Breadboarding - things to have on hand

[jwin615]

I really like these for bread boarding
Others have nice jigs, I particularly like the barrier/terminal strip with 16mm pot approach but still use these most of the time. 500k can be a little hard to find for some reason.
The fact that they travel with the BB is a plus.
But whatever you do, don't go shoving 16mm pot legs in your bb. It will mess up the contacts. Not made for that.

 

[owlexifry]

don't go shoving 16mm pot legs in your bb. It will mess up the contacts. Not made for that.

for 16mm (PCB-mount) pots - I've recently figured out if you just twist the pins 90 degrees, they'll actually slot in quite smoothly.

 

[Feral Feline]

Posting from my phone, which makes finding my trove of links a PITA. I’ll post links when I get my computer back from the repair shop.

 

[CheapSuitG]

Appreciate it!

Posting from my phone, which makes finding my trove of links a PITA. I’ll post links when I get my computer back from the repair shop.

 

[jwin615]

for 16mm (PCB-mount) pots - I've recently figured out if you just twist the pins 90 degrees, they'll actually slot in quite smoothly.

View attachment 86500

They'll fit. But they can screw up the contact strips. They're made for component legs and spaced accordingly.

That's you're contact mechanism. Bending and fouling it up with over sized components will likely lead to poor or intermittent connections sooner or later. And that's frustrating. It's the "throwing a sausage down a hallway" joke, but inverse.
Bean also has these handy pot adapters in his store.

 

[owlexifry]

They'll fit. But they can screw up the contact strips. They're made for component legs and spaced accordingly.

That's you're contact mechanism. Bending and fouling it up with over sized components will lead to poor or intermittent connections sooner or later.
Bean also has these handy pot adapters in his store.

noted.
that's why you twist the pins 90 degrees. it doesn't foul or damage anything this way.

with the pins bent 90 degrees, it's no thicker than those header pins. probably thinner.

actually, i got curious, so here's some data:

https://www.taydaelectronics.com/datasheets/A-1888.pdf

pot pins are 0.5mm thick

https://www.taydaelectronics.com/datasheets/files/2211S-XXX.pdf

header pins are 0.64 mm thick


hell yeah the madbean breadboard buddies are a nifty solution for sure.

 

[MBFX]

StompBoxParts sells some component kits for specific circuits. Those are a good way to get started!

 

[jwin615]

noted.
that's why you twist the pins 90 degrees. it doesn't foul or damage anything this way.
View attachment 86515
with the pins bent 90 degrees, it's no thicker than those header pins. probably thinner.

actually, i got curious, so here's some data:

https://www.taydaelectronics.com/datasheets/A-1888.pdf

pot pins are 0.5mm thick

https://www.taydaelectronics.com/datasheets/files/2211S-XXX.pdf

header pins are 0.64 mm thick


hell yeah the madbean breadboard buddies are a nifty solution for sure.

Never took into account how skinny those legs are. Wouldn't have thought .5mm off the top of my head.Have they held up well with repeated use? I know I've snapped a couple just straightening them back out?

 

[owlexifry]

Never took into account how skinny those legs are. Wouldn't have thought .5mm off the top of my head.Have they held up well with repeated use? I know I've snapped a couple just straightening them back out?

so far so good.
with just a single twist/bend, you're all set, hangs on just fine.

but if you overdo it, yeah they could snap off (hasn't happened to me yet though).
the metal doesn't seem to tolerate repeated bending, so if you do it once, do it right, you should be fine.

 

[Feral Feline]

... It's the "throwing a sausage down a hallway" joke, but inverse.

“Throwing a hallway down the sausage”?
— I’m unfamiliar with the joke either way.

~~~~~~

Twisted is okay, I guess, so long as you only do it once.

Otherwise you’re sure to break them if you untwist or double-twist.