Forgive my ignorance, but I ultimately found my way here after watching the Ben Heck Show and learning about Element 14. I have little experience with electronics but hope to learn by immersion in discussions, tutorials, basic instructional books, and videos online. As a 65 year-old homeowner, I've been frustrated many times over the years by having to replace entire circuit boards or appliances/devices at steep costs, when I likely could have replaced one tiny and inexpensive faulty component. This year, finally, I've become more confident and capable in my fine-circuit soldering skills, and have resurrected 3 failed devices this Fall, a wireless laser mouse, a TV converter box, and a $600 convection microwave that's aggravated us for two years.
But I've a lot to learn and understand about integrated circuits. Given their increased control over our lives, in the last half of mine at least, such understanding will be crutial to daily functionality, as well as financially, to an enjoyable remaining years. In pursuit of such an understanding, I have a question related to the mentioned microwave repair.
The 6 micro-cracked power relay pin solders, that I overlooked during a dozen previous tear-downs, have been finally noticed and repaired, and the unit operates great once more. But I noticed on the board a resistor that is somewhat discolored. In my clumsy attempt to closely examine it, I very slightly chipped its ceramic coat with needle nosed pliers. It is still functional, but I'd like to replace it anyway. The color banding is red black black gold on a white body, which I've interpreted as a 20 Ohm resistor at 5% tolerance. But when I look into obtaining a replacement, the websites classify by wattage also. My question is how do I determine the watts involved here?
Thanks,
Joel
