Metersfortransistortesting

Howtocarryoutresistancetestsonsemiconductordevices.ThingsyoushouldknowFIRST.Tobegin
with it is important to say that the following methods are concerned with transistor testing for fault
finding or trouble shooting, rather than with electronics design and construction, which can require
somedifferenttestsandtechniques.Howeveritisunlikelythatanyoneeverconstructedanelectronic
circuitwithoutbeinginvolvedinatleastsomefaultfinding.

Whattypeofmeter?
Mostmultimetersaresuitablefortestingtransistorssomehavespecialtransistortestingranges(but
that doesn't mean that they are the best models to use in all situations). It is also possible to buy
dedicated transistor testers. These will generally tell you more about a transistor than an ordinary
multimeter,butinmostfaultfindingsituations,atransistorthatwaspreviouslyworkingwell,isnow
suspect.Itisnotusuallyneccesarytoknowaboutthetransistorshfecharacteristics,youneedtoknow
if it's dead!A few simple resistance or voltage checks will confirm this.Transistor testers are more
useful, mainly in circuit design and construction where it may be neccesary to know about a
transistor'sperformanceinmoredetail.

Thingstocheckonyourmeter.
Firstlookatthemeter'sresistanceranges.Ifyouareusingadigitalmeteryoushouldfindthatoneof
therangesismarkedwithadiodesymbol.ThisistherangeyouMUSTusefortestingtransistorsand
diodes,don'tuseanyotherrangeasitwon'ttestthedeviceproperly,andtheresultswilljustconfuse
you!
Theproblemisthatonresistancerangesthemeterputsasmallvoltageacrosstheprobestips,sothat
whenyouconnectittothecomponentbeingmeasured,acurrentflowsthroughthecomponent.Itis
thiscurrentthatthemeterismeasuring,itjustdisplaysitsresultasresistance(inohms)tosaveyouthe
bother of working it out from voltage and current. The point here is that the meter uses a SMALL
voltage,andadifferentvalueofvoltageondifferentranges.Inmanycasesthemetervoltagewon'tbe
enoughtoovercomethejunctionp.d.ofthecomponentbeingtested,sothejunctionwillmeasureopen
circuitevenifthereisnothingwrongwithit.Thedioderange(orwhateverrangethemeterinstruction
booksuggestsfortestingtheresistanceofjunctions)isdesignedtosupplyjustenoughvoltagetoturn
onthejunction,andpassaverysmallcurrentthroughit.Thisusallygivesareliableindicationofthe
stateofthejunction,withoutconfusingresults,ordamagingagoodjunction.

Fig.2.1Digitalmultimeter

Usuallydigitalmetersdisplaytheresistanceofthejunctionwhenusingthedioderange,whichfora
PN junction would typically be around 500 to 1K ohms, depending on the device being measured.
However some meters display the JUNCTION VOLTAGE on this range (usually 0.5 to 0.7 volts).
Makesureyouknowwhatthemeteristellingyou,thereissometimesa"V"inthedisplayifitrefers
tojunctionvoltagebutsometimesnot.Checktheinstructionbooktobesure.
Digitalmetersdisplay1.(onefollowedbyadecimalpoint)toindicatethattheresistanceistoohighto
measure on the range you are using. Remember that since the meter is usually limited to one range
whentestingsemiconductorjunctions,thismeans"infinity"oropencircuitfortestingpurposes.
Because the range of resistances measureable on the diode range of a digital meter is quite small
(usually0to2K)itcanbepreferabletouseamovingcoilmetersuchasan"Avo8"totesttransistors.

Fig.2.2Professionalanaloguemultimeter.

Whenusingtheresistancerangesonanaloguemeterssuchasthe"Avo"(left),itisimportantto
knowthattheinternalbatteryofthemeterisconnectedinsuchaway,thattheRedtestleadis
negativeandtheBlacktestleadispositive.Therefore,whentestingajunction'sforwardresistance,

thepositive(black)meterleadmustgotothePsideofthejunctionandnegative(red)leadtotheN
side).Thisisoppositetoconnectingdigitalmeters,whereredispositiveandgoestoPfortheforward
resistancetest,andblackisnegativeandgoestotheNsideofthejunction.Thereasonforthisisthat
thebatteryinananaloguemeterisalsousedtopowerthemovingneedlethatindicatesthemeasured
value. For the needle to move in the correct direction (for increasing resistance) the battery supply
mustbeinthepolaritydescribedabove).
TheAvohasthreeresistancerangesandnodiodemarking.Howeveritisimportantthatyouonlyuse
themiddleofthethreeranges(usuallymarkedx100onmodernmeters).Thereasonforthisisthatthe
x1rangedoesnotproduceenoughcurrentfortestingjunctions,andmoreimportantlythex10Krange
usesa15Vbatterytosupplytestvoltagestotheprobes.Putting15Vacrossasemiconductorjunction
whoseforwardvoltageisonly0.6Vwillmorethanprobablydestroyit!
HomePreviousTopofPageNext

20072016EricCoatesMABSc.(Hons)Allrightsreserved.

IdentifyTransistorPinouts
WhichPinIsWhichonaBJT?
Usethischarttofindwhichpinisthebaseonabipolartransistorandatthesametimegetagoodidea
ofwhetherthetransistorisfaultyorgood.(DonttestFETsinthiswaythoughhandlingFETpinscan
destroythetransistor!).
Followtests13thendecidefromtheresultwhichofthefourarrowstofollow.Youmayhavetogo
throughthetestsequencemorethanoncetomakeyourdiagnosis.

HomePreviousTopofPageNext

20072016EricCoatesMABSc.(Hons)Allrightsreserved.

FindingFaultsonTransistors
Fig.6.1TestingBJTsandJFETs.

Oncethetransistorpinshavebeenidentified,oratleastthebase,ifthefaultisnotalreadyobviousyou
canusethemethodinFig.6.1toidentifyafaultonanybipolartransistorthatisnotconnectedina
circuit.
Use a multimeter switched to a range suitable for testing transistor junctions, as discussed on the
Metersfortransistortestingpage.FollowthenumberedsequenceoftestsinFig.6.1tofindoutifthe
transistorisgoodorfaulty.
Before you begin these tests, make sure you know which of your meter leads is positive and
whichisnegative.Rememberthatanaloguemetersmayhavethepolarityoftheirredandblack
meterleadsreversedwhenmeasuringresistance.

Testforshortcircuitbetweencollectorandemitter.
1.Testtheresistancebetweencollectorandemitter.
2.Thenreversethepositiveandnegativemeterconnectionsandtestagain.
Ifthemeterreadszeroorafewohmsintests1and2,thereisashortcircuitbetweencollector
andemitterandthetransistorisfaulty.Ifbothreadingsareinfinity,continuewithtest3.

Testforwardresistanceofbaseemitterandbasecollectorjunctions.
3. Now connect the positive meter lead to the base, and test the resistance of both junctions by
connectingthenegativemeterprobetooneoftheothertwopins.Itdoesn'treallymatterwhetherthis
isthecollectorortheemitter,thistestisthesameforanyjunction.
4.Nowleavethepositiveleadonthebase,andmovethenegativeleadtotheotheruntested(collector
oremitter)pin,andmeasuretheresistanceofthisjunction.
Fortests3and4youshouldgetatypicalforwardresistancereadingofaround500to1Kohms

in both cases.A reading of zero ohms indicates a short circuit and a faulty transistor. In this
case,asadoublecheck,continuewithtests5and6.

Testreverseresistanceofbaseemitterandbasecollectorjunctions.
5. Now connect the negative lead of your meter to the base and the positive lead to another pin as
shownat5inFig.6.1above.
6.Finallyconnectthepositiveprobetotheotheruntestedpinasshownat6inFig.6.1above.
Intests5and6bothjunctionsshouldreadinfinity.Ifallofthesesixtestsareokyouhaveagood
transistor.Ifoneormoreofthetestshasfailed,sohasthetransistor!

FaultidentificationonFETs
TheresultsofresistancetestsonFETsaregenerallynotaseasytointerpretasinbipolartransistors.
Becauseofthehighimpedancesinvolved,theresultswillbemorevariableandpracticeisneededto
gainconfidenceintheresultsobtained.Inaddition,thehandlingrequirementsforIGFETSwithregard
toelectrostaticvoltages,meanthattestingthesedevicesoutofthecircuitisverylikelytocausemore
damagethangood!TheonlyeffectivetestforIGFETs(wherevoltagetestsonthetransistorina"live"
circuit suggest a faulty transistor), is by substituting a known good device, making sure that the
handlingprecautionsmentionedearlierareobserved.JFETshowevercan,withcare,betestedwitha
multimeterinmuchthesamewayasbipolartransistors.

Fig 6.2 JFET Junction Model (A single PN junction and a

ResistiveChannel)
Fig6.2showsajunctionmodelfortestingaJFET.Fortestingpurposes,theJFETcanbeconsideredto
beasinglePNjunction,attachedtoachannelthatisbasicallyaresistor.Theresistanceofthechannel
between source and drain will be very high (several Megohms), but may vary considerably if the
positive meter lead is connected to the drain and the negative lead to the source, then the very high
impedancegateistouchedwithafinger.Thiscancreateenoughstaticvoltageonthegatetooperate
thetransistor!Theactualresultsyougetwillvary,dependingonsuchthingsasthetypeofmeterused,
theresistanceofyourskinandeventhehumidityoftheroom.
The PN junction can be tested by connecting the meter between gate and source, first one way and
thenreversingthepolarity.Theresultshouldbealowreadingofabout1kohmsintheforwardbias
direction(positivetogateinthecaseofaNchanneldevice),andinfinity(opencircuit)inthereverse

biasdirection(negativetogate).

Testingtransistorsincircuit.
Although the above methods can sometimes be used for testing transistors still connected in a
SWITCHEDOFFcircuit,thisisonlypossiblewhereanyothercomponentsinthecircuitaroundthe
transistor have high values of resistance, and therefore have little effect on the actual transistor
resistancesmeasured.
Mostresistancetestsonsemiconductorsassumethatthetransistor,diodeetc.hasfirstbeenunsoldered
andremovedfromthecircuit.Howeverthisisonlyonewaytotestatransistor,andisusuallyusedto
confirmearliertestsdonewiththecircuitin"working"(thoughfaulty)condition.Thesetestsinvolve
measuringthevoltagesonthesuspecttransistorwiththecircuitswitchedonandarepartofafullfault
finding process. There are however some simple voltage indications that can indicate with a good
degreeofcertainty,whetherasuspecttransistorisfaulty.
1.Morethan0.7Vdifferencebetweenbaseandemittervoltagesindicatesanopencircuitbejunction.
2.ThesamevoltageontwoormoreterminalsMAYindicateoneormoreshortcircuitjunctions.
3.ALOWERthanexpectedcollectorvoltagegenerallymeansthatthetransistorisconductingheavily
(turnedon).
4.A HIGHER than expected collector voltage generally means that the transistor is not conducting
(turnedoff).
Note: Whilst conditions 2,3 and 4 can indicate a faulty transistor, they can also be caused by other
circuitconditions.Forthisreasonfurthervoltagetestsonothertransistors(mainlytransistorsorsupply
linesfeedingthesuspecttransistor)shouldbecarriedout,beforedecidingthelocationofthefault.
Warning: You should never work on "live" circuits unless you knowAND USE safe working
practices. Many circuits that derive power from the mains (line) supply (and some that dont)
contain LETHAL voltages as well as other hazards. Live circuits must only be worked on by
fully trained personnel. Before attempting any work on live circuits using any information
providedonthiswebsite,pleasereadtheimportantDISCLAIMER.
HomePreviousTopofPage

20072016EricCoatesMABSc.(Hons)Allrightsreserved.

TestingTransistors
Fig4.1.TwoJunctionTransistorModel.

Abipolartransistorhastwojunctions,whichcanbeconsideredsimplyastwodiodesforourtesting
purposes.The"diodes"areconnectedbacktobackwiththeircentrepointbeingthebaseconnection.
Totestatransistoryoujustneedtochecktheforwardandreverseresistanceofbothjunctions,which
should measure about 500 to 1K ohms in the forward direction and infinity when they are reverse
biased.Todothisitisneccesarytofirstfindoutwhichpiniswhich.

UsetheManufacturersInformation
The best way to check the functions of the individual transistor pins is to use the manufacturers
information. If a circuit diagram is available for the circuit containing the transistor, it will most
probablyincludea"layoutdiagram"showingwhatthecircuitboardlookslike.Theconnectingpinsof
the transistors are often identified on this drawing.Another way manufacturers use to illustrate pin
outs is a separate diagram showing the pin connections for each semiconductor used in the
equipment.

ReferToASuppliersCatalogue
What happens if you have no manufacturers information? Next best is to refer to a suppliers
catalogue,andusingthenumberstampedonthedeviceitself,lookupthedataforthatdevice,which
willusuallyincludethe"packagetype".Thisisgivenasanumberreferringtoastandardpackagewith
astandardlayoutofpins.Thesemiconductorsectionofthecataloguewillnormallyhaveatleastone
page devoted to drawings of transistor pinout diagrams.There are many suppliers catalogues now
online, most of which contain links to semiconductor data sheets. When looking for transistors or
diodestheseareusuallylistedinthe"semiconductor"section.SeeourLinkspage.

Fig.4.2.FindingthePinFunctionsbyMeasurement.

Ifthetransistoryouaretestinghasametalcase,suchasintheTO18,TO3,TO126,TO202,TO72etc.,
thatishelpful.Ametalcaseorheatsinkareaisalmostalwaysconnectedtothecollectorsothatthe

heat is dissipated easier.This means that if you measure the resistance from the case to each pin in
turn,theonepinthatmeasureszeroohmsisthecollector.Thefirstpintofindhowevermustbethe
base.IntransistorpackagessuchastheTO18orTO39,whichbothhavemetalcanswithasmalltab
ontheside,thatseasy.Theemitter(orthesourceinFETs)isnearlyalwaystheconnectionnexttothe
metaltabandthecollectorisconnectedtothecan.
Notice that often this makes the base the centre of the three connections, but this is not always the
case, as can be seen in the TO92, TO237 and SOT23 packages, don't rely on the base being at the
centre.StudythecommonpackagetypesillustratedinFig.4.2.Therearevariationsevenwithinthe
same type of package. The best source for transistor pinouts is normally a suppliers catalogue or
manufacturersdatasheet.
If no pinout data is available, it is still possible to identify the pins by measuring the resistance
betweenthevariouspinsasthenextpageshows.Tobeginwith,presumethatanunknowntransistor
maybeaNPNtype,asthesearefarmorecommonthanPNPinmoderncircuits.
HomePreviousTopofPageNext

20072016EricCoatesMABSc.(Hons)Allrightsreserved.