Anybody interested in going in on a group buy of LM6172IN’s? Sean and I split an order of the non-nopb kind several months back and I’m out of my portion. We got them from Rochester thru digikey before but now digikey says they’re out. Rochester says they have ~740left at this point. We would need to buy 120 minimum, but 120 would cost $250 plus shipping and tax. It works out to about $2.10 each. These are the kind that contain lead, they work the same, but that’s why they’re far cheaper then from mouser, and I think once they sell out of the ~740 left they’ll be gone for good. So if anybody wants to go in on some now would be a good time to do it. I’m located in Los Angeles, so keeping the group in the US would probably be easiest, but can maybe ship them internationally if need be
I’d like some, but I’m Berlin Germany… Not sure if sending costs will cancel out the savings from group buying.
I bought some of these and now offer them as an add-on option with my DIY video synth PCBs if you buy them direct from me (rather than via Raw Voltage or Thonk). Given how common they are in most of the DIY designs it’s a great idea and it makes sense for me (the PCB designer/seller) to deal with this.
A few things to be aware of, however:
Double postage costs need to be factored in, and double import duties (once for the main order, once for sending them out to people).
Rochester aren’t great to deal with:
- They don’t give you a tracking number unless you hound them;
- They take 3-4 days to respond to any emails;
- Worst of all one of my orders was completely stuffed up: some of the tubes of LM6172 were missing altogether so I had to go through their complaints process to get a credit note (no option for a refund or them sending a make-up package at their own cost), and a second different IC I had ordered from them was only shipped a month later in a separate package (which they then charged me a second postage fee for!)
- For three months after I placed my order (even after the chips had arrived) they had an open credit charge ‘hold’ for double the cost of my order on my credit card. Normally not an issue, but when it’s a multi-thousand dollar order if you’re sailing close to your credit limit this can be troublesome. I tried multiple times to get them to cancel it, all to no avail.
In summary Rochester isn’t great for smaller customers or individuals, and those cheaper bulk prices do come with some downsides.
I’ve ordered from Rochester a few times and while I haven’t had anywhere near the amount of issues you’ve had from them (ack, sorry!), they are not very responsive and my order just kinda showed up without tracking at least once.
Yeah, no worries. I have done three orders with them, two simple ones went just fine (other than radio silence) but the last one was a bit woeful. Not saying you shouldn’t go ahead (their prices are great and I’m all for anything which helps make DIY more achievable) but just want to make sure everyone is aware of worst case risks.
Thanks for the heads up. When we got them before it was thru digikey as a distributor for Rochester and didn’t have any issues, but going that route doesn’t seem to be an option anymore. And that really sucks about the credit hold thing. Do they charge a credit hold for debit or PayPal transactions too or just credit cards? I guess I’ll do some reading on their website when I get home tonight before I place the order. How long ago did you place your order that had issues @VisibleSignals ? Was it just plague related supply chain screwiness? Or is that just their standard operating procedure?
I asked about Paypal but Rochester said they only accept payment by credit card. My order was about two months ago. I don’t know how impacted by Covid they are/were obviously, but it’s certainly possible.
I’d go in on a group buy. I’d be looking to get probably about 25-30 pcs.
I recently ordered 280 from Rochester via Digi.
Looks like they still sell ‘em but it’s only in qty 140.
I’ll let y’all know how I get on with delivery and whatnot.
Theoretically will have a good amount aside from what I’m building.
If local peeps are in need - 2.36/each. (This is price with 8.5% tax and 10 shipping). local pickup in Brooklyn only. I can’t guarantee I’ll have the bandwidth to pack and ship stuff till the holidays.
Yeah I was just gonna keep shipping in the states, I didn’t really know the procedure for international shipping, and got a couple people want to put in over here. I already put the order in. And just FYI they didn’t charge me a credit hold like they did to aladan… maybe cuz I used debit instead of credit or that it was an international order. I’ll post on here about how dealing with Rochester goes, if anybody else wants to order some for themselves. They have less then 600 left of the obsolete, cheaper leaded kind now supposedly
My order was cancelled yesterday! FML
Yeah they cancelled my order too. I was looking on arrow and you can buy min120, but in multiples of 40 for like $3.15 each I think it was. But I’m guessing they order them straight from TI cuz it says there’s a 6 week factory lead time. If you wanna wait 6+ weeks with me I’ll go in with you.
Yeah arrow was my next plan. Waiting is waiting.
I doubt I’m gonna have time to even solder them till 2022 the way my fall/winter is stacked.
How many you want?
I am going to get another 200-300.
Probably like ~60. Need to do the math to find out exactly what that will cost but ideally that’s how many I’d like to get
If anyone needs LM6172s in Europe let me know. 2.8 euro per piece.
hi there…i need lm6172. how many do have?
Where could I find legit lm6172in chips to purchase from? I once bought a batch from ebay and hit gold as those worked for a cheap price! but the second batch that I ordered was ‘fake’ or just didn’t work on my working modules. I do not want to gamble to get legit or fake chips, so where can I get them at a decent bulk price? I have been on the Texas Instruments website and the price is reasonable. Anybody else recommend a site to order 6172 chips in bulk? need about 120.
Yeah, eBay sellers are not at all reliable.
Try Utsource maybe? Looks like they have 6172s in stock. I’ve ordered LT1251s from there and that went well.
I think BSO said on the Discord that Win-Source is also reliable (though I haven’t used them myself). They also have some at a halfway decent price.
Can anyone else second that Utsource is a reliable supply of lm6172in, they have a generous shipping cost compared to the shipping cost of win-source.
Thanks Sean, for responding.
yes, utsource is good