Mark Frauenfelder innocently (or cleverly) asks the question “What are zero ohm resistors for?” on BoingBoing. The fun really starts in the comments section, with replies such as “They’re a novelty gift for electronic engineers.”
Take a look at the article here.
Yes, zero ohm resistors really do exist. Think of them as jumpers on a PC board.
73, Bob K0NR
I found this to be interesting. I have a Yaesu FT7100M that has been modified. The resistors that were removed are 0 ohm with different wattage ratings. I thought; how strange it was to place a 0 ohm resistor and not just a removable jumper. Now for another question, why the different watt ratings.
One of the resistor has a 1/6th watt rating with 0 ohms?. Does this act as some type of a fuse link?
73
John kd0jek
The zero ohm resistors are used instead of wire jumpers because they can be handled by automatic component placement machines.
The normal use for a zero ohm resistor is just like a jumper — either some analog connection that customizes the particular circuit or to create a binary state to enable or disable a feature.
Of course, it is not exactly zero ohms…it will have some very small resistance which means it will dissipate power and generate heat. Hence the need for a max power rating. The design engineer has to make sure the power dissipated in the device does not exceed the max rating.