1.21 Ω resistor colour code
Five bands: Brown · Red · Brown · Silver · Brown. The first three give the digits — a precision value needs all three — then the multiplier, then how far off the real part may be.
Nominal
1.21 Ω
1.21 ohms
Real range at ±1%
1.1979 Ω – 1.2221 Ω
A brown band allows this much drift.
Series
E96
A 1% precision value. Five bands, not four.
Band by band
| Band | Colour | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brown | 1st digit — 1 |
| 2 | Red | 2nd digit — 2 |
| 3 | Brown | 3rd digit — 1 |
| 4 | Silver | Multiplier — ×0.01 |
| 5 | Brown | Tolerance — ±1% |
How much it can take
Current and dissipation across the resistor, and the package you need. The suggested rating keeps a factor of two in hand, which is what anyone building a board actually does.
| Across it | Current | Dissipated | Package to pick |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3.3 V | 2.73 A | 9 W | no standard part — needs a power resistor or a heatsink |
| 5 V | 4.13 A | 20.7 W | no standard part — needs a power resistor or a heatsink |
| 12 V | 9.92 A | 119 W | no standard part — needs a power resistor or a heatsink |
| 24 V | 19.8 A | 476 W | no standard part — needs a power resistor or a heatsink |
What you can actually get
Parts made
21
743rd most of 1,465 values
In stock
0
across 0 of them
Cheapest at 100
$0.0057
each
Tolerances sold
±0.1% to ±1%
3 grades in all
Packages: 0603, 1206, 0402, 0805, 2512, 1210, 2010. Ratings: 100mW to 2W.
What ten of them actually cost
The price everyone quotes is the reel price. If you want ten, you cannot buy the reel — and the real figure is usually several times higher per piece.
Ten pieces
$0.40
$0.040 each · Cut Tape (CT) · minimum order 1
The reel price
$0.00595
each, but only from 100,000 pieces up
Sitting in stock
84,256
across 2 part numbers
Per piece, ten costs 6.7× the reel price. That gap is why a handful of resistors never costs what the headline price suggests.
Stocked in ±1%, rated 1/16 W to 1/8 W.
Cheapest part you can buy ten of: CRCW06031R21FKEA by Vishay Dale — see it at Digi-Key.
Assembly stock from the JLCPCB library, read 2026-09-24. Retail prices and stock from Digi-Key, read 2026-09-24. Prices move — check the product page before ordering. That is what a board house will place for you — not everything a distributor sells.
The same value, marked differently
Values that can overlap this one
At ±1% the tolerance bands of neighbouring values run into each other. A part sold as one of these could measure the same as a 1.21 Ω — which is why measuring beats reading when it matters.
If you do not have one
Standard values that land within 1% of 1.21 Ω when combined.