SMD component storage?

[peps1]

I'm starting to play around with more SMD projects, and needed a way to store components, so grabbed a couple of Aidetek BOX-ALL cases with 144 compartments (two 6x12 sections in each box).



But, I was wondering the best way to order the values? 

At first I was just going to start at the top left corner of the box and work my way up in values from the component kits I have.....but then I thought, what if I then get a value that was not in the kit, I would have to move and reprint a label for every larger value.

So then I thought of doing a row or column for each base value, so it would go:

1?, 10?, 100?, 1K, 10K, 100k, 1M, 10m, 100m but then realised if I did that I could not even fit the 168 standard resistor values into one box.
 
So, what is the best way to approach this 

[bson]

Make labels for all standard values and assign each a bin, even if empty.

[sleemanj]

Resistors?  Think about the values you need, or rather, can get away with.

I use 6 decades of 1, 1.5, 2.2, 2.7, 3.3, 3.9, 4.7 and 5.1, with additional useful outliers of 120R, 180R, 240R, 300R, 360R, 430R, 1M, and of course 0R

With those values it's easy to make most any value required through parallel or series of a couple of resistors

[KL27x]

http://www.amazon.com/Karter-Scientific-208U2-Plastic-Detachable/dp/B005Z4QWIK/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1455768526&sr=8-3&keywords=test+tube+rack
http://www.amazon.com/SEOH-125mm-Plastic-Test-Tubes/dp/B002J9SIOU/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1455768579&sr=8-4&keywords=test+tubes

Here's something to think about, maybe?

I use something like this with color coordinated caps (in addition to the labels, of course) and sequential organization. I pour resistors/caps out into little dishes which I can place near the work. I can get them with a pickup tool or tweezers. Pour leftovers back into the tube when done using a little scoop/funnel I keep on the bench for exactly this sort of thing. Or I tap a few directly out of the tube onto the pcb if I need just one (always an extra or two in case of loss).

And if you need to take few things to go, or you want to organize parts for a specific project, you can just take the tubes you need and slip them into MTM plastic ammo boxes of various capacity. You could build your entire parts set in this type of box, which is essentially a high quality test tube rack with a snap-closing lid. 13mm x 75mm capped tubes fit nicely in a 308 ammo box, for instance. Or maybe 30-06? It will be box/brand specific, and you will have to cross check the cartridge compatibility and look up the SAAMI dimensions of those calibers, to be sure.

FYI, about 85-90% of a 5000 ct reel of 0603 parts will fit into a 13x75mm capped tube.

[kayvee]

Nice idea KL27x, but I am struggling to see how you are able to label the tops so they are visible from above when stacked in a rack.  Yes you can rely on order, but it becomes more tricky when you have lots of SOT-23's and the like.

I use 35mm film canisters such as these:

http://www.ebay.com/bhp/35mm-film-canisters

Not that I bought mine, I used to frequent the local photographic processing shops back in the day when that was popular, they were happy to give them away by the bagful.  Have a huge stash tucked away still.

They are large enough that you can label the tops in a meaningful way, and colour code the labels too.  The tops double as a pickup tray and when you are done you dump the contents back into the container without needing an additional funnel.  Also they are large enough to handle larger aluminium caps, DPAK's and so on.

[KL27x]

No, I haven't found a practical way to label the tops.

It's not ideal for lots of different types of parts, no. But most of my tubed parts are caps and resistors. I tend to keep only a couple kinds of transistors, diodes, fuses, LEDs, smd tacswitches, etc on the rack. I prefer to keep most of those parts on the reel/tape, because they require proper orientation when placing, and a pile of randomness is not always convenient. These odd prototyping parts, I do in the front rows. Diodes all grouped together, etc. You can see the labels and the parts in the front row, and I put like parts behind those. Reorganizing them as necessary and/or swapping colored caps is pretty easy, too.

You can also put shorter tubes in the front half and taller tubes in the back rows, dividing things in two and having twice as many columns of readable labels, having 3-tube columns for each type of item. I happen to have my rack organized with 75mm in the front three rows of my rack, and 100mm tubes in the back 3 rows, ATM.

Perhaps the way you work, you could use both types of boxes and tubes. I don't usually have a spot to get a big set of boxes near what I'm working on. I can barely find a space for my keyboard, sometimes.

[kayvee]

Yeah the downside of my method is that it does take up more space.  I have made some custom boxes for them to sit in, then I stack them on top of each other.

All of my components are stored on reel, the containers are used for saving the excess when unloading the reels from the pick & place feeders.  They are sized that with a bit of practice you can dump the excess parts directly into the canister without them falling all over the workbench top.  They then become handy for rework and development.

[KL27x]

Random thought: one of my clients uses 2L bottle preforms for holding parts. They're gigantic test tubes before they are blown up, and they have that great gas tight screw cap. If you have a lot of parts to store, these can hold a lot, they have lids large enough to label, and they are completely indestructible.

[Richard Head]

I've got four BOX-ALL storage boxes and am happy with them. I have one for 0805 resistors, one for 0603 resistors, another for 0805/tant capacitors and another for semiconductors. The labels they supply are not the greatest as they start peeling due to crappy glue or something.
Just NEVER DROP THE BOX!

[mazurov]

Search for "smd book" on ebay. They are sold filled with 0603 resistors/caps as well as empty. 'Pocket' width in those is suitable for 8-12mm tape - small semiconductors in SOT-23, SOD-123, 5x3 crystals can also be stored.  For larger parts transparent baseball card sleeves can be used in a similar manner, stuffed in standard size 3 ring binders.     

[JacobPilsen]

Empty tube of DC/DC Converter in Single-In-Line package has same width as paper tape with SMD.
(NMA0512SC is just an example)

[Pack34]

I'd start off by picking up one of these to go with it. Use those values as a base and pad in some stuff in the middle until the container fills up. I'd definately want some values under 10-ohm, specifically some 0-ohm ones.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1800-PCS-0603-1-SMD-SMT-Resistor-Assortment-Kit-Assorted-Value-Pack-TAIWAN-/272114421463?hash=item3f5b488ed7:g:JpkAAOSwJkJWijnB

If you're going to use one of these, I would suggest stopping by a shipping store (UPS, FedEx) and see if you can buy one or two of those adhesive plastic shipping sleeves to fold-up and store some sort of sheet with the part values and MFG codes. You can only put so much information on those lids and if you run out you'll know the exact tolerance and part numbers.