Various Small capacitors' markings?

Question

Wikipedia explains the basics about the markings of capacitors, here. It lacks many markings most of which confuses me:

Ceramic brown-yellowish cap

• 104 K5K (small ) --- what is the end "5K"? (Cannot be 5 kelvin as operating temperature!?)
• 10 (box box, perpendicular right upermost corner) 35+ (Tantalum Cap, bigger variant of the last one
• 154 C1K (what is C1K, some other notation to Wikipedia?)

Orange Ceramic

• 333 K5X (what is 5X? X roman numeral?)

Brown Circle Slit

• 10n (no other marking, what is the op.temp?) (Diameter: 7.5mm)
• 27J 100V (what is 27J?) (Diameter: 4.9mm, blackdot on the head)

Blue Slit Square

• (triangle) 104K X7R50 (What is triangle? X7R50? Operating V?) (side = 4.9mm)
• 104 (side = 2.6mm, op.V? Tolerance?)

Questions about the bracketed

1. How to know operating V without its explicit marking?
2. What do the symbols, such as squares, plus-sign and triangle, mean?
3. Can you evaluate the operating voltage from the size of the capacitor in the case when no marking or poor marking is given?

Answer 1

Generally there are two labels on most caps.

The first is the value, which is written:
<Digit><Digit><Exponential Notation>
It's generally in picofarads.

The second is the TempCo, or Temperature Coefficient. There are two common specification systems, namely EIA Class 1 and Class 2. This is the mysterious second label in most cases. It's generally written:
<Letter><Number><Letter> (though there are a few variations)
There are a few common tempcos - NP0/C0G, X7R, X5R, Y5V, Z5U

Tantalums, and bigger ceramics often also have the voltages:
<voltage number><+ or v>

Therefore:

• 104 K5K (small )
  The value is 10e4, or 100,000 pf / 0.1 uF. The tempco is not standard, may be manufacturer specific/extended range.

• 10 (box box, perpendicular right upermost corner) 35+ (Tantalum Cap, bigger variant of the last one)
  Need a picture to be more specific, it's very likely a 35v rated cap, from the 35+.

• 154 C1K (what is C1K, some other notation to Wikipedia?)
  Capacitance is 15e4, or 150,000 pf / 0.15 uF. Looks to be a Class 1 dielectric from the C1K. Is this a large cap? the tempco is very good.

• Orange Ceramic 333 K5X (what is 5X? X roman numeral?)
  33e3, or 33,000 pf / 33 nF. Tempco is either manufacturer specific, or incorrectly read.

• Brown Circle Slit 10n (no other marking, what is the op.temp?) (Diameter: 7.5mm)
  10n very likely means 10 nf, or 10,000 pf. If it's ceramic, it's probably 50v. Likely a cheap part, if the voltage is not marked.

• 27J 100V (what is 27J?) (Diameter: 4.9mm, blackdot on the head)
  Voltage rating is self evident. J is the multiplier, and I think there is a standard for letter multipliers, but I do not remember where to find it.

• Blue Slit Square (triangle) 104K X7R50 (What is triangle? X7R50? Operating V?) (side = 4.9mm)
  10e4 is the value - 100,000 pf / 0.1uF Tempco is X7R. the 50 is likely the voltage rating.

• 104 (side = 2.6mm, op.V? Tolerance?)
  10e4 - 100,000 pf / 0.1uF. Voltage is not known

This is kind of a guess. Anyways, it should show how this sort of thing works. Older parts may vary wildly, and it's always just a guideline. The best thing to do is find the cap's actual datasheet.

A lot of the parts have unusual tempcos. Is this a automotive/extreme duty part which contains these components?

Answer 2

The "K5K", "K5X", "C1K" that doesn't match a temperature characteristic (X7R, NPO, C0G, etc.) is a manufacturer-dependent part marking to make use of the limited space available on the part.

If you look at some of the major manufacturers' datasheets for radial-lead ceramic capacitors, you'll see the following. Capacitance tolerance codes seem to be consistent, but otherwise there is some disparity.

• Murata:
  • First character = capacitance tolerance (C = +/-0.25pF, D = +/-0.5pF, J = +/-5%, K = +/-10%, M = +/-20%, Z = +80%/-20%)
  • Second character = voltage rating (2 = 25VDC, 5 = 50VDC, 1 = 100VDC, 4 = 250VDC, 9 = 450VDC, 7 = 630VDC)
  • Third character = temperature characteristics (A = C0G, C = X7S/X7R, F = F/F5V, 8 = X8G/X8L, 7 = X7T)

• AVX:

  • First character = temperature characteristics (A = C0G, C = X7R, D = X5R, E = Z5U, F = X8R, )
  • Second character = voltage rating (Z = 10VDC, 5 = 50VDC, 1 = 100VDC, 2 = 200VDC, 9 = 300VDC, 8 = 400VDC, 7 = 500VDC)
  • Third character = capacitance tolerance (C = +/-0.25pF, D = +/-0.5pF, F = +/- 1%, G = +/-2%, J = +/-5%, K = +/-10%, M = +/-20%, Z = +80%/-20%)

• KEMET: unclear, first character is sometimes a "K" for KEMET; they use the same capacitance tolerance codes as AVX, but seem to mark with the full text of the voltage rating and temperature characteristics where possible.

Answer 3

Here's a staring point. If you know the type of capacitor that you have, but not what the value is, have a look at (for example) Farnell website and search for that part type. Then you can get a data sheet which usually explains things nicely.

Answer 4

2. About "+"-sign

The plus means "polarised", the source is tronixstuff's site, point "Tantalum capacitors".

More here.