Ceramic Capacitor Temperature Ratings

The capacitor as with any other electronic component comes defined by a series of characteristics.

Ceramic capacitor temperature ratings.

The reality of modern small form factor ceramic capacitors is a good reminder to always read the data sheet. The second character indicates the maximum temperature. 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. Nominal capacitance c the nominal value of the capacitance c of a capacitor is the most important of all capacitor.

Multi layer ceramic capacitor mlcc. The third letter gives the maximum tolerance from that in ppm k. 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. Mlccs are used instead if capacitance values allow.

Ceramic disc capacitors are usually through hole components and are falling out of favor due to their size. Ceramic names temperature coefficients α α tolerances and letter codes for α. This tutorial explains how ceramic capacitor type designations such as x7r and y5v imply nothing about voltage coefficients. Engineers must check the data to know really know how a specific capacitor will perform under voltage.

5 as in x5r corresponds to 85 c and 7 as in x7r corresponds to 125 c. All ratings are from 25 to 85 c. The theoretical range is from 45 c to 200 c. The first character indicates the lowest temperature that the capacitor can handle.

These capacitor characteristics can always be found in the data sheets that the capacitor manufacturer provides to us so here are just a few of the more important ones.