What is so great about 3M breadboards?

[Rene]

Hello,

I was looking into replacing my cheese breadboard with a higher quality one. The breadboards that always seem to come up as the best quality ones are the 3M branded ones.

The thing is that they are a LOT more expensive that the somewhat descent breadboards out there so I was curious if someone could tell me what are the extra benefits that I get when purchasing a 3M branded board (if any)?

Thanks.

[w2aew]

More robust spring contacts - both in material quality and durability.
Better physical tolerances resulting in fewer mis-insertions.
Better quality plastics - less give and wear, higher durability.

[dadler]

Agree with all of the above. They are solid and last longer than the cheapies.

I was able to find a few used on eBay in great condition, for not much more than the cost of the typical cheap BBs.

They do have non-standard spacing between the ground/power rails which can sometimes be annoying if you ever plug header connectors into the ground/power rails.

[Rene]

Thanks guys,

I really appreciate you taking the time to help me out.

One question I forgot to ask (and the answer is probably "it depends")...... Are the boards worth the price?

In other words, at what point does this extra quality start to make a real difference? Under what circumstances would you tell someone to go and buy a 3M board instead of one of the standard ones?

I am only asking because my standard board seems to be holding on pretty good. So is this similar to buying a Honda Civic vs a Mercedes Benz where the Honda is good enough for most practical purposes and the Benz quality is only needed in very particular circumstances?

Thanks.

[george graves]

You kinda have to think of bread boards as disposable.  After so many insertions, the contact seem to go weak (espically with something like a diode with thick leads.  Nothing is more annoying then trouble shooting a problem with your circuit only to find it's a bad breadboard connection. 

Some of the cheap Chinese ones are total crap.  I like buying the big ones - it give you room to grow a project - or you can have several small projects at once.

I've had good luck with these: http://www.ebay.com/itm/TEKTRUM-EXTERNALLY-POWERED-SOLDERLESS-3220-TIE-POINTS-BREADBOARD-W-JUMPER-WIRES-/271822825429?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f49e727d5

[ElectricGuy]

Believe me ( and others ), if you buy one, you will notice the difference!!!

[MadTux]

I've had good luck with these: http://www.ebay.com/itm/TEKTRUM-EXTERNALLY-POWERED-SOLDERLESS-3220-TIE-POINTS-BREADBOARD-W-JUMPER-WIRES-/271822825429?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f49e727d5

If you wanna go cheap (or big), you much better buy the boards directly from china with free shipping. The cheapest cost around $2.50 per board (board with power rail). I guess pretty much everyone can find a crappy cardboard/metal/plywood panel to mount these onto.

[John Coloccia]

BTW, here's a pretty good price on the 3M jumper wire kit.  Well worth it, IMHO.

http://tedss.com/2098000048

[timofonic]

Where to buy them in Europe? I had disastrous results with cheap ones in combinational circuits practices

Do they have replaceable parts?

[Rene]

BTW, here's a pretty good price on the 3M jumper wire kit.  Well worth it, IMHO.

Funny you mention jumper wires because as I was shopping around for 3M breadboard, I stumbled upon a 3M jumper wire kit in digikey:

http://www.digikey.com/product-search/en?mpart=923351-I&vendor=19

That particular kit retails for $46 so I must admit I had a mini heart attack when I saw that price. Are 3M wires really that better? I can find what look like similar kits for $10! What makes the 3M wires so special?

Thanks.

[John Coloccia]

The one I posted is significantly less.  It's the only reason I bought it. It's definitely not $50 worth of wire, but for $25 it's a nice kit.  It's really almost worth it just for the box.  Yes, the wire actually IS better.  At least it's better than the other junk I have here.  Thicker insulation, perhaps?  I'm not sure why, but it's definitely stiffer and easier to work with than typical cheap jumper wire.  Maybe it's a slightly thicker gauge? It could be that my other, cheap, jumper wire is just particularly crappy, and that the 3M stuff is normal.

When it's all nice and organized in the box, things go so much faster and easier, that's for sure.

[w2aew]

Believe me ( and others ), if you buy one, you will notice the difference!!!

I have been using the same 3M boards for the better part of 20-25 years.  Worth the extra money - yep!

[nanofrog]

More robust spring contacts - both in material quality and durability.
Better physical tolerances resulting in fewer mis-insertions.
Better quality plastics - less give and wear, higher durability.

I'd have to agree with this as well. 

Quality wise, I'd rate manufacturers in the following order:

• 3M
• Global Specialties Do note they make both a tier 1 & tier 2 product line. Their tier 2 offerings aren't garbage by any means, but not quite as good as the tier 1 they make or 3M offers (i.e. PB-103 v. PB-103E has an MSRP difference of $19; E in the P/N is the giveaway between them). Not sure what the differences are (can't discern them from the specs), but I suspect the metal used to make the contacts is a tad thinner in the tier 2 line (IIRC, they weren't as stiff when new, but that's been awhile). US made last I saw.
• Wisher They make multiple lines as well, so you'll definitely be able to find something that will fit your needs. Similar to the Economy series from Global IMHO. Made in Taiwan.

If you can get 3M at the right price, go for it (i.e. NOS on eBay, or *possibly* gently used <not worn out> if you can find it). At full price for new, that's a tough one (hard on a hobbyist; easier on professionals as it helps earn an income <doesn't mean they like the prices, but can justify the purchase>)... I'd try for Global Specialties instead, or if your budget can't handle 3M at all (Mouser carries them for example). Don't go lower than Wisher if you're after something better than the cheapies you're currently familiar with (these also get rebranded, such as for Radio Shack).

Couple of other points:

• If you stay under the max wire size rating, that will help reduce wear on the contacts & extend it's usable lifespan (they are wear items as previously mentioned).
• Wisher's jumper wire bags & kits are a more reasonable alternative to 3M's IME, and meet the above ^ recommendation.

For disclosure, I've a 3M (so old it's metal plate is painted blue, not red). Gold anodized is even older IIRC, and many are still around (including ACE or A.C.E + breadboard in your eBay searches might turn up more listings).

[george graves]

For jumper wire kits - ONLY go with "dupont" male-male connectors.  They are square, and you can put them side by side.  The cheaper round ones are greater then 0.1" so they will start to go wonkey after about 10 in a row.  Also the "dupont" style ones are crimped and fail way less often.

Another tip is when you are done with your project, and you clean the bread board of all parts and jumpers, before you put the jumpers away, test each jumper with your multimeter.  Takes just a second with DMM set to "tone" for continuity.  The jumpers can fail as well.  Then blow compressed air over the breadboard, and if you're storing it, store it upside down to keep dust from getting into the holes.

[XFDDesign]

If you want a happy middle ground, I still have my original Jameco breadboards since I got into electronics 17 years ago. They're pretty good for quality, not 3M exceptional but also not 3M price.

I.e. http://www.jameco.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10001_10001_20812_-1

[timofonic]

Are there top quality breadboards with replaceable parts?

That could make them very interesting to choose, as I hate the wear and fixing items could be a saving in the long term.

[george graves]

No. 

[Ian.M]

The BOSS industrial mouldings BIMBOARD range was an excelent high quality breadboard which had replaceable contact strips, with a removable plastic back panel.  Unfortunately they became CamdenBoss and no longer make breadboards, but if you see any used ones that don't look too ratty or any NOS for sale, they are certainly worth considering. 




Distorted contacts can easily be removed by removing the back and pushing them out from the top with a stiff (but thin) wire and reformed using a pair of long needle nose pliers and if badly distorted, a screwdriver of the right diameter to form the curve at the top around.  If you see a BIMBOARD in poor condition at a good price, buy it for spares!

Other breadboards can usually be serviced in a similar manner but the usual sticky backing is a pain to remove and usually will have to be replaced with sticky back Fablon or similar.  Again a spare ratty board of exactly the same make is useful to have to rob for spares.

[John Coloccia]

For jumper wire kits - ONLY go with "dupont" male-male connectors.  They are square, and you can put them side by side.  The cheaper round ones are greater then 0.1" so they will start to go wonkey after about 10 in a row.  Also the "dupont" style ones are crimped and fail way less often.

Another tip is when you are done with your project, and you clean the bread board of all parts and jumpers, before you put the jumpers away, test each jumper with your multimeter.  Takes just a second with DMM set to "tone" for continuity.  The jumpers can fail as well.  Then blow compressed air over the breadboard, and if you're storing it, store it upside down to keep dust from getting into the holes.

Could you show what you mean by "dupont" connectors?

[george graves]

Google for it.  https://www.google.com/search?q=dupont+bread+board+connectors

[Ian.M]

Actually, the key to take from this is check the maximum external diameter of the jumper ends.  Its also worth checking the actual pin diameter - anything over that of a turned pin socket is likely to strain the contacts.

IMHO most jumper kits aren't worth having.  Simply use salvaged CAT5 UTP etherrnet wire or solid phone wire of the same thickness.  (*DONT* use stranded CAT5 patchlead wire.)   Its thin enough to avoid contact damage, is easy to cut, strip and bend and unlike premade jumpers, can be cut to the correct length to keep the circuit layout neat.  It also fits well in ordinary turned pin IC sockets, which is a great convenience when you want to interface to any assembled module or development board that's not suitable for direct breadboard mounting.

If you do need to connect stranded wires to a breadboard, its easy enough to solder the wire inline to a pin salvaged from a 0.1" pitch square pin header and heatshrink over it to make a nice breadboard compatible end.  Its certainly worth making up a set of leads for your meter with breadboard compatible ends.

[John Coloccia]

Google for it.  https://www.google.com/search?q=dupont+bread+board+connectors

That shows the jumper wires.  I'm looking for specifically which connector is being used...actual part numbers so I can order them.  I haven't been able to find that.

[rolycat]

Google for it.  https://www.google.com/search?q=dupont+bread+board+connectors

That shows the jumper wires.  I'm looking for specifically which connector is being used...actual part numbers so I can order them.  I haven't been able to find that.

I believe Dupont is a genericized name for these. If you google '1x1 0.1" crimp housing' you should find the plastic housings, for example from Pololu.

Pololu also sell male and female crimp pins, as well as housings with multiple ways.

For some reason I can't find 1x1 housings at major distributors such as Farnell, Digikey and Mouser, but they stock 1x2 and larger housings and crimp pins from various manufacturers. For example, housings from Multicomp (Farnell own brand).

[John Coloccia]

I've tried different styles of crimp pins in the past.  They always seemed too big.  That's why I was so interested in the specific part number.  I have a set of wires here I got from somewhere...wish I could remember where.  They're perfect, but I've never been able to find the actual pin that they use.  Maybe I'll post a picture later and someone will recognize them.

[w2aew]

<snip>
IMHO most jumper kits aren't worth having.  Simply use salvaged CAT5 UTP etherrnet wire or solid phone wire of the same thickness.  (*DONT* use stranded CAT5 patchlead wire.)   Its thin enough to avoid contact damage, is easy to cut, strip and bend and unlike premade jumpers, can be cut to the correct length to keep the circuit layout neat.  It also fits well in ordinary turned pin IC sockets, which is a great convenience when you want to interface to any assembled module or development board that's not suitable for direct breadboard mounting.
<snip>

Ditto that!  This is what I use 90% of the time.  Dirt cheap "custom" solution.  Also, some solid core small gauge ordinary insulated, tinned hookup wire works great too. I never really saw a need for the plastic/rubber cuffs or collars at the ends of the wires.