The following is a real world example of when a counterfeit RECOM product was used within an application.
A renowned and reputable German mechanical engineering company had developed a machine that required a controller board. During development of the controller boards, various high-quality DC/DC converters with 24VDC inputs and 3.3V outputs were tested and a RECOM DC/DC module was decided upon. The machine was manufactured, sold and quickly enjoyed phenomenal success. However, due to the increase in demand, the company found they were needing more RECOM DC/DC converters than were available through a trusted RECOM distributor.
In their search for alternate suppliers, they came across a company in Asia for the exact RECOM component they were needing. This Asian company had plenty of it stock and it was priced even lower than their normal distributor charged. What luck! The German company ordered 500 converters.
As these converters were installed and several machines were put into operation, first complaints came in. On several occasions, service technicians had to exchange controller boards that apparently had quit service. A short time later it became clear: the cause of the error was almost always one of the converters on the board, which led to the failure of the complete control unit. In addition to immense costs for support and service in the USA, China and Europe and consumer reclamation claims for loss of production, the brand-new product had suffered from painful image damage.
We also had our reputation on the line. The question was, if suddenly a converter, which has been running smoothly for years, in spite of regular checks, caused a production error? Even before the first defective converter came back, we started HALT tests in our own environmental laboratory in Gmunden on specimens of the current production, without showing any deviations. When the broken parts from the customer arrived, the surprise was immense. Although they had a RECOM logo and the type designation was correct - they looked a little different. The logo was vertically stretched and printed - not lasered as the original. A bold fake!
The photo shows the RECOM REC5-243.3SRW in the original on the left, the counterfeit on the right. While the outside differences between the RECOM product and the counterfeit were a bit more subtle, the inside of the component was a completely different story. A review in the Environmental Laboratory showed that despite the corresponding signet, the counterfeit had no chance to obtain UL approval or to comply with RoHS regulations.
Internal examination exposes significant quality differences. On the left the well isolated E-core of the RECOM converter, on the right the fake with inadequate isolation of the primary and secondary windings.
The insulation was so poorly designed that it was not even close to the required value. Thus, a component of only a few euros ultimately led to the failure of expensive machines and service costs in a significant five-digit range - not including the loss in reputation as a reliable and quality manufacturer for the German company.
