Any more info on counterfeit Nichicons?

[SkipP]

Is it safe to assume that caps bought at Radioshack are real? I have been using them for years. I am halfway through a project with 5 nichicons already soldered into place.

[LLLlllou]

Originally Posted by SkipP

Is it safe to assume that caps bought at Radioshack are real? I have been using them for years. I am halfway through a project with 5 nichicons already soldered into place.

99% chance they're real, over 100% chance they are crap brands, or general purpose series from good brands.

Radio Shack sells nothing in the low or super low ESR range that would be acceptable for PSU or MOBO repairs. For general purpose repairs they should be OK, but if you're going to pay Rat Shacks ridiculous prices, you might as well order quality caps from Badcaps.net or Digikey.

[mrmazda]

Has anyone else suspected lately counterfeit Nichicons from a major recommended/reliable/trusted vendor? The stenciling on these HNs doesn't look very good to me. The HZs don't look a lot better. Bungs all look OK. The 1800 HNs were bought last November and no longer stocked. The 820s were just bought, as were the 680s. The normal looking HMs were bought 6 months ago, but currently listed as scheduled EOL.

[theOracle]

It's really simple, just buy from the authorized Nichicon distributors (which means pretty much DigiKey & Mouser) - you will NOT get fakes from the authorized distributors, but you have a very HIGH probability of getting counterfeits if you use any sources that are not specifically called out on the Nichicon website!

you need "chain of custody" between Nichicon and you to avoid the Chinese counterfeits that are now at epidemic proportions!

Has anyone else suspected lately counterfeit Nichicons from a major recommended/reliable/trusted vendor?

just stay with the vendors listed on Nichicon's corporate website, those ARE the only "major trusted recommeded reliable vendors"

[mrmazda]

I was trying to make it clear, without naming names, that all Nichicons in the images I attached came (via USPS) from the same one of Nichicon's authorized US distributors. Before I purchased the HNs in those images, I'd never seen such fuzzy stenciling anywhere except on web site examples of counterfeits.

[theOracle]

where are you getting your information that this distributor is authorized? - from the Nichicon website I hope?

Nichicon has not made these three old series you mentioned in a long time, no authorized distributor is gonna be selling old capacitors, the only H-series capacitors that are current production are HD, HE, HV, and HW

I remember buying HN's and HM's on closeout several years ago!

PS Nichicon only has 4 authorized distributors in USA that keep inventory in stock, they are:

Digi-Key
Mouser
Newark
Arrow - Verical division

[SIDMX]

Originally Posted by mrmazda

...The stenciling on these HNs doesn't look very good to me...The 820s were just bought, as were the 680s

Originally Posted by mrmazda

...I'd never seen such fuzzy stenciling anywhere except on web site examples of counterfeits.

Well those stencils doesn't look that bad to me, if datecodes in HZ are from 2 years ago like the HN it may be just the result of handling in the warehouse.

Originally Posted by theOracle

...Nichicon has not made these three old series you mentioned in a long time, no authorized distributor is gonna be selling old capacitors, the only H-series capacitors that are current production are HD, HE, HV, and HW...

I don't know about HN or HZ but HM was still in production at least in Q1 of present year.

[theOracle]

Originally Posted by SIDMX

Well those stencils doesn't look that bad to me, if datecodes in HZ are from 2 years ago like the HN it may be just the result of handling in the warehouse.
I don't know about HN or HZ but HM was still in production at least in Q1 of present year.

I think they continued to make some of the older H-series for some corporate clients after they were discontinued from distribution

[chungwy]

Just bought 3x Nichicon 6.3V 820uF off an ebay seller.
Used a tester on them and it returned 2000, 2500 and 3000 uF.
Are these fakes? and are they safe to use in a motherboard?

[pc7fan]

What?! Is your tester good? About 3x the nominal value is impossible lol

[chungwy]

yea pretty sure the tester is good.
I tested many other caps on it and they all look good.
these are the only batch that are tested out of range.
all three caps are from the same seller. I don't get it...

[theOracle]

Nichicon only has 4 authorized distributors in USA that keep inventory in stock, they are:

Digi-Key
Mouser
Newark
Arrow - Verical division

the first two for sure are just as low cost as ebay, and you are absolutely getting genuine caps!

AVOID ebay for capacitors! - I'm serious!

[rollme]

Originally Posted by theOracle

where are you getting your information that this distributor is authorized? - from the Nichicon website I hope?

Nichicon has not made these three old series you mentioned in a long time, no authorized distributor is gonna be selling old capacitors, the only H-series capacitors that are current production are HD, HE, HV, and HW

I remember buying HN's and HM's on closeout several years ago!

PS Nichicon only has 4 authorized distributors in USA that keep inventory in stock, they are:

Digi-Key
Mouser
Newark
Arrow - Verical division

I got these from Newark about a year ago. Since they are samples, maybe they had some NOS to give away.

[mariushm]

The series were discontinued a while ago, but Digikey and Newark/Farnell still show some capacitors from those series (just some combinations of capacitance/voltage, not whole ranges).
Guess they're whatever they still have in stock.

Last HM and HN series capacitors I bought were from Farnell, around April or May this year. Not sure exactly when.

[mockingbird]

According to a certain Nichicon distributor I spoke with this week, Nichicon is still accepting orders for HZ series.

[Jooo]

Just something that caught my eye...

The end of the sleeving is not perfectly round on any of these caps. They were in sealed factory bag, and were from authorised distributor so I have no reason to believe that they are fakes... They are all exactly like that, so I guess they had some problems with their machines that week.

[theOracle]

I see nothing in your photos that looks incorrect about these caps - and I have been using these for a long time!

[ben7]

Originally Posted by theOracle

I see nothing in your photos that looks incorrect about these caps - and I have been using these for a long time!

Yeah they look good to me.

I think you might be worrying a little too much xD
But don't hesitate to post pics here if you find some that you are not sure about, or that look like counterfeits.

-Ben

[AleXis6]

I am from Belarus and it is not easy to buy really genuine Nichicon caps for appropriate price.
could you help me to understand the following:
1. if size is fully corresponded with the datasheet and the capacity and ESR also (I have Uni-t 622c for measurement) what should I check further?
2. the color of insulating sleeve must be the same inside of 1 series?
for example each capacitor inside of HE series must have same color sleeve. yes?
3. please look at the attached pictures
all are non genuine?



size, esr are corresponded to the datasheet,
but sleeve sits not accurate

4. thermal shrinkage has stripes

thank you

[theOracle]

Hello from USA - sadly, although these capacitors are poorly made counterfeit, you can no longer go by looks - because I have seen some fake counterfeit Nichicon and other counterfeit Japanese capacitors which look perfect and genuine. The only way to ensure you are getting real genuine Nichicon is to order from authorized distributor - but here is the good news, the largest authorized Nichicon dealer in USA has an office for Belarusian customers also!! - DigiKey is the largest and most respected capacitor distributor in America and in the world, any capacitor they sell will be genuine. And their prices are very low. I have been ordering from them since the 1970's

Digi-Key
701 Brooks Avenue South,
Thief River Falls, MN 56701 USA
Language: Russian, Belarusian, English
Phone: 000.800.100.1274 or +1.218.681.7979
Fax: +1.218.681.3380
Web Site: www.digikey.by
E-mail: [email protected]
Territory: Belarus