SMD code search: identify a part by its marking
2 parts in SMA are printed 220CA. 1 printed with a similar-looking code.
2 parts in SMA are printed 220CA
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.
all SMA, 2 pins. What differs:
P4SMA220CASMATVS diode, EIC SemiconductorTVS diodeEIC Semiconductor
- What it is
- TVS diode
- Maker
- EIC Semiconductor
- Package
- SMA
- Pins
- 2
- Source
- Published code list
Is it dead?
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.
P4SMAJ220CASMASunmate SemiconductorNot recordedSunmate Semiconductor
- What it is
- Not recorded
- Maker
- Sunmate Semiconductor
- Package
- SMA
- Pins
- 2
- Details
- TVS: 220V, 1.1A, 400W(1ms), Bidirectional
- Source
- Published code list
Is it dead?
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.
1 more part is printed with a code easy to misread as 220CA: none in SMA, 1 with no package on record
Printed with a code easy to misread
One character differs, and it is one that is easy to confuse under a lamp. The odd one out is marked on each.
1 part has no package on record. Nothing rules it out, so it stays.
SM2206NSQGprinted 2206AN-channel MOSFET, Sinopower SemiconductorN-channel MOSFETSinopower Semiconductor
Printed 2206A on the part. Easy to misread as 220CA. Check that character with a loupe before you order anything.
- What it is
- N-channel MOSFET
- Maker
- Sinopower Semiconductor
- Package
- Not recorded
- Pins
- Not recorded
- Details
- 20 V, 9 A N-channel MOSFET
- Source
- Manufacturer datasheet
Is it dead?
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.
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One code, several parts
Marking codes are not unique. In the standard code book, 6H on a SOT-23 is an NPN transistor, a varicap, an N-channel JFET, two digital transistors, a 3.6 V voltage detector: six parts from five makers. So a search on WhatSMD (What SMD) shows the parts we hold under that code and under codes easily misread as it, with only the columns that tell them apart.
- NPN transistor
- Varicap
- N-channel JFET
- Digital transistor ×2
- 3.6 V voltage detector
When more than one is left
Tap Help me choose. Up to 4 quick answers: whether the part has failed, then what separates the parts left. Those get ranked with the reasoning and a test that settles it. That uses one identification: 2 a month are free without an account, and 3 with a free account.
When you cannot read it
Tap the camera in the field. We read the characters, keep the ones we are unsure of, and search every reading. A photo too soft to read is turned back on your phone first; if it is the only one you can get, you can still send it.
Get the app
The same search on your phone, and a camera with a light, zoom and tap to focus for a marking you cannot read. Sign in with your email address to use the same account.
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