Counterfeit eBay TO-3 Transistor Teardown

[@signalworks]

Your videos are getting better and better. Thanks for spending the time and effort to tear down these tough packages!

[@WizardTim]

I’m very glad to hear all the time, effort and money I’ve put into those videos shows, thanks for watching them. Hopefully I’ll have some even better ones to share ‘soon’.

[@y_x2]

No it is not a usefull video. No info at all. Booh.

[@emolatur]

$9.73 wow... I remember using the 3055 (and its complement the 2955) in everything because they were dirt cheap! Two bucks each from Radio Shack in 1993.

[@detalite]

$2 from 1993 is $4.50 in 2024 and 2N3055 has not been used in new designs for 30 years or more so the price goes up.

[@soundspark]

You can buy part number 2N3055G from ON Semiconductor at Mouser for $4.73 for a single.

[@Konrad_K.]

Super interesting thanks, have myself bought transistors off eBay when i was starting out, but thank god those times are over

[@bigdog8008]

Rochester is actually a *good* source for parts. They get dies from the original mfr and will make the final transistors when the need arises.

[@WizardTim]

Interesting, I once considered them when looking for an obsolete part, they claimed to have ‘9,999,999 In Stock - Immediate’ for a stupidly low price, I looked a little further and found they had enormous quantities of some parts to the point of needing several shipping containers to store that much. Although looking back at those parts now they seem to have more believable quantities.

[@SeanBZA]

That is a 2N3773 in there, most likely salvaged parts from ewaste that were bought in bulk, and they just washed them in an ultrasonic cleaner, to get rid of all markings and debris, then painted the top, likely using a simple foam roller and a big piece of board with holes for the pins. You can get any part there in the TO3 can, could be a voltage regulator, could be a double diode, could be a Mosfet, could actually even be a 2N3055. Only requirement was that the stripper did not recognise the part number as matching their small number of known parts, or it was illegible, so they go in the pile of fake parts. Would be interesting to order a few over time from the cheapest suppliers, in 100 lots, after doing the first order for 10, because the repeat sale is guaranteed to be almost all fake parts.

[@WizardTim]

If that's the case then they did a pretty good job (apart from the terrible paint job), normally when I get e-waste components they're usually very obvious with scratches, bends and soldered or rusted leads but those were in surprisingly good condition which confused me greatly. I did see a couple blog posts about people buying from Alibaba large lots of components, first small sample is all genuine, later large batches are all counterfeit.

[@SeanBZA]

@@WizardTim First grade reject parts then, or they took them and put through a rotating plating bath to make the pins and case all shiny again. Just needs a thin nickel coat to look good, and that can be done fast.

[@cbalf15]

Just bought a soldering station off of Amazon, when it arrived - something was loose inside. Took it apart and the cap of the 2N3773 was off and was rattling when moved. Internally, it looks exactly the same as in your video - including the white substance…. It’s probably counterfeit. Any tips on how to secure the cap back on? Or just roll without it???

[@michealmorrow1481]

You left us with a counterfeit review. You did not run it and see if it would perform as expect for a 3055. That would be the REAL test. Too bad you forgot to do it.

[@WizardTim]

Yea, unfortunately I couldn't test them fully as I don't have a PSU that can do either 60 V or 15 A, most I could do easily was 30 V or 3 A so I just titled the video 'teardown' and called it a day. In the future when I can afford some nicer equipment I might measure their breakdown voltage and their max current capabilities but I have many other videos planned before revisiting this. I did use them at about 15 W ea. for about 100 hours and they survived.

[@hullinstruments]

Exactly. I keep half a dozen or more wavelengths of UV light in my lab for things just like this. And it will show up completely different under the different wavelengths. Which is helpful and sometimes needed because only one wavelength reveals the truth

[@bassobalalaikka5005]

Hi nice video. at about 5:40 you use plastic ruler to scrape paint, even better tool is a aquarium/ceramic stovetop cleaner, that has razor blade resembling but much thicker blade, that can scrape even epoxy paints. another trick: use U light to see if there is any residue of older markings after you have removed the paint.

[@SilveniumTheDrifter]

Saw you comment on one of bigclive's videos - ya got a new subscriber from me!

[@arneritter9801]

the 2n3055 is for museum ...in the 80`s we had lots of amps from the 70`s with these f.....s in it. there were some from RCA . there were 2n 3055E`s, 2N3055H`s. E meaning Epitaxial, H meaning Hometaxial, whatever it means..... they died like flies. after a while we came to the conclusion to replace them with 2n3773`s. they kept the word the 3055 promised

[@MarekPaszek]

If you use thermalvision on metal of metal or silicone. Use first high temperature black mate spray paint! ;)

[@andygozzo72]

i've seen almost definitely genuine ST transistors that did have 'painted' tops , but if its spilt over the side, sounds iffy....

[@pfadiva]

That wire bonding is not the best. It lifted from the post and die instead of breaking at the heel. I used to do a lot of destructive physical analysis on hermetic parts for a defense contractor. I'm also wondering what that substance was on the surface of the die and running down to the pedestal. I'm certain that shouldn't be there.

[@WizardTim]

Yea the wire-bonding is pretty bad, it very easily separated from the post with the slightest force. The white substance is some sort of silicone resin, in this example it's poorly applied but others I've seen they selectively apply it to the bonds on the die and the post, my guess is it's to prevent mechanical vibration from breaking the rubbish bonds.

[@qwertykeyboard5901]

"defense" yes. "defense". "Our warfare is to defend our country" says the American. All the other countries laughed.

[@membola]

nice video! just found your channel

[@fabiotrevisan8922]

Maybe a little late comment but, on the subject of this transistor markings, even though it seems rather fishy, St electronics indeed do this kind of markings on their TO-3 parts... I mean, the whole top of the can painted on this thick and bad looking silver paint, and then the part number and lot markings that looks like tampon printing (Pad printing is the correct term), or sometimes seems like inkjet printing. The die also looks quite large and quite well made for a fake, so it's more likely a relabelling of a genuine transistor of another part number, which can be either a slightly less capable part, or some obscure part that is less sought after. Only thing that really looks bad, is the heat spreader that is too small and too thin for a 115W part. A heat spreader taking all the can area, and twice as thick would be more what one would expect.

[@michamaecki8104]

On TME they have couple thousands 2n3055 for under 2$/piece, and something like 1$ when you buy 100pcs.

[@SpinStar1956]

Would have like you to have parametrically tested it against a known good one. In my mind, the case must be more expensive than the die. Plus, if a company (like this eBay seller) puts out reliable devices, they should have a great amount of business given the popularity of the 3055 and its counterfeits...

[@hernancoronel]

Maybe hobbyists can create a DB of fake chips and its attributes to somehow reuse them for the original intended purpose rather than the painted one! Thanks for the video!

[@Francois_Dupont]

can you please link me the schematic of the constant current dump you were planning to make with them? i currently use a 317 regulator and a big ceramic resistor as a 1amp~ constant current load. i am looking into other circuit.

[@WizardTim]

www.ti.com/content/dam/tinews/images/blogs/category/power-management/wwe/schematic/Constant-current-discrete-LED-circuits.JPG Previously all my other constant current devices use something like the design on the right, I still prefer this design and it typically has a more useful voltage range but, I wanted to try out using a BJT like on the left because it doesn't need and op-amp and thus is a bit simpler to build and slightly cheaper.

[@Francois_Dupont]

@@WizardTim ohh, i understand thank you very much!

[@englishrupe01]

Great job......thanks

[@dashofawesome64]

Didn't you had some video of a resistor in resin to show us the inside. Or was that someone els that did that i am confused.

[@WizardTim]

Yes that was in the last video although it wasn't the main focus of the video. kzbin.info/www/bejne/aZ3Uo2l5drSqfpY

[@user-oc2tk5my9t]

LCSC have Onsemi for less than 6 USD for a pcs... For Chinese part it is 1+ USD, so there is an incentive to counterfeit, although I would prefer genuine Chinese instead of same part sold as genuine...

[@iceberg789]

there are both good and bad quality fakes. stress test one under load, and may be you will get some idea of the bunch.

[@tahirsbrbt4246]

Often find fake transistors on ebay

[@stevenbliss989]

Yep TO-3 are VERY COOL, and so are large inductors, all sci-fi cool stuff!!!!!!!!!!! :) :) :)

[@stevenbliss989]

Yep the ST 2N3055s are FAKE and will handle far less current, which in your case might be ok! :) The die you showed is NOT ok, it is half the are it should be!