EEVblog #1248 - INSANE A 0.02% Process Meter for $9? WTF

[thm_w]

Updated readings:
- pin 14 on the ADS1232 is the input for the V and mV ranges. It is protected with 100R, a big cap, and some kind of zener or schottky diode.
- On both the working and non-working meter, *the same* voltages reach pin 14:
- 0.495V with 5V input (V)
- 0.555V with 50mV input (mV)

The mV range does work on both meters, which is confusing because that means the ADC and front end is working fine. Unless the reference is being screwed with when we range switch (should be the 2.5V diode below the chip), I can't see how this is not firmware or CAL related.

I'll add the ADC to my schematic tomorrow, and maybe get some idea of how the reference zener is being controlled.

[Kjelt]

so... what am I supposed to do with this process meter ?

You actually got one or is this a hypothetical question 
The reason everyone ordered this meter was to curse and insult the chinese sellers, that part succeeded.

[DenCraw]

Hi.
Happened to me the same.
I want to thank for all the comments and tell you that i have learned the lesson.

this was the conversation. (Grammar-Alert no English speakers)

......................................

-HAHAHA Lifestyle Store:
Dear friend,
We have been informed by the logistics company that your package has been returned by the shipping company
We are sorry to tell you that our provider informed us
The products are defective in material and function
And we have to return all these items to the factory
or a safety inspection until the problem is resolved
Meanwhile, to protect your right,
What if we fully reimburse PayPal?


-Me:
I have paid with my credit card.



-HAHAHA Lifestyle Store:
Yesterday 06:19
Dear buyer,
Thanks for your reply
To avoid the service charge, how about we reimburse you for aliexpress?
In this case, you can open a dispute, but choose the reason "A. Personal reasons
B. Easy return
C. The shipping method was not as described "and then inform us?

Follow the steps below:
1-the first section, select return and refund.
2-After that, choose a personal reason.
3-Then choose I ordered by mistake or I no longer need the product.
4- Then put the amount to be refunded.
5-then in the last section ask to specify why I request a refund. You can write what I ordered by mistake.
but don't worry, we will accept the dispute to refund you last
Are these steps okay?
Please advise me,
Nice day



-Me:
Dear seller, what guarantees do I have that you will accept the dispute as presented?
(i have opened a dispute telling what really happened)


-HAHAHA Lifestyle Store:
You haven't opened the dispute we asked for, it really hurts a lot now, we can't accept it
really sad that we want to save your money but you hurt us
08:55

-Me:
Look. The world needs changes. You have sold a fake or defective product. who hurts who here?
You must be the first to return the money with honor, acknowledging your mistake.

You have asked me to open a dispute in such a way that, by simply denying the dispute, you will leave me with nothing to defend myself.
The procedure you ask me is dishonest and does not represent the truth of what happened.
The truth is that you has sold a bad product, you withdraws your product from the market and then wants to leave the business unscathed.
Well, it won't be like that. Whether or not you return the money, I always win.
Because I was honest and you were not.
maybe, for you, Honesty, doesn't go along with business, ... for me, it does.
best regards.

[maginnovision]

Updated readings:
- pin 14 on the ADS1232 is the input for the V and mV ranges. It is protected with 100R, a big cap, and some kind of zener or schottky diode.
- On both the working and non-working meter, *the same* voltages reach pin 14:
- 0.495V with 5V input (V)
- 0.555V with 50mV input (mV)

The mV range does work on both meters, which is confusing because that means the ADC and front end is working fine. Unless the reference is being screwed with when we range switch (should be the 2.5V diode below the chip), I can't see how this is not firmware or CAL related.

I'll add the ADC to my schematic tomorrow, and maybe get some idea of how the reference zener is being controlled.

I was busy tonight so didn't get to check anything. I will try and look tomorrow or wednesday though. I thought the readings were ok, just not the outputs, I'll have to check again though since it's been a while. I also want to try holding the button down to see if it stops. On mine as soon as they start to output it's 1V/100ms until 11V and it restarts.

[Smokey]

More Manbo life store bullshit:

Dear friend,
we want to resend,but we have no stock now
would you mind choose other item with similar price in our store?
or do you have other solution ?
we try our best to solve the problem
best regards

Dispute opened.

[Brumby]

I have also opened a dispute against Manbo Life Store.

In my "evidence" I included the conversation between them and myself, plus a link to this thread.


Now waiting for the bleating.

[JackJones]

I just got my money back from Manbo store. Of course Aliexpress is the one who made that decision, Manbo tried to wriggle out of it until the end.

[amspire]

I just got my money back from Manbo store. Of course Aliexpress is the one who made that decision, Manbo tried to wriggle out of it until the end.

Same here. Just gave them a 1 star rating. Now just waiting on my Cozy Life dispute. Cozy just offered to pay me back by PayPal with an amount less then I had paid! That offer worked well. 

[mansaxel]

My Cozy Life Store has offered me a similar standard text and the pre-selected "no return, no refund" proposal, which I have rejected. No, I will not retract my dispute ;-)

[Spuddevans]

My Cozy Life Store has offered me a similar standard text and the pre-selected "no return, no refund" proposal, which I have rejected. No, I will not retract my dispute ;-)

I got the same ridiculous offer from them, and they got the same response as you gave.

Tim

[PA0PBZ]

I just got my money back from Manbo store. Of course Aliexpress is the one who made that decision, Manbo tried to wriggle out of it until the end.

Same here. Just gave them a 1 star rating. Now just waiting on my Cozy Life dispute. Cozy just offered to pay me back by PayPal with an amount less then I had paid! That offer worked well. 

Same here (Manbo store), Aliexpress decided in my favor. Was wondering how they where going to do the refund because I used Ideal (Dutch online payment system) to pay, but the money is already in my Account.  for Aliexpress,  for Manbo store, left 1 star review.

[mansaxel]

Well it was all a lie, the seller provided that tracking number that shows the item going to Sweden.
It has been "delivered to air transport in Shenzhen" since the 28:th of September, I think the plane is running low on fuel if they have not landed yet!
What pisses me off is that the seller had written me a message, but I did not see that message when I logged in to AliExpress.
And neither did I got any notification of such via e-mail, it was the same message about "quality problems" and that they cannot ship.
Well, it's called mail fraud to then enter a tracking number into the system that is completely faked!
AliExpress sided with me and have given a full refund, the seller of course wanted to settle outside of AlieExpress...

Did your tracking number perhaps amount to RV188717082CN?

[Per Hansson]

No, that package has been delivered, this is still in transit.
But I doubt it is in transit, probably cancelled somehow...
Would be interesting to know where it is headed though.
Tracking number is: RV179382615CN
According to ems.com.cn it is a letter, not a package so that is telling...
邮件类型
出口国际函件

[Electro Detective]

[Bud]

But apparently listing and selling when they do not stock is a big NO NO in aliexpress rule.

My Cozy Life Store, 3893 items across a variety of categories, you think they have all that in stock?

[edy]

I suspect that these were meters that failed spec or from a bad batch using dodgy/fake components that didn't meet the original specifications, or some other hardware issue that was more expensive to correct than to recycle. I bet you all of these meters were destined for the dumpster when they got intercepted by some opportunists who figured they could pawn them off... and at $9, even if they are faulty, customers would likely not put up too much of a complaint. Unfortunately they didn't divulge any details in their item description that would hint at trouble.

If Dave had bought one of those more dodgy meters like he showed in the video and got it first, would he have complained to the seller to ask for a refund or given a bad rating if he paid only $9? What if he paid $29? Would he have expected it to work? What about $129? At some point the price is so low that you take a chance, you know it is probably garbage but figure for $9 I won't complain even if it is crap!!!! Although it would have been better if the sellers revealed to us (provided they themselves knew) so customers would be prepared.

It could be that a 3rd party company takes this garbage and can do whatever they want with it, even resell it, provided they don't tarnish the reputation of the original manufacturer. That is why they rubbed off all the brand identification marks. I'm sure there are agreements with some companies and recyclers that forbid reselling in any form.

Or perhaps it was destined for recycling/destruction and it got intercepted by some opportunistic guys (against the will of the original company or recycling company) who opened up a bunch of various accounts through the different online vendor shops/stores and they are the ones selling. Who knows who went dumpster-diving and at what point it was found? Maybe it did fall off the back of a truck... a dumpster truck!

I don't think whoever got this stuff paid for it. I bet you anything it was rubber-stamped as rejects or some production batch gone bad, and the whole thing was easier to destroy and ship off to the shredder and start over than to bother re-using any of the parts. It may have been discovered late in the production or some contamination of their supply chain with dodgy chips that got integrated within their normal functional stuff.

Anyways, this kind of stuff was NEVER supposed to be on the open market, no company wants to back it or take responsibility for it. Imagine you test a circuit and it shows 5V when it is actually 500V. You can't trust this device, period. Interesting story though if anyone can figure out where this came from and how it ended up being sold.

I would contact the company that actually makes the REAL VERSION and see if they have a clue.... I am sure they know EXACTLY what happened, how their dodgy batch was picked up or dumped to recycling and perhaps who grabbed the lot and started to sell it.

[ogden]

I would contact the company that actually makes the REAL VERSION and see if they have a clue.... I am sure they know EXACTLY what happened, how their dodgy batch was picked up or dumped to recycling and perhaps who grabbed the lot and started to sell it.

Yes, please contact the company that actually makes the REAL VERSION and tell us what they say.

[wraper]

Meter ordered from My Cozy Life Store 'arrived' today. But it was delivered to different postcode within the same city and was sent to a man with different name according to Chinese EMS tracking.

[wilfred]

I've just received a reply from Manbo Life Store saying there is no stock available and I can have a refund via Paypal. I opened a dispute with Aliexpress.

I assume I should not accept a PP refund if I didn't pay with PP. Correct me if I am wrong please. I paid with a VISA card.

[sokoloff]

IMO, you 100% want to keep the dispute on the Aliexpress platform.

[wraper]

If they transfer money to paypal, then they can open dispute and claim it back.

[rsjsouza]

I found out that the website http://www.ems.com.cn seems to be a spoof of http://ems.com.cn

In the first I can't track my package at all, while on the second it shows up with all details.

Does anybody else see that?

[nctnico]

I found out that the website http://www.ems.com.cn seems to be a spoof of http://ems.com.cn

You can't spoof a sub-domain unless someone has access to the DNS configuration for the primary domain so it is likely a server configuration or cookie issue.

[all_repair]

I suspect that these were meters that failed spec or from a bad batch using dodgy/fake components that didn't meet the original specifications, or some other hardware issue that was more expensive to correct than to recycle. I bet you all of these meters were destined for the dumpster when they got intercepted by some opportunists who figured they could pawn them off... and at $9, even if they are faulty, customers would likely not put up too much of a complaint. Unfortunately they didn't divulge any details in their item description that would hint at trouble.

Are you kidding, expecting a $200 to 300 hundred selling at $9 to be not a rejected item.  You need to do some costing and you shall see that China manufacturer works on very very very thin margin.  Any way to recover cost is a way to keep some margin.  These are sold off as "rejects" by manufacturer factory, maybe not OEM.  OEM cannot complain unless they want to pay a higher price to the manufacturer for their goods.  Of course, they don't as they also want to protect their own margin.  So almost everything is open, with everyone knowledge so continuous relationship can be maintained.  With logo removes, these rejects are sold to fleas market, and these rejects have tiers.  Cosmetic problem shall send at higher price, and the lowest tiers are meant for recycler to savage the parts, test them again and sold as used components.  Aliexpress sellers are not overcharging at all but some do not know what customers they are selling to, that is the problem.  The problematic ones are when these rejects are been sold at high price on eBay or banggood by the dropshippers. 

[ogden]

Are you kidding, expecting a $200 to 300 hundred selling at $9 to be not a rejected item.

Indeed. It shall be expected as e-waste item. I bet it is was.