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Mystery symbol

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Roff

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Does anyone know what this symbol represents? It was found in an automotive voltage regulator (4TR) schematic. I can't find the symbol in any of the web sites I checked. Functionally, it could be a zener.

EDIT: For you late-comers who want to answer this question without reading the entire thread:
It has been established, to my satisfaction anyway, that this is the (old?) European symbol for a zener diode. Unless you have definitive proof that this is not the case, don't waste our time with more guesses.:)
 

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Ron H said:
Does anyone know what this symbol represents? It was found in an automotive voltage regulator (4TR) schematic. I can't find the symbol in any of the web sites I checked. Functionally, it could be a zener.

I've seen that before somewhere... my guess is a DIAC.
 
Its not Diac..

I dont think it is a diac. If I remember correctly a diac has the below symbol.

ie, Same symbol of a triac without the gate terminal.
 

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Rajagopal87 said:
I dont think it is a diac. If I remember correctly a diac has the below symbol.

ie, Same symbol of a triac without the gate terminal.

That was my next best guess from a zener. Zener diodes do not look like the one posted either *these days*. This is key because many symbols have older alternatives. Sometimes different fields of engineering use slightly different symbols. So the DIAC also has some alternative symbols.

If you assume there is a unique symbol for every component, you will have much confusion in your life.
 
I believe that is the original symbol for a Zener diode.
Ive always used it as a symbol for a Zener diode.

John :)
 
john1 said:
I believe that is the original symbol for a Zener diode.
Ive always used it as a symbol for a Zener diode.

John :)
So, have you been baffled by the symbol currently in use?:D
 
I don't know about the rest of you but sometimes all the alternative symbols becomes a time consuming effort to research what in the heck they represent. Has anyone ever seen an electrical wiring schematic for a power station? How about a ladder logic diagram used in industrial controls? How many symbols are there for a pair of relay contacts with a coil? There's got to be at least 4 or 5. Figuring out a schematic can be hard enough let alone changing symbols to keep us on our toes (or backs!)
 
John is right!!

It is the correct symbol for a Zener diode.
I was thought it in The Netherlands about 27 years ago.
It is commonly used in Europe and i consider it the best symbol for a Zener.

Makes more sense too, because of the Z part of the symbol.
 
Thank you Rodalco.

Ron H,
I haven't been baffled by that one no,
but i do get confused over the FET symbols, those i do have to look
up in my 'little book', i cant be bothered to remember which is which.
I suppose thats not quite the same as baffled.

Optikon,
I do agree about wiring schematics in power stations in particular.
Ive worked in power stations, and sometimes i have had to re-draw
bits just for my own use.
It is as though the draughtsmen making the drawings just used to
make up symbols as they went along. Especially the older drawings
which only get pulled out if something goes wrong.

I remember one occasion there was a group of us slowly deciphering
a Polish or Russian schematic for a relay panel on a small gas
pressure boosting unit, you would not think that could be so very
exasperating, but as i recall quite a few of the items were boxes
containing numbers.
Like resistors are often drawn now, not as a zig-zag, but a long box
with maybe a number in it or next to it.
Personally i think a zig-zag is an excellent representation for a
resistor.
Writing things for a schematic wouldn't be so bad, but it was not
written in English.

And as Optikon says there are many different ways of representing
coils and contacts, let alone the unoficial ones and the just plain
made up ones.

So yes, there have been times when i've been stuck and had to ask for
help with diagrams, and other stuff too. Luckily not often.

Which reminds me,
i have an item inherited from my father's stuff, which i can not make
head nor tail of.
Its a curious rotary unit, i will do a thread, hopefully someone will
be able to tell me something about it, or maybe someone will know
what it is, or recognise it.
I shall call the thread "Curious rotary unit"

Regards, John :)
 
Bob Scott said:
Could it be THIS?
Shockley was the guy who did the research behind semiconductors. Won a Nobel prize IIRC. He was a horrible person though. The behavior is that of a zener diode, but the polarity sense appears backwards. It's a wonder anybody got the right answer.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Shockley
 
Papabravo said:
<snip>The behavior is that of a zener diode, <snip>
Not really. The is a thyristor.
My thanks to everyone who posted - especially to those who said it is a zener!
 
yep, i believe it's a triac. good searching sureshbabul ;)
 
********

Or an ancient Egyptian symbol, to be aligned with cheops.
It has a vaguely yin-yang sort of appearance,
coupled with a distinctly cuniform styling.

Could be Druidic in origin.
 
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sureshbabul said:
I believe it is a triac.
A two terminal triac, huh? Can you post a cite for that?:rolleyes:

Could be Druidic in origin.
John, I think you may be on to something. The schematic I saw this in was dug up near Stonehenge.;)
 
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According to Forrest M Mimms III, It could be a Bipolar Voltage Limiter.
 

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