Really bad construction quality, or is it just me?

[amando96]

Hi, bought a cheap wal-wart ages ago to power my breadboard projects, and now i took it to pieces to look for a 150uF cap
anyway, i was shocked with the crap quality of build!
look at this:
**broken link removed**
:O
here are some other images with a larger resolution to spot the bad soldering, and the very bad quality of the transformer.

https://i49.tinypic.com/2ypdfk8.jpg
https://i45.tinypic.com/or7d4j.jpg
https://i46.tinypic.com/2nluxbk.jpg
https://i46.tinypic.com/242vmlu.jpg

right, so those really small white wires go into the wall plug... i'm surprised this didn't catch fire...
and on the last picture, notice the cut wires, it wasn't me! already like that :S

 

[Hero999]

Yes, it's typical of cheap Chinese crap.

 

[Boncuk]

I guess it must have been awefully expensive.

The transformer iron packet is hand made!

 

[Vizier87]

how much is it? cheap chinese stuff are always priced generically.

 

[Hero999]

I guess it must have been awefully expensive.

The transformer iron packet is hand made!

Maybe not, Chinese labor is cheap.

 

[Sceadwian]

Hero... I believe Boncuk was trying to use sarcasm in that post...

 

[Triode]

Whats sad is that in one or two years, all the crap we bought from china will be broken and thrown away, but they'll still have the status as the richest nation in the world that we traded them for all of it.

 

[Sceadwian]

It's not going to be so cut and dry as that =)

 

[audioguru]

They use their teeth as wire strippers then swallow the stripped pieces for nourishment.

They should charge extra for the neat buzz from the loose transformer laminations.

I have a cheap Chinese wal-wart that gets hot with or without a load. It is quiet so maybe its transformer core is solid and not laminated.

 

[Reloadron]

Really bad construction quality, or is it just me?

Naw, it's just you.

<sarcasm>

What you and apparently anyone else fails to notice is the transformer's laminations are that way by design. The gaps allow for a special form of convection cooling so the unit will run better and have a long life. The soldering is also superior because as anyone should know the bigger the blob the better the job. You need 4 diodes for the full wave bridge and you have 4 diodes plus a big capacitor tossed in for exceptional filtering. The unit is a work of art.

</sarcasm>

Ron

 

[audioguru]

I think the solder joints were made by dripping hot solder from a height.
I think the two diodes that are nearly touching should have been soldered together for reliability.

 

[Sceadwian]

Nahh AG, I don't think they give these guys soldering guns, what they do is put a little piece of solder in their hands and rub them together really fast and then press it on.

 

[audioguru]

I had a soldering gun about 52 years ago.

 

[Reloadron]

I had a soldering gun about 52 years ago.

Hey, don't be knocking a gun. I still have my 120 Watt Weller gun.

Actually the thread timing on this is pretty funny as yesterday we had one of these fail. WE are in the market for something else but when it failed we swapped it out and same problem. When doing the swap we neglected to swap the power supply a glorified wall wart. Supposed to be 12 V @ 2.5 A. As we sat there looking stupid I suggested we swap the power supply. Sure as hell that is what it was so I opened the failed unit. It would come up and regulate at 12 volts right till a small load was applied and it would fold over down to 6 volts and fluctuate. Even when the load was removed it would not recover.

While I was screwing around with the thing one of the guys wanders up and I show him what is going on and he ask why it was doing that. I pointed to the label, he looked at it and looked back at me perplexed so I said what part of the large letters "Made In China" did you not understand?

That unit I linked to is a $3,500 and you would think it would have a decent power supply. They are made in Akron, Ohio and the reason we are quitting using them is we figure for much less we can get a much better device.

Chinese soldering? Here is another example from a home computer 12VATX power supply. They build this junk so we can use landfil space.

Ron

 

[Sceadwian]

Gods, even the first time I tried soldering without knowing what I was doing I'd have done better than that.

 

[Reloadron]

I don't think they have a handle on board wash either.

Ron

 

[tcmtech]

I don't see where the griping about Chinese junk is so warranted when many of our American manufacturing systems where putting junk on the shelf (and still are) Decades before they where.
Who do you think taught them how to do it so well?

 

[audioguru]

The manufacturer of the solder used the wrong chemicals in the flux and used too much.
I made thousands of projects with name-brand rosin-core solder and I never had excess solder that needed removal.
My solder was always English, not (cough choke) American solder. Kester solder is awful.

Maybe because I have used a Weller temperature controlled soldering iron for about 44 years.
The Chinese do soldering with a metal bar heated in burning dung. The rosin is made of dung. They have dung all over the place and do anything to get rid of it.

Open a Chinese radio and guess what is inside? DUNG! Lots of it. Hee, hee.

 

[Hero999]

I like transformers like that because they can easily be dismantled and rewound to any voltage I like.

 

[killivolt]

Now that's cool you should do one video the result. That would be worth it. I don't think anyone even thought about that one at least I didn't.

It would be nice for someone to figure out how to get the wire gauge you need off another transformer that may just go into the trash of an un-used or broken product.

You have me thinking about that one. (Admittedly) I don't think I have the time or the energy for it.