# Anybody know anything about TO92's



## firedan525 (May 2, 2007)

I found a full roll approx 2000 of these. Are the worth recovering? I'm trying to get creative here. Thanks.


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## lazersteve (May 3, 2007)

Are you referring to the plastic shell transistors style package TO-92? Plastic shell transistors have minimal gold as compared to the larger metal shelled gold plated TO-3 type. If the TO-92's have gold plated leads they are most likely worth the effort.

Steve


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## Fever (May 3, 2007)

Can we get some pics for clarification please?

Fever


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## goldsilverpro (May 3, 2007)

I have run a lot of these and agree with Steve about the gold plated leads, Without them, they aren't worth much. The ones I ran were black, and the heads were about 1/8" X 1/8" (maybe, slightly bigger) cylinders with one flat side.

http://www.fairchildsemi.com/products/discrete/packaging/to92_2.html
http://www.national.com/packaging/folders/z03a.html

After reading these links, I see they come in various sizes, ranging from about 1/5" to 1/7".


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## lazersteve (May 3, 2007)

Here's some pix:


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## Fever (May 3, 2007)

Thanks Steve, that definitely helps to put these into perspective.

Fever


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## goldsilverpro (May 3, 2007)

The TO 3's have caused me a lot of grief over the years. They just got cheaper and cheaper. The early ones had gold all over. Then, they stopped plating the top part (the lid?). Then, they started making them from aluminum. Then, there was no gold - they used silver or epoxy for die attachment. Plus, they are heavy. All of these are still out there.

On very old stuff, look for those that are painted black. Under the paint, you will usually find gold plating. The same with old TO 5's - top hats. I've never seen TO 18's painted black.


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