I recently bought some prototype shields with the 170 pin breadboards from yourdunio.com in order to simplify working on different projects at the same time. The theory is, if it fits in the breadboard, I can just take off the shield and replace it with another.
I had used the sticky backing to mount the breadboard to the shield. After I had it in place, I wanted to move the position of the breadboard, as I was thinking about possibly soldering a potentiometer and a second button for use in my projects. I noticed the adhesive was really strong, and I used a butter knife to slide underneath and release the glue. Unfortunately the pins in the breadboard are held by that glue layer, and I wound up destroying the breadboard.
I ordered some new breadboards, but in the future, I think I will mount the breadboard on thin plywood or maybe pcb plastic that hasn't been drilled, and use less strong glue to actually mount it to the shield. I might make it a little longer, and drill some holes, and use wire to connect it.
Standard double-sided tape shouldn't have this problem... though it might not be strong enough to hold a mini-breadboard in the first place.
Just as a general practice I often use hot glue for temporary or semi-permenant gluing. Once cool, it holds well in most situations and can either be cut or reheated if you need to remove it. It can also be used as a "poor man's" conformal coating, provided the temperature doesn't get hot enough to cause it to soften too much.
Far-seeker:
Standard double-sided tape shouldn't have this problem... though it might not be strong enough to hold a mini-breadboard in the first place.
Yep, I was expecting it to be like double stick tape. I suspect if you just put double stick tape on the bottom, it might run the risk of the same thing happening later, since the problem seems to be there is no rigid bottom to the breadboard, just essentially a paper/cardboard layer.
Far-seeker:
Just as a general practice I often use hot glue for temporary or semi-permenant gluing. Once cool, it holds well in most situations and can either be cut or reheated if you need to remove it. It can also be used as a "poor man's" conformal coating, provided the temperature doesn't get hot enough to cause it to soften too much.
Yep, at present, I don't own a hot-glue gun, but I can see many uses for it.
MichaelMeissner:
Yep, at present, I don't own a hot-glue gun, but I can see many uses for it.
You really should get one then. A decent glue gun should normally cost ~$20.00 and glue sticks should run about $0.20 a piece, so price isn't a prohibitive. I've had positive experiences with Arrow brand glue guns, and if it matters to you both the glue sticks and the most of their glue guns are still made in the USA.
I feel your pain. Been there, done that.
Now I drill holes in diagonal corners of my breadboards and screw them down --- in my case to plywood. Many of my projects are large - I screw down 2 breadboards, the arduino, and two more. Works great.
Not in principle difficult, but very fiddly and tedious - and hard to avoid damaging some of the contacts without a special tool to help squeeze them back in. Life is short.
You shouldn't need any special tools. If its anything like the one I have, you just push them back in. The plastic shell just has a load of rectanglar slots, there aren't any little clips or anything it is just presure that holds them in.
Yeah, I suspect it isn't that hard, and it is fidley to get all of the clips in the right holes.
I already ordered some replacement tiny breadboards from a US distributor for about $2/board, so at this point, I'll probably defer fixing the old one.
There is a very simple remedy for that issue.. Simply fold back a 1/4 in of the backing tape or pull off the backing tape and using a paper punch make a half dozen holes and then replace the backing tape.
BE MOST CAREFUL NOT to TOUCH THE STICKY TAPE. Your skin oils and casual "Dirt" will damage/destroy the adhesive. If you punch an irregular set of holes... You can lift the tape and "RE-Stick" the tape again to a new sticky area and thus get some real use from the breadboards without the trauma described in the pictures... One Last thing... Don't Pull on the breadboard to remove it when it has been STUCK down by removing all the backing tape, use dental floss to "Saw" the tape free. I used a lot of Sticky take at one time and those were the working answers
i had for double sided tape.
It will stick well and can be removed easily without leaving a trace.
Now that I know the bottom of some breadboards is not hard plastic, but instead double sided adhesive, I will put some sort of backing board underneath the breadboard if I want to attach it. I just didn't think that they would make a breadboard in that fashion.
At present, I have 3 models of breadboard, the tiny 170 point breadboard that came with the protoshield, the 400 point breadboard that came with my Arduino kit, and the larger breadboard I bought in an electronics store. The two smaller breakboards both do not have a solid bottom, but just double sided adhesive.
winner10920:
Perhaps some screws,nuts, and washers and just hold it in place
Well if the breadboards had screw holes for mounting posts, I could do that, but none of my breadboards have such a hole. The replacement breadboards that I should get on Monday, one picture the seller has on the web site has two holes, but other pictures down. So what I will probably do, is mount it on 1/8" or maybe 1/4" plywood, and make it a little longer, and drill mounting holes on either end.
Docedison:
Uuse dental floss to "Saw" the tape free. I used a lot of Sticky take at one time and those were the working answers i had for double sided tape.
I didn't think of dental floss, but it is complicated in the protoshield in that there are rails on 3 sides (the digital pins on one side, the analog/power pins on the other, and ground/5v rails at the back), and there isn't that much room to get the dental floss underneath.
Docedison:
There is a very simple remedy for that issue.. Simply fold back a 1/4 in of the backing tape or pull off the backing tape and using a paper punch make a half dozen holes and then replace the backing tape.
BE MOST CAREFUL NOT to TOUCH THE STICKY TAPE. Your skin oils and casual "Dirt" will damage/destroy the adhesive. If you punch an irregular set of holes... You can lift the tape and "RE-Stick" the tape again to a new sticky area and thus get some real use from the breadboards without the trauma described in the pictures... One Last thing... Don't Pull on the breadboard to remove it when it has been STUCK down by removing all the backing tape, use dental floss to "Saw" the tape free. I used a lot of Sticky take at one time and those were the working answers
i had for double sided tape.
Generally you can see all 4 sides well enough to 'loop' the floss round the breadboard. Pull gently as You don't want to cut too deep, a lot of smaller 'cuts' works better.
