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Ohm Bands

Yellow Red Black Gold — 42 Ω

Read left to right, starting from the end where the bands are grouped. The gold band is the tolerance and always sits alone at the far end.

42×1±5%
Yellow4Red2Black×1Gold±5%

Value

42 Ω

Range at ±5%

39.9 Ω – 44.1 Ω

Standard value

Non-standard

No E24 part carries this value — check you are reading from the right end.


What each band says

BandColourMeaning
1Yellow1st digit — 4
2Red2nd digit — 2
3BlackMultiplier — ×1
4GoldTolerance — ±5%

In a circuit

Across 5 V

119 mA · 595 mW · 2 W part

Across 12 V

286 mA · 3.43 W · part

Surface-mount marking for the same value: 420.

If you misread one band

Brown and red, or orange and red, are easy to confuse under a desk lamp. These are the codes one band away from this one.