Product Overview
Vintage Motorola 5A Germanium Flange-Mount Audio and Power Switching Transistor
Condition
Used condition, hand-pulled from decommissioned equipment. Evaluation: Visual inspection only. Function testing not performed. Markings legible: Motorola stylized logo, 2N1544, and 2-12 on top cap, with embossed E and B terminal markings and hand-scribed 200 on the gold-plated underside base. Mounting hardware and socket insulators not included.
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Product Overview
Motorola 2N1544 is a vintage alloy-junction germanium PNP power transistor housed in a standard metal TO-3 package. Built for early solid-state power supplies, audio amplifiers, and low-speed switching stages, it delivers high current handling and low saturation voltage characteristic of vintage germanium power devices.
Key Features
- Transistor polarity: PNP
- Semiconductor material: Germanium (Ge)
- Package style: TO-3 diamond flange metal can
- Collector-base breakdown voltage (VCBO): 40 V
- Collector-emitter breakdown voltage (VCEO): 20 V to 30 V
- Continuous collector current (IC): 5 A (10 A peak)
- Total device dissipation (PD): 106 W at 25°C case temperature
- Terminal configuration: Base (B) and emitter (E) pins through glass-to-metal seals; collector connected to metal case
- Finish: Gold-plated underside mounting flange and terminal leads
Applications
- Restoring vintage solid-state audio amplifiers, guitar heads, and analog electronics requiring original germanium output stages
- Servicing legacy industrial power supplies, voltage regulators, and DC-DC inverters
- Retrofit and maintenance in vintage electronic lab instruments or communication transmitters
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the pinout for the 2N1544 transistor?
Pins are labeled on the gold-plated base plate: E marks the emitter and B marks the base. The metal TO-3 case serves as the collector connection.
Are mounting hardware or mica insulators included?
Not included.
What condition is this pulled transistor in, and has it been tested?
This transistor is an untested equipment pull selected for clean physical condition and intact leads, covered by our satisfaction guarantee. Photos depict the actual stock.
Germanium power transistors carried the first real wave of solid-state audio and heavy DC regulation before silicon took over the bench. When an older circuit demands that exact forward drop and vintage warmth, nothing modern quite fills the socket.
