SMD code search: identify a part by its marking
1 part in SOT-23 is printed A1N. 3 printed with a similar-looking code.
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.
The only part printed A1N in this package in our tables
LN2351P2112M
- What it is
- DC-DC converter
- Maker
- Shanghai Natlinear Electronics
- Package
- SOT-23
- Pins
- 3
- Details
- DC/DC voltage converter IC: PFM st-up, 2.1V±2%, 400mA, 100kHz
- Source
- Published code list
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.
Was it this one?
Printed with a code easy to misread
These parts are printed with a character that is easy to misread as what you typed. The odd one out is marked on each.
2SC3802K-Nprinted ALNSOT-23NPN transistor, ROHMNPN transistorROHM
Printed ALN on the part. Easy to misread as A1N. Check that character with a loupe before you order anything.
- What it is
- NPN transistor
- Maker
- ROHM
- Package
- SOT-23
- Pins
- 3
- Details
- Si-npn: AF, 30V, 30mA, 200mW, B=56..120, >110MHz
- Source
- Published code list
Is it dead?
Diode range, part lifted or its base leg off the pad.
Working, it reads
Red 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.
TPS62220DDCprinted AlnSOT-23DC-DC converter, Texas InstrumentsDC-DC converterTexas Instruments
Printed Aln on the part. Easy to misread as A1N. Check that character with a loupe before you order anything.
- What it is
- DC-DC converter
- Maker
- Texas Instruments
- Package
- SOT-23
- Pins
- 3
- Details
- VR-IC: 1,25MHz PWM st-down DC-DC converter, Adjust, 400mA
- Source
- Published code list
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.
1 more part has no package on record. Nothing rules it out, so it stays.
XC6501P21AHR-Gprinted ALNLDO regulator, TorexLDO regulatorTorex
Printed ALN on the part. Easy to misread as A1N. Check that character with a loupe before you order anything.
- What it is
- LDO regulator
- Maker
- Torex
- Package
- Not recorded
- Pins
- Not recorded
- Details
- Linear voltage regulator IC: LDO, 2.15V±1%, 200mA
- Source
- Published code list
Is it dead?
Voltage, board powered, black probe on ground. Then ohms with the power off.
Working, it reads
Input pin at the supply, output pin at its rated voltage, and the enable pin high if it has one.
Dead, it reads
- Output equal to the input: the pass element has shorted. Everything after it may have taken the full input.
- Input present, enable high, no output: failed open, or holding itself off into a shorted load. Power off and measure output to ground.
- Power off, input to output near 0 Ω: shorted.
- On the board:
- An output at 0 V is often a shorted load with the regulator in current limit. Lift the output pin: if the short stays on the board, the regulator may be fine.
- Compare:
- The same regulator on another rail or another board shows the right voltages and the right resistances.
- Watch for:
- Makers put input, output and ground on different pins in the same package, so take them from this part's datasheet. Diode or ohms readings between its pins say little; check it powered.
A dead part still carries its marking. A short or an open says it has failed, not that it is a different part.
2 more parts have codes that begin with A1N: none in SOT-23, 2 with no package on record
Codes that begin with A1N
For a marking with its end worn or burnt off. Each one shows its full printed code.
2 parts have no package on record. Nothing rules them out, so they stay.
DC-DC converter, all Alpha & Omega Semiconductor.
AOZ2261NQI-11printed ALNB
Printed ALNB. Only the start matches what you typed, so this fits only if the rest of the marking is worn off.
- What it is
- DC-DC converter
- Maker
- Alpha & Omega Semiconductor
- Package
- Not recorded
- Pins
- Not recorded
- Details
- Synchronous buck regulator
- Source
- Manufacturer 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.
AOZ2261NQI-12printed ALNC
Printed ALNC. Only the start matches what you typed, so this fits only if the rest of the marking is worn off.
- What it is
- DC-DC converter
- Maker
- Alpha & Omega Semiconductor
- Package
- Not recorded
- Pins
- Not recorded
- Details
- Synchronous buck regulator
- Source
- Manufacturer 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.
Did you find your part?
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 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
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