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SMD code KV in SMA

Marking codes are not standardised, and the same code is reused by unrelated makers for unrelated parts. Below is every part in our tables printed with it, and any printed with a code that is easy to misread as it, from the manufacturers' own marking tables and published code lists.

7 parts in SMA are printed KV

Not sure which one you have?

Answer up to 4 quick questions and these 36 parts are ranked, with a meter test that settles it. It works on a dead part too.

Is it dead? One meter test per kind

Parts of the same kind are tested the same way, so each test is here once. Each part above points to its own.

TVS or ESD protection diode

Diode range, from the protected line to ground, part lifted if you can.

Working, it reads

A one-way part reads about 0.6 to 0.8 V forward and open in reverse. A two-way part reads open both ways. Arrays with several lines read as the datasheet's diagram draws them.

Dead, it reads

  • From the line to ground, the same reading both ways, near 0 V with a continuous beep: shorted.
  • A reading both ways on a one-way part: leaky.
  • A one-way part open both ways: failed open.
On the board
, a line reading shorted to ground can be this part or anything else on that line. Lift it: if the short goes with it, it has failed.
Compare:
The same part on the next line or connector pin is the healthy reading to compare with.
Watch for:
A two-way part reads open both ways when it is good, exactly like one that has failed open. The meter cannot tell them apart; an identical part on the next line can.

A dead part still carries its marking. A short or an open says it has failed, not that it is a different part.

N-channel MOSFET

Diode range, part lifted. Test drain to source first, then short gate to source and test again.

Working, it reads

Red probe on the source, black on the drain: about 0.4 to 0.9 V, the body diode. Open the other way. The gate reads open to both other pins, both ways.

Dead, it reads

  • Drain to source the same both ways, near 0 V with a continuous beep, and still so after shorting gate to source: shorted. The classic failure.
  • The gate reads low to source or drain: gate shorted. Often all three pins end up shorted together.
  • No body diode at all: failed open.
On the board
the gate usually has a resistor to the source, so gate to source reads that resistor, which is not a fault. A drain short can be the load. Lift a leg to be sure.
Compare:
If an identical part sits elsewhere on the board, measure it the same way: that is what this one should read.
Watch for:
The diode range can charge the gate enough to turn the part on, and then drain to source reads near 0 both ways on a good part. Short gate to source and test again before you condemn it.

A dead part still carries its marking. A short or an open says it has failed, not that it is a different part.

Silicon diode

Diode range, part lifted or one leg off the pad. Red probe on the anode.

Working, it reads

About 0.5 to 0.8 V anode to cathode, and open the other way. Small switching diodes read about 0.6 to 0.7 V; large rectifiers can read a little lower.

Dead, it reads

  • The same reading both ways round, near 0 V with a continuous beep or the same middling value: shorted.
  • Open both ways: failed open.
  • A reading the wrong way round as well: leaky.
On the board
this is a first look only: the meter reads every path between those pins, and a short can be a neighbour. Lift one leg before you condemn it.
Compare:
If an identical part sits elsewhere on the board, measure it the same way: that is what this one should read.
Watch for:
A three-pin body can hold two diodes. With a common pin they read two junctions from that pin, just like a transistor; in series they read two drops end to end. Test each pair the datasheet names.

A dead part still carries its marking. A short or an open says it has failed, not that it is a different part.

Integrated circuit

Voltage with the board powered; ohms from each pin to ground with it off.

Working, it reads

Supply pin at its voltage and the output doing what the datasheet says. Readings between pins depend on the part.

Dead, it reads

  • A pin near 0 Ω to ground or to the supply pin where an identical part does not read that: failed short.
  • Supply present, output stuck: failed, or its load has.
On the board:
A pin shorted to ground on the board can be anything on that net. Lift the pin to be sure.
Compare:
The surest reference is the same IC on a working board, measured pin by pin.
Watch for:
Its protection diodes can read like junctions between pins, even like a transistor. That proves nothing either way.

A dead part still carries its marking. A short or an open says it has failed, not that it is a different part.

Codes that begin with KV

For a marking with its end worn or burnt off. Each code has a page of its own.

Codes not listed here are printed on 60 more parts.

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