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SMD code search: identify a part by its marking

1 part in X2SON is printed P4.

1 part in X2SON is printed P4

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.

  • SN74LVC1G34DPWX2SONLogic gate, Texas Instruments
    What it is
    Logic gate
    Maker
    Texas Instruments
    Package
    X2SON
    Pins
    5
    Details
    Single Buffer 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.

  • 3 more parts have no package on record. Nothing rules them out, so they stay.
    • BAW156TBSwitching diode, Panjit
      What it is
      Switching diode
      Maker
      Panjit
      Package
      Not recorded
      Pins
      Not recorded
      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
      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.

    • BAW156TB-AUSwitching diode, Panjit
      What it is
      Switching diode
      Maker
      Panjit
      Package
      Not recorded
      Pins
      Not recorded
      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
      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.

    • PU2DMHRectifier, Taiwan Semiconductor
      What it is
      Rectifier
      Maker
      Taiwan Semiconductor
      Package
      Not recorded
      Pins
      Not recorded
      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
      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.

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.