FAKE Solderless Breadboards

[@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.

[@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"

[@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.

[@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.

[@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.

[@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 :)

[@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. 🙂

[@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.

[@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.

[@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

[@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.

[@brettefantomet]

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

[@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

[@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.

[@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.

[@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.

[@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.

[@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?

[@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.

[@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.

[@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.

[@DownhillAllTheWay]

I guess the way to get the right one is to send a question to the seller to be sure he's selling the one you want, then send it back if he sends the wrong one.

[@outaspaceman]

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

[@martinbergman7693]

I am interested to know where I could find the kind of (blue) breadbords briefly shown at 8:20. I assume they are good quality.

[@JulianIlett]

Maplin, about 20 years ago

[@martinbergman7693]

Julian Ilett Tah!

[@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.

[@what-uc]

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

[@rafalklepinski7372]

7 years later, I just went through the exact same scenario. Pictured were nice breadboards, instead received exactly the same crap showcased in this video. Wonder if these are still being made or they made so many that 7 years on still can't get rid of them all... identical right down to the poor print job.

[@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.

[@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.

[@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.

[@Popart-xh2fd]

I use tweezers to insert component on it and also to enlarge the holes and be easier next time! Where are the GOOD ones?

[@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.

[@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.

[@eiscingdeath2004]

I've unfortunately purchased some "good" quality breadboard locally sourced and had some of the same problems with the ones I spent 5× the price on them. I guess it's just hard to get some things in a good quality anymore.

[@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.

[@martinsamuelsson2322]

Would love a follow up video, I've given up and started to straight up soldering components to prototype pcbs instead.

[@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.

[@edgeeffect]

A lot of those breadboard have the broken power rail but with no clues that the break exists like on yours.

[@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.

[@robert1100]

The cheapies I just received have the side bus rails separating from the board. They just don't work.

[@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.

[@EddyBlacks]

Maybe the funneling holes just loosen up with repeated use, as holes tend to do?

[@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.

[@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

[@robertomartin8731]

The bad ones are not reliable when the circuit speed goes up and when using wire wrap wires with tinned ends.

[@falsonaga]

wait, are any breadboards reliable with high speed circuits?

[@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.

[@RichardT2112]

The power rails are designed to be split halfway aren't they? I've seen those for years (25+) ... I have been told it allows for multiple voltages on a board ... now the low quality of the holes IS crappy manufacturing.

[@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?

[@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.

[@tablatronix]

every breadboard I have ever seen have half length power rails...

[@2010craggy]

tablatronix Its silly though.... they press them out in one long run, then snap them into strips of five contacts to fabricate the board with. They could easily therefore make continuous power rails, my thinking is they've only got injection moulding tooling for one type of board based around these little short contact strips.

[@Brainstorm4300]

2010craggy some times split power rails are desired. You can connect the split rails but you can't break a continuous rail.

[@1pcfred]

Wanna bet? I've broken those long rails before. Not on purpose, they are sometimes difficult to extract without breaking them. Why take one out? Sometimes leads break off, and need to be removed. After 40 years of breadboarding things do happen.

[@John_Ridley]

Not really silly since if you're working in analog you're likely to need 2 or 3 power rails plus ground. If you're not, install a jumper between the rails as soon as you get the board and you're done. And I agree, every long breadboard I've ever owned had split power rails.

[@andymouse]

none of mine are split

[@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.

[@someshvarvashisht6726]

I purchased the Arduino MKR1000 kit from Arduino.cc .Yet I am having the problem in inserting the board on breadboard.

[@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.

[@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.

[@Anvilshock]

I've found the long boards sold under the brand name ELEGOO on Amazon have continuous power lines. They're not perfect, though. The numbering and labeling is a bit off, but I never needed that anyway.

[@Anvilshock]

8:19 - Gaah, those are the ones! Those are the ones that keep spitting out the DIP components for me, especially the push buttons and pots!! What wizardry do you use to keep them in?!

[@JulianIlett]

Sometimes they lock in just fine - sometimes I've had to bend the legs straight. Seems to be different every time :)

[@jayherde0]

Twist the pins in the direction of the buss bars. Or try short pieces of pinheaders. But, definitely, take out any bends designed to grip a PCB.

[@Qeeet]

show us what breadboards you buy? please

[@andljoy]

Can you still buy the old blue type ? I have one and its super high quality .

[@zmemw16]

when you try to lock together long side to long side the distance between lugs is not consistent the size of the lugs is not consistent buying multiples from a single source might help in one shot in the video, the power rails were transposed, would not the lugs and their sockets also be transposed? if you use dupont terminated leads on these, a quarter turn seems to open the way for insertion.

[@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.

[@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.

[@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.

[@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.

[@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.

[@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!

[@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.

[@nor4277]

What do you do when you get bad bread boards,text thee seller or send them to the trash,

[@Elberto71]

Julian on your small breadboard have you got the top negative rail shorted to the bottom positive rail with the long jumper ?

[@SolarWebsite]

Rob Bennett I noticed the same thing.

[@JulianIlett]

That's because the op amp needs a split power supply +12v 0v -12v

[@nockieboy]

Hi Julian - I think this has been asked before but I can't find the answer to it; Why do you use ebay.com and not ebay.co.uk? The prices are in dollars instead of GBP and it makes it awkward to find the items. I'm assuming you can't get deals that cheap on the UK site?

[@mrtom64]

If a genuine board was ordered and it turned out to be like these then sure, its grounds for complaint, but then what would be considered a 'genuine' board? What do we look for so as not to end up with rubbish.

[@KnaufL]

What aobout beadboards from alice?

[@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.

[@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..

[@WilliamWoodAZ]

Can you do a video on breadboards that you like/recommend? last week I opened a few packages from good ol China and have 3 junk breadboards myself.

[@petti78]

Oh crud, I have some of the fake ones too. Thanks for the heads up! I have been wondering why I keep having problems with them..

[@tromick]

Can you give your good quality 400 pin breadboard? Thanks!

[@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. :)

[@TheProCactus]

Was this video used as feedback for a Banggood purchase ?

[@2010craggy]

When did Waitrose start selling organic, whole grain breadboards? My local one doesn't lol!

[@bergweg]

ha, I just looked at my ebay orders page and I've ordered two of these, if the pictures in the listing are correct.

[@Noodleude]

watching this video, I picked up one of the breadboards next to me, and it is one of those clear ones, 800 tie points, but it has the mismatched lettering and numbering. I have a few more small ones, and even a small clear one that came in the same set as the large one, and those are all fine. weird.

[@PaulTheSkeptic]

That's quite difference in price though. You bought one for $12 and then you took a chance on one for a few dollars. Should we spend closer to $12 dollars or closer to $2?

[@theredstonehive]

Aren't they meant to have a split? Sometimes it can be usefull to have more power rails. If you need them all connected, brige them with a wire.

[@singechamberlain2967]

Can anyone recommend a good supplier for quality MB102 boards in the UK? Thanks

[@singechamberlain2967]

To answer my own question, I managed to find excellent quality MB102's from Rapid Electronics. All the ones I bought on ebay have been terrible.

[@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.

[@klmbss]

So... And where I can buy not fake 830 or 400 points breadboards? All bradboards on AliExpress is the same price... I just cant find good quality breadboard at all... 1,5$ all of them

[@glenbirbeck4098]

The split rail isn't big problem but even so I can't imagine why they did it.

[@thehappylittlefoxakabenji8154]

so who's selling the better ones

[@p8051a]

Hi! Where did you buy the good quality 400 point breadboard? Was it eBay, because it looks just like the others that are sold there . If yes would share the seller's name? I've bought several breadboards off eBay and pretty much all of them are crap:( Thanks!

[@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.

[@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.

[@HighlandSteam]

Also the numbering goes opposite direction

[@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...

[@gi1rim]

I've had the same issue with the smaller of the breadboards, so unfortunately that's not an indicator either :/

[@sweetleaf7751]

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

[@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.

[@aemvasconcelos]

get ready for the transparent board, it's super-difficult to locate the right hole.

[@JulianIlett]

Looking forward to it :)

[@mickcoomer9714]

A bit late for me. I’ve got a couple of rubbish units. Going to get some new ones and ditch the cheap ones.