resistor questions

[Somicide]

Ok, I'm ordering some resistors (non smallbear, for some stupid reason; my dad orders from them and trusts them better then "unreliable sources", pshaw...) and they have all these specs that frighten me.

First off, what does dielectric withstanding voltage mean?
second, what are absolute maximum working and overload voltage?

Any Ideas?  I'm pretty sure I'm lost.

[ErikMiller]

All of those huge voltage numbers don't really apply to what we do here.

Here's a glossary, if you want to learn about it:

http://www.tokenchina.com/resistor/glossay-resistor.htm

The dielectric withstanding refers to how many volts it takes to zap through the outside of the case, and the others how many volts you can send through the resistor.

These specs might start to matter once you begin working on tube amps, but with 9V and/or wall wart powered stuff, they make no difference.

Standard 1/4 watts at 5% or 1% tolerance are what you want.

[Peter Snowberg]

As Erik said, don't worry about it. It's like a car that can go 300 km/h but we are only driving at 9 km/h.

These values are VITAL when you make tube amps and this is why you don't see 1/4 watt resistors in them. Most 1/4 resistors seem to have a maximum working voltage of 300V, while 1/2 watt resistors are generally 600V.

Take care,
-Peter