FAKE Solderless Breadboards

Watch out for poor quality MB-102 830 tie point breadboards sold on eBay. Inserting components is difficult because the 5-way contact strips don't have adequate funneling.

[@Tom5TomEntertainment]

This is why I only buy whole grain organic breadboards that are locally sourced.

[@H32-u7d]

XD

[@ThanerdNet]

Tom5tom Entertainment but are they gluten-free?

[@Anvilshock]

Are those organic bread-boards, or organic-bread boards?

[@tyttuut]

They have to be farm-to-table.

[@andymouse]

anal yes not sure about the Art bit

[@rupertrooksby]

I have zero idea why people are complaining about the split rails. The basis of the complaint appears to be that a board you are planning to add lots of jumper wires to, requires you to add some jumper wires. Hardly the biggest problem. The counter-example though, where you are mixing 3v and 5v circuits on a board, or 5v and audio +/- rails, is certainly a lot more awkward without the welcome convenience of split rails.

[@tablatronix]

And more grounds, and shorter power rails is a plus!

[@tiger12506]

It's an extremely frustrating problem if you aren't expecting it. I spent several hours once trying to find the issue with an ESP8266 uart connection, uncertain if it was a power supply issue or a firmware issue, or a software problem on the host, all while trying to explain to a friend how awesome ESP8266 are! Eventually discovered the split rail causing a floating ground. Nasty nasty nasty.

[@vinny142]

I don't understand that one either. And it's not asif high-quality boards don't have split rails. I must admit I have scratched my head for way too long before I noticed the lines where interrupted. but it cost 4 seconds and two inches of wire to fix, so what*the*fart?

[@andymouse]

HEHEHE!

[@SomeMorganSomewhere]

Yeah, this, having the split power rails on a board that big is a GOOD thing.

[@muh1h1]

"Its very difficult when you got both holes resisting the insertion of your component". I've had that problem before, not fun! :P

[@Anvilshock]

Get out.

[@SolarWebsite]

muh1h1 Haha, I should've known I wasn't the only one to be triggered by that remark. 😁

[@SolarWebsite]

Sharklops Yeah, floppy jumper wires are a well known problem. All those soldering fumes, you know.

[@Brainstorm4300]

muh1h1 maybe your component is too thick for the holes. Try wriggling it couple of times before shoving it in.

[@SolarWebsite]

Brainstorm4300 Or maybe, as the video demonstrated, the problem could be solved by exchanging the receiving end altogether.

[@markharrisllb]

I'm totally new to electronics, so new that I’m proud to have made a binary counter though my wife won't let me stick on the fridge. She said something about me being 60 not 6. I only have two breadboards, one I got with a Freenove kit and one I got with a cheap kit I ordered by mistake not realising it was full of nothing (I said I was new). Watching this made me go and look at both my breadboards and the difference is like night and day, even the weight and feel is different. Thank you for this video, this sort of thing is invaluable to a newbie like myself.

[@grndkntrl]

I don't think "fake" is really the right word to describe these. More along the lines of very low quality/poorly implemented copies of a fairly common & simple design.

[@2010craggy]

Malcolm Whinfield China's a great source for cheap 'modules' for tinkering n evaluating project ideas with. The only downside to this is the time you spend reverse engineering n probing these circuit boards because these no decent online support. Okay, there's the manufacturers data sheets for things like the IC's they use- but they have a habit of scrubbing or defacing the chips epoxy encasement to stop you doing this!

[@morantaylor]

I agree if it has another companies logo or part number it could be classed as fake. These are just poorly constructed. The split rail is common on the larger board. I have some of the larger boards that also have the joiners on the short end for joining lengthwise.

[@power-max]

Then the title would be "very low quality/poorly implemented copies of a fairly common & simple design Solderless breadboards" tl,dr.

[@bvs1q]

i agree, its said there are generally 5 quality levels for nearly every product produced in china, the problem is though actually knowing what quality level your going to get, vs paying for.

[@MrBrew4321]

The title should simply be "Why some bread boards are crap"

[@audigex]

The break in the power rails isn't a massive issue - I actually quite like it when working with multi-voltage projects. 5V logic on one side, and 12V for the LED strips or fans on the other. It's easy enough to join them together with a little jumper

[@seymourshabow]

The world is going to hell in a handbasket if a $1.86 breadboard isn't high quality.

[@pqpq1905]

It's not that big of a deal but this video really saved from buying a lot of poor quality breadboards

[@skyview6994]

$1.86 ? you are being ripped of...I got them for 50cets :)

[@PeetHobby]

Many breadboards have split in the middle power rails, sometimes you need more than 2 positive voltages, it's extra flexibility. You can put a jumper in between the rails of those boards to make them one power rail, but can't cut a breadboard power rail of board that have them connected all the way, so need extra breadboard or power rail.

[@hoofbags]

Separated rails are essential. If an experimenter is working with a transistor or chip amplifier with more than two stages, for example, a resistor and capacitor decoupling is unavoidable to prevent "motorboating". Also, I had to use long nose pliers to enable wire insertion, and needed to alter resistor values on the soldered item, as consequence of tie point ESR. Very enlightening upload from JL. Thanks. 🙂

[@An_Urban_monk]

Your comment about the printing is spot on. You can often tell counterfeit Cuban cigars made in Mexico merely by looking at the resolution of the printing on the (counterfeit) label. Often there is poor registration between colors. Congrats on 100k subs. I think I subbed back when you had

[@stevesm2010]

Cheap is good but useless is useless at any price!

[@juliannicholls]

'Saving money at any cost' as my good friend would say.

[@garthhowe297]

I like to say that I like something that is inexpensive, but not something which is cheap.

[@nabarnes]

Until I watched this video, I had no idea that not all breadboards are as bad as the ones you bought - I've only ever bought and used cheap ones and thought that horrible insertion and dodgy contact with the terminals was par for the course. So, let's say I want to treat myself to some good quality (and, no doubt, expensive) breadboards - where do people reckon I should go and what should I buy?

[@Brainstorm4300]

Nicholas Barnes I had the same idea until I found out I was living under a cheap rock when I borrowed a high quality breadboard from my friend. I have so many of those cheap crap ones but I've kinda gotten used to them so it doesn't bother me that much. A good indication is the price although having said that stuff on Ebay are kind of a hit or miss thing. Stuff from reputed online shops such as sparkfun or adafruit are however of high quality. :v

[@josslevy4240]

Try CPC/Farnell if you are in the UK. That's where I got mine from: they are "Wish" brand, made in Taiwan, and inexpensive. I can't remember ever having had any rubbish products from CPC. Are you the same Nicholas Barnes I was at school with forty years ago? If so, hello!

[@nabarnes]

Right. I need to do a CPC order (need another Raspberry Pi), so I'll drop a few in the basket and see what they're like. I was only 6 forty years ago, so I doubt I know you - but hello anyway!!

[@Popart-xh2fd]

That's why Brexit happen...

[@bradscott3165]

When you were 6 these breadboards were like 15 bucks each. Look it up. A 4000 point assembled breadboard was more than $149. Chinese components have thinner leads than US branded counterparts. Quarter watt resistor leads on chinese resistors are ridiculously thin compared to a Vishay or Dale.

[@An_Urban_monk]

One more point regarding the photo swap of the seller. I worked at eBay and can tell you this is a violation of their seller agreement. You can get your money back and file a complaint against the seller. The listing is a binding legal contract and the seller is required to supply you with the exact product represented in the photo.

[@hellterminator]

Well I better get reporting then! It's not like they're just going to open a new store in 10 minutes.

[@Davedarko]

I bought some of those smaller - 400 contacts - transparent breadboards the other day, that seem to have the same problem. But I wanted transparent breadboards so badly, because I think it's time to put indicator LEDs on the "underside" of PCBs, too.

[@JamesMyatt1]

I have some of these poor-quality ones at home. I found that some of the strips has surprisingly high resistance, like 8 ohms, which caused serious problems with an INA219 current/power meter that I was building (a lot like yours). I'm currently trying to build an INA219-based milliohmmeter to do some better comparisons.

[@LouesSCat]

I ordered the very same kind of breadboard from china and it arrived a week ago. I just double checked it and I am pleased to say it is actually one of the good quality ones. So I guess I got lucky ^.^

[@GigaPlaya]

Please tell us the seller's name?

[@matthewmckenzie7687]

Too many people expect ZIF from these. Easy in = easy out. Good ones last way longer. The printing tip is useful.

[@tbbw]

Please do a followup with the ones from alice so we know if ther good or as bad as the fakes.

[@JulianIlett]

I'll be sure to check these when they come in :)

[@iceberg789]

alice saw this video. he wont dare sending a fake one.

[@tbbw]

Interesting observation bdkmont that shape might be easyer to pick out on some of the pictures of products.

[@petti78]

I just received 3 of these from am ebay seller called tk-electronics2016 and they seem to be OK. The numbering and lettering is as in the picture (print quality is a bit faded but still readable). I tried to insert a few components in and they felt just fine. I haven't opened up any yet, can't bear the terrifying thought of destroying a 1$ component :D Here's a link if it works (item id 222184036094) www.ebay.com/itm/222184036094

[@krisztianszirtes5414]

3 breadboard for 3.50 dollars. Only rating *without a verified purchase*: 5 stars and "Excellent quality. Product fulfills the function for which it was made. Ideal for Arduino" Seems legit, right?

[@ClokworkGremlin]

Bought both 400 and 800 point breadboards recently, and because of this video I went to check. The 400 pin breadboards have consistent lettering and the row numbers aren't just lined up, all 30 rows are actually individually numbered! The 800 point ones are exactly the same as featured in this video. Bought them all in a single package that also came with jumper wires that work mostly OK, but the plastic endclips want to fall off on some of them.

[@winstonsmith478]

I've seen many instances of breadboards with split power rails over the years, including some from long before the Chinese made most or all of them. This allows more voltages to be used. Don't like it? Just use jumpers to merge rails. If you look at reviews on Amazon about the various boards sold there, you'll find that too-high insertion force is a common problem these days. Also, I suspect the reason for inverted and reversed lettering at one end of the breadboard is to allow the letters to be read regardless of the board orientation although I don't see that being nearly as useful as having the letters oriented the same at both ends.

[@winstonsmith478]

Also, from the Wikipedia page on breadboards. Note that the board shown to the right of that text about power bus strips has the same split bus and inverted lettering as yours: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breadboard _Some manufacturers connect all terminals in a column. Others just connect groups of, for example, 25 consecutive terminals in a column. The latter design provides a circuit designer with some more control over crosstalk (inductively coupled noise) on the power supply bus. Often the groups in a bus strip are indicated by gaps in the color marking._

[@JulianIlett]

True, the split power rails could be seen as an advantage :)

[@e.m.grimoire4095]

I suspect the reason for the inverted and reversed lettering is simply that it was quicker and easier to create a print mask for half the breadboard and then rotate a copy 180 degrees.

[@winstonsmith478]

Makes more sense to make a template that prints the markings in one step and not require rotation at all. Plus, the alignment then only needs to be accurate once instead of twice.

[@e.m.grimoire4095]

Didn't mean it like that. You create half the mask, rotate a copy of it and create a template from both copies together. One single print, one single alignment.

[@californiakayaker]

Some might like the split rail situation, as you can provide two completely separate power supplies with separate grounds for projects where your coupling with opto circuits. I've seen these split rail boards for years, so I'm surprised your just noticing them.

[@ElmerFuddGun]

The printed numbering should *always* start in the lower left corner. That way you can line up the IC pin 1 with 1, 11, 21, 31, etc. to make it easy and fast to get the right pin.

[@ElmerFuddGun]

I mean otherwise it is just useless crap printed on by a company that has zero experience with actually using the product they are manufacturing. They are just trying to follow what another company is selling but *thought* they knew better by starting in the top left. And even then they didn't start at pin 1.

[@himselfe]

I have one of the shorter breadboards that has a split positive rail but a continuous negative rail (on both sides). At first it confused the hell out of me, I couldn't figure out why some of the components weren't getting power, but then I realised it's actually quite useful. You can get voltage regulator modules based on the AMS1117 on ebay that connect one rail to the other so for example you can have a split rail with +5V and +3.3v without needing to take up space on the board itself. Also when you want a continuous rail you can just use a short jumper wire to bridge the gap anyway.

[@SidneyCritic]

Well that explains why I was having trouble with BBs - I only started elec a year ago and didn't know better -. One has bad printing, but the other is pretty good except for half of 1 line, so I guess you have to check the entire length. There seams to be a few types on a image search, but you can probably say upper case and not starting on zero together are bad ones.

[@matambale]

Recommend Mr Sharman's detailed review of solderless breadboards. There are particular brands of a consistently (repeatable) quality. Saved me a lot of time and money - I was going nuts using cheap boards with dicey contacts - debugging that issue takes longer than any other. Cheap breadboards will drive you insane, slowly but surely.

[@John_Ridley]

Split side rails is STANDARD. I have never owned a breadboard without them, going back to the 1980s and maybe 70s I don't recall

[@natgrant1364]

I got one of these that came with a kit. No continuity on the rails from the mid point. The numbering makes no sense at all. I also have a 400 pin one that came with another kit and its big problem is that once you've plugged components into the inputs, they become loose and you can't get connectivity with some components. My parents got me a really nice one for Christmas that's 1300 inputs plus 8 power rails. It's mounted on a steel plate and has rubber feet on it. The name on it is "All Electronics Corp." I highly recommend that one.

[@markhall3323]

I bought some Elegoo breadboards from Amazon UK October 2022 they were hopeless the holes were much too big / wide open so wires and component leads were a loose sloppy fit poor contact. I much prefer K&H (K and H) boards more expensive but excellent quality plenty available new and used on eBay UK.

[@davidj.wilcox6053]

Thank you Julian. This is important. Building and experimenting is difficult enough but adding another headache in the mess that is avoidable if I follow your advise on this subject.

[@jonstenSE]

"Smaller not been ripped of yet" Nope not true! Bought a bunch of those 400 points from Bandgood last summer, really crappy quality, hard to insert at first! And once you've managed to insert components there is no springiness left in the contacts and you get intermittent contact which leads to all kinds of problems! Will be interesting to see if the once you get from Alice is any good.

[@tad2021]

Jon Sten I've bought a few different ones from Alice and they're hit and miss. None where exceeding bad like some others I've gotten. Finding good breadboards is getting really hard since even local sellers are stating to stock these extremely cheap and poor quality ones even when they're not selling then for cheap. Overall the best by average breadboards I've gotten have been the mini ones without the power bus bars.

[@JJayzX]

I've got a breadboard that has a bow to it, it doesn't lie flat, lol.

[@electroduk]

I've seen the same thing, both in solderless breadboards, as well as with solder-style prototype boards. It's especially frustrating with the prototype boards, as the bend makes it difficult to insert large DIPs such as the Arduino Nano.

[@thehappylittlefoxakabenji8154]

mine too and virtually impossible to correct

[@A3Kr0n]

Reminds me of the crap boards I got at Radio shack many years ago. I'm still using my old Continental Specialties boards now, and the power rails are split every five holes.

[@californiakayaker]

I used to work for a communications company and find bread boards installed in $5000 dollar radios for additional options, and they were installed by the head technician, my boss ! At first I would question the reliability. I have to admit they worked very well. I guess he was cutting cost at any cost.

[@IllInformedHuman]

I have lived off of poor quality bread boards for years! And I was happy to get them!

[@SwordQuake2]

Give the seller negative feedback and demand refund. Report for inaccurate description.

[@ziongite]

If you are using components with only 2 legs or so, it's possible to still use, however if you want to try to shove in an IC with like 8 legs or something, it's incredibly hard. They are essentially useless for most cases, it's good that you exposed the actual contact points and the reason it's happening. I also bought one of these cheap breadboards once when I first got into electronics. As usual, when buying on ebay from China, it's a bit of a gamble if you are going to get something that is designed properly, or a total scam.

[@coobird]

This explains the poor experience with the breadboards I've been buying lately -- the ones I've bought recently were the cheapest ones I could find, unlike in the earlier days of tinkering when I would get (in retrospect) moderately expensive ones, because I didn't know that cheaper ones existed. I think the "when they're this bad, it's not worth they money" comment really sums it up well.

[@A13tech]

i personaly recommended brand EIC E-CALL. I use one for ages and is still in excellent condition.. I managed to buy few years ago from ebay EIC ECALL directly from manufacturer, they have round holes and they works very good. I had few of those chinese crapboard and i throw it away.

[@garthhowe297]

Interesting... I had noticed that some breadboards purchased "recently", were very difficult to insert wires/leads into. Now I will go have a look at them. It would be interesting to know where people have purchased good ones.

[@markcummings150]

I've been stung by fake 'Chinese' breadboards too. thanks for the explanation of what to look out for between a good and bad board.

[@ThanerdNet]

I bought a mix of the two from the same Alice, weeks ago. 400 points, transparent, 10 pieces, i think it was 10-ish euros for the lot. Just checked right now, pins of a 5mm led get in easy, the printouts are correct and aligned...

[@booboyBL]

I've got a few of those. I didn't really have too much of a problem inserting component leads, but more of a connection issue. I've often built up a circuit on one of these only to find it didn't work. The same circuit on my K & H breadboard would work fine. I've mostly given up using these, so I'll wait to see how the replacement boards work for you before I buy any others.

[@MattOGormanSmith]

I remember my top quality one from Tandy was in a pretty dire state after I'd hammered a few TO-220 and open frame pots into the holes, and passed enough current through some parts to melt it. One nice thing they sold was a PCB protoboard with the same layout, so you could transfer your working circuits. If they'd have made those in transparent plastic, they'd look even better than leaving the circuit in the breadboard.

[@SidneyCritic]

I got a transparent one with lower case lettering and pins do go in easier, but I find the grip not as strong as the fake ones. I found the cheap pined Dupont wires in Ard kits have a burr, so are hard to get in the BBs, and after filing a point on them they are ok. Either way I have problems with reliable contacts with either BB. There is a third all white BB with no writing and less row holes on the other power rails, that could be better than both.

[@jamesboarer2068]

I bought ten really low quality breadboards off Amazon, and I almost can't insert a single IC. But I did however manage to get a few 555 timers in in places, but I used an old thick led leg that I cut to a taper to push into the holes prior to inserting the ICs, that helped a little. But the ones I got from maplin work like an absolute dream in comparison

[@hrnekbezucha]

Yep. I've got two of those. Actually the only ones I've got.. I kinda assumed that is the way it is so I got used to wiggling the parts in. I'm curious if I should get the small ones or maybe the ones without power rails. Those seem different construction altogether.

[@santu-hand-made]

Look at the lines along the side. The lines are blur and discontinued, which suggested that those two are really poor quality boards. I am a manufacture producing breadboard in China. I know many of the foreign brokers are not strict with the quality anymore. Our top quality boards sell as $2 dollars each (whole-sale price), and they are not doing well on the market.

[@MyBigThing2010]

holy shit! I'm just getting into this hobby and ordered a breadboard kit with power supply and battery case/wire and I just thought all this type of stuff for this honour was shit like the one I got...I never knew that quality stuff actually exist! I'm contacting the seller tonight cuz I paid a premium to get what iv thought was better stuff!

[@richardlighthouse5328]

One way to differentiate bad from good is price. Cheap breadboards are less than 8 dollars and good ones are higher than that. Highly recommend BB830.

[@kellyklaask7su990]

I ran into the same thing. The 830 breadboard I got in the Arduino starter kit was crap. I ordered some good ones from Jameco and that solved the problem. Thanks for the video.

[@DoRC]

I always buy my breadboards used on ebay. You can get some awesome quality older ones for not a lot of money if you shop around. Look for ones from big names like 3m.

[@AtomkeySinclair]

Yup. I've run into the same issue. I'll probably buy them in store for now on where I can look at and test them out first.

[@nimoy007]

I have a translucent breadbord that came in an Arduino kit. It has the same reversed lettering quirk, but I hypothesize that has to do with the fact that the power rails split in the middle. I'd bet most split-rail boards are labeled the same way. Mine, however, does not have the funneling issue or the misnumbering issue.

[@miklosbelhazy741]

I have the fakes also from the little one, and also a couple of the SYB-120 type, what are completely useless. The connections are so tight, that real pain to put in-or out a pro mini.

[@billygray3434]

I was wondering why some of my projects did not work. Sure enough when I bridged the gap with a wire and tested It that was the problem .You just got another subscriber thanks Buddy. I going to buy the transparent ones from now on like You said.

[@SouthShoreSonics]

You can also see that none of these have copper or some copper alloy. On my 3M Ace 236 (1987) which I am rebuilding, all the contacts are the copper (alloy?). If they are using steel in these knockoffs, I'd be wondering if rust will happen. No sign of rust on the 3M board.

[@DanielSallros]

You should really have a look at the breadboards sold by Maplin UK! They have some that have 6 tie point wide columns instead of the usual 5 tie point wide columns. And they seem to be of ok quality too! Too bad they don't ship internationally, I had to get a friend in the UK to post them on to Sweden :)

[@2010craggy]

Daniel S - Kitchen Machine Shop Maplins used to be a very good component supplier, sadly the past decade they've gone the way Tandy's did here in the UK..... No one wants to cater for the hobbyist, it's all off the shelve, or out of the box consumer tat!

[@brettefantomet]

2:15 "It's very difficult when you got both holes resisting the insertion of your component", *if you know what i mean*

[@MariaEngstrom]

IMO the split power rails is a feature, because sometimes you need to have more than 2 different voltages in a build, but in this case it does not really matter, because they are useless anyway. :)

[@2010craggy]

Just watch with those transparent ones. I like them, but note that the supply rails are split into sections of five meaning you've got to jumper them up. My only criticism is those tabs to slot n lock the boards together. They don't grip together to tight and soon part if you flex them too much, though you can mount them to a sturdy base with a decent contact adhesive. I've done this with my Arduino work station. Which is basically a wooden breadboard from Wliko's with an UNO, MEGA and Micro screw mounted in these plastic cradles you can find on Ebay, then I glued those 400 transparent breadboards bellow them making a nice neat experiment rig.

[@TheNimaid]

The split rails, once you are aware of them, actually give you options. Instead of 4 power rails, you get 8. This makes designs with multiple differential logic levels or many power supply channels, easier. Besides, all you have to do to permanently connect the split rails is use some tiny solid core jumper wires that lie flush to the board. Conversely, you can convert ones that do not have split rails by snipping a millimeter of the bus bar between the sections.

[@danielpiotrowski1681]

Those are exactly the same breadboards as the two I purchased from Tayda Electronics. I didn't like the quality, but I don't have many other boards to compare with. Looking at Tayda's site, the picture does match the product, so I will have to get some 400 point breadboards as they like a better quality board. A little disappointing considering Tayda is more expensive but the quality usually makes it worth it.

[@brandonsamson8375]

I have a bunch of Jameco and Archer boards from the 90’s that needed replaced. I’ve had to rework nearly every single new board I’ve bought. I’ll just spend the money on the 1600 Jameco boards now.

[@RandomUser311]

Nice, 5+ years later and my first ever breadboards are exactly these. Same color, same upside down/opposite a-j, same offset numbers, same insert issues. Strangely, the holes in the power rails are the exact opposite and most of them won't grip thinner wires at all. Can't complain too much though since the product pictures were accurate. The split rails were a bit of a trap too. That took me a few minutes to figure out.

[@TinkeringWithTerrius]

I think Bad quality would be a better description of these, they aren't necessarily "fake". This design for 830 pin breadboards has been around for quite a while and is extremely popular, essentially it is two 400 pin boards tied together with a few extra rows, so you can have 2 completely separate circuits (power rail separation and all) running on a single breadboard. I noticed that while 0 isn't pointed at a specific pin row, all of the other numbers are, which actually makes sense due to the layout of the boards. The Numbers are all spaced exactly 4 rows apart therefore if they printed 0 on a row everything would have to shift over by half a row and it would throw off the alignment. They could have printed row 1, but that would mean there would only be 3 rows between 1 and 5, rather than 4 rows between 0 and 5. I was considering buying some of these off Aliexpress, I am curious what kind of quality the actual contacts are now though. I have a couple cheap ones from amazon but they were 5x the price.

[@TonyLing]

They are fake because they are copied from a design and build which does work, but fail in all respects of usability and integrity

[@TinkeringWithTerrius]

I guess I consider something Fake when it claims to be something and turns out to be something entirely different. In this case it claims it is an 830 breadboard, and for all intents and purposes it is exactly what it claimed to be. It does seem to be very bad quality though.

[@Cyclonus101]

It may just be the seller, I bought a non-transparent MB-102 from alice a long time ago and it's completely fine. Only extremely minor issues with ink quality and number placements. EDIT: Sorry the MB102 I bought was actually from lovesell2013 and it was part of a kit that included that breadboard power supply you showed last video and some M/M wires.

[@corum10]

I also have no idea at all why people complain about the breaks in the power rails. It is not only handy, it's awesome! The only thing is to ensure you buy a good quality board regarding the insert holes.

[@IxousLouis]

I have one of those.. Pushing an arduino nano into it was a terrible experience.. I had to sandpaper every single pin manualy before wiggling the board in the pins and widening those with a nail.. Ugh. Terrible purchase. The worse thing is I bought two more from a different seller and hope they won't be such crappy quality too..

[@dentakuweb]

Also, I don't now why the 3M breadboard are so expensive. I have one that's mounted on a metal plate with binding posts that works very well. Alan Wolke W2AEW uses the same one in his videos all the time. I have a bunch of cheaper ones and they're all of different quality but I think it's best to get a very good one for larger or fiddly/sensitive projects and use the others for experimenting.

[@ArcAiN6]

I keep seeing people making videos complaining about this. The break in the power rail is actually quite normal, and useful when you wish to use multiple different voltages within the same circuit. (i know right.. who'd a thunk it?) As for the insertion / contact issue, that's usually due to misaligned, or dodgy contacts.

[@sweetleaf7751]

But they also have benefits , the fake ones aka ( sliced Breadboards) we can add at least 3 projects to using separate voltages.

[@Mentorcase]

I just checked my latest bought boards and they were alright but I also bought some clip on power supplies and one batch were good but another batch were crappy with switches that died as soon as you pressed them, being a bit OCD I got right on to the seller and after days finally got a response of a refund! OCD soothed eventually.

[@jlucasound]

Another Great and Informative video by Julian! Please give my thanks to your quality mini breadboard for taking one for the team and allowing you to operate on her. I hope you patched her up and she's feeling better. (Tell her I LOVE her Funnels). ;-)

[@VoidHalo]

I got a Radioshack breadbroad from a surplus store (for about $20 :/) as my first board and even with that I find that with some of the contacts, I can't insert anything into them unless it's perfectly straight. If it's bent even just a little bit, it won't go. Incidentally I bought a ~$1 board on Ali Express last night. Seeing this video doesn't bode very well for it though. I really like a lot of the smaller ones you work with, especially the modular ones that fit together. So I might look for something like that.

[@raymondheath7668]

I also have dozens of bread boards and this interested me enough to check mine out. Although most of mine are 20-30 years old and unmarked on the surface, thos appeared OK. the newer ones I have gotten are marked OK EXCEPT the one I got in an Arduino parts starter kit which is one of the fake ones. Admittedly, the Arduino starter kit is NOT a true Arduino kit, but aftermarket. The only other one that is problematic is the 15 year old Archer brand from Radio Shack mounted on a steel plate with binding posts

[@uktoker71]

I have some Breadboards like that my self, cause more problems than they are worth. I also bought some boards bundled with jumper wires from eBay, the jumper wires was even worse, really thin and soft pins that didn't make proper contact. Personally i like the split power rails, handy for some projects that need more then 2 power sources. Its just that some people either don't realise or forget they are split and wonder why there circuit does not work.

[@haroldsmith45302]

This is a worthwhile video. Thanks for alerting us to this quality problem.

[@vvtor]

I have just received from the ebay smaller breadboards that look identical to the ones you are using in this video, but they have the same problem as those larger ones - it is so difficult to insert into some of the holes. Their quality seem to depend only on those metal parts inside of them. Perhaps the best way to check which ones you are getting is to zoom the picture on the ebay and see if some holes have those metal parts in the middle of the hole, which would prevent easy wire insertion.

[@superdau]

The transparent ones look "nice", but IMHO are a pain to work with. If you aren't looking at it from dead on above it's really hard to tell if you get the right row or column when connecting something.

[@goldeng]

Thanks for sharing. Very helpful before buying. Though I have a little correction for your video regarding the split in the side rails/buses. According to Ben Finio's 'How to Use a Breadboard' video here on KZbin (ScienceBuddiesTV channel), there are two types of full sized breadboards: one is with side buses that run the entire length of the breadboard, and the second with side buses that run only half the length which indicated by the break in the lines. However the break is actually by design and it's convenient if you have a circuit that needs to be powered by two different voltage levels.

[@VintageProjectDE]

Very interesting, Julian. But please be cautious about general judgement of sourcing options. I checked my breadboards and found that those I ordered from China via ebay are all fine. The ones I bought in electronic stores in Germany (!), though, turn out to be similar to the low quality one you showed. And that means: All of them. 100%. Luckily I don't care too much about the lettering, the power rails are an easy fix, and plugging components in isn't too difficult. So I didn't really notice until this video. Bottom line: Wherever you buy them, you can never be totally sure not to receive fake items.

[@RollinShultz]

I checked Aliexpress and the boards closest to your description were the "TZT" boards (sold by "China's good module", "TUOZHAN" (which has 98% feedback and 23,000+ transactions, ) . They have complete power rails and lower case lettering, but as to the insides, who knows. I tend to buy from sellers that have at least one crown or two, 20,000 - 50,000 transactions. Thanks to the video, I will carry the TZT boards on my store.

[@DownhillAllTheWay]

Thank you, Julian. I learned something here. I too like low-cost items, and I have a few breadboards that are difficult to insert into, and I just put up with it and never really thought about it too much - but seeing the funneling on the better boards makes me wonder how I can make sure I'm getting the right one next time.

[@ByteMeCompletely]

Don't buy from E-bay.

[@DownhillAllTheWay]

@@ByteMeCompletely Actually, I've just counted, and I have six breadboards, all bought from Ebay. Five of them are easy to insert into, and one of them (which I unfortunately got for my gransdon) is not. At 5:45, he asks "Could I have avoided buying the rip-off breadboards? - Well, not really" The problem with Ebay is that it's an open marketplace, where quality manufacturers sell alongside cheap manufacturers who are selling 'covers' of the better stuff - but what marketplace is not like that? If not Ebay, who do you use? I have bought from Amazon and had rip-off products, and you can't just judge it on price either. I was looking for a Ruizu X06 MP3 player, and noticed that I could pay £32 or £65 for exactly the same device from the same manufacturer, where the price doesn't indicate any difference at all. You will get sellers who will chance it.

[@maletil]

I have three of those breadboards You have to put a bit of force the first time on the pins to open. I used some male header to push the pins and now it works perfectly Mine don't have problems with serigraphy

[@iPelaaja1]

I also bought two of those like a year ago, 99p a piece. Components are almost impossible to insert in the holes. Used them maybe once.

[@billfield8300]

I have a couple of the poorer quality ones. You can suffer through the difficulty to install the component but when they do not make good contact, you can really have a problem trying to troubleshoot your project. I simply don't use those ones anymore.

[@ArduinoKing]

Ive always struggled with breadboards, and always thought that's just what they were. Time to end my suffering and buy some good ones. I had no idea that the good ones were so much better.

[@DownhillAllTheWay]

What is "A" at one end of the board is "j" at the other end. That reminds me - when plugging in a power supply - one of those popular ones that connects to USB and/or a DC PSU, be sure that the indicated positive on the PSU is connected to the red-line rail. It is very easy (bitter experience here) to plug it into the wrong end of the board. Everything looks the same, but the rails are connected to the wrong power. Then you connect your chip to the red and blue rails, and it gets hot and melts the plastic of the breadboard.

[@Synthetech]

I believe the printed numbers and letters are designed so they look the same when you flip the board upside down... the left side letters and numbers at top, that is. another bad thing about these boards is the bus bars tend to stretch open easily and STAY OPEN.. IE they won't grab a smaller wire after a thicker wire was in it previously.. the metal bends out, but won't retract after the wire is pulled back out. All the cheap breadboards from China are going to be like this. If you want good quality boards, buy them from a trusted source or get used ones on eBay.. I bought 11 used JameCo boards for $20 and am very happy with them compared to the el cheap Chinese ones.

[@outaspaceman]

I just put links into the rail, but the holes are certainly a pain.

[@Madmax23419]

Many breadboards have split power rails, some people need more than just 5v and ground. ;)

[@MrWilliam932]

I had one of these once, and NEVER AGAIN, I ended up buying boards at my local store, they cost me 12€ each one, but daaamn they worth the money, the only thing i miss is that they dont have attachment point at the end, but they are soo good

[@makomk]

Hmm. I've got an 840-point breadboard with the same printing and doesn't seem to have this problem. Don't want to take it apart but from looking at the top it seems to have funneling as wide as the holes just like my smaller ones. Wonder what happened.

[@what-uc]

Can breadboards be improved to make more compact and understandablle circuits with less wires? Might be an interesting discussion to start.

[@kevincozens6837]

Split power rails is a design choice that has existed in breadboards like this going back about 40 years. You could have sent the boards back as they didn't send you what was shown on the listing. What happened with the other breadboards you said you ordered at the end of this video? Were they any good?

[@ke7azd432]

i got one of thse cheap bb's from china too. I took a larger sewing neetle and used it to spread them out a bit and it worked fine. also the split power rail is on purpose. if you need multiple power levels you can do that i.e 3.5 or 5 v. but if not a simple jumper will work just fine....... thats mt .02 from a novice

[@masoudhosseinzade9621]

Buddy I hope that's your only problem with cheap bread boards! I had difficulty inserting the components into my cheap one, so i decided to open it up as well! I found two adjacent buses in one slot! so they were not isolated and actually the two only made one contact! I'm wondering how many times I was disappointed at the circuit I was building and thinking to myself I was doing something wrong when in reality it was all the breadboard's fault! my advice is to take the back off when you buy it and take a quick look at the back looking for shorts. if you find one, fix it.

[@p1nesap]

All of these cheap Chinese broadboads have variances in holes. Not a big deal to bridge the 4 buses. And try mounting that breadboard power supply module you just got on a small board, combined with any IC chip circuit....you need these bigger boards.

[@1pcfred]

As others have pointed out the title of this video is a bit off. These breadboards are not fake. They are just cheap copies. I do not think they are purporting to be anything else either. Quality 830 tie point solderless breadboards do cost a bit more.

[@pikadroo]

Yeah, I knew it the second I saw them in your post bag vid and I have only ever had one. It sits under my bench where it is being punished. I think mine came with a kit of arduino bits though and it cost me a day of troubleshooting something that was hooked up right but the board was creating faults.

[@Feakre]

So what are your recommendations for a half decent breadboard? I've got one of the cheap crappy ones and it really is useless. I've just been making some very simple circuits but have spent more time making sure I've got a connection than I have doing anything else. It really is utter junk.