Well, this is annoying.

I have some little power #modules (bought on #AliExpress, natch) that were advertised as automatic boost/buck converters. Input from <4V to >30V, output from 1.25V to 35V.

They're based on the XL6009 switching converter, which supports auto-buck-boost as one mode.

But they appear to use it in boost-only mode. The output voltage can not go below the input as far as I can tell. From the datasheet, it looks like that's because the auto-buck-boost config requires a few more components, plus a transformer instead of a simple inductor, which is probably the main reason (BOM).

The listing just seems to be ... wrong.

Annoying.

#seller #SellerDescription #YumCha #Chinesium #BuckConverter #BoostConverter #AutoBuckBoost #BuckBoost #electronics #hobby

If you buy things on #AliExpress, you are going to get scammed every so often. Their buyer protection program is pretty decent, although it can be a bit of a pain to go through the process.

You can increase your chances of getting scammed by buying things where the #deals are too good to be true. When the deals are ludicrously, impossibly good, your chances increase to 100%.

This can be fun. I have bought a few things over the years that were obviously #scams. Once, I spent a few hundred dollars for two tablets that, if they had been real, were selling for about one tenth of what they should have. Seeing how they faked them being new products, when they were actually recycled ancient low-end tablets, was fascinating.

But I generally won't do that. Instead, I buy cheap stuff, trading a few dollars for the fun of seeing what the seller/manufacturer have done. I don't even try to get my money back on these.

So I recently bought a #USB #charger that I've been seeing for months. It's described as a 240W total output, gallium-nitride, USB-PD and QC-3.0 compatible, five-port charger. The genuine article from a reputable manufacturer, if it exists, must cost over CDN $100. This one was ... five bucks.

So I knew it was going to be interesting. It arrived today. It weighed more than expected, but all at one end. The case appears to be ultrasonically welded, so getting it open is destructive.

1/x

#scam #USBPD #QC3 #Chinesium #fake #TooGoodToBeTrue #deal #deals #GaN

Please, I beg you, do not buy pressure vessels from AliExpress sellers. Particularly not ones you strap to your body.

4500 psi COPV tank from some random guy who may have got it out of the "failed safety test" dumpster behind the factory...

#sheesh #Darwin #DarwinAward #cheep #Chinesium #AliExpress #safety #COPV #PressureVessel #certified

I bought a #Hangell (no, I wasn't familiar with that name) switching bench power supply and it arrived. It happens to be one that #BigClive just briefly showed in one of his unbagging videos.

I got it because my existing old #linear supplies max out at around 18 V, and that has been a hindrance of late. A #switching supply isn't ideal, because of the possibility of noise, but this model will do 5 A at 60 VDC, and a linear supply that can do a couple of amps at that voltage is big, heavy, and pricey.

So of course, as soon as I received it, I took it apart. As you do.

And ... I'm pleasantly surprised. The #PCB layouts look good, the assembly appears very good, with proper pick&placed #SMT components and reflow soldering, not hack-job hand soldering. The components seem to be #quality, even name-brand where appropriate. There are what appear to be genuine class X and class Y #safety capacitors everywhere they should be. The front binding posts are fairly typical cheap #Chinesium ones, but appear to be from the better end of the quality spectrum as far as those go.

One ding: the multiple #electrolytic output caps appear to be 63 V-rated ones. For a supply that goes up to 60 V, that's just not acceptable. Maybe that's because this unit can also be had in a 30 V model? Or maybe they're just hoping you don't notice.

I'm sorely tempted to replace them with 100 V-rated ones before I use it. I'm going to add some more output #filtering as well.

#electronics #hobby

So, Crappy Tire [1] changed their mind and pleaded guilty to a bunch of violations of Quebec's consumer protection law. Surprising absolutely no one, the charges are largely about advertising items at huge discounts from "regular" prices that the products were never or rarely actually sold at.

https://globalnews.ca/news/11657561/que-canadian-tire-fines/

This is why there's a saying that "If you bought it at Canadian Tire and it wasn't at least 40% off, you got ripped off". The Bay / Hudson Bay is also famous for this kind of BS. Other provinces should also forbid this kind of dishonest manipulation, but they don't.

I wish Canadians wouldn't fall for this kind of marketing crap.

Can I tell you a secret that will save you money?

Crappy Tire sells two types of merchandise:

(1) name-brand stuff like Tupperware or Corning or whatever else
(2) crappy imported Chinesium products [2]

You can always get the first category cheaper at Walmart or other places.

And you can always get the latter cheaper from Princess Auto, or even cheaper than that from various online places. It all comes out of the same factories.

There is never a reason to shop at Crappy Tire.

[1] Widely-used nickname for "Canadian Tire".
[2] The sheer amount of imported junk gives rise to the alternate nickname "Cambodian Tire".

#CrappyTire #CanadianTire #CambodianTire #Chinesium #ripoff #discount #ConsumerProtection
#manipulation #consumer #dishonest #secret #tip #PrincessAuto #AliExpress

Oh, #AliExpress sellers, never change... 😆

Ordered NE5532 opamps (10 MHz gain-bandwidth product, 9 volts/μs). Put them in my project, wasn't performing correctly. Set up the standard test circuit (gain of 10, non-inverting, output load 800 ohms + 100 pF) and started measuring them...

These things actually have a GBW of only ~520 kHz! And a maximum slew rate of less than 1.3 volts/μs! They're absolute junk!

I don't know what part they remarked to get these. When I first suspected they were fakes, I thought maybe the ancient and cheap NJM4558 (aka 4558D) - but even that should have a 1 MHz bandwidth. Maybe 4558s that failed quality control? 🤣 Anyone have an idea what they might be?

#Scammy #scam #scams...

#opamp #remarked #fake #FakeParts #FakeComponents #Chinesium #electronics #hobby #DIY

There's apparently not going to be a Repair Cafe in my town this month. I look forward to them, so this is a slight bummer.

To cheer myself up tonight, I spent half an hour replacing the corroded battery spring contacts in a $2 kitchen timer, and cleaned up some crappy wiring and soldering inside it while I was in there. Felt productive. Yes, I could have replaced it for $2 - but I like the feeling I get from keeping it out of the landfill and fulfilling a useful purpose.

Your city may have a Repair Cafe, too.

#RepairCafe #landfill #dump #repair #garbage #reduce #reuse #recycle #Chinesium

@ZenHeathen

Princess Auto is basically container-loads of cheap Chinese stuff dumped into a retail environment, with a smattering of other stuff mixed in. Some of it is junk, a lot of it is serviceable if not great, and there are a few gems mixed in here and there. A lot of it will be the same junk sold for three times the price at Cambodian Tire (marked up 5x, but permanently "40% off!", of course).

Weird tool you'll need once or twice? It's a good place to get it. Inexpensive hydraulic stuff, or a cheap small engine, or blasting beads, or brake cleaner? Sure. Hand tools you'll use all the time? Buy very carefully, and probably from their "ProPoint" "premium" line, not the regular "PowerFist" [1] stuff.

[1] Honest, this is their house brand, I swear.

#PrincessAuto #PowerFist #ProPoint #Chinesium #cheap #YumCha

Wow, these #AliExpress sellers are pretty ingenious! These 304 stainless set screws are *much* easier to pick up with a magnet than with sausage fingers.

#Chinesium #SetScrew #GrubScrew #304Stainless #StainlessSteel #fake #Qwality #magic