Fillable Printable Resistor Color Codes and Primer Chart

Resistor Color Codes and Primer Chart

Common Resistor

Resistors are color coded for easy

reading. Imagine how many blind

technicians there would be

otherwise.

To determine the value of a given

resistor look for the gold or silver

tolorance band and rotate the

resistor as in the photo

above.(Tolerance band to the

right). Look at the 1st color band

and determine its color. This

maybe difficult on small or oddly

colored resistors. Now look at the

chart and match the "1st & 2nd

color band" color to the "Digit it

represents". Write this number

down.

Now look at the 2nd color band

and match that color to the same

chart. Write this number next to

the 1st Digit.

The Last color band is the number

you will multiply the result by.

Match the 3rd color band with the

chart under multiplier. This is the

number you will mulitple the other

2 numbers by. Write it next to the

other 2 numbers with a

multiplication sign before it.

Example : 2 2 x 1,000.

To pull it all together now, simply

multiply the first 2 numbers (1st

number in the tens column and

2nd in the ones column) by the

Multiplier.

Example:

First color is red which is 2

Second color is

black

which is 0

third color is yellow which is

10,000

Torerance is silver which is 10%

Resistor Color Code Chart

1st. & 2nd Color

Band

Digit it

Represents

-----Multiplier-----

BLACK

BROWN

1 X10

RED

2 X100

ORANGE

3 X1,000 or 1K

YELLOW

4 X10,000 or 10K

GREEN

5 X100,000 or 100K

BLUE

6 X1,000,000 or 1M

VIOLET

Silver is divide by

100

GRAY

8 Gold is divide by 10

WHITE

Tolerances

Gold= 5%

Silver=10%

None=20%

Tolerance Explanation

Resistors are never the exact value that the color codes

indicate.Therefore manufacturers place a tolerance

color band on the resistor to tell you just how accurate

this resistor is made. It is simply a measurment of the

imperfections. Gold means the resistor is within 5% of

being dead-on accurate. Silver being within 10% and no

color band being within 20%. To determine the exact

range that the resistor may be, take the value of the

resistor and mutiply it by 5,10, 0r 20%. That is the

number that the resistor may go either way.

Example: A 1,000 Ohm resistor with a gold band

maybe any value between 950 to 1050 Ohms.

Example: A 22,000 Ohm resistor with a silver band

maybe any value between 19,800 and 24,200 Ohms.

FAQ

Just a few common questions to help you out.

1) Which side of the resistor do I read from?

The Gold or Silver band is always set to the right,

Resistor Color Codes & Primer

Therefore the equation is:

2 0 x 10,000 = 200,000 Ohms

Direct questions to:

electronics@pobox.com

BACK

then you read from left to right. Sometimes there

will be no tolerance band -- Simply find the side

that has a band closest to a lead and make that the

first band.

2) Sometimes the colors are hard to make out.

How do I make certain what the value of the

resistor really is?

Occasionally the colors are jumbled or burnt off.

The only way to read it then is with a multimeter

across the leads

3) How do I remember this sequence of colors?

Remember the color codes with this sentence:

Big Brown Rabbits Often Yield Great Big Vocal

roans

hen

ingerly

lapped.

Resistor Color Codes & Primer