Juss sorted another shoe box full of random components.
this time, no salvaged junk, no, brand new stuff. A huge, single, mile long strip of resistors and diodes.
Normally a strip contains identical parts isn't it... well not so here. It's one kilogram worth of components all taped together in a single strip.
A pot-pourri of 90% 1/4W or smaller, carbon resistors, with a few diodes in the mix.
Of course the strip is 40 years old I am sure, so the paper and glue had gone bad, leads coming off, and turned all this once neatly organizes strip, into a huge kg worth of entangled and glued together pile of stuff. Freeing a single component from this mess was a job in itself... never mind going through all of them
So I decided the carbon resistors just were not worth the time and trouble, so I concentrated on trying to get all the diodes out of this mess, and discarded all the resistors.
Then proceeded to further sort the diodes. Separated all the tiny glass transparent small signal ones, from the chunkier ones. For the latter are much easier to read the markings from !
![Roll Eyes ::)](https://www.eevblog.com/forum/Smileys/default/rolleyes.gif.pagespeed.ce.XcUK202Yqt.gif)
So I have now meself some "brand new" diodes.... which I promptly put into labelled zip bags. Long live zip bags and labels...
I looked them up quickly on Google to write down basic specs on the labels. Here is what I happen to have then :
1N4004 - 1A 400V
1N4006 - 1A 800V ... a single, lone diode.
1N4936 - 1A 400V Fast switching low drop high efficiency blah blah, for use in SMPS I guess....
BA157 - exactly the same as above... I guess there must be SOME difference but nothing obvious from the first of their respectively datasheet...
BYV 38 - Beefy glass bead 2A 1kV bad boys.
so I have some stock now... on top of my salvaged diodes.
Then I have all these tiny small signal transparent glass diodes.... marking on these is much more difficult to read, a PITA with my crappy eyes.... not sure it's worth the trouble, given how cheap small signal diodes are.... might just throw everything away and buy a few 1N4148 I guess...
But well I have time, so... I will at least give it a shot.
First will sort them visually just by the size and looks of the package. I think I saw at least 3 or 4 variations.
Then I will take a couple of each type and see if I can manage to read what's on them.... all I have is my "optivisor " thingy, hope it' will do it.
Who knows, maybe some of them have some interest, I don't know, super fast, or Germanium, or super low leakage, or god knows what....
![](https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/test-equipment-anonymous-(tea)-group-therapy-thread/?action=dlattach;attach=1410370;image)
![](https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/test-equipment-anonymous-(tea)-group-therapy-thread/?action=dlattach;attach=1410376;image)