I screwed up!

[mattpocket]

I brought a load of stuff to finish of my first project from smallbear, I live in the UK and some of the parts i needed were hard to get, so I decided to go to smallbear.

I couldnt find any caps with values of uF so I stupidly decided that mF meant microfarads too! 

I have been trying to get in touch with steve but to no avail.

Can someone point out to me where I have gone wrong, I just cant seem to find the caps I need, like 0.01uF 0.001uF etc...

Cheers,

Matt

[MartyMart]

0.1uf  = 100nf  .....                  in writen on cap numbers 104
0.01uf = 10nf = 10,000pf ........in cap numbers 103
0.001uf = 1nf = 1,000pf   ........in cap numbers 102

0.22uf = 220nf                        in cap numbers 224
0.022uf = 22nf                        in cap numbers 223
0.0022uf = 2n2 ( 2.2nf )          in cap numbers 222

ETC ..... hope that helps, you'll find the three digits on the side of the caps, "greenies or panasonic brown ones"

MM.

[mattpocket]

I still cant find them on smallbear, there doesnt appear to be any nF ones either, they are all mF with a couple of pF's...

Am I missing something?

Thanks for the info though, I tried that, I used a capacitance conversion table online to decide if there were other values the same...

PS. nice initials my the way, mine are MM too! haha

PPS. I already posted this in the temp forum, but thats gone, I hope none of you gave really good answers because now I cant read them, and it will piss you off typing them again!

[pyrop]

I couldnt find any caps with values of uF so I stupidly decided that mF meant microfarads too! 
Well it wasn't such a stupid decition, mF is the same as µF.
µ = micro as does m (in lowercase used correctly) as far as caps are concerned.
You will sometimes see electro's marked MFD for microFarad instead of the more common µF

pyrop

[mattpocket]

So does that mean I brought the right parts?

When I looked it up I was told they meant the same thing, and then on another site I was told they didnt and that mF stood for millifarads? :S

x

[RaceDriver205]

pyrop, lower case m means 'milli', not 'micro'.
G - Giga
M - Mega
k - kilo
m - milli
u - micro
p - pico

mattpocket, what sort of capacitor were you looking at? The 0.001uF and 0.01uF (1nf and 10nF) would be polyester/greencap/mylar/ceramic capacitors. They would not be electrolytics, for example.

[pyrop]

The one's you ordered from small bear are microFarad so don't worry.
I should have mentioned that using mF for microFarad is the old way. In truth mF these days should stand for milliFarad but no-one really uses that range.
You will always see a 0.000001 Farad cap as a 1000µF cap not a 1 milliFarad cap.
Find the complete Farad ranges here.

pyrop, lower case m means 'milli', not 'micro'.
Yes I was in the process of correcting myself

pyrop

[mattpocket]

wow thanks thats really helpful guys!

[Auke Haarsma]

I always use this link, great table:

http://www.justradios.com/uFnFpF.html

[disto]

im sure maplin sell nF caps and pF, although i checked the price there recently and they seem to have just put all their prices up darn them (but thats another story) they use to sell resistors for 1p only about 4 years ago now there more like 10p!

but maplin have stores all over the UK and ive never needed  to find caps anywhere else

[Alex C]

Here are a few older threads with some discussion on this:

http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=13816.0  (from 1999!)
http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=30165.0
http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=18917.0

[mattpocket]

I always use this link, great table:

http://www.justradios.com/uFnFpF.html

I have the same link already saved in my favourites!

im sure maplin sell nF caps and pF, although i checked the price there recently and they seem to have just put all their prices up darn them (but thats another story) they use to sell resistors for 1p only about 4 years ago now there more like 10p!

but maplin have stores all over the UK and ive never needed  to find caps anywhere else

I just found that they have discontinued the 1/4w resisitors, I found all the caps I wanted on there, I just thought it was less hassle to buy all my parts from one place, having to buy 5 resistors from somewhere else and paying three quid postage for them seems like a waste. And, everything from smallbear is reasonably priced, easy to buy, available in one place, and the site is designed around building pedals! It's gotta be a winner!

Thanks for all your help,

Keep you eyes peeled for more problems coming up, probably this afternoon! haha

[smnm]

I regularly refer to this, I have it printed out 3 times! http://olcircuits.com/documents/resistor_and_capacitor_charts.pdf

it has the conversions just as on the justradios table, but also the EIA codes 102, 103, 104 etc

Simon

[disto]

I just found that they have discontinued the 1/4w resisitors, I found all the caps I wanted on there, I just thought it was less hassle to buy

they dont sell 1/4 watt resistors, i rest my case! that shop is officially crap

looks like im going to have to find a good mail order place!

[Jaicen_solo]

Yeah they suck, but they do sell 1/6w & 1/8w resistors, which work just fine

[slacker]

they dont sell 1/4 watt resistors, i rest my case! that shop is officially crap

Yeah they don't sell 1/4 watt ones, but they do sell 0.6 watt ones that are the same size as 1/4 watt ones, just use those instead.

[RaceDriver205]

Well, maplins have one good thing - the transformers for the String Ringer. 

[MartyMart]

Well, maplins have one good thing - the transformers for the String Ringer. 

Also the P631M transformer for the Titan Boost

I use 'em for enclosures/9v clips/Jack sockets/Solder and a few components.
They have 386/TL071/72 and NE5532/5534's too
There's a couple of good guy's in the Kingston branch ... I'm lucky !
MM.