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Carbon Composition Resistors - Not
Like Fine Wine
Perhaps the most common trait of ham operators is that
of a pack rat. It's hard to throw away something that may be used some
day. When searching in the garage today for a hose nozzle, I ran across a
coffee can with a couple hundred 1/2 watt International Resistance Co.,
carbon composition resistors. These resistors were new around 1960, as I
recall acquiring them not long after that date, and are unused. Hence,
they should not have drifted due to conditions inside equipment. However,
the parts have been stored in the garage for 20 years, so they are exposed
to Northern Virginia's high humidity and temperature.
I measured a selection of these resistors today and found that unlike
wine, carbon composition resistors do not get better with age.
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Seven 150K, 10% carbon composition resistors, still in
the original package.
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Reverse side of "Grip Reel" holder.
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I used a General Radio 1658 Digibridge to measure the part values, at 1 KHz
test frequency. I also compared a few samples with other ohmmeters (two
Hewlett Packard 4-wire ohmmeters) and found agreement in the 0.2% range or
better, so I believe the data is accurate.
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The figure below shows the results graphically. The blue arrows
indicate the tolerance limits for the particular resistor, whilst the red
circles show the mean value. If the resistor is within its tolerance, the
red circle will be between the two blue arrows. The value on the vertical
axis is the nominal resistance.For example,
consider the 1 MΩ resistor (1000 KΩ), the topmost entry. The tolerance
arrows are at 95% and 105%, since this is a 5% part. The red circle is at
approximately 109%, indicating measured mean of all similar value parts is
9% high. Since 9% high is outside the ±5% tolerance, the red circle is not
within the blue arrow tolerance bounds.
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| Looking at the data in this fashion, rather than a
table, allows us to see relationships that are difficult to tease out of raw
numbers. For one thing, the eye is immediately drawn to the fact that all
the parts measured high, between 105% and 112% of nominal value. In
other words, they have all aged in the same direction, and at about the same
amount. Further, the data is ordered by increasing nominal value. There is
little correlation seen between the error and nominal value, i.e., it
seems that parts > 500 KΩ have about the same measured value distribution as
parts < 500 KΩ. However, closer examination shows there may, and emphasis on
may, be a correlation with higher value parts having a greater
increase. There isn't enough data to be sure of this, one way or the other.
It might seem reasonable that higher resistance values would be more
affected by humidity, but if that's the case, the data is not overwhelming
in either direction. One additional point is
that there seems to be little difference between 5% and 10% parts—both seem
to have aged about the same amount. This suggests there was no difference in
construction, but rather parts were sorted by value into 5% and 10% groups.
(If so, this means that 10% resistors will likely be devoid of parts around
the nominal value, as they were removed and sold as 5% tolerance parts.) |
Don't believe me that the plot allows you to see relationships easier than a
table? Here's the table, so you can judge for yourself.
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Nominal KΩ |
Tolerance |
Number |
Measured KΩ |
High Limit KΩ |
Low Limit KΩ |
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3.3 |
10% |
6 |
3.475 |
3.63 |
2.97 |
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3.9 |
10% |
1 |
4.238 |
4.29 |
3.51 |
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5.6 |
10% |
4 |
5.888 |
6.16 |
5.04 |
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6.8 |
10% |
5 |
7.403 |
7.48 |
6.12 |
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8.2 |
5% |
2 |
8.723 |
8.61 |
7.79 |
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13 |
5% |
7 |
14.05 |
13.65 |
12.35 |
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36 |
5% |
4 |
38.22 |
37.80 |
34.2 |
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39 |
5% |
12 |
42.93 |
40.95 |
37.05 |
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56 |
10% |
4 |
60.41 |
61.60 |
50.4 |
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82 |
5% |
6 |
89.1 |
86.10 |
77.9 |
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120 |
10% |
7 |
127.68 |
132.00 |
108 |
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150 |
10% |
7 |
162.68 |
165.00 |
135 |
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180 |
10% |
3 |
193.12 |
198.00 |
162 |
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220 |
10% |
4 |
238.3 |
242.00 |
198 |
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330 |
10% |
3 |
352.3 |
363.00 |
297 |
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390 |
10% |
8 |
417.48 |
429.00 |
351 |
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560 |
10% |
6 |
616.97 |
616.00 |
504 |
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680 |
10% |
3 |
757.8 |
748.00 |
612 |
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820 |
10% |
10 |
884.93 |
902.00 |
738 |
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1000 |
5% |
4 |
1090.9 |
1,050.00 |
950 |
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| Of course, means do not tell the entire story. A more
thorough analysis would look at the standard deviation, for example, to see
whether the means were influenced by a few parts being outliers, i.e.,
with major value shifts. I did not compute the
standard deviation, because I entered the data by hand and it was too
burdensome to compute the higher order statistical parameters. However, I
did discard a couple of resistors that were clearly bad, e.g, a 3.3
KΩ part measured 4.2 KΩ.
Let's look, however, at the distribution pattern for
39 KΩ and 820 KΩ parts. I selected these because there were enough parts (12
and 10, respectively) to provide a moderately meaningful distribution.
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| The data shows that all measurements are on the high
side of nominal value, and that in both samples there are outliers, although
the 820 KΩ outlier at 1.065 MΩ is extreme.
The 39 KΩ is a 5% part, so the highest in-tolerance
value allowed is 40.95 KΩ, and none of the parts measured within that
tolerance. The 820 KΩ resistor is a 10% part, so the highest in-tolerance
value is 902 KΩ, and we see seven of the 10 parts were in tolerance, with
three out.
None of these resistors have been used in equipment,
so the changed values are due to normal aging. (At least I assume the parts
were in tolerance when new. They are manufactured by one of the major
component houses in business at the time and are physically appear new.)
It's well known that carbon composition resistors drift up in value with
age, and that drift is accelerated by heat.
The lesson to be learned from this is that some
parts—carbon composition resistors in particular—do not age well, and if you
decide to keep these around the shack for historical restoration, by all
means check their values before installing.
I'll also mention in passing that I have a variety of
1% metal film resistors of similar vintage and all check within the 1%
tolerance. Carbon composition resistors are notoriously unstable, and the
modern carbon film and metal film parts are much better in terms of long
term stability, temperature stability and being within tolerance. It's rare,
at least in my experience, to measure a 5% tolerance carbon film resistor
and find it more than 2% or 3% from nominal value. |
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