Transistor question

[sandeepa]

Hello all

If a tansistor shows a very low value for hfe on the mumtimeter than specified in the datasheet,is it true that the transistor has gone bad?
Like 11-12 instead of 125?

Thanks

 

[zachtheterrible]

haaa haa aaha, and i thought i was the only one :lol: !!

my transistors would show an hfe of 20, when they should be 200. it did this with every single transistor i tried (about 5 or 6). i dont know if my multimeter is broke, or what, but the circuit worked. i wouldnt worry about it.

 

[Russlk]

I think if it measures anything it is probably OK. The specification might be at 1 amp but the meter measures it at 1 ma, so the hfe is low. I measured a 2N930 at 295 and a 2N3904 at 98 but these are low level transistors.