Capacitance Value Codes
This brief table gives the basic rules for reading and translating the capacitance value-number-codes found on many small capacitors where the printable surface area demands readable abbreviations.
The letter-codes are designating the tolerance on the coded value.
Note: Other values can be determined by imputation.
Code SMD Pico-Farad Nano-Farad Micro-Farad
010 C010 1pF 0.001nF 0.000001uF
020 C020 2pF 0.002nF 0.000002uF
030 C030 3pF 0.003nF 0.000003uF
047 C047 4.7pF 0.0047nf 0.0000047uF
050 C050 5pF 0.005nF 0.000005uF
100 C100 10pF 0.01nF 0.00001uF
120 C120 12pF 0.012nF 0.000012uF
150 C150 15pF 0.015nF 0.000015uF
180 C180 18pF 0.018nF 0.000018uF
220 C220 22pF 0.022nF 0.000022uF
270 C270 27pF 0.027nF 0.000027uF
330 C330 33pF 0.033nF 0.000033uF
390 C390 39pF 0.039nF 0.000039uF
470 C470 47pF 0.047nF 0.000047uF
560 C560 56pF 0.056nF 0.000056uF
680 C680 68pF 0.068nF 0.000068uF
820 C820 82pF 0.082nF 0.000082uF
101 C101 100pF 0.1nF 0.0001uF
121 C121 120pF 0.12nF 0.00012uF
151 C151 150pF 0.15nF 0.00015uF
181 C181 180pF 0.18nF 0.00018uF
221 C221 220pF 0.22nF 0.00022uF
331 C331 330pF 0.33nF 0.00033uF
391 C391 390pF 0.39nF 0.00039uF
471 C471 470pF 0.47nF 0.00047uF
561 C561 560pF 0.56nF 0.00056uF
681 C681 680pF 0.68nF 0.00068uF
821 C821 820pF 0.82nF 0.00082uF
102 C102 1,000pF 1nF 0.001uF
103 C103 10,000pF 10nF 0.01uF
104 C104 100,000pF 100nF 0.10uF
105 C105 1,000,000pF 1,000nF 1uF
106 C106 10,000,000pF 10,000nF 10uF
107 C107 100,000,000pF 100,000nF 100uF
108 C108 1,000,000,000pF 1,000,000nF 1,000uF
109 C109 10,000,000,000pF 10,000,000nF 1,0000uF
Note: For a table of standard and special tolerances see below.
Capacitance Tolerance Codes
Code Colour Tolerance Typical Conditions
A NA +20/-10% used on electrolytic capacitors
C Red +/- 0.25pF values < 10pf only
D Green +/- 0.5pF typically on values 1~99pF
E White +/- 0.5% values =>100pF
F Brown +/- 1% values > 50pf only
G Red +/- 2% values > 25pf only
NA NA +/- 2.5% produced by some makers
H NA +/- 3% values > 25pf only
J Green +/- 5% values =>10pF
K White +/- 10%  
L NA +/- 15%  
M Black +/- 20%  
N NA +/- 30%  
P NA +100/-0%  
Q NA +30/-10%  
S NA +50/-20%  
W NA +40/-20%  
W NA +50/-10%  
Z Grey +80/-20% typically electros & Hi-K ceramics
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