12 kΩ resistor colour code
Four bands: Brown · Red · Orange · Gold. The first two give the digits, the third multiplies, the fourth states how far off the real part may be.
Nominal
12 kΩ
12,000 ohms
Real range at ±5%
11.4 kΩ – 12.6 kΩ
A gold band allows this much drift.
Series
E12
Held in almost every parts drawer.
Band by band
| Band | Colour | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brown | 1st digit — 1 |
| 2 | Red | 2nd digit — 2 |
| 3 | Orange | Multiplier — ×1,000 |
| 4 | Gold | Tolerance — ±5% |
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 | 275 µA | 907 µW | 1/8 W |
| 5 V | 417 µA | 2.08 mW | 1/8 W |
| 12 V | 1 mA | 12 mW | 1/8 W |
| 24 V | 2 mA | 48 mW | 1/8 W |
What you can actually get
Parts made
212
23rd most of 1,465 values
In stock
46,022
across 8 of them
Cheapest at 100
$0.0021
each
Tolerances sold
±0.01% to ±5%
9 grades in all
Packages: 0603, 0805, 1206, 0402, 1210, 2512, 0201, 1020. Ratings: 30mW to 7W.
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
$0.20
$0.020 each · Cut Tape (CT) · minimum order 1
The reel price
$0.00185
each, but only from 500,000 pieces up
Sitting in stock
2,237,617
across 7 part numbers
Per piece, ten costs 10.8× the reel price. That gap is why a handful of resistors never costs what the headline price suggests.
Stocked in ±0.1% and ±1% and ±5%, rated 1/16 W to 0.13 W.
Cheapest part you can buy ten of: RMCF0402FT12K0 by Stackpole Electronics Inc — 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
Five bands
BrownRedBlackRedBrown
Three significant digits and a ±1% band.
Values that can overlap this one
At ±5% the tolerance bands of neighbouring values run into each other. A part sold as one of these could measure the same as a 12 kΩ — which is why measuring beats reading when it matters.
- 11 kΩ10.45 kΩ–11.55 kΩ
- 11.3 kΩ11.187 kΩ–11.413 kΩ
- 11.5 kΩ11.385 kΩ–11.615 kΩ
- 11.8 kΩ11.682 kΩ–11.918 kΩ
- 12.1 kΩ11.979 kΩ–12.221 kΩ
- 12.4 kΩ12.276 kΩ–12.524 kΩ
- 12.7 kΩ12.573 kΩ–12.827 kΩ
- 13 kΩ12.35 kΩ–13.65 kΩ
If you do not have one
Standard values that land within 1% of 12 kΩ when combined.