~ 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 nowadays V

Note 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

Second letter
or Second letter pair Dielectric type
First letter Tolerance Temperature coefficient
for Hi–K
Parts per Million per °C

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

T N4200(-4200ppm) AW K7001

U N4700(-4700ppm) AX K7004
6.8pF ±0.25pF -
30ppm V N5600(-5600ppm) AY K750012

AZ K800011

BA K4500

BB K6994

6.8pF 10%+100ppm 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

2nd & 3rd

1st or end colour
colours 4th colour 5th colour 5th colour
Temp.
C Value C Value Tolerance Tolerance
coefficient
Significant Multiplier C > 10pF < 10pF
(ppm/°C)
figures

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 ±5% ±0.5pF

N470 (-470) 6
6.8pF ±1pF
N750 (-750) 7 0 ppm/°C
6.8pF ±0.5pF
P030 (+)30 8 x0.01pF –30 ppm/°C

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 2nd colour 3rd & 4th 5th colour 6th colour 6th colour
colour Temperature colours C Value Tolerance Tolerance
Temperature coefficient C Value Multiplier C > 10pF C < 10pF
 coefficient Multiplier Significant
PPM/°C figures

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 ±5% ±0.5pF

-4.7 6
100pF ±10%
-7.5 7 -3300ppm 270pF
±10%
+3 x0.01 8 x0.01pF -470ppm

+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 Next 2 colours 6th colour

next colour 5th colour
Construction Significant Working
Multiplier Tolerance
type figures voltage

0 x1pF ±20%

1 x10pF ±1%

Metalised 2 x100pF ±2% 350Vdc

 3 x1nF

Foil 5 750Vdc

7 47pF ±2%
750Vdc
8 x0.01pF Metalised Mica

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 like 33nF and 1µF 5% with 4 colours or 3.3µF 5% and 2.2µF 5%
with only 3 colours

5th colour
Top & 2nd colour Significant 3rd colour 4th colour
Working
figures Multiplier Tolerance
Voltage

0 0 ±20%

1 1 100nF 100Vdc
(10x0.01µF)
2 2 ±20% 400Vd.c. 250Vdc

3 3 x0.001µ

4 4 x0.01µF 400Vdc

5 5 x0.1µF ±5%
 6 6 630Vdc
220nF
(22x0.01µF)
7 7
±10% 400V
d.c.
8 8

9 9 ±10% 1000Vdc

See Preferred Value Calculator

Vintage Solid Carbon Rod Resistor colour code

Body colour End colour Centre Dot colour End (Dot) colour
1st Significant Figure 2nd Significant Figure Multiplier Tolerance

0 0 x1Ω

1 1 x10Ω

2 2 x100Ω
2.2kΩ ±10%
3 3 x1kΩ

4 4 x10kΩ
33kΩ ±10%

5 5 x100kΩ

6 6 x1MΩ

7 7

8 8
47kΩ ±20%
9 9 NONE ±20%

SILVER x0.01Ω ±10%

GOLD x0.1Ω ±5%

See Preferred Value Calculator

3 & 4 Band Carbon Composition Resistor colour code

1st colour band 2nd colour band 3rd colour band 4th colour band
1st Significant Figure 2nd Significant Figure Multiplier Tolerance

0 0 x1Ω

1 1 x10Ω ±1%

2 2 x100Ω ±2%

3 3 x1kΩ

4 4 x10kΩ ±5% see note below

5 5 x100kΩ

6 x1MΩ

7 7 4.7MΩ 5%

8 8

9 9 47kΩ ±10%

GOLD 0.1Ω ±5%

SILVER x0.01Ω ±10%

330Ω ±2% NONE ±20%

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 code

Unlike older resistors the widest band is often the last of 6 ~ If only 5 bands ignore last column
in table

1st 3 colour bands 4th colour band 5th colour band 6th Colour band
Significant Figures R Multiplier Tolerance PPM / °C

0 x1Ω

1 x10Ω ±1% +100

2 x100Ω ±2% +50

3 x1kΩ +15

4 x10kΩ +25
68kΩ 1% 50 ppm/°C
5 x100kΩ

6 x1MΩ ±0.25% +10

7 ±0.1% +5

8
47kΩ 1% 50 ppm/°C
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