Thank you, this was very useful. I will be organising my resistors the same way as you have done. I have just bought a Brother QL-800 Label Printer - this one can do barcodes, etc and can print up to 60mm (2 1/4") wide, so I can start labelling my storage trays the way you have. I use the small 7.5cm x 5cm (3"x2") ZipLock type bags for my resistors, and I will label them the way Digi-Key have done it as shown on your bags. I think the color codes in words below the value is a good idea too. Thanks again!
This organization is great until you buy and want to organize THD + SMD resistors and capacitors in different sizes/types. I've actually used this exact same scheme for the last 2 years. I been struggling with how I want to redo my organization for the last few days though. I recalled seeing this in my sub-feed and came back to watch. One tip: if you think about the products you use daily around the house, you will probably find things you can recycle for organization, you just have to be very patient while collecting them. My favorite item is Dove bathroom bar soap. The little white boxes each bar comes in make perfect little divider containers. I made a little stand jig that holds a razor blade horizontally at exactly 1/2 the box height. First I hot glue the empty box closed. Then I slide it next to the cutting jig to make an open box with a perfectly square top that is also exactly the same size as all the others I have. If you add a bead of hotglue on the cut edge those little boxes can handle a lot of regular use and abuse too. Best of all, you can remove single boxes as you need them. I have made hundreds of them to use in an old library card-catalog cabinet over the last 2+ years. Anything you use regularly that comes in a box is the perfect way to make component organizers. Personally I prefer a large cabinet with drawers that contain individual values of removable containers. This means there is no organizational game of leapfrog or Russian nesting doll type shenanigans, and I can keep most of my components within reach of my workbench at all times. The problem with those smaller drawers is the limited number of resistors they hold. I recently picked up a range of most E24 values in 100 piece quantities. That just won't fit with this size organizer any more. However, if you're looking for these types of organizers, Walmart has been stocking some nice 30 drawer ones for ~$12 each, and they even have drawer stops so things never get dumped out from tipping the container. That's the cheapest I've seen. I haven't found anything else that comes close to that price point for a decent organizer :-) -Jake
Next time I am in Walmart I will see if they have anything good for storing components in my store. I’m definitely going to be using a different method for surface mount storage and I don’t know what I will do if I start having multiple wattage resistors. Right now mostly everything is quarter watt so I take that for granted and all the other power rated parts are just still disorganized in random bags. If I could ever find time to clean and organize what I already have, I think I could re-claim a bunch of storage containers that are being inefficiently used right now after I re-organize and consolidate stuff.
I've been looking for E12 or E24 series in bags like yours but I cant find them. Do you have a link? I unwisely bought a kit with resistors glued to two paper strips and I hate it. I also have drawers like you but the dont come cheap...
I bought those resistors from digikey years ago so they are guaranteed quality but don’t come cheap compared to eBay China. It looks like it calculates out to 16 or 17 cents per resistor in the kit but here’s the link of the search results that I would have chosen from. www.digikey.ca/products/en/kits/resistor-kits/653?k=Resistor&k=&pkeyword=Resistor&sv=0&pv223=694&pv69=80&sf=1&FV=ffe0028d&quantity=&ColumnSort=0&page=1&pageSize=25
I would have to either use the E 96 series which is a lot of trays, because that handles 1% tolerance, or try some hybrid method like anything between 10 and 11 in the E 24 series, I would stuff all the 1% resistors with the in between values and just have to dig them out.
@@GadgetReboot Since I don't have much room on my work bench for another drawer cabinet, I've been thinking of using this method that I found on Instructable for sorting resistor : www.instructables.com/id/Easy-Resistor-Assortment-Organization-With-Index-C/
I have so many loose resistors that I have two values per drawer, using a separator between them, I think I have something like 130 drawers just for resistors.
I’m really going to run out of trays when I start organizing the capacitors. Thankfully all those eBay capacitor kits have come with those flimsy plastic holders but it seems when I take them out to put them on a breadboard, they never go back in those original shipping trays so I think I’m going to have to watch for the next sale on parts storage cabinets.
I'd go crazy having my resistors all mixed together like Gadget's showing here. Plus those parts drawers are really annoying and space inefficient. I've just finished moving everything out of those drawers (literally thousands). My resistors are in Pill bottles (tubes/vials), one value per bottle. Each small vial is about 15mm diameter, so 25 for a decade is about 150mm square. Commonly used values liek 1K, 10K are in larger diameter vials, but stored in the same group. The vials are vertical inside plastic compartment boxes. If I need 20 resistors I lift out the whole bottle, take it to the bench and and pour them out. The reason I do it this way is because I allocate space based on the volume required, rather than wasting equal space for every item. For example, compare your usage and stock volume for 1K vs 62K
I think I definitely won’t use these trays for the annoying blue body 1% resistors that have Way more values to sort and I can never seem to read the bands properly so I would like them all in their own storage compartment similar to how you describe.
That's a neat idea but what happens when you have something from E48 series? I have a linear method like 1-4.7, below 10, 10-47, below 100, .... That is not clearly optimal. As soon as you start to get some E96 leftover any (not range based) system breaks. Even range based are not that nice with too many values though. I like smd with those nice tiny books.
My very first method of sorting was throw them all in a cardboard box along with transformers, capacitors, CMOS logic chips etc. Any sorting method at this point is perfect!
I keep my through hole resistors in bags. I keep the bags on rings so I just flip through to find the correct value and then hang the rings on hooks below my storage shelves.
Now i'm going to have to go and buy some new trays. That system is much better then my current system, which is the same as your old system. I just spent $800 yesterday buying an oscilloscope, new soldering station and a microscope. D'oh. Good thing i'm not married, i can spend what i like on my hobbie.
I wish I had the budget for a microscope, I was watching some review videos today so I can at least get familiar with what’s available. This time last year I splurged on my dual output arbitrary function generator and those part tray cabinets. My oscilloscope is 11 years old and I’m constantly feeling like it needs to be updated as well, more channels, better display, more features and I’m sure the firmware has some glitches in it that annoy me from time to time.
@@GadgetReboot I only got an entry level oscilloscope, 2 channel, 100Mhz. I was watching a video yesterday where the one I got (Hantek DSO5102P) was software upgradable to 200Mhz. So i'll have a go at that once the warranty has expired.
How about just have one drawer or half drawer with each resistor value and put TH, SMD and any other resistors of the same size together. Because you still have to go through five different plastic bags.
I think the original idea was that you can't make a bad resistor! it did not matter what value it measured as there was always a value it would fit in. it was the same the microprocessor speed, when tested the slower ones got marked down and sold cheaper. that way as the process improved less and less slow chips were made, but they still had orders for them, so marked down fast ones as slow. so towards the end of a chips life you could over clock the slow ones as they were no different than the top spec.
I think when the values are all mapped out, the tolerances don’t fully overlap along the whole set so there are still some small gaps in the series. But it definitely cuts down on bad parts if most of them can be slotted into a different category and still put to use. I guess it also depends on what exactly are the test criteria and pass fail criteria like if they test over temperature ranges to make sure a part is within a certain tolerance and how close they allow it to go toward the extreme of tolerance while passing. Along with some small gaps in the series, I believe there are other sections that overlap so if a resistor fell in that range it would be unclear which resistance nominal value to consider it as being part of.
Yeah just when I started decluttering the rest of the house and trying to make more space, I start using it up again by spreading out these part storage trays. Can’t win.
Yep, I've got a whole wall of those parts bins. It sure saves the time of digging through boxes and reading all those tiny part numbers on bags. I put various physical sizes in each drawer, all with the same value. If I need a 10K resistor, I can find all sizes from 1/8 watt up to 10 watts in the same drawer. For SMD devices, I use these: www.amazon.com/AideTek-BOX-ALL-Enclosures-Capacitor-Organizer/dp/B00A15YHJY, one for each size of resistor and capacitor.
That looks like a convenient surface mount storage, which I’m going to need at some point when I accumulate more small parts like that. Thanks for sharing.
I got a couple of those too, pretty good for small smd stuff and the lids seem to clip pretty solidly. You can also get prepopulated ones filled with resistors or caps.
Best solution I am seeing so far is a binder with pockets. Not really fan of how big the footprint is on just resistors by using bins.
Thank you, this was very useful. I will be organising my resistors the same way as you have done.
I have just bought a Brother QL-800 Label Printer - this one can do barcodes, etc and can print up to 60mm (2 1/4") wide, so I can start labelling my storage trays the way you have.
I use the small 7.5cm x 5cm (3"x2") ZipLock type bags for my resistors, and I will label them the way Digi-Key have done it as shown on your bags.
I think the color codes in words below the value is a good idea too.
Thanks again!
This organization is great until you buy and want to organize THD + SMD resistors and capacitors in different sizes/types. I've actually used this exact same scheme for the last 2 years. I been struggling with how I want to redo my organization for the last few days though. I recalled seeing this in my sub-feed and came back to watch.
One tip: if you think about the products you use daily around the house, you will probably find things you can recycle for organization, you just have to be very patient while collecting them. My favorite item is Dove bathroom bar soap. The little white boxes each bar comes in make perfect little divider containers. I made a little stand jig that holds a razor blade horizontally at exactly 1/2 the box height. First I hot glue the empty box closed. Then I slide it next to the cutting jig to make an open box with a perfectly square top that is also exactly the same size as all the others I have. If you add a bead of hotglue on the cut edge those little boxes can handle a lot of regular use and abuse too. Best of all, you can remove single boxes as you need them. I have made hundreds of them to use in an old library card-catalog cabinet over the last 2+ years.
Anything you use regularly that comes in a box is the perfect way to make component organizers. Personally I prefer a large cabinet with drawers that contain individual values of removable containers. This means there is no organizational game of leapfrog or Russian nesting doll type shenanigans, and I can keep most of my components within reach of my workbench at all times. The problem with those smaller drawers is the limited number of resistors they hold. I recently picked up a range of most E24 values in 100 piece quantities. That just won't fit with this size organizer any more.
However, if you're looking for these types of organizers, Walmart has been stocking some nice 30 drawer ones for ~$12 each, and they even have drawer stops so things never get dumped out from tipping the container. That's the cheapest I've seen. I haven't found anything else that comes close to that price point for a decent organizer :-)
-Jake
Next time I am in Walmart I will see if they have anything good for storing components in my store. I’m definitely going to be using a different method for surface mount storage and I don’t know what I will do if I start having multiple wattage resistors.
Right now mostly everything is quarter watt so I take that for granted and all the other power rated parts are just still disorganized in random bags. If I could ever find time to clean and organize what I already have, I think I could re-claim a bunch of storage containers that are being inefficiently used right now after I re-organize and consolidate stuff.
I've been looking for E12 or E24 series in bags like yours but I cant find them. Do you have a link?
I unwisely bought a kit with resistors glued to two paper strips and I hate it. I also have drawers like you but the dont come cheap...
I bought those resistors from digikey years ago so they are guaranteed quality but don’t come cheap compared to eBay China. It looks like it calculates out to 16 or 17 cents per resistor in the kit but here’s the link of the search results that I would have chosen from.
www.digikey.ca/products/en/kits/resistor-kits/653?k=Resistor&k=&pkeyword=Resistor&sv=0&pv223=694&pv69=80&sf=1&FV=ffe0028d&quantity=&ColumnSort=0&page=1&pageSize=25
👍👍👍
Nice ! What do you do with 1% tolerance resistors ?
I would have to either use the E 96 series which is a lot of trays, because that handles 1% tolerance, or try some hybrid method like anything between 10 and 11 in the E 24 series, I would stuff all the 1% resistors with the in between values and just have to dig them out.
@@GadgetReboot Since I don't have much room on my work bench for another drawer cabinet, I've been thinking of using this method that I found on Instructable for sorting resistor : www.instructables.com/id/Easy-Resistor-Assortment-Organization-With-Index-C/
I have so many loose resistors that I have two values per drawer, using a separator between them, I think I have something like 130 drawers just for resistors.
I’m really going to run out of trays when I start organizing the capacitors. Thankfully all those eBay capacitor kits have come with those flimsy plastic holders but it seems when I take them out to put them on a breadboard, they never go back in those original shipping trays so I think I’m going to have to watch for the next sale on parts storage cabinets.
@@GadgetReboot They are on sale at Princess Auto till 5/10/2020 - free shipping!
I'd go crazy having my resistors all mixed together like Gadget's showing here. Plus those parts drawers are really annoying and space inefficient.
I've just finished moving everything out of those drawers (literally thousands). My resistors are in Pill bottles (tubes/vials), one value per bottle. Each small vial is about 15mm diameter, so 25 for a decade is about 150mm square. Commonly used values liek 1K, 10K are in larger diameter vials, but stored in the same group. The vials are vertical inside plastic compartment boxes.
If I need 20 resistors I lift out the whole bottle, take it to the bench and and pour them out.
The reason I do it this way is because I allocate space based on the volume required, rather than wasting equal space for every item. For example, compare your usage and stock volume for 1K vs 62K
I think I definitely won’t use these trays for the annoying blue body 1% resistors that have Way more values to sort and I can never seem to read the bands properly so I would like them all in their own storage compartment similar to how you describe.
@@GadgetReboot - What I described is how I store all of my "loose" resistors (
That's a neat idea but what happens when you have something from E48 series?
I have a linear method like 1-4.7, below 10, 10-47, below 100, .... That is not clearly optimal. As soon as you start to get some E96 leftover any (not range based) system breaks. Even range based are not that nice with too many values though. I like smd with those nice tiny books.
I know some people sort their components by what the value's first number is, say 100k, 15k, 12.5k, 1meg, etc
My very first method of sorting was throw them all in a cardboard box along with transformers, capacitors, CMOS logic chips etc. Any sorting method at this point is perfect!
I keep my through hole resistors in bags. I keep the bags on rings so I just flip through to find the correct value and then hang the rings on hooks below my storage shelves.
A good informing video
Now i'm going to have to go and buy some new trays. That system is much better then my current system, which is the same as your old system. I just spent $800 yesterday buying an oscilloscope, new soldering station and a microscope. D'oh. Good thing i'm not married, i can spend what i like on my hobbie.
I wish I had the budget for a microscope, I was watching some review videos today so I can at least get familiar with what’s available. This time last year I splurged on my dual output arbitrary function generator and those part tray cabinets.
My oscilloscope is 11 years old and I’m constantly feeling like it needs to be updated as well, more channels, better display, more features and I’m sure the firmware has some glitches in it that annoy me from time to time.
@@GadgetReboot I only got an entry level oscilloscope, 2 channel, 100Mhz. I was watching a video yesterday where the one I got (Hantek DSO5102P) was software upgradable to 200Mhz. So i'll have a go at that once the warranty has expired.
How about just have one drawer or half drawer with each resistor value and put TH, SMD and any other resistors of the same size together. Because you still have to go through five different plastic bags.
I think the original idea was that you can't make a bad resistor! it did not matter what value it measured as there was always a value it would fit in. it was the same the microprocessor speed, when tested the slower ones got marked down and sold cheaper. that way as the process improved less and less slow chips were made, but they still had orders for them, so marked down fast ones as slow. so towards the end of a chips life you could over clock the slow ones as they were no different than the top spec.
I think when the values are all mapped out, the tolerances don’t fully overlap along the whole set so there are still some small gaps in the series. But it definitely cuts down on bad parts if most of them can be slotted into a different category and still put to use.
I guess it also depends on what exactly are the test criteria and pass fail criteria like if they test over temperature ranges to make sure a part is within a certain tolerance and how close they allow it to go toward the extreme of tolerance while passing.
Along with some small gaps in the series, I believe there are other sections that overlap so if a resistor fell in that range it would be unclear which resistance nominal value to consider it as being part of.
damm!.... who was it who used to say "shuzbut"?
Mork from Ork!
@@GadgetRebootOh yeah!....cheers, can sleep tonight now!
I like it but then I would want more drawers for 1/4, 1/2, 1, 2, 5 watt.
Yeah just when I started decluttering the rest of the house and trying to make more space, I start using it up again by spreading out these part storage trays. Can’t win.
Yep, I've got a whole wall of those parts bins. It sure saves the time of digging through boxes and reading all those tiny part numbers on bags. I put various physical sizes in each drawer, all with the same value. If I need a 10K resistor, I can find all sizes from 1/8 watt up to 10 watts in the same drawer. For SMD devices, I use these: www.amazon.com/AideTek-BOX-ALL-Enclosures-Capacitor-Organizer/dp/B00A15YHJY, one for each size of resistor and capacitor.
That looks like a convenient surface mount storage, which I’m going to need at some point when I accumulate more small parts like that. Thanks for sharing.
I got a couple of those too, pretty good for small smd stuff and the lids seem to clip pretty solidly. You can also get prepopulated ones filled with resistors or caps.