The Fake Chip Scourge

The Fake Chip Scourge

New video from Asianometry


Not sure scavenging e-waste is a bad thing. Esp. for vintage audio chips. If not too much blow torch heat or violence is used in extracting them from discarded equip, chances are the chips are still in good nick.
 
I got a bunch of recycled counterfeit chips once; they'd been remarked as a (mostly) functionally identical but more valuable type. A significant number of them were defective, however, which was a big red flag. None of the hundreds of genuine chips I'd previously used had ever been DOA.
More recently, the power MOSFETs in a cheap solar charge controller look recycled; like they've been hauled halfway across China by tuk-tuk in a bucket. The charge controller works fine, though.