Here is something I did not expect: fake Wire-Wrap wire. I ordered it on AliExpress, as a mixed multi-color spool labeled 'Wire Wrapping Wire' by 'VT CORPORATION"

The fake wire does not work nearly as well: the insulation is too thick to fit my OK tool; the wire is thinner and flimsier, and tends to bunch up into a fistule instead of a neat wrap.

The fake wire is very close visually, but noticeably more flaccid than the real wire.

Real wire measures 0.5mm (with insulation) and fits well into my OK tool. Fake wire measures 0.65mm and the insulation does not fit into the tool.

Real wire's actual conductor is 0.25mm in diameter. Fake wire is approximately 0.21mm, technically 32ga.

Fake insulation feels more like PVC.

Go figure.

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In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice, there is. ...Jan van de Snepscheut

Probably only works with fake electrons.

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x86?  We ain't got no x86.  We don't NEED no stinking x86!

I'm not surprised at all. Sometimes you can find good deals on AliExpress but I would rather buy local if I can.
Last thing I bought on AliExpress were some heatsinks for IC's. Took three months to get here.

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Cat; the other white meat.

I measured all the WW wire I have. In addition to the bad wire and the good old stock Kynar, I have some barely usable wire that came without spools, just looped (maybe 3m), in several colours. It is .55mm with insulation and 0.23mm without. It just fits my tool and wraps OK.

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In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice, there is. ...Jan van de Snepscheut

Older thread but I just joined and this made me laugh so hard. I made the mistake of ordering parts for a 6502 build from amazon and not only did I get a fake 65c02, fake ISSI SRAM, but from this thread I have now learned that I got fake wire! I ordered that exact wire and built custom protoboard breakouts wired up with that wire and it didn't work, even after I replaced all the fake IC's, maybe that was a contributing factor Needless to say I have learned my lesson and will never again source from amazon or ebay

One's mileage may vary. I'm sure there's some crap out there. And I've never used Amazon. But in my very limited experience with EBay (5 purchases), all were entirely satisfactory. Admittedly not the quite the same sort of merchandise as what you're describing. For the record:

I got an exact replacement for a small speaker-protection relay in my Cerwin Vega subwoofer, and was very glad to be able to source the exact part, unavailable elsewhere. Ditto for a replacement thermal fuse for the motor of my friend's bathroom exhaust fan. Both of these came from China (with very inexpensive shipping).

Three larger purchases: 2 used Tektronics oscilloscopes from the USA, and, from France, a brand new, exact replacement for a hard to find stepper-motor driver board for a client.

-- Jeff

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In 1988 my 65C02 got six new registers and 44 new full-speed instructions!
https://laughtonelectronics.com/Arcana/ ... mmary.html

And to be fair the vast vast majority of stuff I've gotten from Amazon has, in fact, worked just fine. I guess, to be more specific, I will not be sourcing anything from unknown manufacturers or what appear to be resellers of IC's on Amazon in the future. Most of the stuff I've gotten on Amazon has been cheap chinese clones and they work perfectly fine. Got a box of 25 74hc595 clones and a bag of 30 CD4050BE clones that have worked spectacularly. but they were explicitly labeled as such. The 65c02 I ordered was said to be a WDC and came printed as a UMC with a WDC model # The ISSI SRAM was entirely my fault. The picture showed it in a skinny DIP package and they never even made any in that form factor.

I think this is it: you can avoid all disappointment by never doing anything... but by being careful and learning from mistakes, you can do things and get some satisfaction from it. There's no doubt in my mind, the world of global e-commerce demands a different approach from the world of the local trusted retailer.

ThisWayUp, welcome!

Perhaps your skinny DIP RAM is one discussed here?

If so, these skinny SRAMs are great.

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In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice, there is. ...Jan van de Snepscheut

Now I'm really confused. When I went to the ISSI website they had no info on any skinny DIPs made for the product #'s my IC's have. So they are functional fakes? I guess I'll have to wire it up and see what happens.

The skinny chips are passibly not ISSI, but perhaps are relabeled SRAMs of some sort... How many pins? If extra-long, there is a good chance they are SRAMs.

Although it is possible that ISSI made them in the past... I think the skinny chips were used for making caches in early PCs.

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In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice, there is. ...Jan van de Snepscheut

They are 32-pin labelled: ISSI IS61C1024-15N JV530111L 1901

These skinny parts appear in:
https://octopart.com/search?q=ISSI+IS61C1024-15N&currency=USD&specs=0
https://www.datasheetarchive.com/IS61C1024-datasheet.html

Your chip is likely a skinny version of the pinout documented here...

I think it's the real deal.

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In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice, there is. ...Jan van de Snepscheut

I bought over 300 items from e-bay so far - and maybe 3 of them or so did not work out. Naturally you have to be aware what and where you buy. Don't expect golden nuggets - and if you really find one it's like a lottery ticket

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No simulation survives contact with reality!

Well I'll be. Confusing since they don't list them as far as I can see on their own website and the newest datasheet that I can find doesn't show a DIP as an option. Well, bonus!