Monday 18 March 2019

Ceramic capacitors: how to read 3-digit plus 1-letter markings?


It seems that reading a ceramic capacitor value out of its written values is harder than decoding enigma machine.


I wonder if experienced users here does have a trick to quickly figure out these values. Some examples:


I know that 103M is 0.01µF but how does one figure this out? Another example 104Z/LK ...this one I cant get it at all. All I know is that Z is for assymetric capacitors with tolerence between 80% and -20% ... Am I right? If not would be nice to correct me and tell me where these Z ceramic capacitors are used mostly?



Answer



The numbers work like a resistor.


The first two numbers are just numbers.


The third number is the number of 0's after. It's in picofarads.



So:



  • 103 is 1 0 000 or 10,000pf or 10nF

  • 104 is 1 0 0000 or 100,000pf or 100nF


The letter next is the tolerance:


B   +/- 0.10pF
C +/- 0.25pF
D +/- 0.5pF
E +/- 0.5%

F +/- 1%
G +/- 2%
H +/- 3%
J +/- 5%
K +/- 10%
M +/- 20%
N +/- 30%
P +100% ,-0%
Z +80%, -20%


Anything after that is usually manufacturer specific.


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