A component is the smallest individual unit in a circuit, and any complex circuit is the result of an organic combination of electronic components. We use the characteristics of electronic components to analyze various components of the circuit and understand the working principle of the circuit, so as to troubleshoot the circuit, we need to quickly and accurately determine which component in the circuit has a problem, and then detect, repair or replace it. Therefore, identifying components is the daily work of electronic engineers for hardware design, maintenance, and testing.

In general, we can identify components in the following ways.

1. Identify by the appearance characteristics of components

Different components have different external shapes and characteristics. For most components, we can distinguish them by visual inspection.

       However, the same type of components will also be subdivided, and different subdivision types may have completely different appearance characteristics due to different physical characteristics or processing methods. This requires us to remember in our daily use.

2. Identify by the label and marks on the outside of the component

       Components can use marks to reflect the parameters of components in appearance according to their respective shapes, packaging methods, and sizes. Through the characters, color rings, colors, etc. on the components, we can obtain their effective value, operating voltage, temperature coefficient, polarity, error value, and even the tracking marks marked by the manufacturer. To express different information in a limited space, there is usually a set of standardized identification methods. We need to obtain component information by memorizing or consulting component manuals.

3¡¢Recognition through circuit symbols of components

Usually, there will be characters and printings on the circuit design diagram and the main board. Through these silk screen identification information, we can identify the corresponding components on the main board. The following are some English words and letter identifications of several common components:

Resistor (R)

Capacitance: Capacity (C)

Inductance: Inductance (L)

Diode: Diode (D)

Transistor: Triode (Q)

Field effect tube: field effect transistor (FET)

4¡¢Use tools to assist in identification

       When the external volume of the component is small, the physical property label cannot be marked, or there is no relevant calculation rule reference at hand, it is necessary to use tools to identify the physical properties and effective values of the component.

       Generally, the tools used to detect the effective value of components include multimeters, desktop LCR equipment and tweezers-like testers, and there are certain differences in their use and functions.

       The main purpose of multimeter is to measure voltage, current and resistance. Each electrical quantity is divided into multiple ranges, and the measurement accuracy is also different. Some multimeters can also measure AC current, capacitance, inductance and some parameters of semiconductors. Desktop and handheld multimeters can be used with test probes or test clips during measurement.

The desktop LCR equipment can measure inductance, capacitance, resistance, and impedance, which can meet the testing requirements of production line quality assurance, incoming inspection, and electronic maintenance industry for devices.

         Tweezers-like tester, commonly known as LCR tweezers or SMD tweezers, is undoubtedly the most convenient and easy-to-use among many identification tools. The tester is like a pair of tweezers, some with a built-in battery, which is easy to carry, no need to connect additional test wires, just clamp the tweezers to both ends of the component to measure the effective value, very convenient and takes up almost no space. But most common SMD tweezers can only detect components such as resistors, capacitors, diodes and on-off testing. A small number of LCR tweezers with better performance can not only measure SMD patch components, but also test voltage and frequency. Among them, the high-end LCR tweezers also provide automatic identification function. When the type of components cannot be identified or there are many components that need to be identified, use the automatic identification function. The digital tweezers will automatically detect the physical characteristics of the components and display the effective value and component type, and even the secondary parameters of components, allowing users to identify the characteristics of the components at a glance, saving time and effort. High-end LCR tweezers are fully functional and have intelligent recognition functions, but at the same time they are expensive, which is not conducive to popular use.

        As a new type of LCR test tweezers, MINIWARE DT71 Mini Digital Tweezers fills the gap. DT71 Mini Digital Tweezers adopt a structurally designed tweezers shape, the controller and the test arms can be separated freely, the controller can upgrade the firmware to optimize functions, the built-in battery of the test arms can be charged separately, and the tweezers tips can be replaced. Among them, the test arms also have a utility model patent for magnetic tension, which provides a soft and comfortable clamping feel for the test arms through the magnetic characteristics of the magnet "homopolarity repels each other, and heteropolarity attracts each other", which optimizes the shortcomings of ordinary rigid test arms that are not easy to control strength, and can better grasp the strength when clamping micro-packaged components.

         In terms of test component types, MINIWARE DT71 Mini Digital Tweezers covers all types of multimeters and LCR testers, including resistance, capacitance, inductance, diodes, voltage, frequency, and the key is to add the automatic identification function that only high-end smart tweezers have, which can identify capacitance, inductance, resistance, display the main parameter value and secondary parameter value, and help users better judge the component type and effective value. It has to be mentioned that the tweezers-type tester is especially useful when it is necessary to distinguish the polarity of components. After the test, the components can be directly clamped to the circuit board for soldering, saving back and forth testing operations Trouble.

    In addition, DT71 can measure voltage below DC40V and frequency of 20MHz, as a miniature signal generator - owning this digital tweezers is equivalent to having a multimeter, a signal generator and a high-end LCR tweezers at the same time. How wonderful!