Low cost components ....
A few weeks ago I bought a set of cables for some demos in my courses.
This time I went through AliExpress (usually I do not buy cheap components for my designs).
Demos were failing. Why?
It was not difficult to find the problem in the cables.
But the cables were new .... ????
I removed the plastic coverage in one of the ends of the cables. Surprise!. See picture.
Moral of the story: beware of cheap components. Be careful with very cheap capacitors, inductors, chokes, power supplies, etc. They can fail. They can burn. They can destroy the reputation of the product.
Especially, those type of failures will be more critical in production.
In Spain we say "cheap is expensive"
? EMC Consultant Specializing in EMI Troubleshooting, Design, Documentation, and Training ?
2 年I heard of a large company that purchased inexpensive USB cables, which were shielded. They failed. Why? The drain wire to ground the foil shield was against the Mylar side of the shield, not the foil side. Just watched a video by one EMC engineer who opened up a USB cable only to find it wasn't shielded at all. Things like this will keep us employed as long as we want to work.
Senior Consulting EMC Technologist & Innovator
2 年Good "catch" & advice. At least a bad cable crimp is fixable...
EMC Lab Leader at ELECTROLUX ITALIA S.P.A.
2 年a) the less you'll pay, the less you'll get. b) cheaper does not mean money saving.
Staff Applications Engineer at Monolithic Power Systems, Inc.
2 年Buying bad power suplies and equipment is a fire risk for the building and for life of humans. Buy bad - buy twice. The shown cables are easy to repair, not a big issue, but if you don`t know, can become expensive, by wasting days for a wrong measurement, day 1,3,5... has contact, day 2,4,6.... has bad contact.
AE Product Architect at Volvo Trucks
2 年When I was in University, it felt like a good idea to order a resistor kit from a cheap supplier in Asia. First, it took 2 month to arrive, and when they arrive I tried to use them, just to burn my circuit. Realized all resistors measured 1Ohm.