15 Ω resistor colour code
Four bands: Brown · Green · Black · Gold. The first two give the digits, the third multiplies, the fourth states how far off the real part may be.
Nominal
15 Ω
15 ohms
Real range at ±5%
14.25 Ω – 15.75 Ω
A gold band allows this much drift.
Series
E6
Held in almost every parts drawer.
Band by band
| Band | Colour | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brown | 1st digit — 1 |
| 2 | Green | 2nd digit — 5 |
| 3 | Black | Multiplier — ×1 |
| 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 | 220 mA | 726 mW | 2 W |
| 5 V | 333 mA | 1.67 W | 5 W |
| 12 V | 800 mA | 9.6 W | no standard part — needs a power resistor or a heatsink |
| 24 V | 1.6 A | 38.4 W | no standard part — needs a power resistor or a heatsink |
What you can actually get
Parts made
197
38th most of 1,465 values
In stock
43,183
across 7 of them
Cheapest at 100
$0.003
each
Tolerances sold
±0.1% to ±10%
8 grades in all
Packages: 0603, 1206, 0805, 0402, 1210, 2010, 2512, 1225. Ratings: 30mW to 100W.
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
$4.92
$0.49 each · Cut Tape (CT) · minimum order 1
The reel price
$0.24
each, but only from 20,000 pieces up
Sitting in stock
219,404
across 4 part numbers
Per piece, ten costs 2.1× the reel price. That gap is why a handful of resistors never costs what the headline price suggests.
Stocked in ±0.5% and ±1% and ±5%, rated 1 W to 16 W.
Cheapest part you can buy ten of: 352115RFT by TE Connectivity Passive Product — 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
BrownGreenBlackBlackBrown
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 15 Ω — which is why measuring beats reading when it matters.
- 14.3 Ω14.157 Ω–14.443 Ω
- 14.7 Ω14.553 Ω–14.847 Ω
- 15.4 Ω15.246 Ω–15.554 Ω
- 15.8 Ω15.642 Ω–15.958 Ω
- 16 Ω15.2 Ω–16.8 Ω
If you do not have one
Standard values that land within 1% of 15 Ω when combined.