Identifying SMD chip caps (Newbie here)

[Safe_Cracker]

I don't know if this has been asked but how do you identify a SMD chip cap if you need to replace one? I am a good parts replacer of any size but identifying the caps are a pain in the wazoo, of course resistors are easy....

[DoomPixie]

don't know if this is any help, it's the first page i came accross on google..

http://www.netcentral.co.uk/satcure/hobby/smdlist.htm

cheers,
Owen

[Safe_Cracker]

Hmmmm, not really. All I can see is it is tan in color and that t is a chip shape.

[poobah]

YOU DON'T... welcome to surface mount -

[Safe_Cracker]

Wellllll HELL, then why does Mouser have soooo many different values on there sm caps, lol ? Why don't they just have colors, like brown, cofee and maybe beige, LMFAO.. ...Polo.

[thomas997]

Originally posted by Safe_Cracker
Wellllll HELL, then why does Mouser have soooo many different values on there sm caps, lol ? Why don't they just have colors, like brown, cofee and maybe beige, LMFAO.. ...Polo.

Not enough space?

Plus when the plant buys them they come on tape which is clearly labled, after its soldered on the board, they dont really care about its value

If the cap is not broken, or there is a similar cap which you know to be the same on the board, find someone with a RLC meter. You can probably determine voltage, composition, etc. by its physical properties.

[davidsrsb]

The pick and place machines in the factories measure the component before sticking it onto the solder paste. Otherwise an operator could cause a lot of problems by putting the wrong component reel onto a spindle. Small value caps in the pf range are normally marked as thet are hard to test accurately. Normally tha anonymous stuff is 10n or 100n

[testlab]

If you are going to be working with SMT parts on a regular basis, you need an Excelta SMARTweezer. They run about $240.00USD and are available through Newark.

They are really handy and can manage to do some in-circuit testing as well.