Calculate Resistor Values from Color Codes

Use the 4 band calculator for 20%, 10% or 5% resistors and 5 band calculator for precision resistors (1% or less).

Resistor color code chart

Standard Resistor Values

20% tolerance (E6 series)
10, 15, 22, 33, 47, 68

10% tolerance (E12 series)
10, 12, 15, 18, 22, 27, 33, 39, 47, 56, 68, 82

5% tolerance (E24 series)
10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 27, 30, 33, 36, 39, 43, 47, 51, 56, 62, 68, 75, 82, 91

2% tolerance (E48 series)
100, 105, 110, 115, 121, 127, 133, 140, 147, 154, 162, 169, 178, 187, 196, 205, 215, 226, 237, 249, 261, 274, 287, 301, 316, 332, 348, 365, 383, 402, 422, 442, 464, 487, 511, 536, 562, 590, 619, 649, 681, 715, 750, 787, 825, 866, 909, 953

1% tolerance (E96 series)
100, 102, 105, 107, 110, 113, 115, 118, 121, 124, 127, 130, 133, 137, 140, 143, 147, 150, 154, 158, 162, 165, 169, 174, 178, 182, 187, 191, 196, 200, 205, 210, 215, 221, 226, 232, 237, 243, 249, 255, 261, 267, 274, 280, 287, 294, 301, 309, 316, 324, 332, 340, 348, 357, 365, 374, 383, 392, 402, 412, 422, 432, 442, 453, 464, 475, 487, 491, 511, 523, 536, 549, 562, 576, 590, 604, 619, 634, 649, 665, 681, 698, 715, 732, 750, 768, 787, 806, 825, 845, 866, 887, 909, 931, 959, 976

0.5, 0.25, 0.1 and 0.05% tolerance (E192 series)
100, 101, 102, 104, 105, 106, 107, 109, 110, 111, 113, 114, 115, 117, 118, 120, 121, 123, 124, 126, 127, 129, 130, 132, 133, 135, 137, 138, 140, 142, 143, 145, 147, 149, 150, 152, 154, 156, 158, 160, 162, 164, 165, 167, 169, 172, 174, 176, 178, 180, 182, 184, 187, 189, 191, 193, 196, 198, 200, 203, 205, 208, 210, 213, 215, 218, 221, 223, 226, 229, 232, 234, 237, 240, 243, 246, 249, 252, 255, 258, 261, 264, 267, 271, 274, 277, 280, 284, 287, 291, 294, 298, 301, 305, 309, 312, 316, 320, 324, 328, 332, 336, 340, 344, 348, 352, 357, 361, 365, 370, 374, 379, 383, 388, 392, 397, 402, 407, 412, 417, 422, 427, 432, 437, 442, 448, 453, 459, 464, 470, 475, 481, 487, 493, 499, 505, 511, 517, 523, 530, 536, 542, 549, 556, 562, 569, 576, 583, 590, 597, 604, 612, 619, 626, 634, 642, 649, 657, 665, 673, 681, 690, 698, 706, 715, 723, 732, 741, 750, 759, 768, 777, 787, 796, 806, 816, 825, 835, 845, 856, 866, 876, 887, 898, 909, 920, 931, 942, 953, 965, 976, 988


FAQs

Which band is the first?

The short answer: you'll know that from experience! But there are some rules you can follow:

1.) Some resistors have the color bands grouped together and/or close to one end. Hold the resistor with the closely grouped bands to your left and read the resistor from the left to the right.

2.) With 5% and 10% resistors the procedure is simple: hold the resistor with the silver or gold band to the right and read the resistor from the left to the right.

3.) The first band can't be silver or gold, so if you hold such a resistor you'll know instantly where to start. Also, the 3rd color for 4-band resistors will be blue (106) or less and the 4th color for 5 band resistors will be green (105) or less, as basic resistor values range from 0.1 Ohm to 10 Mohms.

What happens, if I start reading from the wrong end?

You should always attempt to work out the value, then check your result against a resistor value chart to see if it's listed there. If it isn't, then try reading it again starting from the other end and check again. This is a necessary step especially with five and six banded metal film resistors.

Our color code calculator runs this check automatically for you, and if the result is not a standard value, it will display a small tip. The warnings are there for your information only and do not always imply that the resistor is was read the wrong way -- see the notes below.

I have a 6-band resistor. How can I calculate its value?

Enter the first five colors. Resistors with 6 bands are basically 5-band resistors with an additional ring indicating the reliability or the temperature coefficient.

The resistor has only 3 bands

You don't have to enter the 4th band, as 20% resistors don't have a tolerance ring. They will be calculated using the 4 band rule (digit, digit, multiplier).

Examples:
Red, red, brown is a 220 ohm, 20% resistor
Brown, black, orange is a 10k, 20% resistor

Notes

1. The resistor color code and the EIA preferred values are internationally accepted standards, but some manufacturers have their own way of doing things. For example, many resistor manufacturers make every single value on the E24 list in 1% and 2% tolerance even though the practice makes little mathematical sense.

2. Although the program was tested rigorously, it still may have a few bugs. Therefore, when in doubt (and when it's possible) don't hesitate to use your trusted, old friend -- the multimeter -- to double-check the critical components.


Examples

3 bands:

Yellow, violet, black --> 47 ohm 20%
Orange, orange, brown --> 330 ohm 20%
Brown, black, red --> 1k 20%

4 bands:

Green, blue, red, gold --> 5.6kohm 5%
Red, yellow, orange, gold --> 24kohm 5%
Blue, gray, yellow, silver --> 680k 10%

5 bands:

Red, yellow, orange, black, brown --> 243 ohms, 1% precision 5-band resistor
Yellow, violet, gold, gold, yellow --> 4.7 ohms, 5% - this resistor is calculated with the 4-band rule (the yellow band is ignored).
Orange, black, black, brown, brown --> 3.00 k ohms, 1% - note: this is a non-standard 1% (E96) resistor, but some manufacturers make every value from the E24 series with 1% tolerance!

6 bands:

Red, red, brown, brown, brown, red --> 2.21k, 1% 50ppm/°C
White, black, white, brown, red, red --> 9.09k, 2% 50ppm/°C
(do not enter the last band (red in the two examples above)