Ceramic Capacitor Temperature Ratings

The reality of modern small form factor ceramic capacitors is a good reminder to always read the data sheet.

Ceramic capacitor temperature ratings.

Ceramic names temperature coefficients α α tolerances and letter codes for α. 5 as in x5r corresponds to 85 c and 7 as in x7r corresponds to 125 c. Mlccs are used instead if capacitance values allow. Nominal capacitance c the nominal value of the capacitance c of a capacitor is the most important of all capacitor.

All ratings are from 25 to 85 c. The first character indicates the lowest temperature that the capacitor can handle. The capacitor as with any other electronic component comes defined by a series of characteristics. A ceramic capacitor is a fixed value capacitor where the ceramic material acts as the dielectric.

Multi layer ceramic capacitor mlcc. Engineers must check the data to know really know how a specific capacitor will perform under voltage. Ceramic capacitors which are usually tiny pancakes with two pins typically list the tolerance value as one letter immediately after the three digit capacitance value. The third letter gives the maximum tolerance from that in ppm k.

Ceramic disc capacitors are usually through hole components and are falling out of favor due to their size. The second character indicates the maximum temperature. The letter x as in x7r x5r corresponds to 55 c. This letter represents the tolerance of the capacitor meaning how close the actual value of the capacitor can be expected to be to the indicated value of the capacitor.

The theoretical range is from 45 c to 200 c.