Anyone buy any decent breadboards recently?

Thread Starter

Joe Stavitsky

Joined Apr 5, 2020
120
Every last one I own has had the adhesive backing fail after several months. Worse, there is no plastic between the adhesive and the terminals. Worse still, there is nothing holding the terminals in place _but_ the backing, so once it fails the terminals pop right out.

My next move obviously is to find one with a plastic back and provide my own adhesive, but if I can get free adhesive with the board?
 

dl324

Joined Mar 30, 2015
16,839
I've been using the inexpensive breadboards from Ali Express for several years and haven't had problems with the backing falling off any of them. If you're having that problem, you can mount them on some sheet metal or something similar to make something like these:
3breadboards.jpgbreadboardExampleColorAdjusted2.jpg

Many of my solderless breadboards are from the 1970's and I haven't had the paper glued on the back come off any of them.
breadboard2.jpgbreadboard1.jpg
 
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dl324

Joined Mar 30, 2015
16,839
Huh. Interesting.
Here's a homemade experimenter made by an AAC member, and given to me when he tired of the hobby:
homemadeExperimenter.jpg
It was powered by Li-ion batteries. I added a jack so an AC adapter can be used. Power is from 2 LM317's. I added a range option on the lower supply.

The breadboards are attached with the adhesive backing, but you could always use screws since you're having problems with the adhesive backing coming off. The base is wood.
 

Ya’akov

Joined Jan 27, 2019
9,068
I have a plastic case I'm trying to mount them in, and I'm trying to optimize space
Just a caution. Your comment suggests you intend to use the breadboard for a permanent (or at least long term) circuit. This is not really a good idea. Breadboards work for temporary circuits when developing or testing but the contats in breadboards are not very good, even at the best of times.

Leaving a circuit on a breadboard for application is likely to cause problems ranging from mysterious behavior to no behavior at all. If the breadboard is just on the bench, this isn’t such a big problem since you an just wiggle wires to reestablish a good connection, inside a box this isn’t possible.

If you are, in fact, trying to make a permanent project out of a breadboarded circuit, it would be best ot make a PCB designed for it. If this is too daunting (it is quite a bit of new to learn) or not interesting to you, consider one of the readily available protoboards that are laid out like breadboards and solder things in place.

1665906430591.jpeg
This one is a random example, there are many sizes and board colors (if that matters to you) avaialble. Note that you will have to make the columns connect for one like this using jumpers or solder bridges as needed. But no having them om on to start is more flexible. Some designs have them common already. The big advantage in your case of these designed as opposed to something like Vero board (which is quite good) is the ability to directly translate the working circuit to the soldered board.

 

Ya’akov

Joined Jan 27, 2019
9,068
Some differing opinions regarding the reliability of solderless breadboards:
https://forum.allaboutcircuits.com/threads/practical-circuit-construction.189699/post-1770130
Practical Circuit Construction | Page 2 | All About Circuits
8 Bit Breadboard CPU | Hackaday.io (just a random page that came up when I was looking for something by a guy known for his CPU breadboarding - I can't recall his name at the moment)
I have seen breadboards 20+ years old with TTL and discrete components working like a charm (I think they may have been Global brand), but I have also seen them (especially more recently, being set aside for a week and not working when powered up.

While it is possible a good breadboard could remain working inside a project box for an extended time, I would trust it to be the case. It depends on the nature and criticality of the circuit, I suppose.
 

dl324

Joined Mar 30, 2015
16,839
I have seen breadboards 20+ years old with TTL and discrete components working like a charm (I think they may have been Global brand)
I've been reclaiming some circuits breadboarded in the 70's/80's on EL Instruments and 3M breadboards that had been packed in boxes and moved between 4 different houses. The circuits that I powered up before disassembling still worked. Most were TTL, but some were CD4xxx CMOS.

Using #22 wire jumpers and not having excessively long wires helps. YMMV with #24. I started using #24 when contractors at work were throwing piles of it in the garbage (leftovers from pulling network cables). After I bought a couple 1000' spools of #22 solid wire that were on clearance at Circuit Specialists, I pretty much stopped using #24 wire with solderless breadboards.
 

Thread Starter

Joe Stavitsky

Joined Apr 5, 2020
120
Just a caution. Your comment suggests you intend to use the breadboard for a permanent (or at least long term) circuit.

Don't worry, I'm not quite that silly:). I'm building a "field box" suitable for use with a raspberry pi, to take various measurements. I'll do a nice writeup once I finish.
 

jack_khromm

Joined Oct 15, 2022
1
If I understand the original poster correctly, he's commenting on the adhesive foam backing pre-applied to the backs of many solderless breadboards. I've gotten into the habit of peeling off the foam from newly-purchased breadboards and replacing it with cut pieces of adhesive-backed non-slip silicone sheet. The end result is shown at top right in the attached photo, along with the silicone sheet I've used and the original breadboard packaging and partially peeled-off original backing.

The silicone sheeting I'm using is something like a millimeter thick (or less) and is transparent (iirc it's also available in black and in white and possibly other colors). The overall product wasn't manufactured by 3M but the Chinese manufacturer has added 3M double-sided tape. I haven't had the adhesive on this type of silicone sheet fail or go bad yet, over a period of several years, whereas the stuff holding the white foam to the breadboard dries, yellows, and turns into powder and the foam itself eventually gets brittle.

My use case for solderless breadboards is usually benchtop prototyping and the irritating aspect of the installed sticky-foam backing for me was the slipperiness of that yellow nonstick paper. That stuff made it very easy for a breadboard to slide around or, via an unlucky flick of a finger or elbow movement, fling itself right off my work surface and onto the floor.

For rare semi-permanent applications/demos, I've drilled a couple of M2 or M3 holes through the thinnest (and metal-free, non-functional) part of the breadboard, in the long gutter that runs down the middle of the type in the picture) and used small screws to attach it to something else.
 

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bidrohini

Joined Jul 29, 2022
190
Every last one I own has had the adhesive backing fail after several months. Worse, there is no plastic between the adhesive and the terminals. Worse still, there is nothing holding the terminals in place _but_ the backing, so once it fails the terminals pop right out.

My next move obviously is to find one with a plastic back and provide my own adhesive, but if I can get free adhesive with the board?
Same problem here :(
 

dl324

Joined Mar 30, 2015
16,839
I had a breadboard from Global Specialties (UBS-100) develop a problem with some sockets and their lifetime guarantee is bogus. I emailed them and they didn't even respond. I'm glad I didn't just send it in for a replacement.

I've had better luck with breadboards from El Instruments, 3M, and Archer; all from the 70's/80's.
 

Ya’akov

Joined Jan 27, 2019
9,068
I had a breadboard from Global Specialties (UBS-100) develop a problem with some sockets and their lifetime guarantee is bogus. I emailed them and they didn't even respond. I'm glad I didn't just send it in for a replacement.

I've had better luck with breadboards from El Instruments, 3M, and Archer; all from the 70's/80's.
Sorry you had a bad time with GS. It's certainly a data point. I never had to deal with warranty service so I don't know if your experience was typical but I'll note that I've run into a lot of businesses where there is no good procedure in place to check external email. Almost always calling gets someone who wants to help.

Still, it is annoying when a published email address is not checked regularly or is used for too many things and so emails can get lost if the wrong person gets to it first.

3M I've had good luck with, but we used a lot of GS boards with good results. The fact that Mouser, Allied, Digikey, and other high reputation distributors carry them makes me think your experience can't be the norm.
 

dl324

Joined Mar 30, 2015
16,839
I like the fact that the 3M boards can be connected along the edges (post #2). There are some cheap knockoffs that pale in comparison (due to "loose" sockets).
 
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