Why are 1206 SMT components so expensive? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: elcomtel
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: October 28, 2013, 11:20:37 am
content: Being an 'old fart' I have a big fat zero in the way of SMD component inventory. So today I bought bucket loads of 1206, 0805, 0603, 0402 sized resistors and capacitors. Shortly I will have a significant SMD passive component inventory.During my Aliexpress shopping spree I noticed the following:- 1206 sized components were roughly double the price of 0805, 0603, 0402...Why?- The capacitance ranges between 1206 down to 0402 were identical.I would have assumed that the 1206 range capacitors would have higher capacitance values available simply because of their larger size. I didn't verify this, except that I noticed that all the SMD ceramic capacitor kits sold on Aliexpress were in the range of 1pF to 1uF for all SMD capacitors sized 1206 to 0402.Are there any dangers buying bargain basement SMD components on Aliexpress/eBay given that these days a substantial amount of passive components come out from China?China produces a lot of good stuff these days, but it also produces a lot of crap.The components I'm most fussy about are electrolytic capacitors and I prefer to invest in reputable brands such as Rubycon. I decided to steer far away from the SMD electrolytic sold on Aliexpress/eBay. Has anyone had any good or bad experiences with electrolytics sourced from Aliexpress or eBay?I once decided to test a range of 10 different brands of NiMH AA batteries from China bought on eBay. I thought that in that group of ten brands that there might be one or two gems. Unfortunately all the AA NiMH batteries I bought from China were shit. Each and every one of them.I wonder if my recent investment of cheap SMD passive components from Aliexpress will come back to haunt me.

author: hans
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 28, 2013, 11:36:36 am
content: In 1206 capacitors, you usually find that their rated voltage is much higher.For example, I use as much 0402's in my designs as possible. Reasons: cost (even for hobby I buy them at 500+ each from Farnell's, is enough for a dozen large projects and costs like 2 euro these days) and board space. You can cramp them in front of a TQFP 0.5mm chip quite nicely and don't get trouble with the signal traces.However, 100nF 0402 X5R/X7R capacitors are usually 25VDC maximum. So I use them up to 12V systems or so, and then move onto 0603 footprints so I can easily get 50VDC capacitors.Same goes for large bulk capacitors. If I need 10uF for something (like system rails or local decoupling) I usually want it to be as compact as possible. I end up using 0805's at 10V or 16V. If I need a higher voltage, I use 1210 (which can easily fit 1206 ofcourse) and pick 25V or maybe even 35VDC max.I suspect they contain those capacitors with higher voltage rating. They are, however, quite a bit more expensive to make. So if I can I will use electrolytics for the really high capacitances (10uF+).Unfortunately I don't have experience with components from Ebay or Aliexpress. I thought about buying a booklet of 0402 resistors, but seeing they also contain a lot of resistor values I am likely not going to use, I decided to order 100's+ of the resistor I need from Farnell. Same goes for ceramic capacitors, where I prefer to get X5R/X7R instead of Y5V.

author: Kjelt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 28, 2013, 11:39:14 am
content: Quote from: elcomtel on October 28, 2013, 11:20:37 amFor resistors:These components can only be as cheap as they are because they are made by the hundreds of millions pieces.As far as I know, those 1206 are not being made anymore, the trend is smaller, so current factories are producing mainly 0603, 0402 stuff since the biggest buyers (companies) only request those for their products.So the next step will probably be that the 0805 sizes will become more expensive when they are fased out.Perhaps small series for custom jobs are still produced but then again price will be high due to the lower production.This is for mainstream components E12 series, there are exceptions for very accurate resistors or shunt resistors that need somewhat more power but they are in a totally different pricerange.For hobby use/design I would recommend to use 0805 and 0603 only (the 0402 don't have values on them anymore and you loose them to easily)

author: c4757p
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 28, 2013, 11:46:43 am
content: Quote from: Kjelt on October 28, 2013, 11:39:14 amThey already are, at least in small quantity.QuoteMany 0603 parts do not have values either. But does it matter? The caps don't have values printed no matter how big they are...

author: mikeselectricstuff
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 28, 2013, 11:56:14 am
content: Apart from where needed for higher power or clearance, nobody uses 1206s any more so volumes are much lower.

author: Hypernova
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: October 28, 2013, 02:29:00 pm
content: Didn't know that people were using 1206 resistors for purposes other than shunts.

author: tom66
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 28, 2013, 03:20:54 pm
content: I had one design project where the customer specified "1206 only" because that was the smallest they could solder. I kindly informed them it was not possible to build a small board of their specifications using 1206 size components.

author: c4757p
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 28, 2013, 03:24:00 pm
content: I can solder 0805s at 3AM with tired eyes, the coffee jitters and no eyeglasses. Granted, my vision isn'tthatbad without them, but come on, if you can solder 1206s, you can do 0805s.....

author: Hypernova
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: October 28, 2013, 03:30:23 pm
content: Quote from: c4757p on October 28, 2013, 03:24:00 pmAnd if you can do 0805 you can do 0603's... If you go down this path, at some point in the future there will be a moment where you took a breath at the wrong time and then realise you sucked in an 0020025...

author: Bored@Work
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 28, 2013, 03:35:48 pm
content: Quote from: Hypernova on October 28, 2013, 03:30:23 pmAnd then you know why RoHS is a good thing.

author: Kjelt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 28, 2013, 03:45:48 pm
content: Quote from: c4757p on October 28, 2013, 03:24:00 pmWhat if the pick and place machine of his customer only could place 1206's

author: jolshefsky
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: October 28, 2013, 04:07:20 pm
content: Funny that nobody mentioned the threadWhy Your 4.7µF Capacitor Becomes a 0.33µF Capacitor. In short, 0603 capacitors often have their rated capacity only at 0 volts; at 5 volts, it's frequently around 10% rated capacity (yeah, 90% less). But 1206 are less bad.

author: Kjelt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 28, 2013, 04:09:08 pm
content: Quote from: jolshefsky on October 28, 2013, 04:07:20 pmI was thinking about it but that subject is not the cause why 1206's are more expensive which is what the TS wanted to know

author: Phaedrus
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 28, 2013, 05:09:29 pm
content: I only use 2412 resistors, for the best tempco and voltage rating. Using anything less is just amateur.