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~ Electronic Component Letter and Colour Codes ~
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 | ||||
 6.8pF 10%+100ppm |
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 |
||
| N750 (-750) | 7 | |||
| P030 (+)30 | 8 | x0.01pF | ||
| P100 (+100) | 9 | x0.1pF | ±10% | ±1pF |
See Preferred Value Calculator 6 Colour dots or bands tubular Ceramic Capacitor colour code
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 |  100pF ±10%-3300ppm |
±5% | ±0.5pF | |
| -4.7 | 6 |  270pF ±10%-470ppm |
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| -7.5 | 7 | ||||
| +3 | x0.01 | 8 | x0.01pF | ||
| +1 | x0.1 | 9 | x0.1pF | ±10% | ±1pF |
6 Coloured dot moulded Mica Capacitor colour code
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 |  47pF ±2%750Vdc Metalised Mica |
|||
| Foil | 5 | 750Vdc | ||
| 6 | ||||
| 7 | ||||
| 8 | x0.01pF | |||
| 9 | x0.1pF | NONE ±20% | 2000Vdc | |
| GOLD | 0.1pF | ±5% | ||
| SILVER | 0.01pF< | ±10% |
Metalised Polyester ~ Philips Mullard C280 ~ Capacitor colour code
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 | |
See Preferred Value Calculator
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% above
See 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% |
Cartridge Fuse paint dot or float transfer colour code
 |
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 "