Do you hate blue resistors? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Fungus
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 22, 2020, 02:07:32 pm
content: Seems like all the resistors that arrive here are blue these days and I hate them. It's much harder to see the colors and read the values than the old brown ones.What gives? Who took the decision to change the color and why? Does anybody know?

author: Zero999
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 22, 2020, 02:28:17 pm
content: I'm neutral about them.I think the brown ones tend to be carbon film and the blue ones are normally metal film, but don't think there's a standard.

author: TimFox
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 22, 2020, 02:30:52 pm
content: I prefer the military-style metal film resistors with a light tan body, but they use lettering rather than color bands.

author: mariush
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 22, 2020, 02:32:32 pm
content: Seems like a simple solution : go with surface mount 0805 or 1206 resistors. They'll have the value written on them.You can easily add leads to them if needed, or just solder them on the through hole pads.

author: SiliconWizard
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 22, 2020, 02:33:38 pm
content: Quote from: Zero999 on March 22, 2020, 02:28:17 pmThat's what I have always seen as well. Dunno about a standard, but I don't think I have ever seen "blue" TH resistors that weren't metal film.

author: wraper
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: March 22, 2020, 03:18:12 pm
content: Quote from: Fungus on March 22, 2020, 02:07:32 pmBuy carbon crap and you will get brown resistors. Brown = carbon, blue = metal film (unless you buy dodgy crap on ebay).

author: Monkeh
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 22, 2020, 03:21:19 pm
content: He's a colourist everyone, lynch him.

author: Siwastaja
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 22, 2020, 03:28:10 pm
content: While the color itself is a matter of taste, a blue resistor gives the impression of it being a modern and higher quality, because this is generally very likely true - lower noise and higher accuracy metal film as opposed to carbon film.With resistors, modern likely means better. Yesterday's 20% is today's 5%, and so on.This is why we who prefer high-quality designs, get good "vibes" from the blue color resistors, while those who prefer retro vintage artefacts, will hate anything that has high likelyhood of being closer to ideal.

author: Brumby
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: March 22, 2020, 03:38:43 pm
content: I hate them with a passion.Not because they are bad resistors - they're not. They are metal film that, typically, have better tolerance and better thermal attributes.What I hate is identifying them.Throw a fistful of carbon film resistors on the bench and I can pick out a 470R, 56k or any other E12 value just by scanning. With the buggers with the intense blue coloured bodies, it becomes a detective exercise. Even then, some values are still ambiguous - so the meter comes out to check. Very annoying.Who picked this colour? If they wanted a blue, they could have gone for a much lighter shade,couldn't they?

author: Fungus
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 22, 2020, 05:17:18 pm
content: Quote from: Brumby on March 22, 2020, 03:38:43 pmThis.

author: SiliconWizard
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 22, 2020, 05:31:16 pm
content: Quote from: Brumby on March 22, 2020, 03:38:43 pmNever really had a problem with them myself, but I know that not everyone has the same eyesight. Some people would have a harder time, especially if they are color blind, even if just very slightly.I practically never use TH resistors anymore these days anyway...

author: ratatax
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: March 22, 2020, 05:54:57 pm
content: I find them much harder to read tooSMD's are much easier with the value written on them... but they're quite sad, I loved the 80's with so much colorful components, PCBs looked like rainbows

author: bd139
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 22, 2020, 05:59:30 pm
content: All these problems can be solved with my multiple step plan for success:1. Buy them by the hundred (I usually buy the royal ohm ones from tayda/CPC)2. Store in properly labelled bags identified by the ones they come in.3. Take what you need out and use it4. When you are done or have desoldered one throw it in the bin and forget it existed.5. If you drop one, throw it in the bin and get another one out.You’re basically screwed these days anyway. A lot of components have useless codes on or aren’t marked (SMD) so just shrug and get used to binning them.If you’re sly, sweep them all into a box and sell it on eBay for some other idiot to deal with. They go for good money

author: hugo
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: March 22, 2020, 06:00:47 pm
content: Quotewhy don't you use an ohmmeter then?

author: Zero999
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 22, 2020, 06:40:51 pm
content: The only problem I've had with identifying a blue resistor is a yellow band looked a bit more greenish, so I used 100k, rather than 1M once and I wondered why the circuit didn't work, but I've also had a similar problem with a red band looking a bit more brownish, on a brown resistor. I'm very sightly red-green colour blind which is actually a misnomer as I can tell the difference between red and green, it's more subtle shades of dark green/red and brown which I have a more difficult time with distinguishing between, than most people. I can seethat this text is redandthis text is green.

author: vk6zgo
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 23, 2020, 01:49:10 am
content: Apart from the background colours, the cheap & nasty paint used for the stripes is so poor that orange, red & brown are almost the same colour.

author: Fungus
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 23, 2020, 03:05:42 am
content: Quote from: vk6zgo on March 23, 2020, 01:49:10 amYep, the quality of the paint colors and the width of the stripes has deteriorated, too.

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: March 23, 2020, 04:05:58 am
content: No idea how blue became the standard for metal film, but it's always been a tad annoying. My eyes aren't exactly getting better with age, and those colors on the blue background have gotten harder in the last few years, especially in low light.

author: rdl
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 23, 2020, 04:19:21 am
content: I don't know what kind of paint they use for the stripes, but I'm pretty sure the colors would be more easily seen if they'd just not be so cheap and add a little white pigment. Many of the organic pigments are very nearly black in the masstone. Phthalo blue and phthalo green in particular are very dark. Some of the violet pigments are also. They are also fairly transparent which probably doesn't help.

author: tautech
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 23, 2020, 04:37:37 am
content: Don’t matter what colour the body is, run them a little warm and good luck identifying band colours !

author: SiliconWizard
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 23, 2020, 04:19:44 pm
content: Quote from: hugo on March 22, 2020, 06:00:47 pmIndeed.People having issues identifying the colors can just use an ohmmeter and be done with it. From most distributors, the values are also usually marked in clear on the bags. If not, just do it when you store them and you're done. No biggie really...These days, it's fun to know we can still read resistor codes, but it's not that useful anymore IMHO.(OK, I'll admit that one case it can be useful is for identifying resistors already soldered on some undocumented board - testing them in-circuit often yields the wrong value.)

author: exe
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: March 23, 2020, 04:29:20 pm
content: I store resistors in amo pack with a label. On label I have value, tolerance, and tempco. In addition, I always check actual value with a DMM or SMD twezers.Motivation: I've had enough resistors with un-identifiable colors. Is this band grey or silver? is it yellow or gold? Is it the first band, or the last? May be it's even not a resistor, but inductor in a similar package. Even if I identify colors the right way, I can still make a mistake with calculating value by an order of magnitude.

author: Zero999
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 23, 2020, 04:59:25 pm
content: I keep my resistors in cases of tubes sorted into different values. I stock 1R to 10M, with 10R to 1M in E24 values and the others in E12 values.

author: rrinker
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 23, 2020, 07:55:41 pm
content: One of the first things I learned as a really young player was the resistor color code. But with older eyes, and the much lighter printing of the colors these days, I just keep a meter handy, and populate one value at a time. Say my board has 12 pullups of 10K each, I'll make sure I have a little stack of 12 resistors checked to be sure they are 10K, then populate all those, then move on to the next value.I'm still all thru-hole, with my vision issues, SMD is just not in the cards. Magnification is not the problem - I have very limited vision in my right eye so depth perception is off. At least with TH, it's something I am extremely familiar with and I can find the spot to solder - haven't burned a finger yet, or my nose (you don't want to watch me solder...really). I notice this more and more - things I am familiar with, it's as if my depth perception has not altered. Amazing how the brain can compensate. But something unfamiliar - I'll miss the mark a time or two.

author: Zero999
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 23, 2020, 09:22:37 pm
content: Quote from: SiliconWizard on March 23, 2020, 04:19:44 pmYes, that's the main reason for the colour band, although they're no good if the resistor has overheated and become discoloured.

author: rsjsouza
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 24, 2020, 02:53:13 am
content: I dislike the blue color, but it's been a long while since I don't carry one of my good meters together with alligator clips when I am sorting this type of stuff. My eyesight is going fast as well...Regarding sorting, I use coin envelopes that allow me to scribble any type of info and fit very well in quite a number of cardboard boxes.

author: Brumby
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: March 24, 2020, 04:25:38 am
content: Quote from: bd139 on March 22, 2020, 05:59:30 pmThese points are becoming more common with me. Even when using breadboards, the resistors don't usually find their way back to the fold.QuoteSounds like a plan ... and one that fits the way things are going with me.

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 24, 2020, 06:00:42 am
content: the benefit of blue resistors or non brown resistors is that natural over heating deformation is brown and char is black, these colors stand out on blue, so a quick visual inspection may detect problemshowever, there are better colors for this possibly, White resistors?if you notice, fuses are often light green (through hole littlefuse), not sure if this is done for this reason to identify burn. The problem with white might be false positives from flux and dust contamination, they will show everything.I assume you like the really old brown ones (true cylinder shape), not the tan ones, those will stand out betterlow level/hunch/probability based analysis usually leads me to believe the tan resistors are 5% carbon film, but this is not always the case.

author: ebastler
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 24, 2020, 06:41:36 am
content: That poll at the top of the thread is clearly lacking an "I don't care" option.

author: OwO
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 24, 2020, 06:49:35 am
content: Don't remember the last time I've seen or used a giant barrel resistor. Just put many 0805 resistors in parallel/series if you need higher power rating.

author: Brumby
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: March 24, 2020, 07:22:29 am
content: Quote from: coppercone2 on March 24, 2020, 06:00:42 amDon't be absurd. Carbon composition resistors aren't something anyone reallylikesthese days.They did have one thing, though, that the blue bodied beasties do not possess .... readable bands.

author: Fungus
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 24, 2020, 08:25:01 am
content: Quote from: exe on March 23, 2020, 04:29:20 pmThis, too. The blue ones usually have five bands, arranged symmetrically. It's usually hard to see which end to start decoding.The brown ones are a lot more obvious.

author: floobydust
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 24, 2020, 09:15:29 am
content: This picture could be used for EE torture.I go with light blue Xicon 271 and can't stand the dark blue Yageo MFR-25 brutal hard to read- orange/brown/red look almost the same to me.

author: Fungus
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 24, 2020, 09:38:14 am
content: Quote from: floobydust on March 24, 2020, 09:15:29 amI'll donate a free Internet to anybody who can decode all of those by sight.

author: floobydust
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 24, 2020, 09:55:54 am
content: The bastard is 33k2 (second from right) but I just realized the problem is LED lighting has very little red spectrum in it. The colours look much better under halogen lighting- although dark blue body still sucks.

author: rsjsouza
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 24, 2020, 08:57:12 pm
content: Quote from: floobydust on March 24, 2020, 09:15:29 amYes, that is a careful selection of torture instruments.

author: bd139
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 24, 2020, 09:10:19 pm
content: Quote from: floobydust on March 24, 2020, 09:15:29 amErr bin, bin, hmm bin, bin, bin, bin, bin, bin and bin.At least it's not like that bloody awful Pearson textbook I saw once where the print was so bad you couldn't tell the difference between brown, red and orange. I was asked to review it for a friend before he gave it to his son and suggested he burned the fucking thing.

author: 25 CPS
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 24, 2020, 11:41:27 pm
content: On behalf of every one of us colourblind gentlemen, I'd like to welcome you to our world.

author: ChristofferB
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 24, 2020, 11:46:06 pm
content: What I find much worse are dark green metal film resistors. The darker colours are almost completely unreadable

author: Monkeh
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 25, 2020, 02:49:02 pm
content: What are these odd things with leads, anyway? Have we travelled back in time to the 1980s?

author: unknownparticle
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 25, 2020, 02:51:39 pm
content: Stuff all this modern rubbish, carbon film, metal film, metal oxide, whatever. Lets go back to good old 2" long solid carbon resistors with body, tip and spot colour coding, those were the days!!

author: free_electron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 25, 2020, 03:11:19 pm
content: color code is so 1950's.

author: Brumby
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: March 26, 2020, 12:00:45 am
content: Quote from: free_electron on March 25, 2020, 03:11:19 pmSo am I.

author: dbctronic
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: March 26, 2020, 01:18:11 am
content: Those of us getting a bit long in the tooth also don't appreciate the fact that metal film resistor bands are sothin! That certainly doesn't help, in combination with the color contrast issues mentioned above.But I like quality, precision, and dependability, so I try not to grumble too much. Metal film units have served me well over the years.Yepper, keep El Senor Ohmmeter handy...???BTW, in reply to an earlier post, why would anyonewantto identify a roasted resistor, anyway?

author: rsjsouza
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 26, 2020, 01:49:19 am
content: Quote from: dbctronic on March 26, 2020, 01:18:11 amReplace a resistor in a non-working equipment?

author: floobydust
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 26, 2020, 01:52:29 am
content: Quote from: Monkeh on March 25, 2020, 02:49:02 pmYeah the future looks excellent

author: TiN
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 26, 2020, 02:04:37 am
content: Markings? What markings.... there are no markings on 0402 resistors...

author: floobydust
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 26, 2020, 03:17:52 am
content: Blind date with a resistor? Hope she's 10k lol0402 only really used in mobile stuff - cell phones, tablets, laptop etc. where electrons of no particular value travel. I'll bet none of your test gear has 0402's.

author: Monkeh
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 26, 2020, 03:24:05 am
content: Quote from: floobydust on March 26, 2020, 03:17:52 am0402? Phone? Well, at least we've made it up to 2005 now..

author: floobydust
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 26, 2020, 04:41:24 am
content: Where's the power? 0402 good for 63mW. I can't work with little pepper flakes, too small for my eyes and the slightest bump sends them flying.It's weird one consumer product drives the entire electronics industry towards the smallest parts, to the extinction of engineers being able to prototype something. In that sense, blue resistors are awesome.

author: exe
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: March 26, 2020, 07:37:32 am
content: Quote from: floobydust on March 26, 2020, 04:41:24 amI think so far there is a wide range of components available on the market: from beefy current shunts, to parts less than 0201. I use all of them (I mean both th and smd), TH for breadboarding and when I have to dissipate a lot of heat (hello to-220 and to-247), and 0603 when I have a pcb and I want to save some board space. I used to use 0805, but they are "too big".In my next project I'll try using 0402. I already have experience soldering them with a naked eye (on training smd boards). With a bit of practice it was actually not hard at all. But I wouldn't go smaller, at least not now.I also have 0204 capacitors (reverse geometry), which I thought would be a great idea for bypassing digital circuits. But looking at the size of their pads, I'm not sure I'll manage. They are too tiny for me, and it looks like they are easy to short with excessive solder. So, probably, I'll use 0306.I want to buy this kit, but it's not available:https://www.tindie.com/products/MakersBox/smd-challenge/. May be I should just make my own version...My advise for people who are afraid of smd because of the size: it's much easier than it looks, up to 0603 requires no special skills. 0402 a bit trickier, I suggest practice on an "smd training kit" before working with them on actual equipment.PS smd tweezers are awesome. Can be used both for measurements and for placing if working with a stencil.

author: rsjsouza
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 26, 2020, 10:45:29 am
content: Quote from: floobydust on March 26, 2020, 04:41:24 amNot only power but voltage as well. Slap an 0402 at the high voltage part of your power supply, immerse it in a humid environment for a few months/years and watch sparks fly. You can't beat physics.Quote from: exe on March 26, 2020, 07:37:32 amI agree on the SMD training kit - these are very useful but could be replaced by old boards on a pinch.But no special skills?!? The physical tolerances and marging for error are much narrower, requiring not only a feather touch hand but quite a few aids to help with the process, such as a loupe/microscope (stereo is even better), a fine pitch solder and soldering iron, spare flux and wick/braid for the occasional removal/resoldering of a part, kapton tape or other way to hold a QFP part in place...You can solder a through hole part with a "fire stick" soldering iron featuring a 5mm tip half eaten by continuous use, filing it along the way to remove crud that accumulates as you go, whatever remnants of solder you have around and with a much heavier hand and a pair of reading glasses if you are aging. Some friends even used a clothes iron for the lack of a better thing available in an emergency.Several years ago I have transitioned to 1206 and 0805 and, even when my eyesight was good, I still needed the optical amplification (loupe, stereo microscope) to be sure the job was well done (no solder blobs or shorts, proper positioning and alignment of parts). For the past year or so demand required me to move to 0402 parts and I can tell no special skills are required for this when compared to the 1206/0805, just a much lighter touch of hand.

author: exe
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: March 26, 2020, 11:16:39 am
content: Quote from: rsjsouza on March 26, 2020, 10:45:29 amAh, I took this for granted. Also a hotair gun... The tool I really miss at times when dealing with lead-free is a bottom heater (though I woudn't say this is specific to smd, as I had troubles desoldering a TH-cap from a motherboard due to power planes). Also hooking test leads is a problem for me. Micrograbbers are expensive. I also have a spring-loaded needle-like probes, but I didn't manage to use them on 0.65mm tqfp, it's too easy to fall off (and short something).I usually don't use a tape to keep parts in place, tacky flux help with this. But that's my personal preference.My message was more like "embrace the fear". I was terrified by smd for many years, until just accepted it. Now I love it more than TH. It actually makes many things easier and faster (if the pcb is ready). Just put it on the board and bake it.My fears now are BGA, fine-pitched components, components smaller than 0402, and highly-integrated ICs with many legs, power sequencing, impedance matching, etc. I haven't dealt with them yet, but one day may time will come...

author: Mortymore
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 26, 2020, 11:31:31 am
content: I can't read the color strips over the blue. I ALWAYS have to measure them.I rarely have to do the same in tan ones.

author: Fungus
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 26, 2020, 12:48:23 pm
content: Quote from: exe on March 26, 2020, 07:37:32 amI'm not afraid of SMD because of the size, I don't use them because almost everything I make is a one-off or in small quantities so drawing a proper PCB, ordering it, waiting for it to arrive, etc., is a non-starter.On the odd occasion when Idomake a PCB I use through-hole because that's the parts I have in the drawer from the prototyping. If I used SMD on the board I'd have to order a bunch of duplicate SMD parts, too, so...If you're producing en-masse or if somebody's paying you to sit in an office and prototype stuff then sure, SMD all the way.Quote from: Monkeh on March 25, 2020, 02:49:02 pmThey're alive and well around here.

author: Fungus
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 26, 2020, 01:05:56 pm
content: Quote from: exe on March 26, 2020, 11:16:39 amI don';t know the exact size but a guy brought some resistors to Arduino club as a challenge that were about the size of a grain of sand. Drop one on the table and you could easily lose it. I don't even know how a pick and place machine can work with them (anybody?). Is there really a need for componentsthatsmall?(The challenge was to measure the resistance with a multimeter...)Quote from: exe on March 26, 2020, 11:16:39 amThat one's actually much easier than it looks: You don't solder each leg individually, you just bathe them all in solder and let the solder mask do its job. If two legs short together you can usually run the iron down between them and they'll separate. If the board is well-prepared with a flux pen then the only real trick is to use the right amount of solder.(and if you use too much then desoldering braid will fix it in no time)

author: bd139
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 26, 2020, 01:22:43 pm
content: Got to be honest I prefer SMD now. It's much much easier to work with and the parts don't take up as much room in storage. Also they're a lot cheaper!Couple of prototypes I did same day turnaround:

author: exe
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: March 26, 2020, 01:33:15 pm
content: Quote from: Fungus on March 26, 2020, 12:48:23 pmFor me this is only concern for ICs, as I already have kits of passive components from China, both TH and SMD. For ICs, since they are expensive and sometimes don't come in TH package, I use smd-to-dip converters.I do very little soldering, most the time I spend in spice simulators and writing code. So, I think I can afford pcb fabrication for projects I do as there are not many.Quote from: Fungus on March 26, 2020, 12:48:23 pmSorry, I meant complexity of using them. That is reading lengthy datasheets, programming it or controlling via SPI, esp. initialization, routing traces, power supply sequencing... this sort of challenges. Nowadays even dc-dc converters have built-in mcus and proprietary firmwares... I have a few displays from aliexpress that I couldn't make working. I still don't know if they were dead, or I killed them, or I didn't initialize them properly. Or may be the seller advertised a wrong controller, and I used a wrong datasheet. Sometimes a single instruction, or a single pin tied to a wrong rail can screw it, that's why I don't like sophisticated ICs that do many things at once.Quote from: Fungus on March 26, 2020, 01:05:56 pmIf they are on sale, then there is a demand.

author: unknownparticle
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 26, 2020, 01:35:17 pm
content: My electronics life began at the cusp of the IC, and valves were still being used in some applications, you could certainly still obtain them at every electronics store, so what amazes me most about SMD is their obvious tolerance to soldering temperature, both with an iron or especially with hot air.How do they do that?!

author: newbrain
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 26, 2020, 01:44:35 pm
content: Quote from: Fungus on March 26, 2020, 12:48:23 pmSame here about one-offs, but I'm using SMD more and more on protoboards: 0805 and 0603 fit perfectly in between 2.54mm pads!1206, OTOH are too large and difficult to fit.I very seldom use THT passives nowadays.ICs get adapter boards (unless they can fit dying bug style - some legs down, some legs up...).Not the best to look at, but workable if you don't want to wait for a proper PCB.

author: SiliconWizard
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 26, 2020, 03:15:33 pm
content: Quote from: newbrain on March 26, 2020, 01:44:35 pmYeah. But there's a lot of SMD proto boards these days. They used to be a bit expensive, but now you can find them for pretty cheap through Aliexpress/eBay and the like. Most are 1.27mm pitch, with which you can do a lot, and for finer pitch ICs, you can use adapter boards (also easily available), or solder tiny wires on the pads for QFNs for instance (a bit annoying, but quite doable with a soldering microscope and a steady hand).