Capacitor Question

[tungngruv]

I'm taking an inventory of my spare parts to help me figure out my next build. I've figured out all my resistors and caps except for two small ceramics that read: 47 (underlined) and 5 (underlined). I'm trying to figure this out on my own but I'm a newbie ( 3 succesfull builds) and I can't seem to get these two. Thanks for any help.

[petemoore]

I do it by comparing them to known values, in a socketted capacitor position in a working circuit.
 The 47 is probably a very small cap...
  Since I do 'it' by ear, the markings when not readable become moot, I just trust that what sounds good in a certain position is what I'll want there.
 I can tell if an unknown cap sounds bigger than a .01uf and smaller than a ..047uf...that's close enough for Rock and Roll.
 caps in signal path may cut low end content [bigger uf value = more bass]
 Caps from signal path to ground decrease highs. [bigger = less highs]

[MartyMart]

If they are very very small my guess would be 47pf and 5pf
Tiny "brown" ceramics are hard to judge and often dont have the multiplier digit for "0's" so they may be 470pf and 50pf !
Cheers,
Marty.

[Fret Wire]

The ceramics I have like that are 5pf and 47pf. A relatively cheap alternative to squinting at little caps with a magnifying cap, is to get a capacitance meter. I have this one, and it's a godsend for sorting out caps quickly.

http://www.electronickits.com/gold/capacitancemeter.htm

[tungngruv]

Thanks guys!

[jmusser]

I will have to have one of those. I strip a lot of components out of old electronic equipment that's headed towards the dump, and a lot of these caps are a real bear to read. On radio boards for example, they may smear a bunch of wax or glue all over a group of components, and then you have to try to scrape off all of that mess without removing the numbers. Then there's those little ceramics that you have to send to a forensics lab to read through an electron microscope! I would love to see the process they go through for legibly numbering things like ceramic caps and the Si diodes.

[sir_modulus]

those are okay, but then there are those tantalum cylinders. They have room for only two #'s and they are not related to the value, they form some "code" when like 54 = 15pf etc... These are wierdo ones which I've read about, and only seen one. I get a lot of parts from stocks that have large spare parts bins, so I invested in a multimeter with capacitance, and it's been a godsend.