The 330 Ohm Resistor
The 330 Ohm resistor is a common resistor in electronics. Like any color coded resistors, its’ value can be quickly determined just by looking at the color bands on the body of the resistor. In particular, a four band 330 Ohm resistor can be quickly identified by two orange bands and a brown band.
However depending on the lighting and pigments used by the manufacturer of the resistor, the colors red, orange, and brown might be easily confused. It is a good practice to confirm the value using an ohmmeter or multimeter.
The 330 Ohm Resistor Color Code
The 330 Ohm resistor color code allows us to quickly identify the resistance value and tolerance of a 330 ohm (330 Ω) resistor.
Note that the color of the third band changes from brown to black for five and six band, 330 Ohm resistors.
In this article, we’ll cover in detail how to quickly identify and read 4 band, 5 band, and 6 band 330 Ohm resistors.
330 Ohm Resistor – 4, 5, 6 Band Color Code Chart
| Band One | Band Two | Band Three | Band Four | Band Five | Band Six | |
| Four Band | Orange | Orange | Brown | ± % | – | – |
| Five Band | Orange | Orange | Black | Black | ± % | – |
| Six Band | Orange | Orange | Black | Black | ± % | R(T°) |
330 Ohm Resistor Color Bands
Each band on a color-coded resistor has a specific purpose.
In a four band resistor, the first three bands give us the resistor’s nominal value and the 4th band gives us the tolerance.
In five band resistors, the first four bands tell us the nominal value of the resistor. Note that a five band resistor’s extra band is used to determine the nominal value. The fifth band identifies the tolerance.
Six band resistors add another color band to the end of the resistor that tells us the temperature coefficient, or how sensitive the resistor is to temperature changes.
All resistors have a tolerance value, which means that the value is unlikely to be exactly 330 Ohms. Higher quality resistors have tighter tolerances.
Helpful Tips for Using Resistor Color Codes (for four band resistors):
1) Identify the last band first. The last band is usually gold or silver and should be separated from the other bands by a small gap. This band gives us the tolerance of the 330 Ohm resistor.
2) After identifying the last band, look at the bands on the opposite side of the resistor. The first two bands give us a base value, which needs to be multiplied by the multiplier to identify the full resistance value.
3) The third band is the multiplier. Multiply the value designated by the first two bands with the multiplier to find the full value of the resistor.
This process is covered in greater detail below.
330 Ohm Resistor Color Chart
| Band Number | Function | Color | Value | |
| 1 | 1st Digit | Orange | 3 | |
| 2 | 2nd Digit | Orange | 3 | |
| 3 | Multiplier | Brown | x 10 | |
| 4 | Tolerance | Gold (or silver) | ± 5% (± 10% for silver) | |
| Total Value: 330 ± 5% Ω |
How To Read the 330 Ohm Resistor Color Code
Resistor color codes consist of digits followed by a multiplier and a tolerance value.
Four band resistors have two color bands for digits. Five band resistors have three bands for digits. Six band resistors are exactly like five band resistors but also add a band for the temperature coefficient.
It’s easiest to learn four band resistors first. Once you learn the four band system, it is very easy to understand five and six band resistor color codes.
The Four Band 330 Ohm Resistor
Each band on the resistor has a specific role:
Band # One – 1st Digit: This is the first digit of the resistance value. The first band is orange, which corresponds to a value of 3.
Band # Two – 2nd Digit: The second digit of the resistance value. This band is also orange, corresponding to the value 3. This is added to the right of the first digit (from band one).
Therefore the digits from band one and band two are: 33.
Band # Three – Multiplier: Takes the digits and multiplies them by a value given by this band. The actual multiplier is 10n, where n is a value that corresponds to the color of the band. In this case, the third band is brown, which corresponds to the number 1. Therefore the multiplier is 101 = 10.
So the total value of the resistance given by the colors is 33 (from digits) x 101 (from multiplier) Ω = 330Ω.
Band # Four – Tolerance: Gives the value of the tolerance for the resistor. The most common values are 5% (designated by a gold band), and 10% (designated by a silver band). This example uses a gold band, giving us a tolerance of 5%.
The total resistance is therefore: 330Ω ± 5% Ω.
How Tolerance Impacts a 330 Ohm Resistor
If the fourth band (on a four band resistor) or the fifth band (on a five or six band resistor) is gold, this means that the tolerance of the resistor is 5%.
Five percent of 330 Ω is 16.5 Ω. This means that the actual resistance value could be anywhere from 313.5 Ω (330 Ω – 16.5 Ω) to 346.5 Ω (330 Ω + 11 Ω).
If the fourth band is silver, the tolerance is 10% and the total resistance is 330Ω ± 10% Ω. The actual resistance should be between 297 Ω (330 Ω – 33 Ω) and 363 Ω (330 Ω + 33 Ω).
Resistors dissipate energy as heat, so temperature is an important consideration. In 6 band resistors, the temperature dependence is given by the last band (more on this below).
4-Band vs. 5-Band vs. 6-Band 330 Ohm Resistor Color Code
You will probably encounter 5 band or even 6 band resistors.
It is very easy to read 5 or 6 band resistors if you already know how to use four band resistor color coding.
5 Band 330 Resistor Color Code
For 330 Ohm resistors with five bands, the first three bands will be orange, orange, and black (indicating 330) and the fourth band will be black indicating a multiplier of 100 = 1.
| Band Number | Function | Color | Value | |
| 1 | 1st Digit | Orange | 2 | |
| 2 | 2nd Digit | Orange | 2 | |
| 3 | 3rd Digit | Black | 0 | |
| 4 | Multiplier | Black | x 1 | |
| 5 | Tolerance | Gold (or silver) | ± 5% (or ± 10%) | |
| Total Value: 330 ± 5% Ω |
4-Band vs. 5-Band vs. 6-Band 330 Resistor Color Code Table
| 4-Band Resistor | 5-Band Resistor | 6-Band Resistor | |
| 1st band | 1st digit of resistance value (Orange – 3) | 1st digit of resistance value (Orange – 3) | 1st digit of resistance value (Orange – 3) |
| 2nd band | 1st digit of resistance value (Orange – 3) | 1st digit of resistance value (Orange – 3) | 1st digit of resistance value (Orange – 3) |
| 3rd band | Multiplier (Brown, x 10) | 3rd digit of resistance value (Black – 0) | 3rd digit of resistance value (Black – 0) |
| 4th band | Tolerance (± %) | Multiplier (Black, x 1) | Multiplier (Black, x 1) |
| 5th band | N/A | Tolerance (± %) | Tolerance (± %) |
| 6th band | N/A | N/A | Temperature Coefficient R(T°) |
4 Band vs. 5 Band 330 Ohm Resistor
Four band resistors have two bands for the nominal value, one band for the multiplier, and one band for the tolerance.
Five band resistors add an extra band for the nominal value of the resistor.
Therefore five band resistors have three bands for the value, one for the multiplier, and one for the tolerance. This is why the third band of the five band resistor is black instead of brown. Where the four band resistor color bands are read as ’33 x 10′, the five (and six) band resistor are read as ‘330 x 1’.
6 Band 330 Ohm Resistor
| Band Number | Function | Color | Value | |
| 1 | 1st Digit | Orange | 3 | |
| 2 | 2nd Digit | Orange | 3 | |
| 3 | 3rd Digit | Black | 0 | |
| 4 | Multiplier | Black | x 1 (100) | |
| 5 | Tolerance | Gold (or silver) | ± 5% | |
| 6 | Temp. Coefficient | See Chart Below | See Chart Below | |
| Total Value: 330 ± 5% Ω |
Six band resistors are exactly like five band resistors except they have an extra band to indicate the temperature coefficient, i.e. how much the resistance will change with temperature.
In this case, the last two bands (i.e. the fifth and sixth bands) should be closely spaced, with a gap between the fourth and fifth bands.
They are read exactly the same way as five band resistors, except that the (additional) last band tells us the temperature coefficient.
| Color | Temperature Coefficient |
|---|---|
| Black | N/A |
| Brown | 100 ppm/ºC |
| Red | 50 ppm/ºC |
| Orange | 15 ppm/ºC |
| Yellow | 25 ppm/ºC |
| Green | N/A |
| Blue | 10 ppm/ºC |
| Violet | 5 ppm/ºC |
| Grey | N/A |
| White | N/A |
The 330 Ohm resistor color code is relatively easy to learn for any type of resistor.
The distinctive pattern of two orange bands makes them easy to spot. Sometimes it may be difficult to tell if a band color is red, orange, or brown. Depending on the lighting and pigments used by the manufacturer, these colors might be easily confused. Always confirm the actual resistance using an ohmmeter or multimeter if possible.