Tayda... What's safe to buy there vs. what to avoid???

[pickdropper]

The MLCC caps are all over the place.  Some are X series (good) some are Z and Y series (bad) and some are unspecified.  I avoid all of them and get them from Mouser.

Like others, I like their LEDs, trim pots, sockets, 9mm pots and various other bits that come to mind.  Their box caps are fine , but I prefer getting EPCOS and others from Mouser.

Almost all of their hardware is junk, the worst being any of their 1/4 plugs.  I also skip their electrolytics and cheap ceramics.  I'm not sure about their ICs, but the last Burr Brown chips I got had different markings than the ones I got from a different source.

The BC108 and BC109 transistors I got were significantly lower gain than others I have on hand.  I don't know if that just reflects current production or just theirs.

I've gotten Germaniums that were in spec and some that were out.  Every BAT41 I've received has been out of spec.

The knobs are also fairly bad.

[flanagan0718]

I've been using Tayda for a while now and here is my what to/not order from them.

To:
Resistors (although I have noticed a difference in quality between these and the ones from PPP)
LEDs
Box Caps
ELE Caps
Greenies
IC's (TL072, TL062, TL071, TL061, PT2399, JRC4558)
Transistors (haven't had ant issues with the ones I got)
Enclosures
Sockets (I've ordered the machined and spring ones both are good)
Diodes (1n4001, 1n914, 1n4148, various zener seem good)
DC Jacks (need to source the plastic nuts though, my preference)
Pots (both 16mm an 9mm work fine for me.
Knobs (all kinds)
Toggle switches

Don't
3pdt Switches (they fall apart if you need to re-solder 3 times)
1/4 Jacks (don't take solder well)
Wire (my only experience is with the solid, and god forbid you need to move it a couple times)
Ceramic Caps (utter shit)
LED holders (they are MASSIVE)
LDR s

That's just my experience and i'm kinda new to the building industry. I've also been tossing around the idea of going to mouser or avnet for most of my parts.

[aion]

I do love the 9mm pots. My only trouble is that I'm a freak about board-mounting all my pots and toggle switches, and you can't board-mount switches if you use 9mm pots because the pots are a lot shorter and there's not enough clearance for a switch. But if the circuit doesn't have switches, or your perfectly healthy brain will allow you to put them offboard, then the 9mms are great.

Really? I was just about to send off a pretty big (= expensive) board to OSHPark where I have  toggles and 9mm pots mixed. When I put them side-by-side, they look like they'll line up pretty much exactly (from aligning the deepest plastic ridge on the toggle with the metal tabs on the pot).

I might be wrong on that. I may have just done a rough visual comparison awhile ago and decided that it wouldn't fit, without doing any actual measuring. I'll check this evening and see if I was making that up.

Although, now that I think about it, I may have done it assuming an inside nut on the toggle switch. I normally put a nut on the inside as well as the outside of the enclosure just because I'd rather the tension was against the threads and not the metal frame of the switch. I broke a switch once by over-tightening the outside nut before I started doing this. The added height of the inside nut might be what made it too tall to fit.

[G.G.]

I avoid any of Tayda's hardware - switches and jacks especially.

I stopped buying their black open-frame jacks a while back. I've had a few where the nuts won't thread or stay on and had one jack disintegrate in my hand as I was tightening it down. For 10 cents more you can get a lot higher quality from BLMS. I've bought a lot of their passives and ICs and haven't really had any problems. Also their toggle switches seem pretty decent for the price. And their shipping on small orders is very reasonable.

[RobA]

...
Although, now that I think about it, I may have done it assuming an inside nut on the toggle switch. I normally put a nut on the inside as well as the outside of the enclosure just because I'd rather the tension was against the threads and not the metal frame of the switch. I broke a switch once by over-tightening the outside nut before I started doing this. The added height of the inside nut might be what made it too tall to fit.

It is tight enough that getting a nut on there is questionable. The other thing is that it depends on if it's a DP or SP type toggle. The ridge on the DP's look like they add a bit of height to how low the toggle sits. Either way, I should probably prototype it on a smaller, cheaper board before risking the big one.

[davent]

Isn't there the risk that they're sourcing a part from whomever has it cheapest at the moment and what may fit this time... next time the part is from a different manufacturer and therefore slightly different and not going to work with the board you had made up.

Their blue terminal blocks and leds are fine. 1/4' 90º jacks- trash, binding posts worthy of the round bin, flacid resistors worthless for breadboarding, the pcb mount pots (with the annoying plastic cover liberated) work well with the terminal blocks for breadboarding,  for builds hate split shaft pots and the month long wait for orders. Just no point...

Thank you Digikey and Small Bear!

[chromesphere]

The 3362P trimmers are the best deal anywhere.


Josh

I read that they are made by Alpha, same quality as the ones made by Bourns?

Ive bought bourn trimmers before and they are a million times better quality then the crappy little plastic ones tayda sell.   It was a bit of an eye opener for me actually.

Edit: I should say though the 'crappy' plastic tayda trimmers are ok for 1 off dialing in but if you need one for a test pcb or something that requires accuracy (BBD Delay) I wouldn't use them.

[pickdropper]

Isn't there the risk that they're sourcing a part from whomever has it cheapest at the moment and what may fit this time... next time the part is from a different manufacturer and therefore slightly different and not going to work with the board you had made up.

Yep, that's the risk.

[Leevibe]

Isn't there the risk that they're sourcing a part from whomever has it cheapest at the moment and what may fit this time... next time the part is from a different manufacturer and therefore slightly different and not going to work with the board you had made up.

Yep, that's the risk.

I think this sums up why I'm nervous about purchasing there. In particular, I don't see myself risking using any of their transistors or opamps.

[chromesphere]

I wouldn't worry too much about current production IC's and transistors from Tayda.  Looking at their pricing I would say they are ordering bulk direct from the manufacturer.

[Leevibe]

I wouldn't worry too much about current production IC's and transistors from Tayda.  Looking at their pricing I would say they are ordering bulk direct from the manufacturer.

That makes sense. Is it over-skeptical to wonder if these manufacturers sell B-stock?

[chromesphere]

Jon mentioned that about the alpha pots.  From my understanding alpha pots are made on a per order basis (believe it or not) so I assume that they could ask for an economy bushing or something like that to cut costs...maybe?  Not sure about transistors though but I would say probably not as it looks like they are inline with the rest of their profit margin.

[Leevibe]

In reading this thread, it's interesting that even among people who endorse buying from Tayda, there are a lot of qualifiers listed. It's definitely a buyer beware type of place. I feel like with a place like smallbear, the only qualifier is that in most cases prices aren't rock-bottom. Quality doesn't seem to ever be in question. And with a place like Mouser there is documentation for everything. It's reassuring.

[chromesphere]

I still think 90% of their offerings are good or usable.  But yeah, a bit of experience will show you what to avoid.  Also if I can get a branded component at the same or slightly more price (or sometimes even cheaper) why would I go with say, chong caps?  I still buy from them, I'm just more selective these days.

[pickdropper]

In reading this thread, it's interesting that even among people who endorse buying from Tayda, there are a lot of qualifiers listed. It's definitely a buyer beware type of place. I feel like with a place like smallbear, the only qualifier is that in most cases prices aren't rock-bottom. Quality doesn't seem to ever be in question. And with a place like Mouser there is documentation for everything. It's reassuring.

Small Bear is a nice resource.  I give them a lot more business than Tayda.  I get most parts from Small Bear, Mouser and enclosures from PPP.