So, What's the Deal With Tayda Electronics???

[danfrank]

Hi Everyone,
This has probably been discussed before but I couldn't find anything to my liking for an explanation...
I'd love it for anyone to chime in with their experiences / opinions on Tayda Electronics...
I LOVE their prices! But something about them doesn't sit right with me, along the lines of too good to be true. Lol!
What I'd love to know is what is OK to buy from them and what type of parts from them should I steer clear of?
Their Alpha pots look great, I find their actual resistance tolerances much closer than other vendors. BUT... Their zener diodes look, how shall I say this... Not genuine. Lol!
So, what's good to buy at Tayda and what should people steer clear from when buying from them?
Thanks in advance...
Dan

[Willybomb]

Everything I've needed and been able to get from Tayda, I have.  In 10 years, I've had 1 dud TL072.

[madbean]

The only components I buy from Tayda are trimpots, some 9mm pots and LEDs. Also sockets because they are so cheap. Since I buy most of my components in bulk I stick with Mouser and smallbear. I'd rather spend a little more and get components that I know are going to be in spec and not remainders or rejects (a number of people have speculated this to be the case with Tayda and their pricing).

Some people have no trouble with parts they source there. A number of build problems over the years here have come from bad IC's from Tayda. IIRC, there were a few problems with charge pumps. It's truly YMMV.

[jimilee]

I get most of my stuff from Tayda. Have for as long as I've been building. You so come across bad components occasionally. Their resistors have gotten so much better, the leads are as thick as the ones from mouser as of late.

I will tell you this, their name on eBay is Thai Smile if that gives you any indications as to where their parts come from.


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[mjg]

I get mostly pots from them, never had any issues.  Resistors and caps also fine, and the resistors are better lately, as Jimi mentioned.

Enclosures are cheap, not the same quality as a genuine Hammond.   For self building they are definitely fine.

I basically order from them a lot as I'm located outside the USA, and it's not worth the USA postage to get anything from mouser or small bear. 

I will note that with COVID, postage from Tayda is definitely slow at the moment.  40 to 50 days from Thailand to Australia. 

[Haberdasher]

I shop there from time to time.  I like the royal ohm resistors.  As bean said, their trimmers are good.  9 and 16mm pots seem ok to me.
The things I tend to avoid the most are the jfets, although I have gotten good ones.  If you just need one for a buffer you can probably trust it, but I've noticed lots of them are out of spec for other things like phasers.
I don't generally use their super cheap ceramic or electrolytic caps but sometimes they've done me in a pinch.  The film caps seem to be fine.
A lot of their toggle switches I've bought there are a bit cheap feeling, but recently they've started carrying some better quality ones.
IC's I've generally had ok luck with.  I won't think twice about using a CD4049 or LM324 or such from them, for example.  I've gotten bad LM13700's and PT2399's there before, though!

[Willybomb]

I will note that with COVID, postage from Tayda is definitely slow at the moment.  40 to 50 days from Thailand to Australia.

That's interesting.  My last order was during COVID (was a while ago though), and I still got it in 5 days, iirc.

[matmosphere]

I've never really had issues with them. Some of the IC's are noisier, PT2399 for sure aren't as good, but I've never had an issue with a tl072 or a 4558. Biggest problem I've had we're some bad cheap electro caps, and some bad voltage regulators. 78l05 or similar. Every resistor I've ever measured from there was in spec (for given tolerance) and the grey box caps are fine too. Recently they've started selling Wima caps and Panasonic electro's, I've ordered some of both and they seem good so far.

There stomp switches are cheap and the epoxy seems to go fast unless you're super quick soldering, so beware.

I also recently tried there SMD fets and they seem fine.

[mjg]

I will note that with COVID, postage from Tayda is definitely slow at the moment.  40 to 50 days from Thailand to Australia.

That's interesting.  My last order was during COVID (was a while ago though), and I still got it in 5 days, iirc.

Wow, you might have got lucky!  My last two orders took 40 and 50 days.  Shipped via DHL, the tracking showed them sitting in Thailand for 2 weeks, Singapore for 2 weeks, Australia for 2 weeks, etc. 

5 to 10 days is what I'd normally expect. 

[Willybomb]

I remember that it was arriving faster than stuff from the mainland....

[p_wats]

I get almost everything from them (aside from wire and some special parts here and there) and have rarely had any issues, but I don't build in the volume of some of the folks here, so YMMV.

One thing that always bugged me is they have never allowed any of my negative product reviews to publish on the site (I bought a few of their DC jack ends and the casing just crumbles every time---very inferior to the ones from Smallbear). I asked why the negative reviews weren't published and they said they don't always have time, but they always seem to have time for the positive ones, so go figure. This was years ago though, I haven't bothered with any product reviews there since, so maybe it has changed?

At the moment they have decreased their shipping options (to Canada, at least) due to Covid, so it's not worth it for me right now, as DHL always hits me with extra taxes/duties (unlike USPS).

[matmosphere]

They also have some jacks that are like $.50 each that I use all the time.

I did a couple orders with the 4-5 day (Cost an extra 4-5 bucks) shipping upgrade last month And they came in that time frame if not faster.

[jjjimi84]

I primarily order from them and have no issues, although I stay away from most transistors and "rare" parts. I use Lovemyswitches.com knobs, 1/4 jacks and formerly enclosures. I use hawk electronics for all enclosures from now one since the selection of hammond stuff is incredible, Small bear and mouser handles everything else.

[aion]

Pots! Ever since they started carrying the Alpha 16mm right-angle type with 1/4" (6.35mm) shaft that's about all I use for prototyping. They have way too many pot configurations for the type of browsing interface they use though, so it can be difficult to find the exact type you need. The pots are slightly different from Small Bear, definitely not the same manufacturer (there are like 3 different companies called Alpha and they're apparently unaffiliated) - but I've never had any issues. The pots do include dust covers preassembled too which is great. Tayda was a lifesaver while Small Bear was out of commission during the pandemic.

Their 9mm pots are also great, although I don't use that format in my designs anymore.

For semiconductors and passive components, it's hit or miss. I order everything from Mouser so I don't have to worry about the miss.

For hardware, I avoid everything they sell because so much of it is low quality and you never want hardware to be a point of failure. Maybe OK for home/prototyping use but I'd never use really any of their hardware for production builds.

[Bio77]

I buy, pots, knobs, trims, IC mounts, resistors, transistors, LEDs, and enclosures from Tayda regularly.  I like them, in general, and the shipping is cheap to the US.

I especially like the way their resistors come (strung together like a native American chest piece).  It makes spec-ing them all in one pass easy.  I have occasionally gotten resistors that are out of spec, but I usually buy a lot and I can just pitch the bad ones.  I also really like their enclosures, but others here do not like them.  I'm not sure they are powder coated, the paint is really thick.

I buy chips and caps from Mouser or equivalent.  I have bought chips from Tayda, but I had some trouble with a PT2399, so, decided not to risk it.

I buy switches and jacks from Lawrence (BLMS) and all the hard to find stuff from Small Bear.