A Better Way to Breadboard

Tools:
Solid Core Jumper Wire Kit
www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...
Compared to:
DuPont Style Flexible Jumper Wires
www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...
Flexible Breadboard Jumper Wires
www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...
Transparent breadboard
www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...
PCB Prototype Board (Large)
www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...
PCB Prototype Board (Medium)
www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...
Additional breadboard footage from FriendlyWire.
You can find some great breadboard project tutorials on his channel:
/ @friendlywire
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Transcript:
Hey, I’m Donald Bell for Cool Tools, and in this video I’m going to show you the benefits of using solid core jumper wire for your breadboard projects, compared to the flexible jumper wires a lot of us start out with. You can find links to everything down in the show notes.
When I started out tinkering with electronics, at some point I bought a kit that included a breadboard and some components and a few dozen of these colorful, flexible jumper wires.
These wires are great, especially for beginners working on relatively simple projects. The nubby ends make them easy to grab and undo and redo connections -- which is exactly what you’re doing in the first stages of any prototype.
But what happens when you’re ready to turn this breadboard project into something more permanent?
There are a lot of different answers here depending on your skill level, but when you’re starting out, it typically means moving parts over to something like a perma-proto board or perf board, and turning each of these jumper wire connections -- one by one -- into a soldered wire connection.
In my experience, as my projects got more and more sophisticated, the flexible jumper wires became an impenetrable tangle. By the time I got a project working, it felt like an impossible task to go back through and trace each connection without screwing something up along the way.
My big breakthrough was making the switch to solid core wire. These come in a $10 kit, with different lengths of wire, all color coded.
The wire is stiff enough that the ends just push right into your breadboard. And part of what I love about it is that it lies down perfectly flat.
Have you ever seen one of those circuit diagrams where all the wires are perfectly routed around like a subway map? That’s the kind of type-a precision you can get with these wires. Your breadboards are tidy and easier to understand.
Now, sometimes the spacing of the endpoints is just right for the connection you’re making. Other times, you’ll need to trim and strip a longer wire to get where you want to go, or bend a wire around a few components. No big deal.
But the real payoff is that by avoiding the tangle, when you’re ready to move from breadboard to protoboard, you can just pop these out one by one and move them over.
For me, it’s removed the pain of getting to the end of the breadboard stage and weeping at the thought of reverse engineering a rat’s nest of wires.
Don’t get me wrong -- I still get lots of use out of flexible jumper wires and alligator clips. But once a breadboard design really starts taking shape, I now know instinctively to move over to solid core wires. It helps me see what I’m doing, and it just eases every step down the line.
So do yourself a favor and pick up a kit. You can find a link in the description, along with links to my favorite DuPont style flexible jumpers, and some inexpensive proto-boards that make it easy to solder up a breadboard design without having to redesign it for perfboard.
And remember, you can find thousands of reader recommended tools like these at Cool-Tools.org
#cooltool
You can find thousands of reader recommended tools like these at cool-tools.org

[@MrI8igmac]

I used cat6 wire, i made my first drone on a perf board. It all worked but it was a hot mess for a first timer. Esp32s3, mpu6050, npn controlled motors, and 3.7v step up 5v 2amp. Its to heavy for my little propellers, so i have to start over and try again. It will fly with bigger propellers. I poated a few videos. Just trying to learn more techniques to clean up my soldering skills

[@paulwilliamson5985]

Color-coded by length isn’t ideal. You want to assign the color codes based on the signal types, and/or use them rainbow-style to keep adjacent wires easy to distinguish. Just get bulk wire in multiple colors and strip to length. If you can scrounge up a few meters of old-school 50-pair telephone cable, you’ll be set for hookup wire for a long time.

[@svdworkis]

I love having the pre-stripped lengths. I do wish these products came pre-sorted, my OCD had me sorting them by hand. I agree with the other commenter that color coding by length has its shortcomings but it certainly helps for sorting, which is important for understanding when you are running low on popular lengths

[@170makes]

I totally agree. Btw. what kit do you recommend that contains some perf boards and some components? I want to get into electronics but the kits aren't very inclusive

[@carriecorreaArtist]

Thanks for this video

[@calebw237]

What is that microcontroller you are using at 2:06? It looks nice because it has extra space on the sides for connecting to a breadboard

[@alantrevennor7257]

That is a Particle Photon. Particle do a large range of MCUs which IMO are very underrated. They are pretty much like an 8266 but they use ARM processors. I started out on those, but have begun using 8266 boards for grunt work cos of their cheapness. But Particle boards -although more expensive come with all kinds of stuff built in that you have to add on to 8266s. For example there's an internet based secure messaging system which works out of the box - plus a number of other goodies like OTA programming without any add-ons. Well worth a look.

[@taranagnew436]

Can the solid core wires be used in place of soldering?

[@Hoptronics]

Sure but it will be less reliable as the electrical connections are all mechanical. Also it will be more prone to noise and interference. This is why moving to a perforated breadboard and soldering components is preferred for prototypes. After a prototype, to go into production a real pcb is usually desired for simplicity, reliability, less noise and ease of assembly.

[@jackmarshall2496]

​@@HoptronicsI don't know if that's correct single core wire is used in transmission lines as opposed to multicore. Its also preferred for use in wire antennas, even pcb traces are effectively single core. The major disadvantage is brittle connections that don't stand up to strain well, if a wire can be moved its best to make it multicore but its fine if its inside a case and never touched.

[@dlsjunk]

I love breadboards. Great way to learn how basic blocks work and tie them together into something more complex. But if the breadboard is your only documentation, the electro-gods are just waiting to smite thee. Draw a schematic. Build from the schematic. Make a change? Change the schematic. It doesn't have to be a MIL-SPEC ABCDE level drawing. Boxes with pin numbers and lines will do. Have fun and may your magic smoke stay contained.

[@jackmarshall2496]

Just use perf board from the get-go and leave your wires ling enough that they're easily resolderable. Breadboards are prone to broken connections. When I HAD to use them for particular projects in university, it took longer debugging crappy connections than it would have to just solder it. Rails become loose after minimal use, especially with multiple components or wires plugged into the same row. I can't disagree with you more. breadboards, especially in industry, are a complete waste of time. So much so that my boss has literally banned them from use in prototyping our designs.

[@AdityaMehendale]

Please don't perma-proto with solid-core wires made for breadboarding - these are notoriously easy to dry-solder, and a nightmare to debug. Their months (years?) of stripped-naked tips oxidize over time, and soldered connections are unreliable. Breadboards are unaffected, as the insertion into the breadboard tends to clean the tips locally. The solid cores also make compact soldering impossible, and the heat-conduction melts off the jacket, more so than on multi-core wires, making shorts from molten (melted?) insulation all the more likely. Solid-core for breadboarding, freshly stripped and tinned multi-core or wire-wrap for everything else. If you are feeling adventurous, try "RoadRunner", maybe.

[@jackmarshall2496]

It's perfectly fine soldering with single core wire provided you are careful to ensure that it is properly tined and use plenty of flux. More heat is generally required which is a disadvantage as well as not acting well under strain, the joint cn be brittle but not if you leave it alone. There are clear disadvantages to using this wire i agree but its not like its taboo or anything. Simple wire antennas and coax are often soldered and these are also solid core its not preferred but it does have its uses and is often soldered. In saying that if you're worried about bad connections you shouldn't be using breadboard in the first place. Debugging bad rails is way more annoying than finding a bad solder joint.

[@adastraedu]

The reason to do it neatly is to avoid debugging problems on a complex board. Those long loopy wires are horrible practice, because one pinky pulls something out and it's a debugging nightmare. Cutting and stripping wire is even better. I don't particularly like the precut lengths, but anything is better than the first rat's nest.

[@jackmarshall2496]

Or just don't use breadboards and solder the circuit to perf board or strip board from the get-go. By the time you've planned, placed and neatly sized your wires, you could have just build it on perf board. Yes placement is more permanent unless you're using sockets. Seriously though, soldering each connection doesn't take longer than a few seconds. If I make a mistake, wick and move the connection, again only takes a few seconds I don't understand why people still use these things, they aren't reliable enough IMO

[@anonymousadam8950]

@@jackmarshall2496 in my opinion, bread boards are good for beginners and quick/temporary circuits. Of course a soldered connection is the best connection but the breadboard helps get the jist of a circuit (among other things). For example, you could be making a circuit where you need to swap out components quickly such as a 555 timer circuit, it would be much easier to pull out and put in resistors than desoldering and soldering.

[@JarppaGuru]

1:20 so whats better. you use solid wire and need fix that. and we allready use solid wire. i though again this was some new, but it was old. we allready doing that decades