SMD marking
X4in SOT-323
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.
4 parts are printed X4
Not sure which one you have?
Answer up to 4 quick questions and these 4 parts are ranked, with a meter test that settles it. It works on a dead part too.
BAS21WSOT-323Switching diode, NexperiaSwitching diodeNexperia
- What it is
- Switching diode
- Maker
- Nexperia
- Package
- SOT-323
- Pins
- 3
- Details
- SMD Small Signal Diodes
- 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.
BZX84C68WSOT-323Zener diode, PanjitZener diodePanjit
- What it is
- Zener diode
- Maker
- Panjit
- Package
- SOT-323
- Pins
- 3
- Source
- From the manufacturer's datasheet
Is it dead?
Diode range for the forward check, part lifted, red probe on the anode. A bench supply for the Zener voltage.
Working, it reads
About 0.6 to 0.8 V forward and open in reverse on the diode range. Its Zener voltage shows only on a supply: feed it through a resistor that sets about 5 mA, cathode to positive, read quickly, and it should hold near its rated voltage.
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, forward too: failed open.
- Holds well off its rated voltage on the supply test: drifted.
- A soft knee, or a voltage that creeps on the supply test: 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 meter's diode range stops at about 2 to 3 V, so almost every Zener reads open in reverse on it, good or bad; a 3 V meter may just show a 2.4 or 2.7 V part. Above about 3 V the meter cannot tell a Zener from a plain diode.
A dead part still carries its marking. A short or an open says it has failed, not that it is a different part.
BZX84C68W-AUSOT-323Zener diode, PanjitZener diodePanjit
- What it is
- Zener diode
- Maker
- Panjit
- Package
- SOT-323
- Pins
- 3
- Source
- From the manufacturer's datasheet
Is it dead?
Diode range for the forward check, part lifted, red probe on the anode. A bench supply for the Zener voltage.
Working, it reads
About 0.6 to 0.8 V forward and open in reverse on the diode range. Its Zener voltage shows only on a supply: feed it through a resistor that sets about 5 mA, cathode to positive, read quickly, and it should hold near its rated voltage.
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, forward too: failed open.
- Holds well off its rated voltage on the supply test: drifted.
- A soft knee, or a voltage that creeps on the supply test: 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 meter's diode range stops at about 2 to 3 V, so almost every Zener reads open in reverse on it, good or bad; a 3 V meter may just show a 2.4 or 2.7 V part. Above about 3 V the meter cannot tell a Zener from a plain diode.
A dead part still carries its marking. A short or an open says it has failed, not that it is a different part.
1 more part has no package on record. Nothing rules them out, so they stay.
VSKY034085Schottky diode, VishaySchottky diodeVishay
- What it is
- Schottky diode
- Maker
- Vishay
- Package
- Not recorded
- Pins
- Not recorded
- Details
- X4
- 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 0.15 to 0.45 V anode to cathode, roughly half a silicon diode, 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.
- A reading the wrong way round as well: leaky.
- Open both ways: failed open.
- 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 large Schottky can read about 0.1 V forward and beep like a short, and leaks a little the wrong way when good, more when warm. It is shorted only if it reads the same both ways. Measure it cold, beside an identical cold one.
A dead part still carries its marking. A short or an open says it has failed, not that it is a different part.
Open this in the search to correct a character or try another package.