Small Bear's Endangered Species List

[smallbearelec]

I never intended to be a prime source for basic TO-92 bipolar devices and JFETs. I knew that they would go out of production "someday," and that that change in technology might well affect me, and my customers, both hobbyists and small pedal-makers. As you know, "Someday" became "Now" in March when Fairchild shut down their production.

I was not caught flat-footed, and I bought enough during the "Last Buy" to handle immediate needs. If I could have bought enough stock to handle commercial-quantity orders for some years (and potentially make a lot of money!,) I would have done so. But I am not a great speculator (and I know this, unlike these Wall Street meshuggenahs) so I bought what I could without taking on debt and will add to the shelves gradually over the next year. Stuff is available, but prices are ridiculous unless you are buying Large lots--then they are merely high.

Below is a list of what SBE will presently sell and in what quantities per order. TO-92 Bipolar devices and JFET devices in the 5 per order group will gradually move to higher limits as I find stock. Please bear with me, and do let me know if you encounter a surplus shop that has parts to sell. I will gladly pay a finder's fee in cash or parts.

Regards
SD

Limit 5 per order:

2N2369, 2N2907, 2N292x, 2N3053, 2N3391, 2N3391A, 2N3392, 2N3565, 2N3820, 2N4302, 2N4303, 2N4861, 2N5129, 2N5133, 2N5134, 2N5139, 2N5172, 2N5306, 2N5308, 2N5457, 2N5458, 2N5460, 2N5461, 2N5484, 2N5485, 2N5952, 2N7000, 2SC828A-R, 2SC859-FK, 2SC1815-GR, 2SC1849, 2SK30, 2SK30A-GR, 2SK246-GR, BC107, BC108, BC108B – CDIL, BC169B, BC10x Work-Alike, BC109, BC109 – CDIL, BC109B – CDIL, BC109C – CDIL, BC108 Texas Inst, BC182L, BC184L, BC239C, BC546B, BC547B, BC549C, BC550B, BS170, BS250, MPF102, MPSA12, MPSA13, MPSA64, Unbranded Dot, 1N695

Limit 10 per order:

2N3904, 2N3906, 2N4123, 2N4124, 2N4125, 2N4401, 2N4402, 2N4403, 2N5087, 2N5089 (SKU 2016), NOS Germanium Diodes, 1N270

Limit 20 per order:

J201, BF244A, BF245A, MPSA14, MPSA18

Limit 100 per order:

ATP2222A
2N5088
2N5089

[Toney]

2N3904, 2N3906... really?

These are going out of production too?

[rockhorst]

There's some quite common parts on that list (like the J201). Have other manufacturers stopped their production too?
Could something similar will happen as when tubes went out of production in the west and in the second half of the 80s a big supply opened up from the east?...although there was an iron curtain involved then...

[TheWinterSnow]

We are loosing the 2N3904 and 2N3906?  WTH?  I can see phasing most out but all, there are still many electronics in mass production that use them. 

What about other small signal packages that aren't SMD?

[~arph]

What about cmos.ic's?

[smallbearelec]

Go to Mouser.com and enter the 2N3904 and you'll see what I'm talking about. Yea, they have stock (and probably will of that device for some time,) but Fairchild is not making it any longer in TO-92. JFETs have gone unobtainium there. Do Not panic and start trying to buy everything you need for the next umpteen years...all of the through-hole parts that most hobbyists use will continue to be available, though they'll necessarily be a little more expensive.

DIP ICs will eventually also go surface-mount-only, but it's impossible to say when. Again, as long as I have reasonable notice of a Last Buy, I will invest money to continue to maintain and extend our stock.

Regards
SD

[azrael]

Holy crap! I'm glad I bought 100 of the 5089s when I last ordered from you. 

[darron]

There's some quite common parts on that list (like the J201). Have other manufacturers stopped their production too?

i saw the vishay j201 dropped out at the same time....

[chromesphere]

Excuse my noob question here, but arent their many manufacturers that make the same parts?  Like the 2n5088 spec sheet on futurlec says Motorola, and as darren said the J201 is Vishay (which he also said, has gone obsolete).

Do they all come from the same factory and rebadged or are ALL factories going to stop making them?  Or is it just fairchild (and a select few others)?

Cheers
Paul

[smallbearelec]

arent their many manufacturers that make the same parts?

Yes. 

Do they all come from the same factory and rebadged?

No.

are ALL factories going to stop making them?

Eventually, yes. Fairchild is the one I know about now, but the TO-92 packaging is going away...generational change in technology.

[artifus]

as i understand it, which may well be wrong - as i often am, it is just stuff. matter. semiconducting material shaped and formed into a t092 shape with three legs that i can breadboard and solder. it has semiconducting properties affecting the flow of electrons. not sure you can patent that, just as you can't patent mud. you just need to package that mud in such a way that you can sell it, so long as it's useful mud that people can use and want to buy.

[chromesphere]

Ah k cool thanks for the explanation small bear (and artifus).  So its going to be sometime before these devices go the way of the germanium-asuarus but its began...Thanks for the heads up!
Paul

[TheWinterSnow]

I still have my doubts that through hole components will go completely out of business.  It would be way to much of an inconvenience to the end user when breadboards and perfboards are obsolete.  To top it off schools would not be able to have labs with actual circuits unless they where already built, older technology would not be repairable which would not be the most enviornmently friendly thing in the world.

For most components be be in limited run like vacuum tubes, sure, but to be 100% obsolete, I am skeptical as it would seem to cost more money in the long run for everyone.

[rockhorst]

You assume manufacturers want older technology repaired...

[Paul Marossy]

You assume manufacturers want older technology repaired...

Not in our everything-is-disposable world. I am beginning to think that Wall-E was a prophetic movie.

[Mark Hammer]

I'm curious.  How much of through-hole components is really comprised of materials that are only there to make them manipulable (and readable) by humans?  For instance, how much of what's in a TO-92 or an 8-pin DIP is electronically necessary, and how much is simply epoxy and legs?  And of that material present simply to provide mechanically usable size, what sort of environmental impact does epoxy and any other accompanying "stuff" have?

That's not at all an argument for abandonment of through-hole, or wholesale embrace of SMD wave-soldering, or any expression of love for the demise of the repair business and consumer belief that stuff is just made to throw out rather than preserve.  I'm just wondering whether the switchover is more environmentally neutral than we might imagine...or less.  I have no opinion here, because I simply don't know enough.  What I do know is that sometimes things that can look like an advantage can have hidden costs, and sometimes things we vehemently oppose can be more aligned with our goals than we think.

So, any useful info from folks in the know?  For instance, are there any reliable estimates of what impact the change to SMD and RoHS might have on the number of tons of lead ending up in dumps annually?  Is it too soon to tell?

[amptramp]

Check websites under "electronic parts brokerage" such as this one:

http://www.oemtechnology.com/componentbrokers/index93.html

A lot of manufacturers changed over to surface mount before depleting their stocks of TO-92 components, so they are sitting on a lot of stuff they would like small bear (or anyone else) to buy.  Inventory has a cost that manufacturers would like to recover, even if they have to sell for less than they bought items for.  There is a lot of stuff floating around and there are some companies that have made a living out of stocking and selling obsolete parts, expecially in the military market where equipment is expected to be maintainable until the equipment is removed from service.  Think of the B-52 bomber that was in serice in 1955 and will remain in inventory until 2035.

It's going to be like vacuum tubes all over again.

[Paul Marossy]

It's going to be like vacuum tubes all over again.

I had that same exact thought earlier.

[pinkjimiphoton]

guess it's time to stock up on as much stuff as concievably possible. bummer.

thanks for the heads-up steve.

what about china? think they'll step up to the plate and start mass-producing stuff if they see a market?

[garcho]

if they see a market

Not so sure our market even registers a blip on manufacturers' radars. Just gonna have to start rolling our own capacitors. Imagine the size of the enclosures needed to house a pedal built with DIY components. 

YATS, circa 2025: