Stupid breadboards!

The board I got from Sparkfun, like some I'd read about had busses along the top and bottom which were broken down the center, though the red and blue lines were unbroken.

I knew this, and I thought it was normal, so I assumed my boards from Pololu would be the same. The markings on them were identical after all.

Well, when I had leds lighting up that shouldn't have been I finally traced the issue to the fact that the Pololu boards don't have the break in the center. A break I'd been counting on in my design since I was using half the bus or whatever you call it to switch between two sets of leds. But the other half also had voltage on it, and since the two were connected, bad things happened!

Why don't they sell these boards with manuals!

Speaking of features they don't tell you about, does anyone know what the heck the thin aluminum sheets they provide you with on the pololu breadboards is for? Is it for grounding or something? I can't see how it would ground the board if stuck to the bottom of it with that tape in the way. But I can't figure any other use for it.

The aluminium sheat is to put under the breadboard using the sticky tape that is already glue in the breadboard and is used as an RF shield for RF projects.

I've a few breadboards and I would expect the bus to run along where the line is - so I'd be annoyed with the sparkfun board for having a break where none was indicated than your new board for doing what it says.

You're right about a manual though. It'd only need to be one sheet, but it'd be handy for newbies.

Yeah, I kinda figured the markings on the Sparkfun board were the ones which were wrong. I'd advise getting the Pololu boards anyway since they sell the larger sizes in standalone boards so it's cheaper to get a bunch of them.

I was just posting this in case anyone else ran into the same issue and was wondering what was going on. :slight_smile:

Oh, it is the old "That is not a bug, that is a feature!" excuse [smiley=cheesy.gif]

See, I bought my breadboard as part of the Arduino kit at a local (Danish) supplier. I can (with hindsight) see that they resell a lot of the sparkfun stuff, which explains the break in the powerlines. (The page says the board is from seedstudio.com)

It took me a day to figure out why my circuit was behaving so strangly, until I discovered The Break [smiley=angry.gif] As you can gather I assumed an uninterrupted line.

I just measured again - it is only the red line that is interrupted (althought the coloured line is uninterrupted). The blue line is whole.

In other words, I wholly agree with the OP.

While we're on about breadboards, I spotted sure electronics sell stuff on ebay. Shipping takes a while, but I picked up five long breadboards pretty cheap from them. I believe their username is sureelectronics1

I saw some great deals on breadboards with jumpers on ebay. At least they semeed like great deals. Then I noticed the jumpers they give you are the cheapo round ones with leads tha apparently bend so easily they even had some bent in their photos.

That's why I grabbed a couple from Pololu. They sell the nice quality jumpers like Sparkfun offers.

Kinda regret buying a bag of 50 of the 12" ones though. I only ended up using three of them with my thress breaboards attached together. Also, wish someone sold 8" jumpers. The 12" are a bit long for just three breadboards stuck together but the 6" are too short.

I myself actually prefer the break.. it lets me isolate certain circuits or projects.

but a simple diagram or manual is NOT to much to for.. =)

I had a radio shack with the break, and another without, never really liked the break, though I can see its point its just 4 extra jumpers I gotta deal with

so I soldered the radio shack with a break to now have no break

A break I'd been counting on in my design

Why don't you just peel up the covering on the bottom and cut the link?

Don

Because that would mess up the adhesive backing and besides I already moved the leds, and I actually prefer the unbroken bus!

I myself actually prefer the break.. it lets me isolate certain circuits or projects.

Yes, me too. All my breadboards have both the red and blue broken on each side.

I am glad they do. As far as I know, that's how they originally were. If they don't have a break then why make it look like that... By all means make ones without but make it a continuous line of connections on each side.

Mowcius

I myself actually prefer the break.. it lets me isolate certain circuits or projects.

Depends on the size of the breadboard. The one that came in my starter kit is only slightly bigger than the arduino, so the power rails being unbroken works well.
I've got a larger one now, which is the equivalent to four of the small ones and is set up as if it is - each quarter has it's own pair of power rails on each side. The trouble with that is that I never bother disassembling anything til I've used up the rest of the breadboard.

With the tiny ones, I thought they had an un-broken line of pins anyway and likewise, I cannot see the point of broken lines on something that small.

Mowcius

You could always just break the row yourself, at least on some breadboards. Mine have double sided tape that I can peel off temporarily and I could just cut through the metal strip.

Mine have double sided tape that I can peel off temporarily and I could just cut through the metal strip.

Mine all seem to be moulded into the plastic but mine have a break anyway :slight_smile:

Mowcius

You could always just break the row yourself, at least on some breadboards. Mine have double sided tape that I can peel off temporarily and I could just cut through the metal strip.

As in Reply # 9.

Don

As far as I know, that's how they originally were.

I am still using some of my original EL breadboards from the 1980's (or maybe earlier). They do not have the break. Also the horizontal strips are less than 0.3 inches from the vertical strips and more than 0.1 inch apart.

I remember a lot of head scratching the first time I encountered a strip with the break.

Don

How do you determine that there is or is not a break? Also, what markings on the breadboard suggest one or the other that caused the confusion in the first place?

my radio shack bread board has no marking on it, its just a white breadboard on a black metal plate

my other one has red and blue lines on the bus bar, but as indicated above, just cause they run all the way across doesn't mean their connected (although mine is)