Why are there gaps in breadboard bus strips?

[JacobP]

As I'm learning, I've been working on low-complexity projects on breadboards. On every breadboard I have, there are periodic breaks in the bus strips. For example, on the one in front of me right now, there are 5 holes, then a bit of solid breadboard one-row wide, then another 5 holes, etc.

Is there a reason they are designed like this?

[Brumby]

Like this?:



I don't know.

I am guessing it might have something to do with the tooling for producing the contacts (underneath) in groups of 5.

[Brumby]

Then again, maybe not....

[Brumby]

Or maybe it is...




This reflects my original thought - that all the connections are made as bus strips, with the shorter 5 pin strips just cut from that.

[jpanhalt]

Let's see, you have two buss strips on both sides with breaks in the middle. That makes 8 buses in total.  That gives you a bus for +V, -V, GND, and something else on each side.  I never worried about it.  I just connect the strips in series for +V and GND, and treat the -V as a separate, on board entity.

I guess you could have different buss voltages, say +/-5V and +/-12V plus GND.  I wouldn't lose sleep over it.  Relish your options.

John

[Brumby]

I never worried about it.

Neither do I.

[T3sl4co1l]

Vestigial aspects aside, I suppose it would help keep the contacts in place: each group of five is secured by a wall, so it can't shift around.  If it were one continuous strip, it could get bent and springs wouldn't line up with their holes.

Tim

[T3sl4co1l]

I've seen some breadboards where the power rail goes the entire length and some where they break in the middle and you have to bridge them yourself if you want a continuous strip. Who knows why really.

Feature-bug.

It's sometimes nice having local rails, e.g. 5V for a digital bit and +/-12V for the analog bit.  Having four of them helps too.

Other times, it's just wasting a jumper (or worse if you're not expecting to need it).

Tim

[mtdoc]

I've seen some breadboards where the power rail goes the entire length and some where they break in the middle and you have to bridge them yourself if you want a continuous strip. Who knows why really.

Feature-bug.

It's sometimes nice having local rails, e.g. 5V for a digital bit and +/-12V for the analog bit.  Having four of them helps too.

Other times, it's just wasting a jumper (or worse if you're not expecting to need it).

Tim

Wisher  breadboards have this as a feature. It's the reason I recently purchased one.

[Richard Crowley]

That is how the strips are manufacturered. In long strips of five sections with five points each.  They chop the sections into individual lengths for the major section in the middle, and use the complete section of 25 points for the power busses along the edge. 

Note that there are longer breadboards which have longer power busses where there is a break, typically in the middle of the length. That is because the manufacturered strips aren't long enough to make a continuous strip for the entire length of the breadboard.  There are many cases of new players coming to forums like this asking why their circuit doesn't work only to discover that the power busses are not contiguous.

[ebclr]

Very simple

They have only 1 tool with 5 contact spaces and use the same tool for rows and columns

[MarkF]

I have an A.C.E. breadboard from the 1980's and the buses are NOT divided as new boards are.

[T3sl4co1l]

I have a... well, whoever the hell put this one together, but anyway it's not segmented buses:
https://www.seventransistorlabs.com/Images/Z80_Timer2.jpg
I have a very old RadioShack board (a single piece, not like the array of pieces glued to a plate, above) that also has complete buses (only two, one above and one below the work area).  I have a not-quite-as-old RadioShack board (single, on base plate) that does have the segments.

So if two similar yet different products from one company alone (Tandy, et al.) isn't enough to boggle your mind...

Tim

[MrBungle]

I have an A.C.E. breadboard from the 1980's and the buses are NOT divided as new boards are.

And yet your photo shows that they are? 

[NottheDan]

I have an A.C.E. breadboard from the 1980's and the buses are NOT divided as new boards are.

And yet your photo shows that they are? 

Actually, they are divided into groups of four, not five. So technically he is correct.

And as everybody knows, technically correct is the best correct. 

[MrBungle]

... they are divided into groups of four, not five...

So they are! Very interesting.

So technically he is correct.

Considering the thread title.... Nope

[eugenenine]

Not all are like that, but most are now a days due to increased lowering of cost.  Someone figured out early on that its cheaper to make a long strips of groups of 5 than to make a bunch of groups of 5 and then long strips, i.e. one part instead of two.

[shteii01]

There are many cases of new players coming to forums like this asking why their circuit doesn't work only to discover that the power busses are not contiguous.

Exactly what happened to me in lab for digital logic class.  I had cheap breadboard from radio shack.  Never used one before.  Build a circuit using three or four ICs.  Power everything up and there is nothing.  Almost got to the point of tearing my hair out.  I now have middle breaks connected by jumpers, I never ever ever take those jumpers out.

[mtdoc]

Wisher  breadboards have this as a feature. It's the reason I recently purchased one.

Mine's a Wisher too but unlike the one you linked to. That one has the DIP-IC "channels" perpendicular to the supply rails. Which seems a bit unconventional.

I like that about it. That way I won't forget that it has multiple power rails and I won't mix it up with my other traditional breadboards.

[MarkF]

On my board all 9 groups of 4 are connected. For example, I have 2 vertical buses on the left side of the board. Vertically all points are connected from top to bottom. No break half way down as the new boards are. Two buses on the left side instead of four.

[rsjsouza]

I have an Elenco 9440 that has two vertical bars and no gaps on the power lines. It is pretty sturdy for what I have thrown at it - I can't complain.