Typographic or letter codes for ERIE and older tubular ceramic capacitors
These are marked with 1 to 3 numbers and a decimal point to indicate the value in pF with 2 letters to indicate the tolerance and temperature coefficient or 3 letters to indicate the tolerance and dielectric material used for high permittivity types (Hi-k dielectric)
For values between 1000pF and 9900pF K is used as the 1000s marker i.e. 1K = 1,000pF and 3K3 = 3,300pF ~ For values 10,000pF and over the value is marked in µF where .01 = 10,000pF or 10nF nowadaysNote that a value of 470 is actually 470pF whereas modern letter codes would make the value 47pF i.e. 47 multiplied by 100 pF ~ Before the 1970s things were simpler ? ~ 470JN = 470pF ±5% -750ppm/°C
Emphasis was given to the temperature coefficient because ceramic capacitors were often used to compensate for the temperature effects of inductors in tuned circuits and filters ~ In the days before naked bungee jumping one of the biggest thrills you could get was making a precise odd value of capacitance with a specific temperature coefficient from a minimum of standard values
The working voltage for the 11mm and 14mm long white tube versions shown below is 750Vdc ~ 500Vac or 175VA @ 0.5Arms for RF ~ This form of coding was also applied to ceramic disc capacitors until the 1960s and can be confused with markings on later disc capacitors so beware
First letter Tolerance |
Second letter |
or Second letter pair Dielectric type for Hi-K |
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B | ±0.1pF | W | P470 (+470ppm) | AA | K060011 |
C | ±0.25pF | A | P100 (+100ppm) | AC | K120051 |
D | ±0.5pF | B | P030 (+30ppm) | AD | K120061 |
F | ±1% | C | NPO (±0ppm) | AE | K120071 |
G | ±2% | D | N030 (-30ppm) | AF | K120081 |
H | ±2.5% | E | N050 (-50ppm) | AG | K170041 |
J | ±5% | F | N080 (-80ppm) | AH | K170051 |
K | ±10% | G | N150 (-150ppm) | AJ | K170061 |
M | ±20% | H | N220 (-220ppm) | AK | K250011 |
N | -20% +40% | J | N330 (-330ppm) | AL | K2600 |
P | -20% +80% | K | N470 (-470ppm) | AM | K3000 |
R | 0 +100% | L | N560 (-560ppm) | AN | K350011 |
S | ±25% | M | N650 (-650ppm) | AO | K350081 |
T | -20% +100% | N | N750 (-750ppm) | AP | K4000 |
U | -20% +50% | P | N1500 (-1500ppm) | AR | K4007 |
V | ±50% | R | N2200 (-2200ppm) | AS | K400011 |
S | N3300 (-3300ppm) | AV | K7000 | ||
![]() 6.8pF ±0.25pF -30ppm |
T | N4200 (-4200ppm) | AW | K7001 | |
U | N4700 (-4700ppm) | AX | K7004 | ||
V | N5600 (-5600ppm) | AY | K750012 | ||
AZ | K800011 | ||||
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BA | K4500 | |||
BB | K6994 | ||||
BC | K6998 | ||||
BD | K7002 |
4 or 5 coloured dots or bands for tubular Ceramic Capacitor colour code
For only 4 colours ignore the 1st or end colour ~ If you have a colour that does not fit like Blue for dot 4 or 5 then you are reading the wrong way or this is the wrong table for the component
1st or end colour Temp. coefficient (ppm/°C) |
2nd & 3rd colours C Value Significant figures |
4th colour C Value Multiplier |
5th colour Tolerance C > 10pF |
5th colour Tolerance < 10pF |
NPO (0) | 0 | x1pF | ±20% | ±2pF |
N030 (-30) | 1 | x10pF | ±1% | |
N080 (-80) | 2 | x100pF | ±2% | |
N150 (-150) | 3 | x1nF | ±2.5% | ±0.25pF |
N220 (-220) | 4 | x10nF | ||
N330 (-330) | 5 | ![]() 6.8pF ±1pF 0 ppm/°C |
±5% | ±0.5pF |
N470 (-470) | 6 | ![]() 6.8pF ±0.5pF –30 ppm/°C |
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N750 (-750) | 7 | |||
P030 (+)30 | 8 | x0.01pF | ||
P100 (+100) | 9 | x0.1pF | ±10% | ±1pF |
If you have a colour that does not fit like Yellow for dot 6 or Blue for dot 2 then you are reading the wrong way or this is the wrong table for the component you have
1st or end colour Temperature coefficient PPM/°C | 2nd colour Temperature coefficient Multiplier |
3rd & 4th colours C Value Significant figures |
5th colour C Value Multiplier |
6th colour Tolerance C > 10pF |
6th colour Tolerance C < 10pF |
0 | x1 | 0 | x1pF | ±20% | ±2pF |
-3 | x10 | 1 | x10pF | ±1% | |
-8 | x100 | 2 | x100pF | ±2% | |
-1.5 | x1000 | 3 | x1nF | ±2.5% | ±0.25pF |
-2.2 | x10,000 | 4 | x10nF | ||
-3.3 | 5 | ![]() -3300ppm |
±5% | ±0.5pF | |
-4.7 | 6 | ![]() -470ppm |
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-7.5 | 7 | ||||
+3 | x0.01 | 8 | x0.01pF | ||
+1 | x0.1 | 9 | x0.1pF | ±10% | ±1pF |
Look for an Arrow in the moulding and with the arrow facing left to right start reading from top left clockwise finishing at Red Green or White at bottom left ~ Top left colour indicates the construction type which is sometimes left blank when a colour fleck is introduced to the moulding ~ Any colours not in the table positions below indicates you are reading the wrong way or wrong component for this table
Top Left colour Construction type |
Next 2 colours Significant figures |
next colour Multiplier | 5th colour Tolerance | 6th colour Working voltage |
0 | x1pF | ±20% | ||
1 | x10pF | ±1% | ||
Metalised | 2 | x100pF | ±2% | 350Vdc |
3 | x1nF | |||
4 | ![]() 750Vdc Metalised Mica |
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Foil | 5 | 750Vdc | ||
6 | ||||
7 | ||||
8 | x0.01pF | |||
9 | x0.1pF | NONE ±20% | 2000Vdc | |
GOLD | 0.1pF | ±5% | ||
SILVER | 0.01pF< | ±10% |
Read colours from top to bottom ~ If there are less than 5 colour bands then consider two adjacent colours are the same e.g. 22nF or 330nF or 1µF 5% with 4 bands and 3.3µF 5% or 2.2µF 5% only 3 bands
Top & 2nd colour Significant figures | 3rd colour Multiplier | 4th colour Tolerance | 5th colour Working Voltage | |
0 | 0 | ![]() |
±20% | |
1 | 1 | 100nF (10x0.01µF) ±20% 400Vd.c. |
100Vdc | |
2 | 2 | 250Vdc | ||
3 | 3 | x0.001µ | ||
4 | 4 | x0.01µF | 400Vdc | |
5 | 5 | x0.1µF | ±5% | |
6 | 6 | ![]() |
220nF (22x0.01µF) ±10% 400V d.c. |
630Vdc |
7 | 7 | |||
8 | 8 | |||
9 | 9 | ±10% | 1000Vdc |
Vintage Solid Carbon Rod Resistor colour code
Body colour 1st Significant Figure |
End colour 2nd Significant Figure |
Centre Dot colour Multiplier |
End (Dot) colour Tolerance |
0 | 0 | x1Ω | |
1 | 1 | x10Ω | ![]() 2.2kΩ ±10% ![]() 33kΩ ±10% |
2 | 2 | x100Ω | |
3 | 3 | x1kΩ | |
4 | 4 | x10kΩ | |
5 | 5 | x100kΩ | |
6 | 6 | x1MΩ | |
7 | 7 | ![]() 47kΩ ±20% |
|
8 | 8 | ||
9 | 9 | NONE ±20% | |
SILVER | x0.01Ω | ±10% | |
GOLD | x0.1Ω | ±5% |
See Preferred Value Calculator
3 & 4 Band Carbon Composition Resistor colour code Sometimes a 5th Salmon Pink colour band is added to indicate high stability carbon composition as shown above ~ 330Ω ±2% ~ This should not to be confused with modern 5 band resistors as outlined in the next table below ~ Philips VR series of high ohmic resistors and some others use Yellow in place of gold for tolerance ~ 4.7MΩ 5% aboveSee Preferred Value Calculator
5 & 6 Band Resistor colour codeUnlike older resistors the widest band is often the last of 6 ~ If only 5 bands ignore last column in table
1st 3 colour bands Significant Figures | 4th colour band R Multiplier |
5th colour band Tolerance | 6th Colour band PPM / °C |
0 | x1Ω | ||
1 | x10Ω | ±1% | +100 |
2 | x100Ω | ±2% | +50 |
3 | x1kΩ | ![]() 68kΩ 1% 50 ppm/°C |
+15 |
4 | x10kΩ | +25 | |
5 | x100kΩ | ||
6 | x1MΩ | ±0.25% | +10 |
7 | ![]() 47kΩ 1% 50 ppm/°C |
±0.1% | +5 |
8 | |||
9 | +1 | ||
GOLD | x0.1Ω | ±5% | |
SILVER | x0.01Ω | ±10% |
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150mA | ![]() | 500mA | |
SALMON-PINK | 50mA | VIOLET | 2A | |
BLACK | 60mA | WHITE | 3A | |
GREY | 100mA | BLACK | WHITE | 5A |
RED | 150mA | ORANGE | 7A | |
BROWN | 250mA | ORANGE | BLACK | 10A |
YELLOW | 500mA | ORANGE | GREY | 12A |
GREEN | 750mA | ORANGE | GREEN | 15A |
BLUE | 1A | ORANGE | VIOLET | 20A |
SKY-BLUE | 1.5A | ORANGE | WHITE | 25A |
" Nothin' here but history ~ Can you see what has been done "