Good Breadboard Manufactures?

[MannequinRaces]

Hello all,

I'm looking to purchase my first breadboard and am looking for some guidance.  What brand(s) do you peeps use.  I've seen them all over the internet but want something that will last a little while and have binding posts so I can connect my power supply, etc.  I've looked at the Beavis board but their wait is ridiculous and I don't need something that fancy, yet.  Here is one on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Elenco-9480WK-Bredboard-Prototype-Design-Aid/dp/B0002H4W0U/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1239864550&sr=8-2

Might work, might not!  Any input would be fantastic!  Thanks!

[Projectile]

If you've never used a breadboard before then I would suggest just getting a cheap small one to start. Then you'll know what you really need when it's necessary to upgrade.  I got this one from small bear:

http://www.smallbearelec.com/Detail.bok?no=714

For only $6.50 it was pretty much a no-brainer for me. You'd be surprised how much breadboarding you can do on just a small board like that. If you really need anything bigger then you are getting into some fairly complex circuits.  The only thing I wish it had was a place to mount pots, jacks, and switches, but I just use solid core wire and everything pretty much stays in place.

[MannequinRaces]

Awesome!  Thanks for the advice.  I really had no idea how large of one I would need starting out.  And you're right, $6.50 is pretty much a no-brainer!  Thanks again!

[jefe]

If you absolutely must have binding posts, smallbear also has this:
http://www.smallbearelec.com/Detail.bok?no=374

That's the one I have, and it's plenty big enough when you're just starting out - and good quality too.

[liquids]

As a counterpoint to the advise to get a cheap one to start:

A good number of people have had bad experiences with breadboards, which is  sad and has a big influence on how you build.  So I say, spend some money and get good stuff--in the end, breadboarding costs upfront will save you money in the form of parts and time in the long run, as you won't be soldering (pots enclosures, components, etc) every project that interests you, sound-unheard.  You can try, mod, and tweak before (and if!) you decide to set it in solder.

That being said I'm a big fan of the Twin Industries boards.  I know it sounds silly, but the numbering and color coding, the rails that are fully connected along each side---the little things like that all go a surprisingly long way to helping you when your trying not to be discouraged and give up with your first few breadboard builds. 

I've never used the fancy ones with the posts. 

While I have two of the smallbear one's here http://www.smallbearelec.com/Detail.bok?no=714 (Futurlec's are the same type), I don't like them.  They only have a power bus rail on one side.  Then to boot, that one rail is divided in two--its not connected all the way along the board(!), so you need a continuity check or at least some jumpers there, from the go.  And they're ugly!      

Also, they're not that much cheaper than the Twin Industries boards!  Small bear doesn't offer jumpers...but pedal part's green and white solid wires will work if you have a way to strip insulation.  That being said, jumper kits are often worth the headache saved. One jumper kit should last you a short while, and can accompany multiple breadboards (buy more than one!), especially if you are creative and hack one or two of the longer wires supplied into more small jumpers.  The twin ind. boards below can connect to each other if you want a larger board. 

No Jumpers Included:
Mouser
Digikey


Jumpers included.
Mouser
Digikey

Circuit specialists has them as well...

[MohiZ]

I'm having a huge issue with my current breadboard. It's only a couple of months old but it's started to rot in the way that components don't always make proper contact, which is truly an annoyance. It seems the contacts have "sunk" inside the board a bit, so that components with short leads will not attach at all. Is there a way to fix this or is it time for a Twin Industries board?

[Ripthorn]

I have found that my circuitspecialist boards are quite nice, but I haven't used any others.

[MannequinRaces]

Thank you everybody for your feedback!!  Lots of good info to think about!  I was really surprised to find that Small Bear doesn't carry any jumper wire kits!  I think I'll go with one of the Circuit Specialist boards or one of the Twin Industries boards.   

[liquids]

Using non-insulated wire or left over leads from components works fine, keep in mind, but if your starting out especially, you want jumpers I say, and multiple-colors helps debugging, tracing, etc.

The breadboards circuit specialists sells seem to be made by (or possibly copies of?) the 'twin industries' boards, FYI, so as they say, 6 of one.. 

Just in case people don't know this already, I think it should be noted that from my experience, through both sides of this style of breadboard have blue - and red + rails, you need to connect power and ground to the board via a 9v battery, or via a DC power jack/wire, etc, on one side to jumper breadboard points to.  Likewise, the opposing rails are not internally connected, so to get power and ground it to continue to the rails on the other side of the board, you need a 'jumper' one side to the other.  With op amp circuits, for example, you can just run a voltage divider off the 9v on one side right into to the other side, so that one red + side is the full 9v while the other can serves for any Vb/Vref connections, if you so desire.

As mentioned elsewhere, some power rails that might seem continuous to the eye (the above Smallbear and Futurlec purchased breadboards) are not, and have an internal break halfway down the rails that need jumpering mid-span as well.  The best thing to do when you first get a breadboard, new or used, is turn on your DMM and continuity check it all over the place, so that you understand what is, and what isn't, internally connected. Besides, you'll be doing this  again when you are debugging--which I find it much easier skill to first learn on a breadboard.

The above all may seem obvious to some, but a few have 'never gotten a breadboard to work,' others like myself have had nights of poor sleep wondering why things aren't working when it's the breadboard (and assumptions about them) that are causing an otherwise fine circuit not to function.  So it doesn't hurt to state the basics, even if it helps only one enthusiast! 

[MannequinRaces]

Using non-insulated wire or left over leads from components works fine, keep in mind, but if your starting out especially, you want jumpers I say, and multiple-colors helps debugging, tracing, etc.

The breadboards circuit specialists sells seem to be made by (or possibly copies of?) the 'twin industries' boards, FYI, so as they say, 6 of one.. 

Just in case people don't know this already, I think it should be noted that from my experience, through both sides of this style of breadboard have blue - and red + rails, you need to connect power and ground to the board via a 9v battery, or via a DC power jack/wire, etc, on one side to jumper breadboard points to.  Likewise, the opposing rails are not internally connected, so to get power and ground it to continue to the rails on the other side of the board, you need a 'jumper' one side to the other.  With op amp circuits, for example, you can just run a voltage divider off the 9v on one side right into to the other side, so that one red + side is the full 9v while the other can serves for any Vb/Vref connections, if you so desire.

As mentioned elsewhere, some power rails that might seem continuous to the eye (the above Smallbear and Futurlec purchased breadboards) are not, and have an internal break halfway down the rails that need jumpering mid-span as well.  The best thing to do when you first get a breadboard, new or used, is turn on your DMM and continuity check it all over the place, so that you understand what is, and what isn't, internally connected. Besides, you'll be doing this  again when you are debugging--which I find it much easier skill to first learn on a breadboard.

The above all may seem obvious to some, but a few have 'never gotten a breadboard to work,' others like myself have had nights of poor sleep wondering why things aren't working when it's the breadboard (and assumptions about them) that are causing an otherwise fine circuit not to function.  So it doesn't hurt to state the basics, even if it helps only one enthusiast! 

Great helpful points for a newbie!  Thanks for the tips.  I really appreciate you taking the time to help me and other new DIY'ers out!

[biggy boy]

I have a cheap $6.00 board that need constant attention and it's only been used four times.
The contacts are loose fitting.
I find I have to be constantly checking to make sure the component leads and jumper wire leads are making good contact, with the squeezey terminals  that the wires push into.
This makes trouble shooting a circuit a real challenge, when your board is thowing connection issues at you.

Glen

[mdh]

I'm having a huge issue with my current breadboard. It's only a couple of months old but it's started to rot in the way that components don't always make proper contact, which is truly an annoyance. It seems the contacts have "sunk" inside the board a bit, so that components with short leads will not attach at all. Is there a way to fix this or is it time for a Twin Industries board?

I had the same problem with my old Radio Shack breadboard a few years ago, and posted my observations in this thread.  In the end, I peeled off the double-stick tape that was holding the breadboard to its substrate, cleaned it up, and pushed the contacts back into their slots.  There were holes on the back side of the plastic block, so I screwed the whole thing onto another, stiffer backing material.  It has continued to be my main breadboard since then, and it has been trouble free, as far as I can tell.  If you look at some of the better breadboards (at least the ones mounted on a piece of steel or aluminum, with binding posts attached), they will have screws holding the breadboard on from the back.  I think this makes a huge difference in breadboard longevity.

[Projectile]

Wow, I'm surprised to hear all of the bad experiences with breadboards. I've been using mine quite a bit the last few weeks and never had any problems. I hope it holds up after a few months.

[Ripthorn]

Breadboards will usually hold up a few months pretty easily, and they are indispensible.  I started out thinking that I didn't need to have one, but now I have been using it a ton and it's awesome.