I'm just about out of parts from my college stock and need to buy some more lab stock. Have any of you guys ordered parts on fleabay for general lab stock? It looks like a lot of it comes from China... Some of it looks like low-quality crap, some of it looks like it's okay... I've found these for resistors/caps... before I drop $40 on these... anyone have any advise?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/281187196766?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649

http://www.ebay.com/itm/251249050635?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649

Does it really take a month to get this stuff?

 

It usually takes several weeks to a month.

I would not (have not) ordered a E24 set of resistors. 24 values for each decade will leave a lot of unused resistors.

I would order from a company like Taydaelectronics.com. Resistors are a penny each and order in multiples of 10. Then I would order 50 of the E6 series
10
15
22
33
47
68

and 20 of the alternate values to make sets of E12
12
18
27
39
56
82

Somehow Tayda gets them to you in a week or less.


Storing, finding and sorting through all of the E12 series becomes a pain. So many boxes, bags or trays.

 

If you order from EBay patients must have you, 2-3 weeks at best, but the stuff is quite inexpensive and the quality is fine.

 

The resistors look like 145 values and 10 of each value?

Overall value $21 for 1450 resistors is ok, but the problem I see is that common values that you will use a lot (10k, 4k7, 2k2, 470,330,220 etc) will be gone in a couple of weeks.

 

I don't know about these, but a lot of the 1/4 watt resistors that I get from China have leads that are noticeably smaller in diameter than what I like. I measured them once, but I don't remember the numbers. That being said, I have stopped buying resistors from Jameco for the same reason; some of theirs are just as flimsy. I have standardized on Yageo resistors from Digi-Key.

 

I don't know about these, but a lot of the 1/4 watt resistors that I get from China have leads that are noticeably smaller in diameter than what I like. I measured them once, but I don't remember the numbers. That being said, I have stopped buying resistors from Jameco for the same reason; some of theirs are just as flimsy. I have standardized on Yageo resistors from Digi-Key.

Fully agreed .....
I have bought the kits before and the leads are really thin and are a pain to use on a breadboard because the leads are so thin..Next time will be placing an order through mouser for resistors

 

My old buddy used to go to flea markets and buy resistors. He bought a whole bunch of 1/4W resistors with the usual color bands to show value.

We built a bunch of demo boards and when we sprayed them with flux spray to strip the flux off, all the color bands disappeared!

All the resistors were brown and unmarked.

 

We built a bunch of demo boards and when we sprayed them with flux spray to strip the flux off, all the color bands disappeared!

All the resistors were brown and unmarked.

That's even better than putting house numbers on parts! Only problem is that even the house may not know what they are

 

Thanks for the input guys certainly things to think about... pay a penny each or order them from newark/mouser/etc for 3x to 4x the price... hrmm...

The description about the thin leads was very helpful - sounds like I'm not ordering off of ebay. Sounds like Taydaelectronics.com has the same problem based on the only review of their resistors. I certainly don't want thin leads and prefer spec'd parts.

 

Futerlec
http://www.futurlec.com/ValuePacks.shtml
Max.

 

Futerlec
http://www.futurlec.com/ValuePacks.shtml
Max.

Have you ordered these before? Are they pretty well distributed or should I expect the package to have a large portion of just a couple values? How about lead thickness?

I was really hoping to get 1% 1/4W Metal Films. At 2cents a piece there, that's not too bad.

 

I have ordered items from Futurlec before but not those, but they appear to be the traditional wire size for 1/4w.
Drop them an email to confirm it.
Max.

 

Have you ordered these before? Are they pretty well distributed or should I expect the package to have a large portion of just a couple values? How about lead thickness?

I was really hoping to get 1% 1/4W Metal Films. At 2cents a piece there, that's not too bad.

http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=32160.0

 

I just received an order from Futurlec that included the resistor pack. It contained values as listed in the link in tracecom's post. Good wire leads, also. I hate trying to use those flimsy leads on a breadboard, but they're okay when cut and soldered.