Repairing APC UPS - sourcing obsolete chip

[PaulAm]

I had a small UPS that I put in place to backup my wireless modem.  A couple of weeks ago it died with the overload light turned on.  I just bought a battery for this thing, so it was worth opening up for a look.

On the battery charging circuit two things were immediately obvious: a large electrolytic was leaking and the switching power IC had blown itself to pieces.  Fortunately, it had blown the entire top of the IC so the number was still visible.  Unfortunately it was a TNY255g which is listed as obsolete by Mouser and Digikey.  The only source I could find was through ebay either in China or Hong Kong.  After looking through the listings and reviews, I picked some from a vendor called Chipsgate.  Six for USD $4.70 + 3 s/h seemed worth a risk.  I figured on a 40% chance that I would get something that worked.  However, the vendor offered a 60 day warranty and they seemed professional, so what the heck.

They showed up the other day, I installed a chip and replacement cap and now I have a working UPS.

It's only one data point, but I would try Chipsgate again if the need arose.  Anyone else have experience with them?

[t1d]

Given the value of the unit and the narrow parts supply chain, I can see taking the risk on a China IC that might be a counterfeit. Other options include sourcing a compatible part. Go back to the Mouser site and look up the obsolete part. Sometimes there is a similar part look up feature. Try that. Download the data sheet and match up specs, to something else, too. Got pictures?

[PaulAm]

Well heck, the tny255gn-tl is available from Mouser for around $2.  For some reason that didn't show up during my initial search.

The G version was not RoHS.

Oh well, it's still working now.  If it blows up again I'll go back to Mouser.

[MadTux]

Stay away from ebay chipsgate (Fengye Chen), got fake shit from them the 2th time by now.

 A batch of supposed GAL22V10, of which only about 40% are programmable and some relabeled power mosfets, with double RDS(on) of the real devices, for which I needed replacement.

That scammer probably picks up whatever crap is available on Shenzhen markets for cheap and happily relabels it to whatever he wants as long as the specs are vaguely similar to the real thing, so the dumb buyer doesn't spot it immediately.

Don't worry, btw, I'll get my money back, time is still lost, though