Chinese capacitors - names please

[Findm-Keepm]

Originally Posted by kramden66

can you guys give the names of the various chinese electrolytics and film caps or what the film caps may look like

thanks
mike

Quite simple - go to alibaba.com and search for capacitor. Alibaba is the Chinese marketplace that so many of your junk dealers buy their Chinese stuff from.

Of note, the Shenzen region is where 90% of the Chinese clone/counterfeit stuff originates from. I went to a US Customs / FTC brief on counterfeit Chinese goods in 2011 and they showed why things are made there - reliable electricity, cheap labor, and rail lines leading to the ports. No quality control, dirt floors in places making food items, and the electronics are culled for prime/seconds and scrap. Prime stuff goes to OEMs, seconds goes to the gray market/alibaba, and scrap goes to the kids that strip it for reuse of the various metals.

jb Capacitors is one cap company that spams me with a lot of offers, mostly for their film caps, all about .02c/each in 10,000 quantity. Crapola - the samples all were nice, but the other stuff wasn't even close. They offer audiophile stuff, and the greenies with their markings, but the lead time suggests someone else (??? who knows) makes them. ETR capacitors is where Justradios gets their supply of caps - same .02c each, and (in my one experience) poor quality. Others here like them, so YMMV.

I'm an Orange Drop/CDE DME/DMF cap aficionado. I use to buy the Orange drops from Mouser exclusively, but now that CDE has taken over the orange drop line, I get them from a variety of places. As for electrolytics, I stick to the high-temp Panasonics and the occasional NIC, Illinois Capacitor, and Nichicon. Panasonics are now carried with depth at Mouser and DigiKey, making whoever has them cheaper my go-to distributor. Buy more than 1 qty -the price drops sharply, and so far, they are all fresh caps.

Cheers,