Setting up shop: best practices?

[Chris_77]

I'm returning to electronics after 15 years away. Lots of things have changed, and one of those things is that I can buy direct from Shenzhen in small lots via eBay.

This is good.

This is my first time really trying to set up my own shop/parts-bin, so one of the things I've started doing is not putting parts away into my storage bins until AFTER I've counted and tested the components. Yes, I'm that person who counts out 100 ceramic capacitors from a small baggie to make sure there are actually 100 there.

I can test resistors and LEDs easily enough (I have a DMM), but I can't readily test capacitors, and I'd have to wire up a harness to test 7-segment LED displays.

How does everyone here test their components? Do you test everything that comes in immediately, or throw it into your parts-bin and test before use? How would I go about testing ICs in an easy way? Connect VCC and GND and do a continuity test between the two? Actually wire them up in a jig/circuit that should produce a known result, and probe outputs? What is the best practice here? I remember EE lab and having parts that had failed but were still mixed into the bins; it was frustrating enough to spend hours troubleshooting a circuit when a failed IC was the culprit. I want to avoid that at home.

[sokoloff]

What percentage of your parts will be used? For me, it's down near 10% (probably less  ), so I'd much rather test on pick than test on put-away.

For ceramic caps and other jellybean parts, an eyeball test is good enough for me. Do I really care if I got shipped 98 caps in a bag that was supposed to have 100? No; I care that it looks like "definitely more than 50, most likely more than 75..."

I'd rather spend my time on the creative work than the inbound supply chain inspections, which could take up all of my available hobby time. I find that I get cheated less than 1% of the time on orders from Shenzhen. (Of course, with lax inbound inspections, maybe the actual figure is higher...)

[tautech]

Bite the bullet and shell out for a pair of these:
http://www.smarttweezers.com/st5s/

Yep, they're dear but after years of use you will replace them in an instant should they break or get broken.

There's cheaper copies and Asian knock offs but these are the bee's knees for SMD.

[stj]

to count things, just get a small set of scales and a pocket calculator.

weigh one item, then weigh the lot.
divide the big number by the small one and you have the quantity.

that method is used on shop scales and industrial "filling" machines that put stuff into bags.

it takes you the same time to check 50 as it does to check 1000.
 

[Chris_77]

to count things, just get a small set of scales and a pocket calculator.

weigh one item, then weigh the lot.
divide the big number by the small one and you have the quantity.

that method is used on shop scales and industrial "filling" machines that put stuff into bags.

it takes you the same time to check 50 as it does to check 1000.
 

*nod* I was thinking about this as I was around 72 in my count.

I'll definitely do this in future!

(Also, for anyone interested, the count was off by 8--8%--in my capacitor order of 100. The seller made it more-than-right, and it's fine, but when buying in very small lots, component counts may be eyeballed!)

[Red Squirrel]

I really need to organize my components better, but for now they mostly get shoved in a box.  I have various boxes by type, like passive components, discrete components, etc.

I tend to test stuff as I need it.  My big issue now is organization though, I need to build a shed so I can clear my garage of stuff and actually use it as a shop, then I want to build a bunch of small wooden boxes to store components in.  Saw a video of a guy who did this and it was super neat and tidy, and consistent.  He had different varieties of size, but they were all consistent and fit neatly in a drawer system.

Then I'd probably have a misc bin for untested stuff, and when I'm bored I'd go through them and test then place in the proper bins.  Like resistors would be marked by value etc.  right now they're just all shoved in a container in their original package.  Some of the stuff from China often has no label saying what it is, but I know what it is because I ordered it, so I'll put the info on the bag and store it.

I have way too many components now, and barely used any.  I tend to buy "just in case".

I need to find a use for the 6v 100,000uf capacitors I bought. lol.  I'm thinking  I'm thinking spot welder...lol.