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PNPorNPN?
Find the collector, base and emitter leads of a
transistor . . . and if it is PNP or NPN . . . in
three simple steps.
CLICKHEREFOR
TRANSISTORDATABASE
Types:2N...2SA...2SB...2SC...2SD...2SJ...2SK...
CLICKHEREFOR
TRANSISTORDATABASE
Types:3SK...AC...BC...BD...BF...BG...BL...BS...
BU...D...G...H...I...to......Z

ALLABOUTSM
Surfacemountcomponents...transistor
database,testing,soldering,buyingSM
componentsandSMkits

ALLABOUTDIODES
Diodedatabase...SMdiodedatabase...
testingdiodes

ALLABOUTZENERDIODES
Testingzenerdiodes...buildingazener
diodetestcircuit

SelectingATransistor
Transistor
Pinouts
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Howmanytimeshaveyoupickedupatransistorandwonderedwhich
is the COLLECTOR, BASE and EMITTER lead? This chapter explains
howyoucanidentifytheleadsofPNPandNPNtransistors.
Thereare3stepsandyouonlyneedan"oldstyle"multimeter
tohelpwiththetest.It'sreallyverysimplebutwewillbeexpandingthe
discussiontohelpthebeginner.
Answer the set of questions at the end and the "computer" will give
youascore.

SOMEPRELIMINARYFACTS:
Thereareno"fixed"pinoutsfortheleadsofsometransistors.Butingeneral
there is a "common" pinout for each style of case. Most technical data
sheetsincludeapinoutdiagrambutifthetransistorisunmarkedor
unknown,whatdoyoudo?
Simplyfollowour3stepapproach:
Firstly,thetransistorswearetalkingaboutare"ordinary"transistors.
The technical name is Bipolar Junction Transistor (BJT) (other types of
transistorsare:FieldEffectTransistors,UniJunctionTransistors,
andothers).
"Ordinary"transistorshavethreeleads:
COLLECTOR
BASEand
EMITTER
andcomeinmanydifferentstylesandcases.
Hereareafewofthepackages,includingsurfacemount:

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Note:Asmall"plastic"case(suchasTO92)generallymeansthetransistor
isalowcurrent(called"smallsignal")device.
Aflatpack,suchasTO126andTO220,indicatesthetransistorisa
mediumcurrentdeviceand
a"highhat"ormetalcandevice,suchasTO3andTO66,(TO66isa
smallversionofTO3)indicatesthetransistorisahighcurrentdevice.
Eachstylehasacasenumbercalleda"JEDECnumber"asshownabove
(TO3etc)butthisisnottheimportanttopic.Weareinterestedinfinding
theCOLLECTOR,BASEandEMITTERleads.
AllPNPtransistorshavethesamecircuitsymbol:

PNPsymbol
Thissymboldoesnotindicateifthetransistorissmallsignal,highpoweror
the type of package. It just indicates the transistor is PNP. Note the arrow
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ontheemitterispointingtothebase.Thisishowtorememberthesymbol.I
haveshownitthiswayastheemitterofaPNPnormallygoestothepositive
railandthisishowitwillappearinacircuit.
AllNPNtransistorshavethefollowingsymbol:

NPNsymbol
Thearrowontheemitterpointsawayfromthebase.
NPNtransistorsarethemostpopulartype.Intheearlydaysofmanufacture,
it was easier to make NPN transistors. The voltage and current capability
could be made higher. This made them cheaper and most circuits were
designedaroundNPNtypes.
Inbothcases,thearrowpointsinthedirectionofcurrentflow(currentflows
from positive to negative hightechnology instructors like to talk about
electron flow from negative to positive but this just makes things more
complicated). Let's keep things simple. Luckily, the arrow points in the
directionofcurrentflow!!!

TESTING
Asimpletransistortesterisamultimeterthe"oldstyle"analoguetype
with the moving needle (pointer). For this test, the multimeter is firstly
switchedtotheHIGHOHMSRANGE.ThehighOhmsrangeisusedsothat
you will be able to pick up a leaky transistor at the same time. More about
thislater.
Beforewediscussthemultimeter,weneedtoknowhowamultimeter
"sees" a transistor. It "sees" it as two backtoback diodes. For the PNP
transistor the cathodes are connected to the base and for the NPN the
anodesareconnectedtothebase,asshowninthediagrambelow:

DIGITALMULTIMETER
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Some digital multimeters may work as a transistor tester (mine does not
work)butotherswillnotdetecttheforwardvoltagedropofadiodebecause
thevoltagedeliveredbythemeterisbelow0.7vandthediodeisnotplaced
in forward conductivity. Some digital multimeters have a transistor tester
builtintothembuttheholesfortheleadsonthefrontofthemultimeterare
sofinethatyouneedtoaddextensionleadstotestthelargertransistors!

OHMSRANGE
EverymultimeterhasoneormoreOhmsranges.Thelowestrangeiscalled
the"OhmsRange"asthescaleonthemeterisreaddirectly.Forinstance,
"500" on the scale is 500 Ohms (500R). The other range is the x1k range.
"500"onthescaleisread500k.Thisisthesettingweuseforthetests.
Insidethemultimeterisabattery(1.5vor3v)andthisprovidestheenergyto
move the needle. One very important point to note is the red probe of a
multimeter is connected to negative of the battery (inside the multimeter)
andtheblackprobeisconnectedtothepositiveofthebattery(viaasetof
resistorsandthemetermovementitself).
When the black probe is connected to the anode of a diode and the red
probe to the cathode, as shown in the animation below, the needle moves
about 90% across the dial. (It does not move fully across because the
multimeterisactuallydetectingthevoltagedropof0.7vofthediodeandnot
itsactualresistancebutthisisatechnicalpointwewilldiscusslater).
When the red probe is connected to the anode and the black probe to the
cathode,theneedledoesnotmoveatall.
Inthefirstcasethediodeisforwardbiasedandcurrentflows.Inthesecond
case the diode is reverse biased and no current flows. The pointer (needle)
clearlyindicatesthesetwostates.Thesearethetwoconditionsweneedto
remember.

Click=mouseover
Note:themultimeterison"x1k"scale
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Nowthatweknowhowamultimeterreactstoadiodeinforwardandreverse
bias,wecantestatransistoranddeterminethebaselead.

Allyouhavetodoisplacetheblackprobe
onanyleadofatransistor.Thenplacethe
redprobeoneachoftheotherleads.Ifthe
needle moves across the dial, the
transistor is NPN. If the needle moves for
only one test, try the black probe on
anotherlead.Thismaytakeupto6teststo
getafinalanswer.Seeanimationbelow:

Note:themultimeterison"x1k"scale

Ifthepointerdoesn'tmovetwice:
Place the red probe on any lead and repeat the
above. When the needle moves for both the other
leads,thetransistorisPNP.Seeanimationbelow:

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Note:themultimeterison"x1k"scale

FAULTS:
Iftheneedledoesnotmoveforthetwootherleads,thetransistorisfaulty.
Itis"OPEN."
IftheneedlemovesforALLtests,thetransistorisfaulty.Itis"SHORTED."
Iftheneedlemovesslightlyforoneofthetests,thetransistoris"LEAKY."

WehavefoundtheBASE:
Theleadconnectedtotheblackprobeinthefirsttest(theNPNtransistor)is
theBASE.
Theleadconnectedtotheredprobeinthesecondtest(thePNPtransistor)
istheBASE.

TofindtheCOLLECTOR&EMITTER:
To find the collector and emitter leads we create the SIMPLEST
AMPLIFIER IN THE WORLD. It consists of the "transistor under test"
(sometimescalled"tut"),amultimeteron1krangeandYOURFINGER!
WewilltaketheexampleoftheNPNtransistorasthisisthemostcommon
type.
ThediagrambelowshowshowanNPNtransistorisconnected.
When making the test, you must not touch the third lead with any part of
yourbodyasthiswillupsetthereadingonthemultimeter.
YoualreadyknowthetransistorisNPNandalsothebaselead.
Connect the multimeter to the two leads that are not the base. It does not
matter if you get the orientation correct as the circuit will not work until the
placement is correct. The needle will not move. Place a MOIST finger
between the base and collector and the pointer will deflect almost 80%
across the dial. The harder you press, the further the needle will move
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acrossthescale.
The transistor is amplifying the current you are delivering to the base and
causingabout100timesmorecurrenttoflowinthecollectoremittercircuit.
This current flow effectively reduces the resistance between the two leads
and the multimeter indicates the result. You have created the world's
simplest amplifying circuit. The diagram below shows the collector and
emitterleadsconnectedtothemeter.

Note:themultimeterison"x1k"scale

IfthetransistorisaPNPtype,youwillneedtousethearrangementbelow:

Note:themultimeterison"x1k"scale

INCIRCUITTESTING
In circuit testing simply means to test the transistor while it is still in the
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circuit. This can be done provided you take into account the components
surroundingthetransistor.Inotherwordsthecomponentsdirectlyconnected
to the transistor. If we take the circuit below, for example,

wehave4transistorsindifferent"impedancesituations."Youcanalsosay
different"resistancesituations."Thetermimpedancetakesintoaccountthe
resistive effect of the surrounding capacitors, diodes, transistors and coils.
Make sure the power is off before making any tests and wait until any
capacitors have lost their charge (this circuit has a 120u capacitor and is
chargedtoalmost330v).ToseethefullcircuitdiagramclickHERE.
If you test the first transistor (BC 557) (It is a surfacemount type in the
circuit 2P or M6 for more details on testing surfacemount transistors
click HERE) with the multimeter switched to the x1k range, the base to
collectorandbasetoemitterreadingwillcheckoutokbutwhenyoutestthe
collectortoemitterandemittertocollectorreadings,youwillgetalowvalue
inonedirection.Thisisnotafaultytransistorbutthebaseemitterreadingof
the second transistor! If you don't know how the circuit is laid out, you will
think the transistor is faulty (leaky). The solution is to switch to the Ohms
rangeandmeasurebetweenthecollectorandemitteragain.Ifthetransistor
isfaultyitwillmeasureverylowinbothdirections.Thepointerwillnotstop
at90%fullscaledeflection.Moredetails.
The same situation applies with the second transistor. The third transistor
canbetestedonhighohmsrange.Thefourthtransistorhasa10kbetween
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baseandcollector,whichmustbetakenintoaccount.
If you are not sure about the results you are getting, remove the transistor
completelyoratleastdesoldertwoleads.

OTHERFAULTS
This is only a simple test for transistors that have "completely broken
down." Other faults such as heat stress, overvoltage breakdown, high
frequencyfailure,orintermittentbreakdowncanalsooccur.Youmayneeda
can of "freeze," a hot soldering iron or a hair dryer to simulate the effect of
overheatingetc.

Trythistestandseeifyouget100%:

QUESTIONS:
1.Transistorsareseparatedintotwotypes.Namethem.
PositiveandNegative
PandN
PNPandNPN
PNNandNNP
2.Namethethreeleadsofacommontransistor:
CollectorBiasOmitter
BaseCollectorCase
EmitterCollectorBias
CollectorBaseEmitter
3.Thepositiveofthebatteryinamultimeterisconnectedtothe:
Blackprobe
RedProbetheory
4.Whentestingatransistorwithamultimeter,itissetto:
Volts
LowOhms
HighOhms
HighVolts
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5.Whentestingatransistor,thefirsttestfindsthe:
Collectorlead
Baselead
Emitterlead
6.Theeasiesttransistortotestis:
PNP
NPN
Bothequal
7.Theleadmarkedwiththearrowis:
TheCollector
TheBase
TheEmitter
Thecase
8.Ifthevoltageonthebaseofatransistorincreases,doesit:
Turnon
Turnoff
Notenoughinformation
Remainthesame
9.Inthetestabove,thecollectorandemitterleadsarefoundby
puttingthetransistorinanamplifyingmode.
true
false
notenoughinformation
10.Inthefinaltest(asexplainedabove),theharderyoupressonthe
baseemitterleads,thefurthertheneedlewillswingacrossthedisplay.
true
false
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11.Intheanimationbelow,namethetypeoftransistorbeingtested:

PNP
NPN
12.Inthediagrambelow,whatwillhappentothepointerwhenafinger
isappliedtotheleads:

Thepointerwillmoveacrossthescale
Thepointerdoesnotmove
13.Inthediagrambelow,namethefaultwiththetransistor:

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Thetransistorhasshortedbetweencollectorandbase
Thetransistorhasshortedbetweencollectorandemitter
Thetransistorisnotfaulty
14.Inthediagrambelow,isthediodeok?

Yes
No.Itis"shorted"
No.Itis"open"

FinalAssessment
This is a new way to present a topic. By asking questions
with "computer" scoring,youknowifyouaregraspingthe
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topicorslidingoverthetheorywithoutit"sinkingin."
I hope you got a perfect score!
Goto:BasicElectronicsCourse!
Goto: componentMEMORYTEST

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