resistors: 5% vs 1% etc ?

[patchell]

mark scetta wrote:

> 1. are all 5%, 1/4 watt resistors made (relatively) equal? i.e, will the
> ones i buy at rat shack give pretty much the same performance as mouser's?

    Yes, the carbon film resistors you get almost anywhere will be about the
same.  There are always variations in quality of any part vs vendor, but
nothing I would worry about.

>
>
> 2. when should one use 5% resistors and when 1% ?

    Personally, I use only 1% resistors.  They don't cost a whole lot more than
the 5% parts, are just plain better (1% are generally metal film), and you
don't have to stock a bunch of different parts that do essentially the same
thing.

>
>
> 3. what's all this metal-film, carbon-film business anyway?

    In a nutshell, carbon film are noisier, and the drift more with temp.  In
theory, they cost less, so you could use them in the least critical places.
But as I said above, I don't bother.



>
>
> my applications are simple audio projects (like TomG's circuits) but i want
> to use the best parts i can!! :)
> thank you!

    Like I said, just stick with the metal film.  One good place to get them
(or where I bought my last batch 20 years ago) was Mouser.  Their prices were
pretty reasonalbe.


>
> mark

-Jim

-----------------------------------------------------------------
Visit:http://www.silcom.com/~patchell/
-----------------------------------------------------------------