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SMD code RT-

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.

80 parts are printed RT-

Not sure which one you have?

Answer up to 4 quick questions and these 50 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.

PIN diode or varicap

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

Working, it reads

About 0.6 to 0.9 V anode to cathode, and open the other way.

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.
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 varicap that has drifted in capacitance reads normal on a meter. Only a capacitance meter or the tuning itself shows it.

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

PNP transistor

Diode range, part lifted or its base leg off the pad.

Working, it reads

Black probe on the base reads about 0.6 to 0.75 V to the emitter and to the collector, and open the other way round. Collector to emitter reads open both ways.

Dead, it reads

  • Collector to emitter the same both ways, near 0 V with a continuous beep: shorted. The commonest failure.
  • The base the same both ways to another pin, near 0 V or a middling value: a shorted junction.
  • Only one junction reads, or none: a junction has failed open. It then looks like a diode.
  • A reading the wrong way round, where it should be open: 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 pair of diodes with a common pin reads just like a transistor, and some transistors carry a built-in diode or resistor. The datasheet says which.

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

This part

Diode range and ohms range, part lifted.

Working, it reads

Depends on what it is. The datasheet, or an identical part, says.

Dead, it reads

  • Between two pins, the same reading both ways, near 0 V with a continuous beep: shorted.
  • Open between every pair of pins: failed open, or a part that reads open when working.
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.

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

Printed with a code easy to misread as RT-

One character differs, and it is one that is easy to confuse under a lamp. Each code has a page of its own.

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