Care required when buying components!!

[high_vacuum_house]

Good afternoon,
I have been getting a Tektronix constant-amplitude signal generator going. It came from last weeks RWB auction. I was having trouble with stability on its highest frequency range and decided to change the 3 off 1K resistors in series from the series pass regulator to the anode of the oscillator valve as these were well above 1K each The total resistance of them was approaching 4K!

I went to Maplin and got 3 1K wirewound resistors though luckily I decided to look at them before leaving the shop as I have had trouble with components in the past. I found I had been given 3 1 ohm resistors. I dread to think how long the valves would last if I had fitted them with the anode load dropping from 3K to 3 ohms!

The sales assistant was insistent that these were correct even though I showed him that 1 ohm was printed on them and that 1K ohm should have been there instead. He pointed out that there was no mistake as the computer showed there were 20-odd in stock and that he counted out 20 of these resistors (and each of them were 1ohm!) I then gave up arguing

I left and went to another Maplin on the way home but they only had 2 1K resistors in stock!!

Christopher Capener

[bikerhifinut]

I have to say I wouldn't have left it at that and asked to see his manager.
At the very least it exposes a training issue.
I also check stuff from maplins as unfortunately it is all too common to get the wrong parts.
I remember last year having to educate an assistant when he tried to sell me some 5% 1/4W carbon films instead of the 1% 0.6W metal Films on the order chit.
"See that Gold band it tells me these are 5% tolerance and by the way these are carbon film"
I bet they still went back in the drawer.

A.

[wireless_john]

I once ordered fibre glass pencil refills from Maplin amongst other things and got two TTL DIL chips instead! To be fair to them though, they put it right straight away when I told them. I find that with Maplin you either get an enthusiast who knows his stuff or someone who knows very little on the component side of things.

[vidjoman]

I have almost always checked every component before fitting. Even though I would have already checked when I bought components. I've not bought anything from Maplins for many years as I prefer to buy larger quantities from CPC or others. Much cheaper and most times I have stock to enable me to repair/restore something without delay or paying high postage costs.

[wireless_john]

Maplin are expensive - that's for sure. I was only using them because I'd been given gift vouchers! Otherwise I too go to CPC and so on.

[johnny english]

I have suffered the same as the original poster and its annoying when you have to go back and explain that you have been given the wrong value component. If I need a couple of resistors fast I take my test meter along just in case.

[Phil G4SPZ]

Originally Posted by vidjoman

I have almost always checked every component before fitting...

Good advice. I always do this now, after having been caught out too many times by new components being faulty or not as marked. It only takes seconds to do, but it can prevent hours of wasted time.

Maplins are fine if you remain aware of their limitations. I always assume that their sales assistants have no knowledge of electronics, unless they prove otherwise. At least they're usually pleasant.

[Oldcodger]

Some Maplins blokes are well qualified, I've found at least one in a local store qualified to HND level, but they can lack practical experience, and I've found too often that what is stored in a bin is not what I've ordered.

[flyingtech55]

To be honest, I've completely given up on Maplins as far as components are concerned. If they have what you need in stock, they stock stupidly small numbers. Like most folk on here, if I have an SMPS to repair (because the unit containing it stopped working) I will do a block change of all the electrolytics. So I need for example, 6 x 100uF, 3 x 220uF, 4 x 1000uF, 4 x 2200uF etc. I go to Maplins and discover that they only have 1 or 2 of each or any of these components. They say 'Pay now and we'll send them to you post free'. No thanks, I need them now. I'll get them from CPC, they'll be cheaper. They look a bit glum but the managers need to feed this back to their HQ. To stock one or two pieces of individual parts is just a waste of time. They may as well give up in my opinion. I now don't even bother even though there is a Maplins near me.

TimR

[ms660]

Trouble is dead stock is dead money, why would they stock plenty of one item if they're not shifting, turn the pound over every day to make money.

Lawrence.

[Radio Wrangler]

Unfortunately they have accountants telling them that that stock is 'Inventory' and that it costs them lots of money just to keep it. They can even give them quite accurate figures on how expensive stock is.

On the other side of the equation, not having stock costs them sales. No-one knows what all the missed opportunities cost them, no-one has figures for what you would have bought on that visit because they kept no notes, you didn't tell them of what you hadn't yet asked for when you decided to leave, and you don't tell the of what you decide to buy elsewhere because you know they won't have any or enough stock.

So, just because they have solid numbers, the accountants win, and they keep what they think is the minimum quantity. But Maplin is the real loser. You face a delay, they face receivership. The accountants simply move to another business every time one fails.

David

[Station X]

I for one am grateful that Maplin exist on the high street. They fill a void left when Tandy closed down. I use them if I need one or two components to complete a repair in a hurry. If I'm not in a hurry I buy from RS and buy more components than I need so I won't be caught out again.

It must be remembered that selling components to members of this and similar forums is not their core business. If it were they'd soon go out of business like the Bygone Radio Traders of old we reminisce about in the forums. It's unrealistic to expect them to stock large numbers of one particular component or to employ highly skilled staff.

I too have suffered the problem of being supplied with the wrong item, In my case an IC. It was a case of components being filed in the wrong bin. I check before leaving the shop now.

[flyingtech55]

That's what's scary about accountants. Apart from knowing the cost of everything and the value of nothing, they also make policy decisions (via recommendations to the board of directors) about things they know nothing about. Sad!

TimR

[Station X]

Shops catering for hobbyists have been closing down for years. They just aren't financially viable. Even our local model aircraft shop has closed down and all that's left is a model railway shop.

The only hobbyist shops to be found in most towns now are those selling sewing, knitting, art and craft materials.

[Skywave]

A couple of months ago I purchased two Ever Ready 150-watt rough service BC light bulbs from my nearest Maplin store. One lasted 5 minutes; the other lasted about 2 hours. The car fuel cost and my time for a journey made a return of those to the store uneconomic. That experience, plus their high prices, means that I shan't be buying anything from that store anymore.

Al.

[Welsh Anorak]

They'll be the last rough service bulbs you'll ever buy as they are becoming 'illegal' as from the end of this month according to an email I've had from a lamp wholesaler.
Like many others, I only use Maplin in an emergency but they do have their uses when a job just has to be done today, and you can usually check their stock levels online.
I'm not surprised the assistants know little about 50p components when next door the assistants in a large electrical outlet know very little about the £1000 TVs they're selling!
They must make very little from small components and I imagine it won't be too long before we'll be waxing lyrical about how you could buy individual components from Maplin before the bean counters pulled the plug!

[turretslug]

There are a myriad small retailers of components on auction sites, too, which must take the wind out of Maplin's sales, also the increased willingness of the familiar trade suppliers to deal with relatively small orders on-line, often with very swift delivery.

In a way, I guess the "rough service" criteria now gets met by efficient LED chip lamps with plastic covers- though I'm instinctively wary of folk that sell one thing who trumpet that another thing is "illegal"- that doesn't always bear up to exacting scrutiny.

[fetteler]

Originally Posted by Station X

I use them if I need one or two components to complete a repair in a hurry. If I'm not in a hurry I buy from RS and buy more components than I need so I won't be caught out again.

This was my take on it until just recently. I was repairing an old BBC audio test set and traced the fault to a tantalum cap in the level sensing amp. Anxious to get the set working I drove a 25 mile round trip to Maplins and bought a replacement cap, spent an hour or two fitting it and reassembling the test set only to find the fault was worse than before. Another hour or so taking it all to bits, removing the new cap and testing it in comparison to the olsd one showed its value to be way off spec and its leakage to be several times more than the old one. A closer look at the Maplin component showed that it was a very low quality affair just like the ones that are available in bulk via Alibaba from China.
I ordered a real one from RS, waited a day or so, fitted it and of course the unit is now perfect.

The moral? Well Maplins did not save the day, they rather made it worse and tried my patience as well as wasting a good few hours of my time. I have promised myself not to go there again. The components are low grade tat and not necessarily cheap tat either!

Steve.

[Station X]

As far as I can see it makes no economic sense whatsoever for Maplin to stock components for people like us to buy.

There must be someone in the Maplin organisation who remembers the days when they supplied hobbyists and published their own magazine with construction projects etc. It is probably they who see to it that Maplin still stocks components.

[ms660]

In this day and age there's no excuse even for hobbyists to run out of small components such as resistors, capacitors etc it's not as if they cost a fortune, order 5 or 10 of each in one go, saves trekking out.

Maplin advertise their .6 watt resistors at 39 pence each on the web when I just looked, the sales assistant won't be paid a fortune so why should they bother, the accountant would see it as £8/£10 pound an hour plus all the national insurance, pension contributions, training, administration of the said etc against 39 pence, 'snot rocket science.

If I remember right most of the hobby/surplus outlets back in my day weren't that keen on flogging the odd resistor either, amps, record decks, 19 sets, AR88's, 1155's is what they seem to be interested in shifting.

Personally I don't think nothing much has changed in the way of sales priorities.

Lawrence.