Author Archives: K J

Is it safe to buy gray market electronic components?

What Are Gray Market Electronic Components – And Are They Safe To Buy?

Chances are the low-cost rechargeable batteries that you ordered over the net failed after one or two cycles of operation. A closer inspection would have revealed the batteries were already past their shelf life when you received them. Welcome to the world of gray market electronic components, which currently forms about 6 to 8% of the total electronic components market, and makes up as much as $60 billion dollars’ worth.

Not only outdated components, even parts rejected (and preferably destroyed) by manufacturers, find their way in the supply chain. It is only after soldering the components and sending them for testing does the realization sinks in that they are not genuine. In the $300 billion semiconductor industry, such bogus components have an annual impact of up to $20 billion.

Apart from this, the gray market is also a known issue for unauthorized sale of new and branded products diverted from the authorized channels of distribution. The gray market not only makes the high-tech companies suffer, it also affects negatively consumers and other end-users of technology, such as the military and the defense. Products advertised as new and authentic could in reality be refurbished after use. They could even be counterfeit. Using counterfeit or non-conforming parts could have significant effects on the performance of the product. In the case of defense and military, these effects could also be catastrophic.

Components Direct recently conducted a study for a leading semiconductor supplier. They found over 90 million units of the products, both analog and digital devices, with over 7,000+ part numbers, were floating in the gray market. Over 80% of the products were in the Asian gray market, and 8% appeared in the EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa) and North America. More than 29% of their gray market product had date codes of less than one year, although the product age spanned several years. Nearly 15% of these products had date codes more than 11 years old.

This demonstrates that no end consumer is immune to unauthorized products, irrespective of whether you are a military sub-contractor searching for obsolete components, or an OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) looking for new products.

As the chain of supply has numerous potential points of entry, and the ability to trace the path of the product flow remains limited. This makes the gray market problem a prevalent one in most product categories. The multiple points of entry provide unlimited opportunities for unscrupulous individuals, partners or counterfeiters.

The impact of the gray market is significant and long-term. This affects the revenue, cost, brand reputation, liability and risk of the entire chain of supplies. After sales support for the product may be non-existent or it may affect the company’s profitability to maintain support since no one has paid the applicable support. This also affects the end-user operationally and financially, and it may tarnish the manufacturer’s reputation because of the lowered satisfaction of the end-user with the brand

So how do you protect yourself? Look for component suppliers that are stocking distributors. Take to the search engines to see if there are reports of the supplier having supplied bad or counterfeit parts in the past. If you are unsure, buy a sample and have it tested. While there are some scammers out there, there are also many honest and hard-working small businesses that deserve your business.

Do surge protectors save energy?

Most modern electronic gadgets are not meant to be switched off. Rather, they are placed in a state of suspended animation called standby. Gadgets in standby perform some basic background functions until their user recalls them for full functionality. The benefit to the user is an instant response from the unit against having to wait for it to resuscitate.

However, all this comes at a price. Units in standby mode need power, however small, to keep them ticking. For those powered from a battery, need to replace or re-charge their batteries more often. Those drawing power from the utilities’ outlet, consume a tiny amount of power in the standby mode, and if the design of the gadget is not proper, this may amount to energy up to one-tenth of their normal consumption when fully operating. Multiply this with the number of such gadgets all over the house or office, and you will notice the standby consumption forms a substantial chunk of the yearly electricity bill.

People use surge protectors to save their expensive electronic gadgets from going bust with high-voltage surges appearing on the power outlets in homes and offices. These are long strips of connectors allowing plug-in of multiple gadgets. Equipment connected to these strips are saved from the marauding surges because the strip has a device called an MOV inside it followed up with a fuse. The MOV shunts the high-voltage surges and prevents them from reaching the plugged-in equipment.

Apart from the connectors, MOV and fuse, the surge protector strip also has a master switch with which all the gadgets connected to the strip can be switched on or off. Irrespective of the individual gadgets being in full operation or in standby, flipping the master switch to the off position cuts off power to all equipment connected to that strip. This essentially means none of the equipment can draw any more power, not even for their standby operation.

Switching off all equipment from the wall outlet with their individual switches can be a daunting task, especially if there are a number of gadgets connected and the wall outlet switches are difficult to access. After a few days of diligence, people usually give the switching off routine a miss and the equipment remain in a standby mode, consuming their share of energy.

Since surge protectors have a master switch, it is simpler to switch off a number of gadgets at a time, and thereby, cut down on the consumption of standby power. For example, you may have a TV, a few computers, a printer and a few battery chargers hooked up to one surge protector strip. When leaving at the end of the day, switching off individually would be troublesome. However, flipping the master switch on the surge protector strip may not be a big deal.

Therefore, the proactive user is actually saving the energy by remembering to flip the switch on the surge protector strip. If the user forgets to flip the switch, the surge protector strip does not save any energy.

Protection with Surge Protectors – Why and How

If you have once had your TV, audio system and other electronic equipment destroyed by a voltage surge during a thunderstorm, you will surely know how to prevent this from happening once again. For preventing such drastic accidents, it is common to use a device called the surge protector, and to have the maximum protection, it is important to know why it is required and how it works.

Most people know of a surge protector as a long strip of electrical power connectors, which power sensitive electronic gadgets. However, two components inside the strip provide the actual protection. One of them is the Metal Oxide Varistor (MOV), and the other is the familiar fuse. The combination of an MOV and the fuse protects your electronic gadgets by limiting the voltage delivered.

Normally, all households and offices experience power surges many times during the day, including at night. The surges are generated when nearby appliances are switched on or off. Appliances such as microwave ovens, air conditioners, refrigerators and pumps switch on and switch off periodically. When they switch, they create a disturbance in the electrical supply lines, causing either a voltage dip or a voltage spike, or both. Since all electronic gadgets have a limit to the level of voltage they can withstand, any spike over and above the limit will have a damaging effect.

A thunderstorm is another factor generating a power surge. Even if lightning does not strike a home directly, it is enough if it hits a power line nearby. The power lines feeding a home can carry this surge in and can cause massive damages. Using a surge protector largely prevents all this.

The MOV inside a surge protector has a special property. As long as the voltage across it does not cross its specified limit, the MOV remains a passive device, with a very high resistance. When a surge arrives, and is above the voltage limit, the MOV lowers its resistance immediately. This causes a massive current to flow through the MOV. The increased current also flows through a fuse, which precedes the MOV, causing the fuse to blow and cutting off any further supply to the MOV and any connected gadget. In the absence of a fuse, or the fuse not blowing because of improper rating, the MOV may burn out allowing further spikes to be passed on to the gadget.

An MOV has a specific voltage rating and the spike expected at the point of use defines the rating selected. The telephone industry uses a special type of surge protection, known as Gas Discharge Tube or GDT, at specific points where the telephone lines enter a building. A GDT operates at a much higher voltage as compared to an MOV, and offers protection from higher voltage surges.

For working satisfactorily, an MOV and a GDT both need a good electrical earthing and a proper earth-wire connection.

What is a battery and how do they work?

CR2032 battery

Batteries power most of our mobile gadgets. These are small chemical powerhouses, which generate electricity by the chemical reaction within the battery housing. Although there are different types of batteries available, all batteries contain cells that have two electrodes and a chemical or an electrolyte between them. Various combinations of series and parallel connections of the electrodes make up a certain voltage rating for the battery. For ease of understanding, we will treat the battery as made up of a single cell.

One of the electrodes is the cathode or the positive (+) terminal and the other is an anode or the negative (-) terminal. Because of the reaction between the two electrodes and the electrolyte inside, there is a buildup of electrons at the anode and a corresponding lack of electrons at the cathode. Although this is an unstable condition, and the electrons want to distribute themselves evenly between the electrodes, they cannot do so because of the presence of the electrolyte and its reaction with the electrodes. An isolated battery soon reaches a chemical equilibrium, and no further reaction occurs.

If the electrons find an alternate path to travel from the anode to the cathode, they will redistribute themselves and the number of electrons will gradually reduce, forcing the chemical reaction to start over again and create more electrons. This process continues until an inert layer covers one or both the electrodes. Usually, the alternate path is through a metal wire, which is a good conductor of electricity and links the two electrodes of the battery through a load or the mobile gadget requiring power.

Electrons flowing from the anode of the battery through the external wire to the load and back to the battery cathode constitute an electric current. Since it is usual to consider the direction of current flow as opposite to that of electron flow, we commonly say current flows from the cathode of the battery through the load and back to the battery’s anode.

Since the physical size of the battery restricts the quantity of chemical inside it, the current produced by the battery is also limited. The battery specification, as mAH or AH, is the product of the current and the number of hours the battery can produce this current continuously. In general, once the chemical within the battery has depleted itself or inert material has covered up the electrodes, the battery becomes useless. However, it is possible to revive or recharge certain types of batteries. These are the rechargeable batteries.

Once a rechargeable battery depletes itself, you can charge it up again by sending a current through it in a direction reverse to what it normally produces when connected to a load. This reverses the chemical reaction inside, and the electrolyte and the electrodes return to their initial condition. You can repeat this discharging and recharging process many times, until the electrolyte exhausts itself totally, and no further revival is possible.

Tracking sleep, activity & food – the Jawbone UP app

Imagine being able to track every calorie you burn, every calorie you consume and every minute you are sleeping? We came across the Jawbone UP and are just amazed at the capabilities this app possesses. It needs to be coupled with the UP wristband to function (available on their site for about $129 or on ebay for less than $100). The app is compatible with iPhone and Android.

Here’s some of the amazing features:

Sleep and nap tracking – it tracks your sleep including the amount of light sleep vs deep sleep.

Power Nap – need a power nap? UP will let you get one in and wake you up after the perfect amount of sleep is achieved (26.5 minutes according to the UP web site).

Smart Alarm – UP will wake you up at the best possible time in your sleep cycle – this will help you feel more awake and refreshed.

Food and Drink Tracker – helps you keep track of what you eat and drink to get the whole picture of your health.

Activity Tracker – UP tracks every calorie you burn, every activity you do.

There are many more features (like a mood tracker) that you can also monitor but the bottom line is that this system helps you keep track of every bit of your lifestyle and delivers information to help you live a healthier life and encourages you to keep moving forward. Sound interesting to you? We’re hooked! We love the idea and are placing our order today for our first one. We’ll keep you posted on our experience with it.

Anti-static electronic component storage bins!

ESD Protection Bins

Great deal alert! We’re parting with some of our static dissipative stacking bins – taking them out of service in our warehouse. There’s still plenty of life available in these bins so grab them while you can at 60% off the price of new bins.

The bins are perfect for storing all your sensitive electronic components and supplies. Also ideal for a warehouse environment where you need some ESD protection.

Here are the larger size bins: Large Anti-Static Stacking Bin

And here are the medium size bins: Medium Anti-Static Stacking Bin

The price on these bins when new are $26 for the medium size and over $30 for the large size. Both sizes are stackable with an open hopper on the front side for easy access to the contents of the storage bin. Limited availability – only about 200 left.

New radial electrolytic capacitor assortment available!

Radial Electrolytic Capacitor Assortment

By popular request we’ve added an additional radial electrolytic capacitor assortment to our lineup of available products. Like our other capacitor kits, this assortment has a big range of capacitances and voltages supported. And like our other assortments, every value is individually bagged and labeled.

But here’s where this kit differs from our other previous kits – we are now able to provide a list of manufacturers and temperature ratings for this assortment so you can be sure that the capacitors in this assortment meet your needs. We’ve designed this assortment to be perfect for anyone’s workbench or ideal in a classroom setting.

Capacitor values range from 0.22uF 50V to 6800uF 10V. There are about 245 radial electrolytic capacitors included spanning 27 different values. Some of the included manufacturers are Taicon, Paccom, Sprague, NIC, Nippon, Marcon and Panasonic.

Still have audio cassettes laying around? Get a cassette to iPod converter!

OK, so maybe we are showing our age here by even talking about this but we are taking bets that we are not the only ones on the planet with a cassette collection. Yes, we’ve made the transition to CDs and now our MP3 players but we’re still hanging on to all our great music from the 80’s and 90’s with just about no way to play that music.

Enter the ‘Cassette to iPod Converter’ which we think is a great find! This device will convert your cassette tapes into MP3 files then store them on your iPhone or iPod. Insert the tape, dock your iPod or iPhone and press ‘play’ to start the conversion process. Pretty cool, huh? You can also convert the tapes to a PC (Windows7, XP or Vista required) or Mac. Priced at just under $80, we think this gadget is a great gift idea for anyone – like us – that is stuck in the 80’s!

Box Capacitors – so many in one place!

We’ve been very busy expanding another category for you: Box Capacitors. Now in stock and ready to ship are more than 60 different values of box capacitors. In general, box caps are constructed of polyester film or metallized polypropylene. Some of the more popular manufacturers are Wima, Mallory and Philips.

In addition, (and somewhat related), we’ve greatly expanded our suppression and safety capacitor category. Between both categories, there are almost 75 new products added this week alone! Look for quantity discount pricing on almost all of the capacitors.

And, as always, we do not require a minimum purchase and our first class mail shipping rates are still a very reasonable $3.50 for all US purchases up to $15.00.

11 secret controls on your iPhone headphones

If you have any Apple brand device, chances are you have at least one pair of their headphones laying around. If you use them on a regular basis, here are some tips to get the most from your Apple headphones:

During phone calls:
1 – Incoming calls: Tap the center button to answer a call
2 – Ignore a call: Long-press the center button to ignore the call – you should hear 2 ‘beeps’ and you will know that the caller was successfully sent to voice mail
3 – Swapping calls: Tap the center button once to swap calls – Hold the center button down for about 2 seconds to end the new call
4 – Disconnecting/Hanging up: Tap the center button once again to hang up

When listening to music:
5 – Toggle pause/play: Single tap the center button
6 – Skip a song: Double tap the center button
7 – Return to the previous song: Triple tap the center button
8 – Fast forward a song: Tap the center button two time; long-press the second tap
9 – Rewind a song: Tap the center button three times; long-press the third tap.

Using the camera function:
10 – Shutter Release: Tap the volume-up button to snap a picture. This trick will help you get very steady shots.

For Siri users (iPhone 4S and above):
11 – Activate Siri: Long-press the center button

Remember – any Apple device that utilizes their headphones and have these functions (i.e. iPad and iPod) can also take advantage of these features. Do you know of any headphone tricks that we’ve missed? Send them our way!