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2 parts are printed U1.

2 parts are printed U1

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.

  • BCX19SOT-23NPN transistor, JSCJ
    What it is
    NPN transistor
    Maker
    JSCJ
    Package
    SOT-23
    Pins
    3
    Details
    Bipolar transistor, NPN, 45 V, 0.5 A
    Source
    From the manufacturer's datasheet

    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:
    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.

    Datasheetfor BCX19, opens in a new tab
  • 1 more part has no package on record. Nothing rules them out, so they stay.
    • BGX50ARF amplifier (MMIC), Infineon
      What it is
      RF amplifier (MMIC)
      Maker
      Infineon
      Package
      Not recorded
      Pins
      Not recorded
      Source
      From the manufacturer's datasheet

      Is it dead?

      Voltage, board powered, on the output pin that the bias resistor or choke feeds.

      Working, it reads

      The output pin sits at the device voltage the datasheet gives, a few volts, below the supply.

      Dead, it reads

      • Output pin at 0 V, or near 0 Ω to ground with the power off: shorted inside.
      • Output pin at the full supply voltage: open inside, no current flowing.
      On the board:
      Measured on the board with power on; the bias network is part of the reading.
      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 figures depend on the part and its bias resistor. The datasheet gives both.

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

      Datasheetfor BGX50A, opens in a new tab

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.

6Hon a SOT-23, in the code book
  • 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.