3 parts are printed A4.
3 parts are printed A4
Not sure which one you have?
Answer up to 4 quick questions and these 3 parts are ranked, with a meter test that settles it. It works on a dead part too.
BAV70WSOT-323Switching diode, 3 pins, NexperiaSwitching diode3 pinsNexperia
- 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.
2 more parts have no package on record. Nothing rules them out, so they stay.
SN74AUP1G00DPWLogic gate, 5 pins, Texas InstrumentsLogic gate5 pinsTexas Instruments
- What it is
- Logic gate
- Maker
- Texas Instruments
- Package
- Not recorded
- Pins
- 5
- Details
- Low-Power Single 2-Input Positive-NAND Gate
- Source
- From the manufacturer's 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.
TPS3831G12DQNVoltage supervisor, 4 pins, Texas InstrumentsVoltage supervisor4 pinsTexas Instruments
- What it is
- Voltage supervisor
- Maker
- Texas Instruments
- Package
- Not recorded
- Pins
- 4
- Details
- 150-nA, Ultralow Power, Supply Voltage Monitor
- Source
- From the manufacturer's 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.
1 more part has a code that begins with A4
Codes that begin with A4
For a marking with its end worn or burnt off. Each one shows its full printed code.
MMBTA42Wprinted A4WSOT-323Transistor, 3 pins, PanjitTransistorSOT-3233 pinsPanjit
Printed A4W. Only the start matches what you typed, so this fits only if the rest of the marking is worn off.
- What it is
- Transistor
- Maker
- Panjit
- Package
- SOT-323
- Pins
- 3
- Details
- Bipolar transistor
- Source
- From the manufacturer's datasheet
Is it dead?
Diode range, part lifted or its base leg off the pad.
Working, it reads
From the base, one probe colour 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.
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
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.