Good Deal On Breadboards Last Day Today

[Old Printer]

As of Saturday morning the sale is over. Boards are back to normal price of $4.95. Still reasonable. I will revive this thread when I see them on sale again. Hope someone got to take advantage of this.

I post this with a slight bit of hesitation. I have been ordering these breadboards from this supplier for a couple years now. They are 830 point, white, the usual stuff. Normally $4.95 but about once a year they knock them down to $2.95. They offer a $6.95 flat rate shipping by USPS. I have watched all of Ben Eater's YT videos on his logic gate computer, which uses a lot of breadboards. He has one video, that I cannot find right now, that discusses identifying good quality breadboards and what to watch out for in cheap ones. These boards meet all of his quality points and I have never had any problem with them. I do not have any of the 3M boards that everyone says are the best, so I cannot compare. The reason I hesitate slightly in posting this is that I emailed the supplier, Marlin P Jones in West Palm Beach FL, a few days ago asking if they were still made by the same manufacture, and I did not receive any reply. I just ordered 5 anyway, I don't have time to call them right now and the sale ends today 8/2. They have them packaged in well printed, heavy duty blister type hang cards, so I really don't think they would switch the manufacture, but I cannot swear to it so you take your chances. Their part number is Stock No: 24443 TE.  I will post a link, but do not know if it is allowed, so I am sorry if it does not work. BTW this has been an excellent source of electronic stuff for me as I have stock piled components, very prompt shipping etc. Afraid to think how much I have spent there

http://www.mpja.com/830-Tie-Point-Solderless-Breadboard-Unmounted/productinfo/24443+TE/

[Cliff Matthews]

IMHO, breadboard kudos should be given after purchase and peeling back adhesive to check insert tension and funneling quality.

[KL27x]

I am a stickler for breadboard quality, and MPJA breadboards are just fine to me. I can't tell any difference between MPJA and 3M.

Wisher boards have the tightest insertion/removal force in any board I have used, but I dunno if that makes them any better. MPJA are plenty tight and durable.

Yep, there is sometimes a difference in the spring contacts between brands. And if you do ever screw up a terminal by stuffing a huge lead in there the wrong way, you can replace the sprung contact with a quick surgery.

[Old Printer]

Tracking shows my boards to be delivered today. In response to Cliff's comment I will check them when I get home from work and open one up for a closer inspection.
The email I received last week states the sale would be over yesterday 8/2, but a check of their website a few minutes ago shows the boards still at the $2.95 price and I would expect that they would honor that even if it were an oversight.

[Old Printer]

I was just able to check my package from MPJA and the 830 point breadboards are the same as they have always been. When I get a chance I will dissect one and post a good picture of the clips, but that will likely be tomorrow. Their website still shows them on sale for $2.95 and their inventory count has dropped about 200 pieces since last week, still 800+ left.

Product description from Marlin P. Jones:
830 tie point solderless breadboard with 2 distribution strips. Features: ABS plastic body, Nickel plated contacts Rated 2A Max. Contact resistance less than 1 milliohm @ 1kHz. Tested for over 10,000 cycles. Snap lock molded dove-tail for combining multiple boards. Suitable for 19-29 AWG wire and all DIP size components.
See 32893 for the solder protoboard that matches the buss & hole patterns
L: 6-1/2" W: 2-1/8" H: 3/8" WT: .3

[Old Printer]

Here are some pictures of the boards, their packaging, and a closeup of the metal inserts. It appears they are similar to the style Cliff prefers in regards to their funneling quality. Hope this helps.

[bitseeker]

That looks good.

[Peabody]

I see he also carries the matching pattern solder protoboards that are 5.4 cm wide.  All the ones I've seen on Ebay are 4.8 cm wide, so you can't use the YwRobot breadboard power supply module with them.  But these are also $4.95 each, whereas the Ebay ones are 10 for about that price, with free shipping.  So I'm wondering if anyone has seen any source for cheap 5.4 cm wide solder boards that actually match the 830 breadboard pattern.

Well it appears the sale is over now.  By the way, the ones Ben Eater recommends are the Busboard Prototype BB830 boards on Amazon.  They are $7.90 each, but for just a couple the total cost would be about the same as MPJA if you got free shipping at Amazon.

[Cliff Matthews]

@Old Printer - Yes funneling quality looks good. My local seller caries that brand 

[Old Printer]

@Old Printer - Yes funneling quality looks good. My local seller caries that brand 

Cliff, when you say "brand" are you referring to MPJA or the actual manufacture of the boards? AFAIK, MPJA is a local retailer with a single outlet and a web presence. I am fairly certain they have the actual maker of the boards package them with their name and the boards are likely available generically at many retailers. I cannot find any markings on them, other than physical appearance, that would identify the actual maker. Thanks.

[Cliff Matthews]

I've seen MPJA blister packs in my KW surplus Kitchener ON (as luck would have it, the web pics don't jive..). They also carry the 4-strip, metal-backed brand Wanjie BB-4T7D-01 model for about $15 usd (funneling's OK, but time will tell on insert tension).