With over 11 million part numbers in our system, and over 3 million part numbers normally stocked, the Digi-Key site can be a daunting, or even confusing, place when you’re trying to find a part. In this post, I’ll cover the method I use, along with some tips to help you search the site more effectively.
Keywords
I try to use keywords sparingly, because the keyword search looks for all products that contain exactly what you search, anywhere within in product specifications, description, or part number. Being too specific in the keywords, or using an abbreviation (e.g. SMT for Surface Mount), can severely limit the results returned.
Also, while there are no wildcard characters that can be used in the keyword searching, such as an asterisk, a space can be left (for instance) in a part number to operate as a logic AND function in the search. For more information on searching using logic functions, please see Using Logic Searches on the Digi-Key Website.
Rather than keyword searching, I usually only use the parametric filters, as described in the next section. If you do choose to use keywords, keep them as simple as possible. I would not recommend using plural forms of words (e.g. resistors) only singular, as well as avoiding using commas or other punctuation.
Filters
The parametric search filters can be very robust, but they can also suffer if approached haphazardly. In the following example, I’m going to try to find an AC to DC wall adapter with 120VAC input voltage, 24VDC output voltage, and 2A output current that is in stock, though these concepts can be used for searching for any product on our site.
All of my searches start from the Product Index page, https://www.digikey.com/products/en, accessible from the main Digi-Key page by clicking on the Products button on the home page next to the Digi-Key logo.
AC to DC wall adapters are found in the “Power Supplies – External/Internal (Off-Board)” section.
Next, we’ll enter the “AC DC Desktop, Wall Adapters” family.
For the filters, the first ones I apply are Part Status: Active, In Stock, and Normally Stocking. I want to make sure that we have them to ship now, and what I find will continue to be available for the foreseeable future. It’s a good idea to click the Apply Filters button often, to remove invalid combinations.
Next, I’ll select all input voltage options with 120V in the range, and output voltage of 24V, then apply the filters.
The next filters I’ll use are the output current of 2A, and the Form options that call out Wall Mount.
These selections leave me with two products to choose from, the 364-1286-ND, which has fixed NEMA 1-15P blade contacts, and the 2103-ICM48-240-ND, which has removeable blades, so it can be used in multiple outlet types (see Around the World with Power Plugs), but they would be purchased separately.
I hope this post helps you to find exactly what you need, but if you do have questions not answered here, please feel free to contact us. You can post to our TechForum with any question you may have.