Resistance Color Band
Resistor color coding is a method used to indicate their resistance value, tolerance, and sometimes reliability. This system uses colored bands painted on the resistor’s body, and each color corresponds to a number.
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Resistance: -- Ω
Resistors typically have 4, 5, or 6 color bands:
4-band resistors:
- 1st Band: First significant digit
- 2nd Band: Second significant digit
- 3rd Band: Multiplier (power of 10)
- 4th Band: Tolerance.
5-band resistors:
- 1st Band: First significant digit
- 2nd Band: Second significant digit
- 3rd Band: Third significant digit
- 4th Band: Multiplier
- 5th Band: Tolerance
6-band resistors (rarely used, usually for precision resistors):
- 1st Band: First significant digit
- 2nd Band: Second significant digit
- 3rd Band: Third significant digit
- 4th Band: Multiplier
- 5th Band: Tolerance
- 6th Band: Temperature coefficient (ppm/°C)
Resistor Color Band Details:
Read More – How to test TRIAC
Example – 1
For example, a resistor with bands Red, Violet, Yellow, and Gold:
- Red (2)
- Violet (7)
- Yellow (x 10000)
- Gold (±5%)
The resistance value is 27×10,000 ohms or 270 kΩ with a tolerance of ±5%.
Example – 2
A 6-band resistor with bands Yellow, Violet, Red, Orange, Brown, and Red:
- Yellow (4)
- Violet (7)
- Red (2)
- Orange (1000)
- Brown (±1%)
- Red (50 ppm/°C)
The resistance value is 472×1,000= ohms or 472 kΩ with a tolerance of ±1% and a temperature coefficient of 50 ppm/°C.
Single band / Zero Ohm Resistor
A single black band on a resistor indicates that it is a zero-ohm resistor. Essentially, it is a wire link used to connect tracks on a printed circuit board (PCB), but it is packaged in the same physical format as a standard resistor. This packaging enables the zero-ohm resistor to be placed on the circuit board using the same equipment typically employed for installing other resistors.
Quick tip:
The easiest way to remember the colour codes for the resistor,
Bill Brown Realized Only Yesterday Good Boys Value Good Work
or
BB ROY of Great Britain had a Very Good Wife who wore Gold and Silver Necklace
The first letter of these words denote the colours of the bands on the resistor and also their digit value (except the position of the first colour begins with zero. Check the table above).