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Good Breadboard gauge wire — Parallax Forums

Good Breadboard gauge wire

logan996logan996 Posts: 281
edited 2010-06-02 19:46 in General Discussion
I went to radioshack (to see if the RFID reader was still on the cheap) and bought some solid core hookup wire that is 22-gauge. I was wondering is that what is right for a breadboard? what is the gauge that parallax uses for their precut 3" strips? I would experiment but the wire was a hefty price and i wan't to be able to take it back if i have to.

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Comments

  • ElectricAyeElectricAye Posts: 4,561
    edited 2010-06-01 22:02
    logan996 said...
    ....what is the gauge that parallax uses for their precut 3" strips?...

    I don't know what Parallax provides but I've used 22 gauge wire for breadboards for years. Just make sure what you bought is SOLID wire and not stranded. smile.gif
  • UnknownUnknown
    edited 2010-06-01 22:20
    Radio Shack is convenient, you get to talk to someone who may help you and you save on shipping but the rent they pay is often added on to what you buy which means it isn't the most economical place.

    If you buy online or through catalogs, you can probably get that wire for a cheaper price but if that is all you are buying then you aren't going to save a lot of money because you are going to pay shipping.

    Some of the breadboard wires advertised on some of these cheaper sites aren't sturdy and while I haven't cut one open to see what it is yet, I would probably go with a good guage wire unless it is for convenience. As long as you have connectivity then I don't have a problem.

    I found another breadboard wire kit from an Elenco supplier but the breadboard wires are probably steel so they aren't copper.
  • HollyMinkowskiHollyMinkowski Posts: 1,398
    edited 2010-06-01 22:53
    I sometimes just cut a piece of 8 conductor Cat5 wire
    off the rolls and use that. Not sure what gauge it is...
    But it's CHEAP and 8 color schemes.
  • RickBRickB Posts: 395
    edited 2010-06-02 00:37
    And get the tinned variety, because the untinned copper will oxidize and provide you with many hours of unwanted entertainment tracking down those intermittent connections.
  • schillschill Posts: 741
    edited 2010-06-02 01:38
    I think tinned solid 22G is pretty much the "standard." It's what I've been using for many, many years.

    I do have some of the better quality pre-made stranded cables with pins soldered or crimped on the ends. The flexibility can be convenient sometimes. You can get pretty good quality ones fairly cheap. I've also used really cheap ones that are more problematic than helpful - the pins tend to be too small and they don't stay in the breadboard (especially if you stick headers into your breadboards like I do (and just about everyone else does)).
  • hover1hover1 Posts: 1,929
    edited 2010-06-02 01:47
    22 Gauge is good. That's what I use. But I also like to use these:

    ·http://cgi.ebay.com/Qty-210-Solderless-Breadboard-Jumper-Cable-Wires-Kit-/350299182556?cmd=ViewItem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item518f7555dc

    If you can get them if they soldered, that's better than crimped.

    Now Holly is going to go off and find them 50% cheaper, and better, and have a free O'Scope with the offer.

    (Bows to our ebay queen).

    Jim
  • pjvpjv Posts: 1,903
    edited 2010-06-02 04:56
    Hi All;

    A similar set of 70 pieces pinned rubber jumper wires of various lengths are available from SOLARBOTICS.COM for .... you guessed it, half the above ebay price, at $6.00. Item 21035 under the "ADVANCED" heading.

    They work great, and have sure cleaned up MY patch boards.

    Sorry, no free O'Scope!

    Cheers,

    Peter (pjv)
  • HollyMinkowskiHollyMinkowski Posts: 1,398
    edited 2010-06-02 05:23
    I bought several cheap solderless breadboards
    (now parted from me..I need to order more)
    The boards came with a generous supply of jumpers
    with nice tinned ends. There seem to be more people
    selling them now. Here are 3 links

    cgi.ebay.com/2860-Tiepoint-Solderless-Breadboard-Includes-Jumpwires-/390203565360?cmd=ViewItem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5ad9f1e530#ht_2091wt_920
    PCB.jpg

    cgi.ebay.com/2-860-Tiepoint-Solderless-Breadboard-Includes-Jumpwires-/220610804476?cmd=ViewItem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item335d6dbafc#ht_2032wt_1148
    12648095350.jpg

    And this one---same image as the first link... I believe this is the person I ordered from before. Not certain though.
    cgi.ebay.com/2-860-Tiepoint-Solderless-Breadboard-Includes-Jumpwires-/150444692995?cmd=ViewItem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item230733d603#ht_1197wt_912

    See the two power connectors at the top of these boards.
    I put a 5v regulator beneath the right one and connected
    its output to a 3.3v one beneath the one on the left. Then I
    drilled a hole in the green plastic board at top middle and
    used a plug in pwr supply to feed the board 9v or so. I tied
    the pwr supply feed wire through the hole for strength.
  • mctriviamctrivia Posts: 3,772
    edited 2010-06-02 13:52
    I used to use cat5 cable all the time because it is cheap(24 awg) but now i use cat 6(23 awg) because I have lots of it around and it is a little thicker. Definitely the cheapest way to go. a 1000' box of cat5 is only $80 and you can usually get 20'-40' chunks free if you know someone that pulls network cable as part of there job. Once the box gets down to that short it gets chucked out since there is almost never a pull that short in commercial buildings.

    20' of cat5 will give you a little over 80' of usable wires in 8 different colors. Just spend a little time to unwind the wires and straiten them out with your fingers.

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    Lots of propeller based products in stock at affordable prices.
  • David BDavid B Posts: 592
    edited 2010-06-02 14:32
    I've got a section of multiconductor phone wire about a dozen feet long in the garage that has something like 20 pairs of multi-colored wires, and I've have been cutting 6 inch segments off it for a few years for a supply of breadboarding wire.

    But the device breadboard connectors on the Parallax propeller professional development board has slightly larger openings, and the phone wires don't grip well in them. The Radio Shack 22 gauge wires work well there, but they are much stiffer (and more expensive) than the phone wire.
  • schillschill Posts: 741
    edited 2010-06-02 19:46
    If you are looking for pre-made wires, these are the ones I like best now:

    http://www.pololu.com/catalog/category/71

    I find the pins on these are a little larger than the cheap ones I've got and they fit better in headers. I threw something together quickly for UPEC using the cheaper wires (4 or 5 of them) and ended up replacing them with ones from Pololu in the hotel the night before because the cheap ones kept falling out.

    Pololu sells them with M-M, M-F, or F-F ends and you can buy housings to group them together. The housings and F-F could replace the ones I've crimped/soldered myself for years (using housings and connectors from Jameco).

    If you don't want to use the housings and just want a single wire connections, you can use heat shrink tubing around the crimps at either end to provide some isolation.

    While I still make my own cables, I've also bought a nice supply of these from Pololu. When you want a quick cable and don't want to bother with the cutting, stripping, crimping, and soldering (I always do both on my own cables) they are nice to have around. I have numerous lengths with all end combinations.
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