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General => General Technical Chat => Topic started by: Mandelbrot on July 07, 2013, 01:47:49 am

Title: What standard resistors/capacitors does everyone keep stocked?
Post by: Mandelbrot on July 07, 2013, 01:47:49 am
Hey all,

I just bought a new 60 drawer storage cabinet and I need components to put in it! What values of through-hole resistors/capacitors are people keeping in stock?
Title: Re: What standard resistors/capacitors does everyone keep stocked?
Post by: mariush on July 07, 2013, 02:25:49 am
Resistors:
 
E12 , E24 if you have too much money...

E12 :  1.0, 1.2, 1.5, 1.8, 2.2, 2.7, 3.3, 3.9, 4.7, 5.6, 6.8, 8.2  x 10,100, 1000 etc

 ... for example 100, 120, 150, 180, 220 ohm etc

E24 : E12  + 1.1 , 1.3 , 1.6 , 2.0 , 2.4, 3.0, 3.6, 4.3, 5.1, 6.2, 7.5, 9.1

I'm always using 100 ohm, 330 ohm , 470 ohm , 1k ohm, 10kohm on various projects so you might want to get a bunch more of these.

330ohm and 470ohm are used often with leds and can also be used in a pinch with linear regulators (they need around 120 ohm or 240ohm so you can use two of these in parallel to get a resistance close to those values)

Also suggest getting a bunch of trimpots, ideally with a few turns for better precision 10kohm , 50kohm, 100kohm are popular values

Capacitors
Code: [Select]
E3 	1 	- 	- 	- 	2.2 	- 	- 	- 	4.7 	- 	- 	-
E6 	1 	- 	1.5 	- 	2.2 	- 	3.3 	- 	4.7 	- 	6.8 	-
E12 	1 	1.2 	1.5 	1.8 	2.2 	2.7 	3.3 	3.9 	4.7 	5.6 	6.8 	8.2
multiply by ten like with resistors

10uF 22uF 100uF 470uF 1000uF I use very often (with 16-35v rating)

Go nuts on 0.01uF, 0.1uF, 0.47uF ceramics which are used for decoupling, 18pF or 22pF are often used with crystal oscillators

Title: Re: What standard resistors/capacitors does everyone keep stocked?
Post by: minibutmany on July 07, 2013, 02:36:15 am
Marlush pretty much summed up everything. If you are doing mostly digital circuits you will need alot of 100ohm, 1k, 10k, 100k resistors, and .1 uF, .01 uF capacitors.
Title: Re: What standard resistors/capacitors does everyone keep stocked?
Post by: duskglow on July 07, 2013, 02:54:51 am
I went to the surplus place and picked up literally a couple of thousand assorted resistors and diodes for about $10.  I've got most E14 values out of that, and I doubt I'll run out for a very, very long time.

It takes a bit of time to sort them and some people don't think it's worth that time, but if you can get a good deal like that, the odds are pretty high that unless you have some really esoteric requirement, you're not going to need much more than that and won't run out for quite a while.

The one thing mariush didn't mention was SMD. If you can find a small amount of assorted components (preferred presorted) you should have some of those around too.  It'll help in repairs when one of them shorts out and you have to find another on short notice.
Title: Re: What standard resistors/capacitors does everyone keep stocked?
Post by: smashedProton on July 07, 2013, 05:51:42 am
Mandelbrot...  I love your choice of screen name!
It's awesome that the suggested method that you store the resistors is someone fractal too
Title: Re: What standard resistors/capacitors does everyone keep stocked?
Post by: peter.mitchell on July 07, 2013, 12:37:04 pm
E48 through hole and E96 for SMD resistors, caps, E12.
Title: Re: What standard resistors/capacitors does everyone keep stocked?
Post by: nctnico on July 07, 2013, 02:36:38 pm
I buy what I need but in many cases you need to buy 10 or 50 so your storage gets filled quickly. There is not much sense in stocking every value. Some values are hardly used.  If you insist on having some standard values I suggest buying 1.0-2.2-4.7 (multiplied by 1, 10, 1000, 10000 etc). By connecting in parallel and/or series you can make many values.
Title: Re: What standard resistors/capacitors does everyone keep stocked?
Post by: envisionelec on July 07, 2013, 08:56:36 pm
All of them, except for the one I need.    :o
Title: Re: What standard resistors/capacitors does everyone keep stocked?
Post by: peter.mitchell on July 08, 2013, 06:36:59 am
Quote from: peter.mitchell on July 07, 2013, 12:37:04 pm
E48 through hole and E96 for SMD resistors, caps, E12.

To expand upon my reasoning, the E48 range for through hole is enough to cover pretty much all your needs, without being too expensive or too big, you could probably get away with E24 no problems and just pair up for values you don't have too, but for price vs convenience, i see no real reason. As for the E96 for SMD resistors? They're so cheap and so easy to store, plus, things like this make it even easier http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/SMT-0805-1-resistor-kit-w-enclosure-144Vx100-14400pcs-/170622335270?pt=AU_B_I_Electrical_Test_Equipment&hash=item27b9e23926&_uhb=1 (http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/SMT-0805-1-resistor-kit-w-enclosure-144Vx100-14400pcs-/170622335270?pt=AU_B_I_Electrical_Test_Equipment&hash=item27b9e23926&_uhb=1).

Why such a low range for caps? With tolerances being so bad, generally, and often being used "just in case" you don't really need precision, and if you do, you're going to have to either order the right ones or build a small stonehenge replica to get it anyway.