Post by thread:[EE] Allegro Microsystems

This week I've been hit with sourcing issues on two different products using two different Allegro current sensors. It seems most of thier hall effect current sensors now have 160+ day leadtimes. I had even set it up where I could use a couple alternates and just change some calibration points, my alternates are on intergalactic back order as well. So a couple questions to the group: Can anybody shed any light on what's happening at Allegro? Two months ago, Digikey had 1000+ pcs in stock of both the primary and my alternates, now none. Are these second sourced by anyone? (I doubt it, but it's worth asking) Do any of you happen to be sitting on a small pile of either the ACS714xxx 30A or any of the ACS75x 50A family that you'd be willing to sell? There's a good chance that this is going to force me to redesign one or both of these products, not to mention any new products, What's your favorite parts to measure currents in the 0-10A, 0-30A and 0-50A ranges? With Isolation? Thanks, Denn

I don't have anything specific for you, unfortunately, but thank you for pointing their *fail* out in public. I can suggest other companies to NOT source from: Maxim. I've been personally burned several times. The latest disaster unsourceable (14 week leadtime) chip has been designed out and the rule is NO maxim NO exceptions for any reason, burned 3 times, I should have learned the first time. Atmel. 2 customers/clients have nonshipping for months products because they can't get their act together for what seems like the last 18 months. TI. Be careful. I was able to hobble along on set after set of 5 free samples and two 20-sample shipments from a sympathetic TI employee for a dc/dc converter. It has been designed out and I am very cautious now for single-source TI anything. I'd like to see a name and shame website with specific parts that people cannot get within 8 week leadtimes (and even that is really unacceptable) and by having that data public I can make better design decisions and companies with repeated *fail* can be more or less blacklisted as designers see fit. Rant mode off... I recommend contacting spam_OUTfredTakeThisOuTaeri.com with some part#s that are workable, he has helped me out of the last Maxim-created business derailment. J Denny Esterline wrote: {Quote hidden}> This week I've been hit with sourcing issues on two different products > using two different Allegro current sensors. It seems most of thier > hall effect current sensors now have 160+ day leadtimes. I had even > set it up where I could use a couple alternates and just change some > calibration points, my alternates are on intergalactic back order as > well. > > So a couple questions to the group: > Can anybody shed any light on what's happening at Allegro? Two months > ago, Digikey had 1000+ pcs in stock of both the primary and my > alternates, now none. > > Are these second sourced by anyone? (I doubt it, but it's worth asking) > > Do any of you happen to be sitting on a small pile of either the > ACS714xxx 30A or any of the ACS75x 50A family that you'd be willing > to sell? > > There's a good chance that this is going to force me to redesign one > or both of these products, not to mention any new products, What's > your favorite parts to measure currents in the 0-10A, 0-30A and 0-50A > ranges? With Isolation? > > Thanks, > Denn

On 04/11/10 21:52, Jesse Lackey wrote: > Maxim. I've been personally burned several times. The latest disaster > unsourceable (14 week leadtime) chip has been designed out and the rule > is NO maxim NO exceptions for any reason, burned 3 times, I should have > learned the first time. Oh, those guys are great... If you're going to deal with Maxim, do a lifetime buy before you design the part in. By the time you've finished the design, the part will be either obsolete or the process will have been modified to use unobtainium instead of silicon. > Atmel. 2 customers/clients have nonshipping for months products because > they can't get their act together for what seems like the last 18 months. Atmel couldn't ship on time if they were given a warehouse full of parts, a bunch of paying customers and a little book listing what parts needed to go to whom. The phrases "pissup in a brewery" and "couldn't organise a" spring to mind. Why do you think I'm a Microchip fanboy? XD > TI. Be careful. I was able to hobble along on set after set of 5 free > samples and two 20-sample shipments from a sympathetic TI employee for a > dc/dc converter. It has been designed out and I am very cautious now > for single-source TI anything. TI have been pretty OK -- their tech staff know their stuff, and they actually respond to queries. I asked for a clarification on the TPS75003 ("I don't want to use the LDO, which pins do I tie off, and to where, and which ones need to float?") and got a reply in a couple of days. I asked a similarly simple question to Analog Devices about one of their video DACs -- "I want to use the internal voltage reference, not an external reference source. The datasheet says this is possible but does not explain how. How do I do this?" Four weeks later, I got this gem of an email: > Dear customer, > I am sorry but we are unable to provide support to you and your project with the *******. > This part is a special product with extensive support requirements. Unfortunately support cannot be provided to all of our customers. > I apologize in the name of Analog Devices and hope you are in an early product selection stage so far. I take that as "we don't even care enough to give you a quick stock answer like 'you can't' or 'try tying VrefIn to Vcc through a 1k resistor'." I'll use ADI parts, but on the proviso that I know EXACTLY how they behave IN ADVANCE, because I now expect that ADI will respond to all my queries in the same way: "we can't help." Curiously the datasheet now includes a paragraph about how to use the internal voltage reference. Suspicious, no? > I'd like to see a name and shame website with specific parts that people > cannot get within 8 week leadtimes (and even that is really > unacceptable) and by having that data public I can make better design > decisions and companies with repeated *fail* can be more or less > blacklisted as designers see fit. Has anyone taken "SourcingSnafu.com" or "SourcingFAIL.com" yet? :) I can see something like this being useful to design engineers -- a site which answers the question "I'm thinking about using this part, what experiences (good or bad) have other engineers had with it and its supplier/manufacturer?" -- Phil. .....piclistKILLspam@spam@philpem.me.uk http://www.philpem.me.uk