing between the chips that have V8 and U12 impressed into the small circle in the bottom right corner of the chip. I received both V8 and U12 chips from the factory and from the seller so I guess the china-man gave me the real deal.

Guess I'll have to solder them up to hear the potential difference but I'm an optimist and expect no difference.

eBay seller: "ordoer"

BTW, I once ordered a pair od LM4562 opamps from eBay to pimp my Marantz CD-Player...these were in fact fake, the output was noise/distortion and minor traces of music. Then I put in LME49720HA (I recommend these) I got directly from National and all was well, better than that

Cheers

[SoNic_real_one]

I always try to go with authorized distribuitors, no more eBay - especially from China.
Problem is widespread: “Suspect Counterfeit”: Fake Electronics US Defense Equipment

[johnr66]

Got some TDA2040s off of the 'bay. One had DC rail on the output. The others worked and sounded okay, but max output voltage swing was less than authentic parts. Also, they had no built in protections. I decided to get rid of the fakes, so I put them on a breadboard and fed them a signal and shorted the output. The fakes popped in a fraction of a second. I tried a known authentic one, and it would never blow after shorting for several seconds and trying several times.

[Mihkus]

Its too damn hard to find cheap original parts...
I bought set of components for stereo TDA1514A amplifier...
Well, the legs of the ic looked shiny, like there were brand new, they looked really good :O
But damn, no protection at all, of any kind!
Pushed both of them over the limit with output of 31V 2,11A! and one of them blew apart.