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SMD marking

RAIin SOT-23-5

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.

Not sure which one you have?

Answer up to 4 quick questions and these 2 parts are ranked, with a meter test that settles it. It works on a dead part too.

The only part printed RAI in this package in our tables

TLV3201AIDBV

What it is
Comparator
Maker
Texas Instruments
Package
SOT-23-5
Pins
5
Details
40ns, microPOWER, Push-Pull Output Comparators
Source
From the manufacturer's datasheet

Is it dead?

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.

Datasheetfor TLV3201AIDBV, opens in a new tab

Printed with a code easy to misread

This part is printed with a character that is easy to misread as what you typed. The odd one out is marked on each.

  • RS1ALHprinted RALRectifier, Taiwan Semiconductor

    Printed RAL on the part. Easy to misread as RAI. Check that character with a loupe before you order anything.

    What it is
    Rectifier
    Maker
    Taiwan Semiconductor
    Package
    Not recorded
    Pins
    Not recorded
    Source
    From the manufacturer's datasheet

    Is it dead?

    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:
    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.

    Datasheetfor RS1ALH, opens in a new tab

Open this in the search to correct a character or try another package.