How To Read Resistors

Look at the first color band and determine its color.

How to read resistors. 56 x 10 560ω. Three of the bands tell you the nominal value which means the value the resistor was designed to have. Always read resistors from left to right. How to read the code. Brown is the multiplier 10 1 10 and gold is the tolerance 5.

The first two bands indicate the two most significant digits of the resistor s value. 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. Green and blue are the first significant digits 56. Give each color a number according to its resistive value. The current is the same through each resistor.

To read an axial lead resistor hold the resistor so the gold or silver band is facing to the right. Similarly search the color of the second band in the column labeled 2 nd digit. Position the resistor with this band on the right side and again read your resistor from left to right. 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. 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.

Tolerance band on the right hand end of the colors refer to the tolerance chart below for exact values. Make sure to read the value of the right most color band to determine the tolerance of the resistor. The total resistance of the circuit is found by simply adding up the resistance values of the individual resistors. 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. Most of these resistors will have four bands of color circling the resistor.

Through hole axial resistors usually use the color band system to display their value. 3rd digit only for 5 band resistors. So for a 560 ohm 5 resistor the color stripes will be green blue brown and gold. Standard resistors have four color bands. Then jot down the sequence of the colored bands reading from left to right.