Organizing resistances / caps / etc. in Raaco cabinets

[tramjoe]

Hello All,

This is not an electronic project per se, but I couldn't find a better place to post this.

I am sure some of you have accumulated more through-hole resistors/caps/selfs etc. than is easily manageable, and are in need of a (better) system to organize things up.

I looked around, and the three most interesting systems I came across are:

- Use Raaco or the like drawer cabinets
- Use business card / collector cards holders / binders
- Use plastic boxes with separator

The pastic boxes system I do not like, because I needed/wanted to be able to reach easily for the parts. The business card holders I tried, but this gets messy really fast once you have enough parts in them. Good for SMD probably, but not to my liking for though-hole. And I already have four Raaco cabinets (40 small drawers + 3 medium + 1 large) that I bought for a low price (less than 18 euros apiece at Farnell, which is a steal given that those usually retail in the 50-60 euros range).

Problem is, with the small drawers (Raaco 150-00), you can only divide them in two part, wasting a lot of room, or in three or four too-short parts for most resistors. with only two compartments per drawer, if you do not want to take up a full cabinet per resistance series, then your drawers contents becomes a mess.

So I came up with a solution: print out accordion-paper-liners templates for my drawers, allowing for one full decade (8 values) per drawer, each resistor value having an individual place :-)

Basically, each drawer holds one decade of a resistor series. Each drawer is split in half with the Raaco divider, and then each portion is again split in four by the paper liner, allowing x1, x10, x100, x1k, x10k, x100k, x1M and an extra x10M (not sure if x10M values can even be bought) that can be used for any extra value in the decade (I store my 0.5ohms in there in the 5.1 decade for instance). The good thing is, the liner being paper, empty compartments fold over if needed and do not really take up much space.

An equiped drawer:


The filler out of the drawer:


So, I thought this could be interesting to someone, so I can send the templates to anyone upon request (PDF or inkscape formats). There are two templates actually, one with two x1->x1k fillers and a single x10k->x10M - and an other with two x10k->x10M and a single x1->x1k filler. So with two A4 pages, you can cut and fold all 6 fillers needed for 3 drawers. I am using the full height of the page, including the unprintable margins, so the only paper wasted is the two very small horizontal margins (out of the page width).

The cut and fold itself is very fast with an X-acto knife: cut out the width margins, mark the fold lines with the knife, separate the three fillers with two cuts and fold. With properly marked folding lines, the folding operation itself is really really fast.

I tweaked the printout so that the fillers are well adjusted to the drawers and you cannot have a component leaving its intended place. Standalone resistors with already cut/folded legs or small ceram caps are not a problem and fit especially well, as well as longer 2W resistors still on their roll tape.

One of the two templates:


Initially, I thought I would make a draft out of regular 80g/m2 paper and then move up to heavier paper or thin cardboard, but once folded, the fillers really hold and behave surprisingly well with regular paper, so I just left it like that.

To give you an idea of the work involved, it took me an evening and half of a Sunday morning to print/fold/cut/organize approx. 3000 resistors for a total of 48 drawers (one 1/4W 5% series, one 1/4W 1%, and two small 1/2W 1% and 2W 5% series taken out of E12 and E24) with one series decade per drawer:

[T4P]

Lovely solution! But sadly my resistors come in 100 or more ...

[mianchen]

I've ordered a couple of those cabinets before wasting lots of money buying all sorts of different boxes...Those are nice and quite cheap! But sadly I too have more than 100 resistors for each value - may be I should ditch some of them, since I started using SMD parts, I hardly use through hole resistors except those for breadboarding.

Sorry, off topic. I love your solution! Thanks for sharing. I might adopt it for storing salvaged parts...

[tramjoe]

It is true that I do not have more than 10 to 30 of each value as I am mostly using my readily available parts for prototyping / playing around and tend to make ad hoc components orders when I build something in volume.

However, this solution is good for at least 30 to 40 pieces of each component (for resistors and small ceramic caps). Maybe some different design that would split the drawers in 4 would work for 100 resistors *4 ?

[Bored@Work]

While it looks nice to have the 1th, 10th, 100th, etc. values all in one drawer, don't do it! It just makes it much easier to accidentally grab a 100 Ohm instead of a 10 Ohm, to put one in the wrong section, etc.

Instead, put successive values, 1.0 , 1.2, 1.5  etc. in the same drawer. First, then not all start with the same colours, so it is easier to spot that you picked a wrong value. Second, even if you picked a wrong one, it isn't too far of. Third, if you need a value just within a ballpark, you just need to get the one drawer and pick the first resistor you find.

[madires]

I've ordered a couple of those cabinets before wasting lots of money buying all sorts of different boxes...Those are nice and quite cheap! But sadly I too have more than 100 resistors for each value - may be I should ditch some of them, since I started using SMD parts, I hardly use through hole resistors except those for breadboarding.

If you are repairing "old" stuff the through hole components come in very handy. Maybe not now but in a few years. It's like those old tubes, very hard to get some types. No replacements available - no chance to fix some really nice toys :-(

BTW: I like the filler idea too! It's great to optimize space usage for low volume components.

[tramjoe]

While it looks nice to have the 1th, 10th, 100th, etc. values all in one drawer, don't do it!

I am doing it and will continue to do so, for good reasons.
But please, help yourself and order your resistors by length, weight or diameter if that suits you.

[Bored@Work]

While it looks nice to have the 1th, 10th, 100th, etc. values all in one drawer, don't do it!

I am doing it and will continue to do so, for good reasons.
But please, help yourself and order your resistors by length, weight or diameter if that suits you.

Yes, some people just don't want to listen. Have fun the first time you spend hours troubleshooting a circuit because you picked the wrong value out of your drawer. You'll remember me then, and learn the hard way that I am right and you are wrong.

[tramjoe]

Yes, some people just don't want to listen. Have fun the first time you spend hours troubleshooting a circuit because you picked the wrong value out of your drawer. You'll remember me then, and learn the hard way that I am right and you are wrong.

Now, I'll speak my mind out and be done with it, just so you get the message.

From this post and others from you I have seen, I perceive you as arrogant, rude and not so smart. Whether this is just my perception, your usual self or an internet personae you are playing, I do not care that much.

So even if your point is a valid one, the way you are introducing it does not make me want to give it any credit or to participate in a conversation about it and the compared merits/problems of your approach vs the by-decade sorting, although I would probably enjoy having that conversation with other people of the forum.

I suspect that you are not interested either in a conversation, because you seem to assume that you are always right and others with diverging opinions always wrong, so that makes a perfect match.

Please ignore me and my posts in the future, and I'll do the same for you.

[tramjoe]

If you are repairing "old" stuff the through hole components come in very handy. Maybe not now but in a few years. It's like those old tubes, very hard to get some types. No replacements available - no chance to fix some really nice toys :-(

I absolutely love the notion that we might be witnessing the disappearance of through-hole components! An other thing to add to the "am I old ?" checklist and the "when I was your age..." list of tales for my kids when they grow up :-)

Which leads me to the next thought: I remember the electronics kit I had 30 years or so ago, which got me started. You probably have already seen this, it was the kind of plastic board with springs attachments, and you would stuck the components legs in between spring turns to make contact. What could be an SMD equivalent of this and/or more modern breadboarding systems ? Are there any magnetic (seems unpractical for some I.C.) systems out there, or maybe clip-on holders, something like that ? Or are SMD-only teaching kits of the future confined to the kind of modules that can be found for microcontroller teaching, where even the simplest component is mounted on a separate board with standardized plug or DIP headers ?

[hlavac]

This is my algorithmic storage location system for passive components
I mix everything together and store by value in ohms, picofarads and nanohenry.

[nctnico]

I usually order from Farnell and RS. I leave most components in their anti-static bags and store those in drawers. Its most space effective. For passive SMD parts I use these:
http://www.dealextreme.com/p/configurable-storage-toolboxes-3-pack-4727
They used to have a smaller version as well but not at this moment.

[T4P]

While it looks nice to have the 1th, 10th, 100th, etc. values all in one drawer, don't do it! It just makes it much easier to accidentally grab a 100 Ohm instead of a 10 Ohm, to put one in the wrong section, etc.

I find no problems with that ... i ALWAYS check my colours 

Instead, put successive values, 1.0 , 1.2, 1.5  etc. in the same drawer. First, then not all start with the same colours, so it is easier to spot that you picked a wrong value. Second, even if you picked a wrong one, it isn't too far of. Third, if you need a value just within a ballpark, you just need to get the one drawer and pick the first resistor you find.

Annoying to find the 1th 10th 100th ...

[T4P]

For TH i use my drawers ... if it's SMD i use http://www.sureelectronics.net/goods.php?id=600

[tramjoe]

I mix everything together and store by value in ohms, picofarads and nanohenry.

So, the 1k5 drawer actually contains 1.5kOhms resistors, 1.5uH selfs and 1.5nF caps, is that so ? That's actually interesting, never thought of it. Not very orthodox, a bit crazy, but I like it, out-of-the-box thinking :-) If you have enough different unique values of components overall that's actually a good way to save space for components where you do not stock that many values like typically inductors.

[ftransform]

I use business card organizers for resistors (e12) and 12 segment boxes (1$ each at 99 cents) for capacitors, light emitting, transistor, switches, connectors, amplifiers, regulators, inductors, crystals, power resistors, diodes, sensors, micro controllers, discharge protection).

For larger parts/bulk parts I use 1$ china Tupperware. For instance I do not see the point of keeping 150 same value capacitors on hand so I instead keep a ledger that lists what is in the boxes (separated by sandwich bags). I keep my easy access parts to no more then 10 of each. Same with fat electrolytic capacitors and of course heat sinks, speakers, antennas, transformers,

Idk how scalable this solution is going to be considering I am just beginning in this hobby but right now I just have a large shelf dedicated to parts and I stack the boxes with labels on the front.
I found that pill organizers (28 little compartments on one board) are good for smaller parts and they only cost 1$ and hardly take up any space but you are limited to 3-4 of a component in them.

[nctnico]

For TH i use my drawers ... if it's SMD i use http://www.sureelectronics.net/goods.php?id=600

Thanks for the link! I used to get these from Dealextreme. Its good to know a shop which still carries these boxes. I have about 160 of these boxes in use but I think I'll need more in the future.