Faulty Chinese MAX31855K Modules: Fake Chips? No! Just a Capacitor Missing!

They don’t work and I bought the internet “fake chips” stories …
↓↓↓ Complete description, time index and links below ↓↓↓

… so I (unfortunately) made a video about that (link below). Meanwhile I got my hands on a Maxim Integrated MAX31855K engineering sample and it exhibited exactly the same “fault” as the chip on my Chinese module.

The solution to this riddle can be found within the MAX31855’s datasheet in a text passage on page 11 (of 13!). There, a “strongly recommended” differential capacitor is mentioned (not included in typical application circuit!).

00:00 Intro – internet wisdom and Maxim engineering samples
01:02 Markings – Maxim sample vs Chinese module vs SparkFun module
02:01 Breakout board – for engineering sample similar to Chinese module
02:23 Behavior – of engineering sample same as Chinese module
03:37 Datasheet – “strongly recommended […] differential capacitor”
04:46 Modified breakout board – with differential capacitor works fine
05:40 Modified Chinese module – with differential capacitor works fine
06:31 Lessons learned – read datasheets to the very end and trust no one
07:43 Wrap-up – rewrote title/description of first video, bye

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