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SMD code search: identify a part by its marking

1 part in X2SON is printed F3.

1 part in X2SON is printed F3

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.

  • TPS7A0215PDQNX2SONLDO regulator, Texas Instruments
    What it is
    LDO regulator
    Maker
    Texas Instruments
    Package
    X2SON
    Pins
    4
    Details
    Nanopower IQ, 25-nA, 200-mA, Low-Dropout Voltage Regulator With Fast Transient Response
    Source
    From the manufacturer's datasheet

    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.

    Datasheetfor TPS7A0215PDQN, opens in a new tab
  • 1 more part has no package on record. Nothing rules it out, so it stays.
    • BB804Infineon
      What it is
      Not recorded
      Maker
      Infineon
      Package
      Not recorded
      Pins
      Not recorded
      Source
      From the manufacturer's datasheet

      Is it dead?

      Diode range and ohms range, part lifted.

      Working, it reads

      Depends on what it is. The datasheet, or an identical part, says.

      Dead, it reads

      • Between two pins, the same reading both ways, near 0 V with a continuous beep: shorted.
      • Open between every pair of pins: failed open, or a part that reads open when working.
      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.

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

      Datasheetfor BB804, opens in a new tab
1 more part has a code that begins with F3: none in X2SON, 1 with no package on record

Codes that begin with F3

For a marking with its end worn or burnt off. Each one shows its full printed code.

1 part has no package on record. Nothing rules it out, so it stays.

  • ESDUEF3V3D4printed F33ESD protection diode, JSCJ

    Printed F33. Only the start matches what you typed, so this fits only if the rest of the marking is worn off.

    What it is
    ESD protection diode
    Maker
    JSCJ
    Package
    Not recorded
    Pins
    Not recorded
    Details
    ESD protection diode, VRWM 3.3 V
    Source
    From the manufacturer's datasheet

    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.

    Datasheetfor ESDUEF3V3D4, 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.