How To Read Resistors

Through hole axial resistors usually use the color band system to display their value.

How to read resistors. Tolerance band on the right hand end of the colors refer to the tolerance chart below for exact values. Read the color sequence of the resistor and search the color of the first band in the column labeled 1 st digit of the table given below. For example a 390 resistor with a tolerance of 10 will have a value within 10 of 390 between 390 39 351 and 390 39 429 39 is 10 of 390. And the last color. Green and blue are the first significant digits 56.

Brown is the multiplier 10 1 10 and gold is the tolerance 5. Look at the first color band and determine its color. Tolerance is the precision of the resistor and it is given as a percentage. 3rd digit only for 5 band resistors. How to read the code.

Resistors never start with a metallic band on the left. Always read resistors from left to right. So for a 560 ohm 5 resistor the color stripes will be green blue brown and gold. Most of these resistors will have four bands of color circling the resistor. The first two bands always denote the first two digits of the resistance value in ohms.

A series circuit is a circuit in which resistors are arranged in a chain so the current has only one path to take. The fourth band tells you the tolerance of the resistor which indicates how far off the nominal value the actual resistance could be. To determine the value of a given resistor look for the gold or silver tolerance band and rotate the resistor as in the photo on the left. If you have a resistor with a gold or silver band on one end you have a 5 or 10 tolerance resistor. The current is the same through each resistor.

Must read method of ceramic capacitor code reading series connection. Position the resistor with this band on the right side and again read your resistor from left to right. The first two bands indicate the two most significant digits of the resistor s value. To read an axial lead resistor hold the resistor so the gold or silver band is facing to the right. If the 3rd band would be red instead of brown the multiplier would be 10 2 100 instead of 10 and the resistor value would be.