Author Topic: Pin headers that won't damage breadboards  (Read 1492 times)

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Offline aeberbachTopic starter

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Pin headers that won't damage breadboards
« on: February 23, 2020, 11:33:47 pm »
Regular square pin are said to damage breadboards as they are a little too large and stretch out the contacts. They are certainly convenient; a hybrid breadboard/wire wrap construction is very neat, once you have the square pin in the breadboard it is easy to wire wrap pin to pin to make connections. But given that a top quality breadboard is expensive maybe that's a bad idea and I should just carefully cut and bend solid core wires.

I spent a bit of time searching for machined pins for those times you do need to put a pin into a breadboard, like when plugging in a module on piece of proto board. Harwin D01 series come close but the pins look a little short for peace of mind. Anyone got a favourite?

Or is this a myth and you've been using square header pins for years with no issues?
Software guy studying B.Eng.
 

Offline Jwillis

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Re: Pin headers that won't damage breadboards
« Reply #1 on: February 24, 2020, 12:42:41 am »
I'm not to particular about the bread boards I buy. I get the cheap ones because I've set a few on fire. But I did find these that may be what your looking for.

https://www.sparkfun.com/products/743?_ga=2.77968733.851358417.1582504737-353490360.1582504737

These are worth more than the boards I buy.
 

Offline JustMeHere

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Re: Pin headers that won't damage breadboards
« Reply #2 on: February 24, 2020, 02:32:09 am »
I've seen a hole or two go bad on a breadboard, but that's what they do.  They should be thought of as disposable.
 

Online WattsThat

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Re: Pin headers that won't damage breadboards
« Reply #3 on: February 24, 2020, 02:37:45 am »
I agree the .025 square pin headers will make the breadboard clips loose and problematic, especially for round wire component leads so I avoid them for breadboarding purposes.

I use the cheap, round pin headers available from China, gold plated, .017 diameter pins. About 2 cents/pin in lots of ten strips of 40 pins. eBay and Aliexpress have plenty of listings. I don’t know the pin length, can measure if it matters. BTW, the longer, thin ends go into the BB.


 

Offline tooki

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Re: Pin headers that won't damage breadboards
« Reply #4 on: February 24, 2020, 04:53:36 am »
I agree the .025 square pin headers will make the breadboard clips loose and problematic, especially for round wire component leads so I avoid them for breadboarding purposes.

I use the cheap, round pin headers available from China, gold plated, .017 diameter pins. About 2 cents/pin in lots of ten strips of 40 pins. eBay and Aliexpress have plenty of listings. I don’t know the pin length, can measure if it matters. BTW, the longer, thin ends go into the BB.
I concur: get cheap Chinese machined pins. They work great.


I've seen a hole or two go bad on a breadboard, but that's what they do.  They should be thought of as disposable.
A high quality breadboard will last for many, many, many years without getting loose, if it's treated properly (i.e. adhering to the maximum wire size). Cheap ones are a different matter…

Square pins really are too big, and will wear out a cheap breadboard quickly. Even worse are things like many potentiometers, TO-220 semiconductors, etc. The latter can be made safe by using flat jaw pliers to rotate the pins by 90 degrees, so that the pin enters parallel to the terminal strip, instead of prying it apart.
 


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