caps again! hehe

[nero1985]

hay guys thanx for answering,,, i have another question tho, i have a ceramic cap that says 500 wich i suppose means 500PF can i use it in the circuit? it doesnt say if its film or ceramic it just says a 500p

[puretube]

Yes, you can use it, depending on what value you need, you may have to parallell another value to it....

[Marcos - Munky]

It's a 50pf cap. First and secound numbers are the value, and third number is how many zeros are added in the end of the value. For example, a 473 means 47000pf (47nf), a 104 means 100000pf (0.1uf).

[petemoore]

Glad you asked / thanks for the answer Munky!

[Athin]

I'll argue [I will!!]
1) USUALLY 470=47pF, but it might as well be that 470=470pF and 47=47pF
2) I have seen things like 100 = 100n [no, I'm not making this one up, nor was there an 'n' erased which would have been there otherwise]
3) .1 = 0.1uF [usually it's u1 rather than .1 , but...]
4) you'll find that it _is_ up to the producer whether 470=470pF or 470=47pF
5) I check anyway on... what else - a DIY cap meter

[puretube]

yes I have a couple of those mixed babies, too....
(i keep them in the bags/boxes that i bought them in, with the values stamped on the outside in clear terms)
[that`s why I had to edit that first reply....]

[Athin]

yeath, that's the problem with standards - there is so many to choose from
Oh, and one more thing:
479 = 4.7pF [not 47*10^9 pF !!]

[remmelt]

diy cap meter? is that tough?

[Athin]

nope (unless you do it ucontroller style, like I did):
this is the easy way:
(http://braincambre500.freeservers.com/indcap.htm)