Things have certainly been getting interesting. More questions to answer and here's a bit of an update.
1. What are doing about those we have sold?
- We are already contacting the customers to advise them of the issue. They can have a full refund, or if the unit has survived Dave's treatment after modification, they can have their unit modified and returned. Korad has told us they are sending enough parts to modify all the remaining supplies we have in stock and those we have already sold.
2. What if it fails after modification?
- If it fails after whatever modification we need to do, then we will give customers their money back , or exchange for another brand at a preferential price on a case by case basis. We will then have a totally different discussion with Korad.
3. The transformer Rating? - It is rated 240V. We had delivery delays because Korad only had 220V trannies when we first ordered. I suspect they didn't think of changing the sticker on the back.
4. Connections for USB and RS232 on front or rear? I suspect if someone is hooking this up to a PC they don't want a serial or USB cable coming out the front as well as the supply leads and getting mixed up in the bench spaghetti. The USB is for PC connection not a memory stick so if it is rack-mounted or on a shelf above the bench, it is probably better on the rear panel. But that's a simple matter of personal preference ultimately.
5. Someone else mentioned the ATTEN APS3003S-3D
- This is a triple output supply and we sell truck loads of them. They sell for $249+gst off our website. Compare that to what you get from the big nationals. We offer it with a 2yr warranty. We have sold several hundred of them with with just one warranty claim. It is a good supply for the money. And it's a linear. And heavy!
http://triosmartcal.com.au/dc-bench-supplies/2432-atten-aps3003s-3d-dual-power-supply-0-30v-3a.html6. Uncle Vernon is very correct in pointing out this forum is not a place for racial stereo-typing. We also deal with multiple suppliers from USA, Europe and Asia and we have had no real problems so far. Dealing directly with manufacturers is OK. They are looking for a long term relationships so you help grow their business and in my experience all those we have dealt with have been fine. It also comes down in the longer term to dealing with companies that you trust and the proof is when something goes wrong, as it has here. Trust is something that builds with experience and Korad is a new supplier for us, so we need to see how things develop.
So far Korad has been responsive, Dave is copied on emails between us and Korad so he can back me up if he chooses.
7. Whether Korad knew of the problem when they shipped to us is another issue, and if they found out later there was a batch issue, then leaving the problem for the distributor to find is not the best policy. Also it would depend when they found out be it last week, month, several months ago, I don't know the answer. But I do need to know. I have also asked for serial numbers of affected units.
8. The sample we tried in our lab was from a different batch to the production units we have in stock. Dave does not have the sample we tested. That is in my garage, works fine, I use it for a quick charge on my boat battery and it comes in very handy. Dave tested an early production unit, hence my concern and the immediate withdrawal of the product from sale.
9. Why did we take it on in the first place?
Their products looked good on paper offering a good performance at a very reasonable price and down into the education market level and hobbist level. These PSU's filled a hole in our portfolio for a low-cost
programmable supply and as one we tested met it specs we gave it a go. As I mentioned in an earlier post I have no problem submitting anything we sell for Dave to evaluate. If Dave finds something we don't then that's good for everyone. How this Korad situation now develops remains to be seen. I will certainly keep this thread posted with developments. We are just as intrigued as you are!! Korad's true business ethic and customer care will certainly come out now. If they do not rectify the situation then they are gone from our range and we take back those we have sold offering the remedies above. It's that simple.
10. Someone else mentioned that the next supply they buy will be a low cost Agilent. Well I'll declare my bias as Agilent's biggest distributor in Aussieland and say that I totally agree. We sell Agilent bench supplies at less than Agilent's list price. That means they start price from us at just $336 +gst. See here :
http://triosmartcal.com.au/1571-agilent-u8001a-dc-power-supply-30v-3a.htmlFor those in the market for one now, Agilent has an great offer on the E36xx series of bench supplies. If you buy a qualifying power supply from their E36xxA range for upwards of about $530 +gst they (we) will give you a U1272A multimeter for free. The meter sells for about $440 including gst.
http://triosmartcal.com.au/2251-agilent-u1272a-dmm-digit-water-dust-resist.htmlClick on the banner here to see the offer.
www.triosmartcal.com.au 11. If anyone has further questions about this Korad situation and you can't wait for a post to be answered, then why not just drop me a PM. It goes straight through to my in-box at work. If I have the answer then I'll let you know, and if relevant to the others following this thread then I'll post it, otherwise if I don't know I'll try to find out.
12. Just measured the voltage from the mains here in Castle Hill. It was 244.1V
13. We don't check for chips with the lettering removed. I think this is were a grasp of reality helps. Why would you check for chip lettering on a $199 supply? To troubleshoot to component level is just not worth it. Companies remove lettering to protect their IP and big multi-nationals are doing exactly the same. Sure it pisses off geeks who want to know what the chip is, but is that why you buy something? Because the writing is still on the chips? Most don't.
14. HackedFridgeMagnet thinks that ISO:9xxx could have stopped this getting into our range. Absolutely not. Look at Dave's first reaction to the product. Even during the tear-down. It came out OK for a $199 supply. In fact the review was going well until it failed. Now that it has failed when it shouldn't have failed is when QA really kicks in, and remember as someone else said, wrapping your head in tin-foil and singing Hare-Khrishna could be in your QA process but it has to be relevant. What has happened here since the failure is relevant the failure was recorded and appropriate action taken. No tin-foil harmed in the process. As for this comment QUOTE
"ps. I don't think Trio should actually do this, they should just skirt around the QA stuff like we all do." ........... You must work for one of our competitors ;-)
15. Finally for David_AVD who did a very relevant post in the ShoutBox QUOTE: "Some People want the cheapest price and the best service / warranty. It doesn't usually work that way" END QUOTE. Well that's the challenge we all face as sales and service companies. We want to do just that to have a competitive edge. Again as stated earlier it comes down to you getting what you pay for so long as you are not being ripped-off which includes after-sales support & service.. It is all a balancing act that we have to perform with the variables in the value equation.
Cheers & keep it coming.