0603 resistors with value markings (from Digikey?) - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / projects

author: rs20
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 15, 2016, 05:57:22 am
content: Hi,I've used 0805 for a long time, and was surprised to find that when I moved from Panasonic's 0805 to their 0603 resistors (specifically, from ERJ-6 to ERJ-3 series), the 0603 resistors had absolutely no markings on them -- there was no way to distinguish a 10k from a 1k resistor from visual inspection alone.Annoyingly, I can't find any indication within their voluminous documentation that described which sizes were marked and which weren't, and other manufacturers don't seem to volunteer this information either. So has anyone ordered 0603 resistors from Digikey before and found that they had value markings? Which company/series were they?PS/ I know, obviously a assembly strategy thatrelieson reading the tiny markings on an 0603 is not going to be a good one. Nevertheless, I like the reassurance of being able to verify component values later, especially when debugging.

author: ataradov
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 15, 2016, 06:28:44 am
content: I'm looking at some random 0603 resistors by Yaego I've got from DigiKey, and they are marked.Found some by Stackpole Electronics Inc with markings as well.PS: As you can see, I buy the cheapest stuff

author: amitchell
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: December 15, 2016, 06:51:40 am
content: Vishay dale 0603 are marked. I have had the same luck as you with the panasonics.

author: tszaboo
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 15, 2016, 09:32:28 am
content: I tend to use Vishay CRCW lately. Sure, it is automotive, probably overkill. But it only costs like an extra euro or so per reel, and using the pick and place is more expensive anyway. It has tiny 4 digit marking on it, none of that EIA code rubbish. Granted, I probably wouldn't use it if I would design products for high quantity.

author: plazma
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 15, 2016, 10:02:47 am
content: Some manufacturer advertized their environmentally friendlier 0603 resistor. The save was in the marking. I only buy marked models.

author: Neilm
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 15, 2016, 06:52:12 pm
content: Not printing the marking means one less operation when making the resistor. That translates into a cheaper product. A company making millions of devices will be happy to buy them as it will save money. About a year ago a couple of manufacturers annonced they would be not marking several ranges of resistors - IIRC Yaego said they would not mark anything smaller than 1206

author: DaJMasta
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 15, 2016, 08:22:32 pm
content: Pretty much all my stock of SMD resistors are 0603 and the majority have been through digikey... I think I have yet to get an unmarked one (usually 1%, 250-1000 quantity, thin or thick film, then whatever is cheapest in the value I'm looking for). Maybe that's just a Panasonic thing.I'm not so surprised though, as I haven't even taken time to learn the codes. The tape stays in a marked bag and i take out the number needed and solder them on before moving to the next value... it's very rare that I need to check the code, really only if I forget what order I'm doing things. Caps are never marked and I've had very few instances of putting one in and then wondering if I used the right value or not.

author: hans
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 15, 2016, 08:33:55 pm
content: 0402 and smaller are usually unmarked, because at that scale it makes no sense.0603 can usually squeeze 3 digits in, I think almost all but a few I've seen are marked.However, I remember reading this a few years ago:https://www.soselectronic.com/articles/yageo-will-the-smd-resistors-marking-become-a-historyy-1265

author: rob77
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 15, 2016, 09:18:30 pm
content: i'm using Vishay, Yaego, Royal Ohm .. all marked... however it's quite hard to read the marking on a 0603... for example Vishay squeezed in the marking 51R1 to 0603 resistor... can't read it without magnification, so for me it's just a tiny bit better than no marking at all

author: wraper
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: December 15, 2016, 09:20:46 pm
content: 0603 resistors usually are marked, anything smaller is not.

author: georges80
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 16, 2016, 02:00:34 am
content: Many of the 0603 I used are unmarked. No big deal. They live on the reel or strip and in the plastic bag/packaged that is labeled by either digikey or mouser (depending on where I purchased from).Even marked resistors are typically some 'code' anyway. Makes no difference to me. If for some rare reason the strip falls out of its bag, takes little time to measure with a meter... and put back in a marked bag.Ceramic caps aren't marked at all and I've dealt with that a long time already...I've been prototyping with SMT since it went mainstream 20+ years ago, never had an issue needing to confirm a component on a board by reading some code on it.cheers,george.

author: bson
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: December 16, 2016, 11:37:56 pm
content: I've been using Susumu 0603 thin film resistors (NRG, RS) and think they're great; excellent thermal stability for the price. They're also labeled. The NRG's are non-magnetic.