Hello fellow sparkies. I have a diode question. Im looking at an old electical drawing and on the material list, it calls for EGC 1N4001 diodes. I searched the Internet and could not find a manufacturer EGC nor could I cross reference. I did have multiple hits with the 1N4001. Is the number more of a specific type of diode then a manufactors part number? In other words, a brand A's 1N4001 diode is in principle the same as brand B and brand C's 1N4001 diode?

The 1n4001 is what you need. It is a standard diode used commonly for security systems across the magnet coils and solenoids for locking and unlocking doors. It is a counter EMF diode. It kills the spike when the field collapses when the power is cut to the magnet.

Yes, any manufacturer's 1N4001 diode will have the same functional characteristics, just as any manufacturer's light bulb will fit in a fixture.

In THIS APPLICATION ONLY any of the 1N400n diodes would work. (1N4001 thru 1N4009)

The last number is the code relating to how much reverse voltage the diode will handle before it breaks down and conducts. The forward voltage drop is the same for thew whole series.

Most of the time you can use silicon diodes somewhat interchangeably and using a higher rated one will have no adverse effect. I usually only buy 1N4004s (400v) or higher for small diodes since the price difference is negligible in quantity. (pennies per unit if you buy 100).
There are also lots of different kinds of diodes so you do have to be somewhat careful if you are not sure what they are doing but if this is just a small rectifier or used to scrub off the reverse "kick" on a coil just about any silicon diode will work.

The manufacturer you were looking for is "ECG", not "EGC".

ECG was a division of Philips, which marketed replacement semiconductors for the repair industry. Absorbed into NTE Electronics, which serves essentially the same market:

http://www.nteinc.com/



The 1N4001 (and all the other "1Nxxx, 2Nxxx" numbers are JEDEC ("joint Electron Device Engineering Council", a subcommittee of the EIA) type numbers. Back in the days before everything went proprietary, most semiconductor manufacturers registered their devices with the EIA/JEDEC, and assigned them industry standard type numbers. Before JEDEC started registering diodes and transistors, they did the same thing for vacuum tubes, making sure that a 12AU7 was a 12AU7, whether you got it from RCA, Sylvania, or whoever.



Yep. a 1N4001 is a 50V, 1A general purpose silicon rectifier. A true commodity part, available for a few pennies apiece from just about any electronic parts supplier.

I only know of the series going up to 1N4007, which is what I always stock at work. I just looked up the 09 and it is an ultra high speed diode. The 1N400Xs are just general purpose, 1A continuous forward current rectifiers.
1N4001 = 50PRV, 02=100, 03=200, 04=400, 05=600, 06=800, 07=1000.
Again, I only re-stock 1N4007s in our lab but I design and repair things that operate in a traction power environment.
If you need 3 amp diodes, just bump up to the 1N5400 series. I only stock the 1N5408s, which are the 1000 PRVs. The number is one higher because the 05s are 500 volt diodes. The leads are thicker on the 3 amp diodes so you might not be able to substitute a 1N5408 for a 1N4001.

I only mention bumping up in current or PRV because I've encountered many under-designed products. Sometimes things just break but other times, you see failure patterns and discolored circuit boards. What I get in with a shorted 1N4004 on a discolored board, might go back out with a 1N5408 stood off from the pcb on SPC Teflon tubing.

Joe

One problem is people usually think about RMS voltage because that is what we talk about but the diode is looking at peak to peak so the one you thought was safely bigger than it needed to be is really getting close to the spec. Peak = 1.414 x RMS (call it 1 1/2 times and you won't get in trouble).
Put your safety factor in after you do that.
A 400v diode is barely large enough for 240vac