What is the purpose of this transistor in an Apple Time Capsule?

Question

While taking apart a 2009 Apple Time Capsule, I found a 2N3904 NPN transistor on a 2-wire cable with the emitter connected to one wire and the base and collector connected together and to the other wire. The transistor was physically attached to the back of the hard drive with Kapton tape. What is the transistor being used for?

schematic

^{simulate this circuit – Schematic created using CircuitLab}

http://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/137960/can-i-use-a-bc547-npn-transistor-as-a-thermometer — Wesley Lee, Nov 25 '15 at 23:06
That could probably be what it is, although why would they not use a simple analog temperature sensor like a LM335? — 3871968, Nov 25 '15 at 23:11
LM335 is more than 10x more expensive than 2n3904 in 100pc quantities at mouser — Wesley Lee, Nov 25 '15 at 23:29

score 6 · Accepted Answer · answered Nov 25 '15 at 23:06

6

I am 99% sure it is a temperature sensor.

App Note AN12.14 from Microchip can tell you a little bit about it.

(This is a pretty common cheap way to measure temperature on a circuit board)

answered Nov 25 '15 at 23:06

Daniel

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What is the purpose of this transistor in an Apple Time Capsule?

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