18 kΩ resistor colour code
Four bands: Brown · Grey · Orange · Gold. The first two give the digits, the third multiplies, the fourth states how far off the real part may be.
Nominal
18 kΩ
18,000 ohms
Real range at ±5%
17.1 kΩ – 18.9 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 | Grey | 2nd digit — 8 |
| 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 | 183 µA | 605 µW | 1/8 W |
| 5 V | 278 µA | 1.39 mW | 1/8 W |
| 12 V | 667 µA | 8 mW | 1/8 W |
| 24 V | 1.33 mA | 32 mW | 1/8 W |
What you can actually get
Parts made
198
36th most of 1,465 values
In stock
10,434
across 3 of them
Cheapest at 100
$0.0021
each
Tolerances sold
±0.01% to ±5%
8 grades in all
Packages: 1206, 0603, 0805, 0402, 1210, 0201, 2512, 2010. Ratings: 30mW to 5W.
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
$0.13
$0.013 each · Cut Tape (CT) · minimum order 1
The reel price
$0.00134
each, but only from 100,000 pieces up
Sitting in stock
4,060,840
across 44 part numbers
Per piece, ten costs 9.7× the reel price. That gap is why a handful of resistors never costs what the headline price suggests.
Stocked in ±0.1% and ±0.5% and ±1% and ±5%, rated 1/20 W to 1/4 W.
Cheapest part you can buy ten of: RT0603FRE0718KL by YAGEO — 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
BrownGreyBlackRedBrown
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 18 kΩ — which is why measuring beats reading when it matters.
- 17.4 kΩ17.226 kΩ–17.574 kΩ
- 17.8 kΩ17.622 kΩ–17.978 kΩ
- 18.2 kΩ18.018 kΩ–18.382 kΩ
- 18.7 kΩ18.513 kΩ–18.887 kΩ
If you do not have one
Standard values that land within 1% of 18 kΩ when combined.