Why are SMD capacitors usually unmarked, while the same size SMD resistors have markings on them?
deʃhipu wrote 02/24/2017 at 02:03 • 2 pointsI was soldering some SMD parts today, and noticed that while the SMD resistors have a text on them telling their resistance (at least up to a certain size), the same-size capacitors do not -- they are just solid orange or gray. I wonder why. Does anybody know?
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You mention that they're orange or gray. I'm not sure if this is a hard rule, but I think generally the gray (or light blue) caps are NP0 (C0G) caps and the orange (or beige/brown) caps are X7R/X8R/other similar dielectrics.
Knowing this won't help you know the exact value, but it can be good for a ballpark. i.e. if you see a gray cap in an 0805 footprint you can be fairly certain that it's not a 10uF, as you won't get a 10uF C0G in such a small package.
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SMD Ceramic capacitors are not usually marked because the material they are made from makes it harder to print legibly on them versus resistors which are usually made from material that can be easily printed on using existing processes that do not incur additional cost. There are some ceramic capacitors that are printed on (etched) but that process incurs an additional step/specialized equipment and thus the cost is normally not justified.
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Thank you for explanation!
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