Resistor color code ... pc prase? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / beginners

author: innkeeper
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: July 18, 2018, 10:41:33 pm
content: I'm sure many of us know the NON-PC phrase used to remember the resistor color code values.Is there a good PC phrase one can use to teach others. Anything in common use?

author: JS
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 19, 2018, 12:32:23 am
content: A box of mixed resistors, a table and a circuit to build, or two, or three... that's how I learned!Then I went to metal film and it's a waste of time, as colors on the blue back are much worse and there are even some that could be read both ways (most starting with 1 make sense both ways so it's ugly)Now I'm going for SMD and you just read numbers, like numbers wouldn't fit in bigger packages, I guess printing in a small cylinder is hard, but diodes are done this way, who knowsJS

author: Relayer
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: July 19, 2018, 01:07:34 am
content: QuoteSame here. I used to buy the grab bags of mixed resistors from Dick Smith, Jaycar and the likes.I always had dramas with the metal-film ones as well, and at times it was really hard to determineif a band was coloured red or brown.I would really feel sorry for anyone colour-blind needing to sort out 1000 mixed metal-film resistors.Regards,Relayer

author: james_s
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 19, 2018, 05:15:39 am
content: It took the very much non-PC phrase for me to finally remember the color code. I think just the fact that it was rather offensive is what made it stick in my mind.

author: KaneTW
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 19, 2018, 05:17:42 am
content: I'm color-blind, so dealing with through-hole resistors is basically impossible for me. I stick with SMD in my designs anyway.

author: AG6QR
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 19, 2018, 05:55:57 am
content: It's only partial, but the ROYGBV portion of the code is in rainbow order, or lowest to highest frequency. So if you know the rainbow, you just need to remember "black brown --Rainbow-- white".On the other hand, the color bands are often hard to read, because they're small and the colors aren't always very accurate. So I usually keep a multimeter in ohms mode handy when I'm working with resistors. Trust, but verify.

author: JohnnyMalaria
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 19, 2018, 03:44:09 pm
content: Quote from: innkeeper on July 18, 2018, 10:41:33 pmBig Bananas Resting On Your Great Big Voluptuous Green Watermelons

author: TheWelly888
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 19, 2018, 03:54:30 pm
content: Bye Bye Rosie, Off You Go, Bristol Via Great Western

author: JohnnyMalaria
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 19, 2018, 04:04:34 pm
content: Quote from: TheWelly888 on July 19, 2018, 03:54:30 pmVery nice. Used to live there and ride that line from London.

author: GreyWoolfe
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: July 19, 2018, 10:33:29 pm
content: Quote from: TheWelly888 on July 19, 2018, 03:54:30 pmSo how is Bad Beer Rots Our Young Guts, But Vodka Goes Well not PC or is there another that I am not aware of?

author: AG6QR
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 20, 2018, 01:01:09 am
content: Quote from: GreyWoolfe on July 19, 2018, 10:33:29 pmThat may be mildly inappropriate in some circles, but I believe there are much worse. See the wikipedia link posted above by tsman.

author: Brumby
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: July 20, 2018, 04:58:01 am
content: I run with the Black, Brown, Rainbow(ish), Grey, White approach.

author: TheWelly888
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 20, 2018, 02:03:41 pm
content: Quote from: GreyWoolfe on July 19, 2018, 10:33:29 pmI never heard this one before but I think it is OK.

author: IanMacdonald
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 20, 2018, 08:01:00 pm
content: I honestly don't know why they use that horrible five-band code on metal film types. There is no need for it on an E24 series anyway, and as pointed out it leads to ambiguous values on 1% types. I use carbon types for general experimenting. They are noisier and less accurate, but less likely to make a circuit-damaging mistake with. SMD types are easier if you're going to make a PCB but don't lend themselves to birdsnesting, which is how I usually prove a circuit first. You can tell I'm an ex TV engineer

author: free_electron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 20, 2018, 08:04:03 pm
content: another reason to switch to surface mounted parts

author: IanMacdonald
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 20, 2018, 08:50:40 pm
content: Another advantage of SMD, no need to mirror the track layout. Easy to forget about that.

author: Raj
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 09, 2018, 04:40:16 am
content: time is all you need for color code learning. It took me 2 years worth of making stuff as hobbyist to learn it.Every time you solder a resistor, just say it's value in your mind, you'll learn it.Also keeping them in tictac box with with box color corrosponding to the second last band helps.Notice, there are 2 boxes of x-x-black-x and a box of x-x-golden-golden or x-x-silver-silver or x-x-blue-x colored white.the x-x-brown-x is a red box.

author: grumpydoc
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 09, 2018, 06:43:33 am
content: I learned Black Beetles Running On Your Garden Bring Very Good Weather, along with the less PC ones.

author: innkeeper
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: August 10, 2018, 02:48:31 am
content: Quote from: grumpydoc on August 09, 2018, 06:43:33 ami like that one

author: orin
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 10, 2018, 04:13:35 am
content: Quote from: innkeeper on August 10, 2018, 02:48:31 amThe only one I remember, that must have predated me by many years, is:Better Buy Resistors Or Your Grid Bias May Go WestTo modernize it, substitute Gate for Grid. And the 'M' is Mauve... shudder.

author: Cubdriver
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: August 12, 2018, 07:31:47 am
content: The one we were 'officially' taught as freshmen in high school was "Big Boys Race Our Young Girls But Violet Generally Wins"The shop teacher then suggested we speak to the juniors to find out the 'unnofficial' version. In that version, the first, third, eighth and ninth words were replaced by slightly different ones. Unsurprisingly, the second version is the one we all remembered.-Pat