Fake J201s.

[Beaker]

Just a heads up guys - don't order any of these:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/171121386204?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

I ordered a bunch of stuff from here, and almost without thinking, added two lots of twenty J201s to my cart.

Suprise, suprise, they are fakes - I should have known better. I am currently going through the ebay dispute process with the seller, so fingers crossed for a successful outcome.

I must say that the rest of the order is all fine, and I have used this seller a few times before, without any problems at all.

I will let you know how I got on.

[rocket88]

Thanks for the heads up. It just amazes me that the issue of getting fake components. I mean it's not like some of these parts to for that much. I mean j201's can still be found for $0.50 each, so how much money can these people be making off these fake parts.

[Frank_NH]

So did you measure these to determine they were fake?  Or were they obvious fakes?  Just curious...

Speaking of JFETs, I just purchased some J230 JFETs here:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/271886170207?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

The datasheet suggests that these may be good substitutes for J201s.  

http://www.interfet.com/Datasheet/J230/

I'm going to measure the ones I received and see what Idss and Vp values I get.  I also have a vero Plexidrive I can try them out in...

[Muadzin]

Out of curiosity, how can you even tell they're fakes?

[Beaker]

How do I know they are fake?

 I have some genuine J201s I bought from a reliable source here in the UK (Langtronics), and the differences are obvious:

#1. Genuine J201 has a raised letter code (though I'm not sure what it signifies) moulded into the litlle round depression on the curved side of the head.

Fake J201 has no letter.

#2. Genuine J201 has a shiny flat face (the one with the letters on it).

Fake J201 has a scratched matte finish on the face - evidence that the original part number has been sanded off.

#2. Genuine J201 has the part number and manufacturer logo(stylised F for Fairchild), quite deeply etched into the surface of the flat face, then silver inked.

Fake J201 has just a plain letter F and part number simply stamped onto the surface of the flat face.

#3. Lettering on genuine J201 is perfectly aligned, perfectly spaced and evenly sized.

Lettering on fake J201 is all over the shop - smudged, blurry, and not spaced evenly, either side to side or up and down. Sizing is slightly off too.

#4. Legs on genuine J201 are clean, crisp, square and perfectly tinned.

Legs on fake J201 are dirty, corroded, ragged and badly tinned. They are obviously very old, and poor quality - whatever they are.

[Travis]

I wonder why these guys sand the labels off. I would think it would be more sneaky to just wipe it off with some acetone

[Beaker]

See #2. above. The lettering is engraved or stamped into the face on genuine ones. Take a look under a magnifying glass or loupe.

[Frank_NH]

Go ahead and check them out.  Use the JFET tester from this site - I'd be curious to see what the Idss and Vp were.

I have had a bad JFET before and it was obvious once I measured it, so I tossed it.  It is possible that someone came across some rejects and is trying to sell them.  But to me, why is someone going to sell some bad electronic components for cheap?  They'd get caught pretty quickly, and I can't see this being a big money making scam unless you sell a lot of them quickly.

[Travis]

I see. I've never quite understood the concept in the first place. Seems like you wouldn't be making much money at all. Especially when most eBay buyers will probably get their money back, I would think the counterfeiter risks wasting their time AND money

[tabbycat]

Travis wrote

I see. I've never quite understood the concept in the first place. Seems like you wouldn't be making much money at all. Especially when most eBay buyers will probably get their money back, I would think the counterfeiter risks wasting their time AND money

thanks for the heads up, beaker.

it would be interesting to see how these read on the meter. i know there has been a lot of discussion of potential fake parts (2n5457 and germanium diodes in particular) at fsb. opinion strongly divided re extent of issue.

my thoughts are...

a. money goes a lot further there than here, so viability is variable depending on where you are getting from and supplying to. we say 'only' $0.50 each but 'only' is purely relative to western income/outgoing.
also if you are getting them for nothing then any profit is net, so worth it depending on the value of your time, also relative. not to overlook the possibility that sellers may have 'access' to stuff for which they don't have to pay. discarded or 'other'.

b. could be part of a bigger thing. for example if big manufacturers (china, etc) of electric things (tvs, stomps, anything) are cutting costs by not being fussy about quality control, that can lead to a sub-industry of people supplying 'questionable' parts that are not what they are claiming to be but superficially hit a forgiving spec. as long as the product being manufactured will work with them, even if only for a while, the less questions asked the less cost incurred. plus favours, kickbacks, etc.

c. if someone has access to stock from b, discounted, discarded or 'other', and are reselling them, they may believe what they are selling is the genuine article. if the thing is marked as x,y,z and they are told it is x,y,z and it works (however superficially) as x,y,z it is not unreasonable to suppose they may genuinely believe that to be the case.

d. if i was working 16 hour days for no money and little shelter in some health hazard factory in china etc i would do what i had to do to get myself and my family out of that situation. the morality of desperation and survival is different to the morality of convenience and greed. i make a distinction anyway.

[Beaker]

Totally agree with your analysis Tabbycat.

Worth yours or my time to fake these? No way.

Worth paying a couple of ten year olds to do it for you, and turn yourself a ten dollar profit at the end of the week? Hell yeah if you only make ten dollars a week anyway.

[Travis]

I concede to your wisdom Tabbycat. Thanks for putting that into perspective