SMD code search: identify a part by its marking
1 part is printed 8ECT. 1 printed with a similar-looking code.
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.
The only part printed 8ECT in our tables
CMKZ5230B
- What it is
- Zener diode
- Maker
- Central Semiconductor
- Package
- SOT-363
- Pins
- 6
- Details
- Zener diode: Triple, 4.465..4.935V, Izt=20mA, Zzt=19, 200mW
- Source
- Published code list
Is it dead?
Diode range for the forward check, part lifted, red probe on the anode. A bench supply for the Zener voltage.
Working, it reads
About 0.6 to 0.8 V forward and open in reverse on the diode range. Its Zener voltage shows only on a supply: feed it through a resistor that sets about 5 mA, cathode to positive, read quickly, and it should hold near its rated voltage.
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, forward too: failed open.
- Holds well off its rated voltage on the supply test: drifted.
- A soft knee, or a voltage that creeps on the supply test: 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 meter's diode range stops at about 2 to 3 V, so almost every Zener reads open in reverse on it, good or bad; a 3 V meter may just show a 2.4 or 2.7 V part. Above about 3 V the meter cannot tell a Zener from a plain diode.
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
This part is printed with a character that is easy to misread as what you typed. The odd one out is marked on each.
SM15T15CAprinted BEG7SMCTVS diode, 2 pins, VishayTVS diodeSMC2 pinsVishay
Printed BEG7 on the part. Easy to misread as 8ECT. Check that character with a loupe before you order anything.
- What it is
- TVS diode
- Maker
- Vishay
- Package
- SMC
- Pins
- 2
- Details
- 1500 W TVS diode, bidirectional
- Source
- An older or alternative marking, from a published code list
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.
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
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.
Get the app
The same search on your phone, and a camera with a light, zoom and tap to focus for a marking you cannot read. Sign in with your email address to use the same account.
- Coming soon to the App Store