NTE

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How are the chips and transistors from NTE? Some good driver transistors are obsolete but NTE makes the same part supposedly at better qualities. The owner of the local electronics shop claims it is because each part is made per spec and tested for quality since they use multiple sources. In a rush to try a new project I picked them up as well as some of the ic tda power amp clones. Any truth to this claim? Any horror stories from this company?
 
If you take that seriously, I suggest you ask the Easter Bunny for a second opinion. He is just a few days away.

:)

As long as he doesn't hide the eggs in tricky spots cuz evidently I'm not too swift this time. NTE stuff is garbage I recon then? What makes the components so bad and is it worth using them or throw them at the Easter bunny if I get hosed with peeps? Figured at the worst case they would be copies since mje340/350 is made by everyone and their mom profusion sells the kje which is the same thing. I guess prototypes can't be that bad and if it works good then use a good board.
 
Baloney. Selling NTE allows a retailer to stock just one line - theirs - and cover most needs of hobbyists.

NTE parts are not the SAME parts, they are what NTE claims will REPLACE what you need and work. That is how their 10,000 transistors can take the place of a half million types of transistor.

If there are small signal transistors rated 24v, 35v, 50v, and 80v, NTE might cross all of them to the same NTExxx with an 80 rating. DO NTE parts usually work in place of other parts? Sure. And that is because most transistor circuits will work with a wide range of parts.

I don't object that they are bad parts, I have used them in a pinch and never got a bad one. But they are not exact, and in something like a power amp, a blown output needs tobe the same as the original. A row of parallel output transistors needs them to share current. An NTE something may have similar specs, but unless it really is the same part under the label, it can wind up either turning on slightly sooner than others and thus hogging current, or slightly later, meaning it doesn't come on, acts like it wasn;t there.

I expect their TDA amps will work OK, and unlikely you need to parallel them with a real one, so go ahead.

One serious objection I have is the cost. I buy an MJ15024 from Mouser it is $5 or so today. The NTE388 "equivalent" is $15. I am paying $10 for the little plastic bag it comes in I guess. Mouser sells little 2N3904 at 40 cents, the NTE is $1.33. I find NTE parts in general sell for three to ten times the price of the real parts.

NTE does allow you to go buy a part that will usually work at a local store. But shopping there for NTE parts is like shopping for groceries at the local convenience store at the gas station: limited selection, high prices.

The "makes obsolete parts with better specs" line gives it away. They make parts with DIFFERENT specs and sell them to you as replacements. "Here, these will work for you." SO selling you an 80v part to replace your 40v part might work, but not because the specs are "better".
 
...NTE stuff is garbage I recon then? What makes the components so bad and is it worth using them...

I did not say anything about the quality of the components. I was talking about the quality of the information you got from a sales person, who is also the shop owner.
NTE is not a manufacturer. They purchase devices from OEMs with the NTE brand or rebrand them, pack them in small quantities and sell them at local shops. People pay (a lot) for the convenience of having components pre-packed and displayed, ready to be purchased.
See the disclaimer at NTE's web site:

NTE Electronics | Manufacturing Disclaimer | Electronic Components Supplier
 
It's like a game where you are guessing what a part really is by what someone is telling you it should replace.
I'm sure the parts are great for their orginal specs, but you'll never know unless the parts happen to be marked other than the NTE markings, or test them out for yourself. That wouldn't likely be worth your time.

The only thing I've purchased that was NTE, was some 3A power diodes, were marked as Phillips parts, so I knew what I was buying.
 
NTE datasheets leave out a lot of specs. That is not unique, a Fairchild BD139/140 is not nearly as completely specified as a Phillips one. But download the datasheet on the NTE part and evaluate for yourself if the missing specs are important or not in your circuit.
Also their specs are sometimes sub-standard. 2N6727 was a cool little Zetex super TO92 transistor rated @ 1W. Used in Allen organ switcher supplies. Had a little metal heat sink sticking out the end for gluing to some fins if you wished. I saw a 2n6727 (or was it 6715) from NTE today on Newark I believe, 850 mw rated, no metal tab pictured.
Not unique problem to NTE, I've been trying to get toshiba/sanyo 2SC 2SA driver transistors (low C0b high Fte) in TO225 with the heat tab for 2 years, mcmelectronics & digikey sent me some ****ese copies (advertised sanyo or toshiba) with a totally ceramic package instead of metal tab for 1/4 the heat flow to environment. Newark sent me Fairchild branded copies as advertised with the same **** ceramic package, no heat sink metal surface. The suffixes indicating package codes seem to change weekly. Sorry, not ordering from Germany yet, transmitting a debit card around is dangerous enough just in this country.
 
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My example is the once popular 40409 and 40410. Those are TO39 transistors with integral rectangular heat sinks. Many guitar amps and PA amps used them years back. They cross to some NTE number, but the NTE part lacks the built in heat sink. Unless you know this and find a sink to mount on them, you stick the bare transistor into a circuit and it quickly fails.

RCA_40409and40410.JPG
 
Thanks

Thanks for the info in this thread. I was about to put an NTE power transistor into a Stasis 3 which had 2 original Motorola Qs (A8, MJ15022) in parallel with it.

Instead, I'll return the $24, locally purchased NTE and buy 3 On-Spec transistors from Mouser @ $8 each. Now I know better, so... thanks.
 
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