Inductor Color Code Guide

This will be a simple guide to reading inductor color codes

The color codes for inductors are identical to that of a resistor so if you are familiar with resistors this should be very easy

the tricky part is remembering the results from this will be in microHenrys, not just Henrys

First break down the bands.  The last band is the tolerance, and the band right before that is the multiplier.  The other bands are the numbers

so the easiest way will be to show an example.  Say we have the colors BROWN, ORANGE, BROWN, BLACK

They would mean the inductor has a value of:

BROWN   -   ORANGE   -   BROWN   -   BLACK
       1                     3                   X10           +/-20%

So we have 13 x 10 +/-20%, 
meaning out inductance is 130 micro Henrys with a 20 percent tolerance, or in other words, our actual inductance can be anywhere between 104 and 156 micro Henrys.

Pretty straight forward, you can find some online interactive tutorials for practice, but you should pick it up pretty quickly



Photo Credit : chipbook.com