[R-390] Fake Caps

[Shoppa, Tim]

Are there any websites that talk about the history of Tube Washing? I tried to use Google but it finds almost nothing that's relevant. There are plenty of examples of counterfeit semiconductors that show up with a google search!

I know that Ludwell Sibley has talked about it - confirming the heresay circling around in my youth - and I think it's even mentioned in Tube Lore.

Tim.

-----Original Message-----
From: r-390-bounces at mailman.qth.net [mailto:r-390-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Jon Schlegel
Sent: Tuesday, September 07, 2010 1:08 PM
To: r-390 at mailman.qth.net
Subject: Re: [R-390] Fake Caps

Speaking of Tube Washers...

Our purchasing dept was scrambling to find some sort of replacement 
for the RCA 3N200 RF signal MOSFET in a receiver.  This was at a time 
when the industry was really shutting down the production those kinds 
of discrete RF parts.  I had been charged with evaluating samples 
from these lower tier fab houses and distributors that purchasing was finding.

One set of samples caught my eye when as I handled them, the part 
number stamped on cases would easily rub off.  The response on these 
parts as I tested them was just as horrifying.  The curve tracer 
display was unidentifiable as anything.  What did the "supplier" 
think?  That "maybe they just won't notice"???

Jon,
WA3MVM



At 12:55 PM 9/7/2010 -0400, Shoppa, Tim wrote:
>On the subject of fake and counterfeit modern parts, IEEE Spectrum 
>notes some of the more recent issues and how they ripple up and down 
>the entire supply chain at:
>
>   http://spectrum.ieee.org/computing/hardware/bogus/0
>
>Dell's reputation is particularly hurt, see this article, "How a 
>stolen capacitor formula ended up costing Dell $300M":
>
> 
>http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/blog/2010/jun/29/dell-problems-capacitors
>
>And finally I'd like to note that while the above articles treat the 
>issue as new, I know it isn't. A half century ago the counterfeiters 
>were called "Tube washers", and they'd buy used or cheap below-spec 
>tubes, remove the markings, and relabel them with part numbers that 
>were most desirable. They could kinda work for some not-critical applications.
>
>And the military/aviation supply chain is still reeling from fake 
>mislabeled fasteners. This article is from 2007 but really the 
>problem has been around since at least the 70's (although putting 
>the blame on globalization, that's the latest twist):
> 
>http://www.verical.com/about/resources/docs/032808_AirForce_FAKE_PARTS_ARE_SEEPING_INTO_MILITARY_AIRCRAFT_MAINTENANCE_DEPOTS.pdf
>
>Tim N3QE
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