I probably have around 300 solderless-breadboard connections in my project. But still, I'm surprised how difficult it is to keep all connections conducting at low impedance ( zero ohms). For example, when I still hear music even though the volume control (5k pot) is turned all the way down, it's likely the ground connection on the pot to the breadboard needs to be jiggled a little.
So now I'm wondering: Are some breadboards significantly better than others? Might I have bought a cheap breadboard, where a more expensive one would have avoided these headaches?
Videos I've watched such as Solderless Breadboards: How to & Common Problems don't mention board-quality as a concern, but you guys would know. If quality is a significant factor, what replacement breadboards should I purchase?
Breadboards are not designed for anything but prototyping - the contact springs get dirty
or corroded and connections can become unreliable. Reliable spring connections are gold-plated, I've
never heard of a gold-plating in a breadboard though.
There are definitely better and worse breadboards, though I wouldn't know how to easily distinguish
between them other than to avoid buying on eBay.
Hahahaha! You really did make me laugh! I said "around 300 solderless-breadboard connections". That's 300 or so wires and leads plugged into the little holes. That portion of the project is on two 6.5-inch breadboards snapped together.
That's pretty much why I don't use solderless breadboards - they are just too flaky. Every time I see someone try to show me something on a breadboard, there's always a 10 minute wait while they poke at things to make it work.
I prefer solderable breadboards - PCBs with pins in groups so you can solder to them, like this:
I don't know the answer but it wouldn't be surprising if quality was not uniform. The same may be true of jumpers. Jumper length could also be an issue.
I have almost never had a problem with breadboarded circuits. But I've never built one with 300 jumpers. Usually it's more like 50 jumpers, or 100-150 holes used.
I still have a breadboard in use that might be more than 25 years old.
No problems for short term experiments.
I never use breadboards for semi-permanent circuits.
Leo..
Something with that many connections, I would use island of holes perfboard and wirewrap it up with wirewrap sockets and headers. Last thing I want to do is deal with connection issues.
Grumpy_Mike:
Then you have not tested it sufficiently.
I haven't tested them to failure. But they work without worry every time I use them, including with semi-permanent circuits (weeks, months). I do expect them to wear out eventually.
I soldered one semi-temporary circuit on a proto board and it worked fine. It took a lot longer. And when I was done with it I had a board I didn't need anymore. I couldn't easily recover anything from it. So it's a paper weight now and I guess I'll just throw it out. It seems wasteful.
) 