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

[GermanCdn]

One thing you have to take into account in a lot of non-US buyers is shipping costs.  I only order from Small Bear twice a year because their shipping rates to non US addresses are brutal.  Last order I placed with SB was delivered in a 6 X 6 X 6 box, total parts value was under $100, and I paid $40 in shipping.  For a $100 Tayda order I pay $15 typically.  So there's another 25% difference in price.

Long story short - order fro Tayda in smaller quantities to find what you like and what you don't to start with.

[blearyeyes]

Don't know how to delete a post......

[Stomptown]

One thing you have to take into account in a lot of non-US buyers is shipping costs.  I only order from Small Bear twice a year because their shipping rates to non US addresses are brutal.  Last order I placed with SB was delivered in a 6 X 6 X 6 box, total parts value was under $100, and I paid $40 in shipping.  For a $100 Tayda order I pay $15 typically.  So there's another 25% difference in price.

Long story short - order fro Tayda in smaller quantities to find what you like and what you don't to start with.

Is that the flat shipping cost or are there duties, taxes, fees, etc added to the cost? I ask because I just shipped a 6x6x6 box @ 1.5lbs to SK, Canada for $12! That is pretty steep! Ugh...

[alanp]

I could be wrong, but I think SB include administrative costs in their shipping -- you have to pay it, even if you pick up, according to their website.

[muddyfox]

Is that the flat shipping cost or are there duties, taxes, fees, etc added to the cost? I ask because I just shipped a 6x6x6 box @ 1.5lbs to SK, Canada for $12! That is pretty steep! Ugh...

I can only speak for my neck of EU woods but over here once a package is over $30ish in value (this is (value+shipping)! ) and/or over 500g in weight, then it gets automatically forwarded to the customs office for inspection. Nothing ever gets out of there unscathed, it's only a matter of which duties and taxes you'll get hit with, depending on the actual package content. As a rule of thumb, we're looking at 40-60% added to the (value+shipping) cost for anything coming in from outside of EU.
So for a $100 parts value from SB, I'd most likely end up paying $200+when all is said and done.

Which is why I buy a lot of small packages from Tayda, to stay under (or around) the cost limit and the weight limit. I never include more than one Hammond box in my Tayda orders. If I need three, I'll put in three orders and spread the rest of what I need across all the packages. It costs a buck or two more but really, anything that keeps me from getting molested by the customs office is fine with me.

[aion]

...
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.

I checked it this morning and it'd be pretty tight even without the nut on the toggle switch. You could get a little bit of extra height by using an internal nut on the 9mm pot to bump it up a little, but the bushing isn't very long on those so you can't get much out of them.

The other issue is that some toggles (the ones I had on hand, anyway) have the epoxy coming partway up the lug, so if the PCB comes flush against the plastic casing, the solder might not make great contact with the lug. It'll still work fine, but it just won't be as strong a joint as if the PCB was positioned a little higher.

[gtr2]

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.

I'm talking about these:

http://www.taydaelectronics.com/potentiometer-variable-resistors/cermet-potentiometers/3362p.html

Not the ones they call trimmers that are the 6mm one turns, those are junk.

Josh

[midwayfair]

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.

I'm talking about these:

http://www.taydaelectronics.com/potentiometer-variable-resistors/cermet-potentiometers/3362p.html

Not the ones they call trimmers that are the 6mm one turns, those are junk.

Josh

These are good if you need accuracy:
http://www.taydaelectronics.com/potentiometer-variable-resistors/cermet-potentiometers/3296w.html

I use the 6c "junk" ones all the time. I've never had any trouble. I do measure them first, though, if I care about getting the full marked value; their tolerance is terrible, over 20%.

[RobA]

...
I checked it this morning and it'd be pretty tight even without the nut on the toggle switch. You could get a little bit of extra height by using an internal nut on the 9mm pot to bump it up a little, but the bushing isn't very long on those so you can't get much out of them.

The other issue is that some toggles (the ones I had on hand, anyway) have the epoxy coming partway up the lug, so if the PCB comes flush against the plastic casing, the solder might not make great contact with the lug. It'll still work fine, but it just won't be as strong a joint as if the PCB was positioned a little higher.

Thanks for taking a look. The toggles I've been looking at don't have the epoxy coming up the lug, but I checked a couple in some builds I have and they do. On top of that, I have some other toggles, made by Apem I think, that are even slightly taller in the body than the Talway or Tayda toggles. So, it gets a bit more complicated. Looks like I'll need to rethink my plans. Thanks again for looking at what you have and letting me know.

[juansolo]

Well, that's the first time we've been hit for duty on a Tayda order, so that's the last time we'll be using them. When the charge is only fractionally less than the actual order, it's another source of parts out the window.

£15 import limit, fifteen fucking pounds. Utter bullshit.

/quite annoyed about it.

[LaceSensor]

Well, that's the first time we've been hit for duty on a Tayda order, so that's the last time we'll be using them. When the charge is only fractionally less than the actual order, it's another source of parts out the window.

£15 import limit, fifteen fucking pounds. Utter bullshit.

/quite annoyed about it.

what a coincidence I just got effed in the ass by the import cunts on a tayda packed too.
I think they have got wise to it. It was good while it lasted, alas.

[muddyfox]

Is what I'm saying... it appears all the EU countries have the import limit set really low. 15gbp is roughly the same as here. I circumvent it by ordering 20ish in value and <500g in weight and haven't had a problem since.
OTOH, if I had Mouser/Farnell/whatnot available to me, I probably wouldn't be ordering from Tayda or ebay at all. As it stands, crap or not, Tayda covers about 80% of my pedal parts purchases.

Luckily I don't build to sell...

[LaceSensor]

Im gonna weigh in here as I am sat bored in a hotel in Denmark on my own !

I buy a lot of stuff from Tayda, as it is affordable, the shipping is ridiculously cheap to the UK, and they seem to have a pretty good range.

Stuff I DO NOT buy from Tayda:

1 - Enclosures. I prefer to get powdercoated ones, either from bro's on here, or via Rapid in the UK. the rapid ones are excellent, but plain. They dont do cool transparent/sparkles etc. However, as the most expensive part of a pedal I can justfiy ordering in small quantities from Rapid, and in doing so shipping is free

2 - Jacks - I buy Neutrik ones from Banzai in Europe. They have high shipping but I buy 100 of them at a time and it makes it ok.

3 - electrolytics - sometimes I buy them from Tayda at a push, but as mentioned above you can get branded ones for similar prices. I use rapid.

4 - wiring. I buy tinned wire from GPCB and shielded from dr Tweek


Stuff I do happily buy and use from Tayda regularly

1 - simple ICs (TL07x etc)
2 - LEDs
3 - Box caps
4 - resistors of wierd values in small quantities. NEVER had an issue
5 - rotaries. These are the same Alpha ones as anywhere else, and they have the short lever on them, saves dremel. Not had an issue with them yet
6 - pots. Alpha. same as id buy anywhere. Cheaper. Many types.
7 - trim pots. The 3362 type are fine and work in anything ive used them in...YMMV
8 - sockets.
9 - vero. They do nice peices of pre-tinned very for peanuts.

as above I just got fucked for import, so thats added $25 to the order, so I think ill just be doing small orders that wont attract import duty from now on.

Based on peoples chat here I might look more into places like Mouser. I used them recently for some transformers I couldnt get elsewhere and the service was fine. Shipping costs are high unless you spend £50, though.

[LaceSensor]

Luckily I don't build to sell...

I sell stuff I build and touch wood never had anything fail.
if a part does fail, its likely to be the footswitch or the electrolytics, both readily fixed.

[juansolo]

We used to get stuff from Tayda (as of today if we can't get stuff through any more there's no point in using them any more). Mainly it was pots, odd enclosures and bits and bobs. Don't use them for most components anymore.