4 ms·

So ironic. I always keep the idea of getting parts from disassembly as an example of things that you can do at small scale that aren’t viable at larger scale.

So ironic. I always keep the idea of getting parts from disassembly as an example of things that you can do at small scale that aren’t viable at larger scale. i.e. as a hobbyist you can’t compete with a large manufacturer w.r.t. large orders that get low per unit costs, but you can repurpose old parts cheaper (for your metric for cost) than they can.

varispeed 5y ago
That's what many smaller manufacturers have been doing. Tracking down consumer electronics that contains required chips, desoldering, cleaning and then soldering on their devices. It's a manual work, but can be done quickly depending on a chip. There are some assemblers in China that are doing this too, but pricing is prohibitive for most cases. For instance, a chip that cost $9 before the crisis now costs >$100 + assembly. A toy with the same chip you can get for $5-$15 depending on volume, then it is 10 minute labour to remove the chip, clean it and put it on the target PCB (I do not include the final cleaning time).
- VLM 5y ago
  If you watch youtube videos about switching power supply teardowns, like "diodegonewild" you'll see that no-name switching power supplies from China generally have fake electrolytic capacitors now a days. If your circuit needs a 400 V 5 uF cap, just desolder and peel off the label on literally "any" capacitor then put a shrink sleeve label saying 400V 5uF and call it good. If it handles 400V that's great for everyone, if it doesn't, then just blame the customer for misuse or make it too hard to return a $2 no-name phone charger. Put a well regarded label on the fake cap, I suspect China ships more caps with ChemiCon labels, than ChemiCon themselves actually manufacture, LOL.
  - HeyLaughingBoy 5y ago
    I remember making someone on arduino.cc angry because I pointed out that it was very unlikely that Omron actually made the relays on their $6 relay "shield." Or, if they were genuine Omron relays, probably were pulled off other equipment. My first employer (early 90's) would buy large lots of "pulls" for a fraction of the price that Arrow, Future or Digi-Key charged for new components. I'm guessing those sources are still available, just not as widely publicized these days.
    - buescher 5y ago
      Relays drop in price with volume much faster than many other parts. I'd believe it if it were 12v "sugar cube" types, which a quick search tells me it probably wasn't.

varispeed 5y ago

That's what many smaller manufacturers have been doing. Tracking down consumer electronics that contains required chips, desoldering, cleaning and then soldering on their devices. It's a manual work, but can be done quickly depending on a chip. There are some assemblers in China that are doing this too, but pricing is prohibitive for most cases. For instance, a chip that cost $9 before the crisis now costs >$100 + assembly. A toy with the same chip you can get for $5-$15 depending on volume, then it is 10 minute labour to remove the chip, clean it and put it on the target PCB (I do not include the final cleaning time).

VLM 5y ago
If you watch youtube videos about switching power supply teardowns, like "diodegonewild" you'll see that no-name switching power supplies from China generally have fake electrolytic capacitors now a days. If your circuit needs a 400 V 5 uF cap, just desolder and peel off the label on literally "any" capacitor then put a shrink sleeve label saying 400V 5uF and call it good. If it handles 400V that's great for everyone, if it doesn't, then just blame the customer for misuse or make it too hard to return a $2 no-name phone charger. Put a well regarded label on the fake cap, I suspect China ships more caps with ChemiCon labels, than ChemiCon themselves actually manufacture, LOL.
- HeyLaughingBoy 5y ago
  I remember making someone on arduino.cc angry because I pointed out that it was very unlikely that Omron actually made the relays on their $6 relay "shield." Or, if they were genuine Omron relays, probably were pulled off other equipment. My first employer (early 90's) would buy large lots of "pulls" for a fraction of the price that Arrow, Future or Digi-Key charged for new components. I'm guessing those sources are still available, just not as widely publicized these days.
  - buescher 5y ago
    Relays drop in price with volume much faster than many other parts. I'd believe it if it were 12v "sugar cube" types, which a quick search tells me it probably wasn't.