So, I've collected what I consider a considerable collection of resistors.
I'd say I have about 4,000 or so now?

Many of them are in rows of twenty with the ends sandwiched in between paper strips.
I'm finding it cumbersome to root through hundreds and hundreds of these rows of resistors.

As I do experiments, I'm also getting a pile of "loose" resistors that I can't get back into the original slots they were in.

I'll bet some of you have come up with some REALLY good ways to organize them so you can get the one you need quickly.

I'd like to see some of your great and organized resistor storage ideas.

 

I use 48 drawers in this cabinet for resistors. I also use coin envelopes and business envelopes to organize resistors for specific projects.

Each drawer has multiple values in the same "range". The top row is <=10, 100, 1k, 10k, 100k, 1M+. Rows below are for different decades. I combined some ranges when it made sense, i.e. 5+6 and 8+9.


For resistors I use for general breadboarding, I have several plastic clam shell boxes. I use one for resistors below 10k and one for 10k and above. I use a couple other boxes for wires and everything else (diodes, LEDs, transistors, etc).

I also have a 6 foot shelf with reels of resistors and 8-10 boxes of reels. I have an inventory tag on each box and pictures of each tag so I can isolate a reel to a box.

I also have bags of bagged resistors and boxes of boxed resistors.

 

I use these

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vinyl-12-P...259379?hash=item3d0fdeb7f3:g:24gAAOSwCypWppYb

Clips into a notebook. nice and compact.

 

You need to get the paper tape strips off immediately or you will have to trim the resistor leads to get the strips off.
The tape leaves a sticky gum that is going mess up your solderless breadboards.

 

You need to get the paper tape strips off immediately or you will have to trim the resistor leads to get the strips off.

I use acetone or scraping to remove the adhesive, or I just clip off the sticky ends.

Even when I buy resistors on tape in qty 100, I leave them on the tape until I'm ready to use them.

 

I just have the boxes of 1000 resistors stacked in order on the top shelf of one of my parts cabinets. The 1206 surface mount resistors (and capacitors) are on edge in a box arranged in order. Then there is a plastic tub of 0805 and another 0603 with the reels in them.
Reels of surface mount diodes and transistors also.





IC tubes in here. And another couple of cubes with plastic drain pipe lengths in them to hold more IC tubes.


A number of shelves have boxes as above.
I have all together too much stuff!!

 

You need to get the paper tape strips off immediately or you will have to trim the resistor leads to get the strips off.
The tape leaves a sticky gum that is going mess up your solderless breadboards.

If they are stored long enough the adhesive dries out and the resistors just fall out of the tape.
Then you can just trim the ends off the leads to get rid of the dried out gum.

Seriously, I usually remove the resistors from the tapes but for the ones which have stayed sticky with adhesive I wipe the leads with a rag soaked in kerosene. Kerosene is the best solvent for removing most adhesives.

 

I use these

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vinyl-12-P...259379?hash=item3d0fdeb7f3:g:24gAAOSwCypWppYb

Clips into a notebook. nice and compact.

I use similar photo sheets but divided into 4 pockets. They are open at the top so I have to be careful not to turn the notebook upside down.

 

I just use 25 drawer cabinet, each drawer for each of the popular multipliers, each drawer holds all specific to one multiplier.
Max.

 

Resistor Parts Storage

 

 

Wow talk about your over achievers.

Where did you get the case with the nice little compartments?

 

Wow talk about your over achievers.

Where did you get the case with the nice little compartments?

Standard Vidmar.

 

Standard Vidmar.

Those things aren't cheap!
https://www.ebay.com/itm/STANLEY-VI...d=382071619987&_trksid=p2141725.c100338.m3726

 

I use 48 drawers in this cabinet for resistors.

I use (2) 48 drawer cabinets. 10% values from left to right and decades from top to bottom.
Each resistor has at least as much resistance as the label on the drawer.

You need to get the paper tape strips off immediately or you will have to trim the resistor leads to get the strips off.

I wipe the leads with a rag soaked in kerosene.

I use toluene/toluol. It will remove any adhesive residue I have ever met and quite a few other contaminants, like Pb/Sn solder flux.

 

For the resistors, do you trim down the leads, or fold them over before putting them in the case ?

 

For the resistors, do you trim down the leads, or fold them over before putting them in the case ?

The 48 drawer cabinets (and the 60 drawer cabinets) from Wal-mart have drawers long enough that you don't need to trim anything.

 

i use smt parts.
i buy full reels and store the reels in order by value in file cabinets.
this brings up something i've always wondered about.
do you guys build that many experimental boards that you don't want to keep?
if i build something that works, i want to keep it.
custom boards don't cost that much.
but i design stuff for production, not just a hobby.
maybe that's the difference?

 

do you guys build that many experimental boards that you don't want to keep?

No. Many of the circuits I breadboard are just for my own edification.

if i build something that works, i want to keep it.

That's what schematics are for.

 

I breadboard to confirm or deny a theory about how I expect a circuit to work. (A lot of people use simulators like LT spice.) After I know whether it works, the circuit has no value because I know the answer. That's when the parts go back in the plastic drawers.