Are all breadboards equal or are there good and bad ones?

[Robert Smith Eco Warrior]

Hi All,
Everyone seems to have a breadboard or several. Usually white with some black and red lines to indicate some connected tracks.... but no makers names. Are they all churned out of the same chinese factory?
I have had to chase down a number of errors while making up circuits on my breadboard, often it is just bad connections which make me wonder if there are good or bad ones or are they all the same?

[Black Phoenix]

The ones that I see always being recommended are the 3M ones. But they are expensive.

[Ian.M]

There are a very few high quality brands of breadboard, a lot of mediocre ones and a vast pile of lowest bidder 'china export' grade crap.

Variants of this question come up regularly here. 
Google this forum for: breadboard quality contact resistance
which should find most of the relevant topics.

[Johnny10]

I took apart a Global Specialties PB-60 Breadboard.
As you can see it is a quality board with metal inserts.
They are mounted on a transparent plastic sheet.
Expensive compared to Chinese.

[Ian.M]

All breadboards have metal contacts.  The difference is whether they are made from soft or brittle recycled mystery metal, or from good quality nickel or silver plated spring temper phosphor bronze. 

Also the exact shape the contacts are formed to is critical - see:

[mindcrime]

There are definitely differences in quality. Somebody on Youtube did a good comparison once, and I seem to recall that the Jameco Valuepro brand breadboards came out really well in the comparison.

I think this is the video I am thinking about:

[Peabody]

I've used the BusBoard Prototype boards recommended in that last video, and they work quite well.  Not too expensive.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0040Z4QN8

I actually bought mine from Arrow.  The distributors are listed here:

http://www.busboard.com/distributors

You might get lucky with the cheap ones from Ebay, etc., but it's really not worth taking a chance.  This is one of those things that you just have to get right, even at high cost.  A flaky breadboard will make your life miserable.  It's funny - if you tried to design a breadboard that made contact intermittently, you'd have trouble doing that.  I mean - it's just metal contacts.  But the Ebay guys have managed to do it.  Apparently it's a combination of the design of the contacts and the metal use, but you can push two wires into the same row on the bad boards, and get no continuity at all.  It's just amazing.

[wizard69]

I have to agree with everybody else that has responded, quality varies widely and in some cases the product is useless.   Unfortunately this is something I learned the hard way.   I don't know of a quality Chinese made unit at this point, there might be one out there but I'm not willing to test any more.

By the way the 3M marketed boards have a good reputation.   However it is rumored that they actually source their boards from: http://www.assemblyspecialist.com/ so if you want high quality they might be the best option.

Hi All,
Everyone seems to have a breadboard or several. Usually white with some black and red lines to indicate some connected tracks.... but no makers names. Are they all churned out of the same chinese factory?
I have had to chase down a number of errors while making up circuits on my breadboard, often it is just bad connections which make me wonder if there are good or bad ones or are they all the same?

On the flip side breadboards have a range of proper wire sizes they can make use of.   So there is a user element here that impacts reliability.    The manufacture should specify the acceptable range of wire sizes to be used on the breadboard.   It is a real good idea to have a large collection of solid wire of the proper gauge.   On the cheaper boards I've found them to be very size sensitive with respect to wire diameter (or maybe the boards are cheap and the spring elements already shot).   

[james_s]

There is a huge difference in quality, and it can make or break your project, the difference between success and endless frustration. The cheap ones often make poor contact with component leads and they tend to wear out quickly. A good quality breadboard such as 3M will last decades if you don't abuse it.

[Gyro]

Learn the art of 'Manhattan' style prototyping as quickly as possible. Not only is a sheet of copperclad cheaper, but the results are far more reliable.

[james_s]

Learn the art of 'Manhattan' style prototyping as quickly as possible. Not only is a sheet of copperclad cheaper, but the results are far more reliable.

I do that frequently, but it's no substitute for a solderless breadboard. It would be stupid to break out the soldering iron if all I wanted to do was wire up a few components to a microcontroller or something. Unless one has extreme tunnel vision there is no one size fits all approach. If you still insist that breadboards don't work then you either haven't used a good one or haven't used it properly.

[Doctorandus_P]

Something also worth considering, is that if you give a reasonable quality breadboard to an idiot he will find a way to destroy it.
Never underestimate the ingenuity of a true idiot!


A definite no-no is to use wired resistors, pull them out of the tape they come in and the put them in a breadboard.
The wire ends will have glue residue and this will get collected inside the breadboard connectors over time.

So always cut the wires of resistors. This can be done with regular scissors. When the wires are shorter, they are also much more stable in the breadboard. Best is to have wire ends that are about 10mm long.

[Gyro]

Learn the art of 'Manhattan' style prototyping as quickly as possible. Not only is a sheet of copperclad cheaper, but the results are far more reliable.

... Unless one has extreme tunnel vision there is no one size fits all approach. If you still insist that breadboards don't work then you either haven't used a good one or haven't used it properly.

No it's ok, don't hold back, I know you must feel strain of having to write so many replies every day (even if you duplicate previous ones)*. I have never "still insisted" anything about breadboards.

I merely suggested that the OP learn the Manhattan method, it is a viable prototyping method that many beginners don't know about (this is the beginners section). Maybe I should have added 'in many cases'.


Edit: * Sorry, argumentative.

[tggzzz]

Learn the art of 'Manhattan' style prototyping as quickly as possible. Not only is a sheet of copperclad cheaper, but the results are far more reliable.

Precisely. Spot on.

Solderless breadboards are the work of he devil; you will spend more time debugging the breadboard than debugging your circuit.

FFI, including alternatives to manhattan, see the references in https://entertaininghacks.wordpress.com/2020/07/22/prototyping-circuits-easy-cheap-fast-reliable-techniques/

[rdl]

If you buy a name brand and not some cheap crap from ebay or ali you'll be fine. The company that actually makes the 3M boards was selling direct for a lower price. Don't know if they still do or if the price is still low.

Use the search function here and search entire forum for 3M solderless. There's a lot of relevant threads.

[drussell]

Learn the art of 'Manhattan' style prototyping as quickly as possible. Not only is a sheet of copperclad cheaper, but the results are far more reliable.

I do that frequently, but it's no substitute for a solderless breadboard. It would be stupid to break out the soldering iron if all I wanted to do was wire up a few components to a microcontroller or something. Unless one has extreme tunnel vision there is no one size fits all approach. If you still insist that breadboards don't work then you either haven't used a good one or haven't used it properly.

Precisely!

Experimenting and building a one-off or a prototype are two different things!  Soldering stuff to a copper board is not the same thing as being able to plug in and out random components to rows of sockets, especially if you're working with rows of ICs or something.

Breadboards absolutely have their place and using decent quality ones makes all the difference to the experience.  The OP asked about the variable quality of solderless breadboards (of which there is a huge variation), not tangential methods to avoid using shoddy breadboards or advice regarding having bad connection problems or whatnot...

[tggzzz]

If you still insist that breadboards don't work then you either haven't used a good one or haven't used it properly.

Breadboards are primarily used by beginners. By definition, they don't really understand the circuit they are building and have neither the knowledge nor experience to use them "properly" (whatever that
means[1]). Hence when (not if) something doesn't work, they can't begin to debug their circuit. Frustration abounds and they become disheartened.

OTOH, those with sufficient knowledge and experience usually don't need to go through a "fiddle until it works" process on a breadboard.

[1] my definition of "properly" is "not at all".

[Gyro]

Learn the art of 'Manhattan' style prototyping as quickly as possible. Not only is a sheet of copperclad cheaper, but the results are far more reliable.

I do that frequently, but it's no substitute for a solderless breadboard. It would be stupid to break out the soldering iron if all I wanted to do was wire up a few components to a microcontroller or something. Unless one has extreme tunnel vision there is no one size fits all approach. If you still insist that breadboards don't work then you either haven't used a good one or haven't used it properly.

Precisely!

Experimenting and building a one-off or a prototype are two different things!  Soldering stuff to a copper board is not the same thing as being able to plug in and out random components to rows of sockets, especially if you're working with rows of ICs or something.

Breadboards absolutely have their place and using decent quality ones makes all the difference to the experience.  The OP asked about the variable quality of solderless breadboards (of which there is a huge variation), not tangential methods to avoid using shoddy breadboards or advice regarding having bad connection problems or whatnot...

I really didn't mean my reply to turn this into some kind of breadboard - non breadboard holy war! I was just suggesting an alternative technique that the OP is probably not be familiar with. Looking at his posting history it has mostly been solar stuff, some Arduino and a little 'how to solder smd ICs.  Can we just leave it at that!

I don't use breadboards myself - well ok, I have a little one that I occasionally plug a module or dip IC into for quick test. It has a variety of insertion pressures depending on which holes I use. Even something like an Arduino Nano takes up a lot of real estate.

My only thoughts on them are:

1. When you get your circuit nicely working, you then have to dismantle it an build it in some other form, hopefully, having a correct schematic first... and of course you have to find a bodge for anything only available in smd [EDIT: or big].

2. All breadboards become unreliable, even the best. It's only a matter of time, purchase price and care of use. Some start off that way, the expensive ones may have a decent life if treated very carefully (lead diameter and contaminants). Ultimately you will start debugging intermittent connections rather than circuits on a hole by hole basis. If you're really lucky you realise that you need to write it off it before that happens. It seems that the OP is already suffering from that.

I guess my relevant advice to the OP in that case is, buy an expensive one, treat it with great care, [and know when to bin it].


Hah, now I actually have to analyse it, I do have an opinion on them, I'd never thought about it that deeply.

[james_s]

If you still insist that breadboards don't work then you either haven't used a good one or haven't used it properly.

Breadboards are primarily used by beginners. By definition, they don't really understand the circuit they are building and have neither the knowledge nor experience to use them "properly" (whatever that
means[1]). Hence when (not if) something doesn't work, they can't begin to debug their circuit. Frustration abounds and they become disheartened.

OTOH, those with sufficient knowledge and experience usually don't need to go through a "fiddle until it works" process on a breadboard.

[1] my definition of "properly" is "not at all".

Well, when all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail. You don't have a use for breadboards, good for you. I'm glad that your vastly superior knowledge allows you to design circuits that work without any fiddling. For the rest of us there are breadboards and they serve a purpose, they are yet another tool in the toolbox, and the fact that you see no value in them and don't think anyone else should either just sounds very elitist. There are times when I know exactly what I'm doing and jump straight to the prototype stage or even go directly to laying out a PCB but there are a lot of other times when I just want to try something quick, like connect some stuff to a microcontroller and whip up a proof of concept or test out some novel part to see if it will do what I want. There's no point in soldering together a prototype if I'm only going to use it briefly. Like I said, I'm well experienced with Manhattan construction and have used it for years, but that also is another tool in the toolbox, I have multiple tools and choose the one best suited to a particular job. I am not stuck on one specific technique and having used breadboards for over 30 years I've somehow never had any of the problems that apparently make them completely unsuitable in the eyes of some. I don't know why some people are apparently unable to make them work but since they work fine for me that kind of points at something they're doing wrong, not something that is wrong with the concept.

[tggzzz]

If you still insist that breadboards don't work then you either haven't used a good one or haven't used it properly.

Breadboards are primarily used by beginners. By definition, they don't really understand the circuit they are building and have neither the knowledge nor experience to use them "properly" (whatever that
means[1]). Hence when (not if) something doesn't work, they can't begin to debug their circuit. Frustration abounds and they become disheartened.

OTOH, those with sufficient knowledge and experience usually don't need to go through a "fiddle until it works" process on a breadboard.

[1] my definition of "properly" is "not at all".

Well, when all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail. You don't have a use for breadboards, good for you. I'm glad that your vastly superior knowledge allows you to design circuits that work without any fiddling. For the rest of us there are breadboards and they serve a purpose, they are yet another tool in the toolbox, and the fact that you see no value in them and don't think anyone else should either just sounds very elitist. There are times when I know exactly what I'm doing and jump straight to the prototype stage or even go directly to laying out a PCB but there are a lot of other times when I just want to try something quick, like connect some stuff to a microcontroller and whip up a proof of concept or test out some novel part to see if it will do what I want. There's no point in soldering together a prototype if I'm only going to use it briefly. Like I said, I'm well experienced with Manhattan construction and have used it for years, but that also is another tool in the toolbox, I have multiple tools and choose the one best suited to a particular job. I am not stuck on one specific technique and having used breadboards for over 30 years I've somehow never had any of the problems that apparently make them completely unsuitable in the eyes of some. I don't know why some people are apparently unable to make them work but since they work fine for me that kind of points at something they're doing wrong, not something that is wrong with the concept.

None of that addresses the points that beginners usually end up having with their hammer solderless breadboards.

[tooki]

I have to agree with everybody else that has responded, quality varies widely and in some cases the product is useless.   Unfortunately this is something I learned the hard way.   I don't know of a quality Chinese made unit at this point, there might be one out there but I'm not willing to test any more.

By the way the 3M marketed boards have a good reputation.   However it is rumored that they actually source their boards from: http://www.assemblyspecialist.com/ so if you want high quality they might be the best option.

Not rumored, confirmed. It was me who figured out it was them, and someone else on the forums reached out to them and they confirmed it.

Alas, around a year ago they increased their prices a lot, around double what they used to be. Still cheaper than 3M, but not by nearly the huge margin it used to be. I guess that gravy train has sailed… 

Learn the art of 'Manhattan' style prototyping as quickly as possible. Not only is a sheet of copperclad cheaper, but the results are far more reliable.

Precisely. Spot on.

Solderless breadboards are the work of he devil; you will spend more time debugging the breadboard than debugging your circuit.

FFI, including alternatives to manhattan, see the references in https://bristol.hackspace.org.uk/wiki/doku.php?id=resources:pcb#avoiding_solderless_breadboards

Like flies to a plate of food, it was only a matter of time before the anti-breadboard brigade would show up with their tired old schtick, as they do every… single… time… the word "breadboard" appears in a thread title.  They stubbornly and arrogantly refuse to even consider the possibility of breadboards having uses, despite the fact that millions of people use them gainfully.

[tooki]

None of that addresses the points that beginners usually end up having with their hammer solderless breadboards.

Of which there is no widespread evidence. Your opinions and anecdotes do not data make. As we've discussed ad infinitum in other threads, there's also the fact that knowing the limitations of your tools is a critical part of learning electronics.

[Dabbot]

There are definitely differences in quality. Somebody on Youtube did a good comparison once, and I seem to recall that the Jameco Valuepro brand breadboards came out really well in the comparison.

The Jameco Valuepro breadboards are Wisher re-brands, which are an excellent cheap alternative to 3M breadboards.

[MikeK]

There are definitely differences in quality. Somebody on Youtube did a good comparison once, and I seem to recall that the Jameco Valuepro brand breadboards came out really well in the comparison.

The Jameco Valuepro breadboards are Wisher re-brands, which are an excellent cheap alternative to 3M breadboards.

Yep.  And Radio Shack (in the U.S.) carried them.  Still do?...Dunno.  All of my boards are the Wisher ones from Radio Shack or Jameco.  A please to use.  I've tried cheap $5 boards and they're just awful...total waste of money.

[tggzzz]

None of that addresses the points that beginners usually end up having with their hammer solderless breadboards.

Of which there is no widespread evidence. Your opinions and anecdotes do not data make. As we've discussed ad infinitum in other threads, there's also the fact that knowing the limitations of your tools is a critical part of learning electronics.

There is plenty of evidence in the form of who doesn't and won't use them, and why.

You have (again) missed a key point, even though you mention a allied point that doesn't affect your contention. Arguably more important than the limitations of the tools is the limitations of the tools' user!

No matter how good/bad a tool, it is likely to be poorly and/or inappropriately used by a beginner.