How to Translate Motorola Serial numbers to Determine the Date of Manufacture

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Back to Home Determining Date of Manufacture from a Motorola Serial Number
This page was developed by Mike Morris WA6ILQ
from an email sent to Repeater-Builder.
Formerly Maintained by Robert Meister WA1MIK (SK)
Currently Maintained by Mike Morris WA6ILQ.

Date: Tue, 01 Apr 2006
Subject: How to Translate Motorola Serial numbers to Determine the Date of Manufacture

> Most Motorola products follow the same serial number conventions. 
> As such, this often enables you to determine the approximate manufacture 
> date for a device. 
>
> The serial number convention follows the following general format: 
> 
> 123ABC4567 or 123ABC45678 or 123ABC456789
>
> Where 123 is an unique three digit Accounting Product Code for each model 
> series, where the significance of A is manufacturing location, BC determines 
> manufacture year and month respectively, and where 4567, 45678 or 456789 
> is a unique four, five or six digit serial number for the device in question.
>
> We do not have a list of the manufacturing location codes (the "A" letter).
> Anybody have them?
> 
> To determine the manufacture year and month, refer to the table below: 
> 
> Second Letter is the year: 
> A 1976 or 2000 or 2024
> B 1977 or 2001 or 2025
> C 1978 or 2002 or 2026
> D 1979 or 2003 or 2027
> E 1980 or 2004 or 2028
> F 1981 or 2005 or 2029
> G 1982 or 2006 or 2030
> H 1983 or 2007 ...
> J 1984 or 2008 ...
> K 1985 or 2009
> L 1986 or 2010
> M 1987 or 2011
> N 1988 or 2012 
> P 1989 or 2013 
> Q 1990 or 2014 
> R 1991 or 2015 
> S 1992 or 2016 
> T 1993 or 2017 
> U 1994 or 2018 
> V 1995 or 2019 
> W 1996 or 2020 
> X 1997 or 2021 
> Y 1998 or 2022 
> Z 1999 or 2023
> 
> The third letter identifies the portion of the month in which the unit was made:
> 
> A First half of January 
> B Last half of January 
> C First half of February 
> D Last half of February 
> E First half of March 
> F Last half of March 
> G First half of April 
> H Last half of April 
> J First half of May 
> K Last half of May 
> L First half of June 
> M Last half of June 
> N First half of July 
> P Last half of July 
> Q First half of August 
> R Last half of August 
> S First half of September 
> T Last half of September 
> U First half of October 
> V Last half of October 
> W First half of November 
> X Last half of November 
> Y First half of December 
> Z Last half of December
>
>

The following information was added by Bob Meister WA1MIK and was obtained directly from Motorola and sent to Repeater-Builder for inclusion in this document.

Serial Number Format
Direct from Motorola Solutions

Motorola Solutions equipment serial numbers follow two standard formats.

First format: three digits, three letters, and four digits: The fifth character of the serial number represents the YEAR code and the sixth character represents the MONTH code. Example:

2 0 3 F L W 6 4 2 1

Decodes to 2010 (L), first half of November (W).

Second format: two digits, four letters, one digit, and four letters: The ninth character of the serial number represents the YEAR code, the tenth character represents the MONTH code and the eleventh character represents the WARRANTY period code. Example:

5 2 C B A C 8 D L W J

Decodes to 2010 (L), first half of November (W), 1 Year Standard Warranty (J).

The values in each position correspond to the following pre-determined year, month or warranty period codes. Note that there are two entries for every month: the first represents the first half of the month; the second represents the second half of the month.

VALUE YEAR MONTH WARRANTY PERIOD

A 2000 JAN 1 year

B 2001 JAN 3 years

C 2002 FEB 5 years

D 2003 FEB 2 years

E 2004 MAR No warranty

F 2005 MAR 90 days

G 2006 APR N/A

H 2007 APR 3 years, Canada only

J 2008 MAY 1 year, standard

K 2009 MAY N/A

L 2010 JUN 1 year, OEM

M 2011 JUN 1 year, OEM

N 2012 JUL 5 years

P 2013 JUL 5 years

Q 2014 AUG 3 years

R 2015 AUG 90 days, refurbished

S 2016 SEP 3 years

T 2017 SEP OEM telephone, serviced by dealers only

U 2018 OCT 90 days

V 2019 OCT N/A

W 2020 NOV 2 years

X 2021 NOV 5 years

Y 2022 DEC 3 years

Z 2023 DEC 3 years

VALUE	YEAR	MONTH	WARRANTY PERIOD
A	2000	JAN	1 year
B	2001	JAN	3 years
C	2002	FEB	5 years
D	2003	FEB	2 years
E	2004	MAR	No warranty
F	2005	MAR	90 days
G	2006	APR	N/A
H	2007	APR	3 years, Canada only
J	2008	MAY	1 year, standard
K	2009	MAY	N/A
L	2010	JUN	1 year, OEM
M	2011	JUN	1 year, OEM
N	2012	JUL	5 years
P	2013	JUL	5 years
Q	2014	AUG	3 years
R	2015	AUG	90 days, refurbished
S	2016	SEP	3 years
T	2017	SEP	OEM telephone, serviced by dealers only
U	2018	OCT	90 days
V	2019	OCT	N/A
W	2020	NOV	2 years
X	2021	NOV	5 years
Y	2022	DEC	3 years
Z	2023	DEC	3 years

NOTE: To be utilized for Subscriber equipment, Infrastructure equipment, and iDEN.

Contact Information:

The author can be contacted at: his-callsign // at // repeater-builder // dot // com.

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This page created October 2006 by Mike Morris WA6ILQ.
The second segment was created by Bob Meister WA1MIK in October 2013.

This web page, this web site, the information presented in and on its pages and in these modifications and conversions is © Copyrighted 1995 and (date of last update) by Kevin Custer W3KKC and multiple originating authors. All Rights Reserved, including that of paper and web publication elsewhere.