This is a great review! You've summed up all of the important points very well and your conclusions match my experience. I've had great luck with the BB830 and WBU-202-R. Thanks for the comprehensive video.
@@Sarahbuildsstepsequencers I bought an Assembly Specialists breadboard, which, IIUC, is the OEM for 3M's breadboards. They look exactly the same, apart from branding in the top left corner. Inserting a 0.6mm jumper pin requires a bit over 1kg force on my board (unless I intentionally loosen the terminal by abusing it, which then drops insertion force to about 300g). Does this match your experience? I've seen rave reviews for ASP/3M breadboards, but I'm having a hard time understanding why people like them so much, and I've seen no complaints about the insertion force being so high that solid core jumpers and resistors would surely buckle. Does everyone loosen up all several thousand of their terminals, or?.. Did I get a dud?
I've been frustrated with the overall quality of breadboards out there and have wondered if there are any higher-quality boards to be had. This review is EXCELLENT! You're concise, you cover the relevant issues and you don't ramble .... thank you very much for taking the time and spending the money to get this information out there. you're awesome!
I had a breadboard as a teenager in the 80's, from Radio Shack. Lately, 40 years later, I've been studying Arduino. I was so disappointed to see the obviously junk breadboards available these days. Thank you, 6 years later, for posting this. I'm going with Busboard.
This is one of the most helpful video-tutorials a beginner could watch. Thank you so much for spending your money on all these boards and for taking the time to record and share your knowledge. Cheers m8
Bless you for doing this. Holy cow, breadboards have gone to crap. I feel the pain of all those commenting below. My hair is already gone (can't pull any more out) which means I only have my own life to take out of frustration. And I can't budget any more work benches, having broken the last 20 with my forehead.
Thanks for the recommendations. I recently encountered some problems with a few different breadboards of dubious origin and measured an insanely high contact resistance that ranged from 0.4R to 50R. And this is the only useful video I could find on the subject so thanks again.
I often feel like the world of breadboards is still in the 1900s. There's a lot of room for improvement and it could be a good business opportunity for those of us who want more from their breadboards.
1:18 The purpose of interrupted power rails is for when you need more than two different supplied voltages on the same breadboard. Installing jumpers when only one voltage is required is a small price to pay for that functionality.
I disagree. Most of people and most of the time we use only 1 or 2 power sources, much more often than 3 or 4. All good brands know this so they don't split the power rails.
A comprehensive investigation into breadboards. I know now I am not alone in my frustration of some of the cheaper ones. I've ordered the BBS BB830T as the Jameco seems to be unavailable in the UK. I'll try and remember to report back here whether it was better than what I already have! Thanks again for a great video.
I bought the Jameco with the metal backing plate. Wow! All the connections are SOLID! Worth the extra money! Thanks for the video. Now I can be sure of all my connections.😎
hi, great video and very thorough. I use a matsuhama breadboard. I bought it when i was in univercity and i'm still using it 17 years after. i remember paying about 30 USD. the only downside according to your list is that you cannot expand it. it comes as an assembly , it has twice the capacity of the breadboards you compared and its own base plate and 3 banana posts. Also you cannot plug in a breadboard power module because the positive/negative rail have 1pin clearance between. you must construct an adapter pcb
Thank you for your words. Yes, I've seen those kinds of breadboards and they look great. I didn't test those big breadboards because would be too expensive and I wanted to focus in only one type of breadboard for the video. Keep taking care of your breadboard because that level of quality is not easy to find. But if you ever need to buy a smaller breadboard, go with the Jameco Valuepro WBU-202-R. It's my favorite. Although the Busboard Prototype Systems is not bad either. Good luck.
I have the AZ-Delivery ones and i love them. The labeling is a bit shifted but you can live with it, the connections are good and it's easy to connect. There's adhesive, if you peel it off, you can get to the metal, and the power rails have no interruptions. You can connect them on all 4 sides with those square connectors and they don't have a backplate but the adhesive is pretty strong.
Thank you for this video. 👍 I bought breadboards for a university course and they are aweful. We sometimes couldn't read analog sensor signals with the breadboard and now I know why. I will send them back and tell the dealer that the quality is unacceptable for university projects. Bad connections make it almost impossible to learn from mistakes.
Great review! I've just wasted 2 hours chasing ghosts because the breadboard I was using had shitty connections. Hopefully that's soon a thing of the past. Bought a BB830.
Good comparisons, thanks for taking the time to do them. There's a US brand called Global Specialties Corporation who do good quality boards (they're test equipment manufacturers). Basic prices are reasonable but if you're buying from outside the US (as I am) they might get hit with a hefty import tax - if you shop around there are suppliers who cover it for you by shipping stuff over in bulk (I use Mouser, there are probably others).
When I was searching for other brands I did found the Global Specialties model GS-830. I contacted the company and asked if they include the back-plate and they say no. At that point I didn't want to try more disqualified breadboards. I want to find good quality breadboards that have all requirements, or at least the first 7 features on my list. That's why I didn't even bother buying it.
Thank you. I've decided to learn about repairing electronics and and learning as I go, so this helped me a lot and saved me from making a rookie mistake.
I have a couple of Velleman SDAD102 and the BIG advantage is that these have 6 holes (a to f) on each side instead of the standard 5 holes (a to e) and the quality is superb. There is a new breadboard coming, the Velleman VTBB9, Lego compatible and also with the 6 connections on either side (nickel-copper alloy and ABS polymer).
Thank you! I've avoided breadboarding in the past because the circuits only seemed to work after some furious wiggling of all the conponents. Will get myself a new quality board and give breadboarding another chance.
Your Video have been very good for me thanks alot to make these informations public. I sent all my crappy breadboard to the trash and I got Jameco it's really great
Excellent review. I avoid breadboards simply because mine are so poor. Too may wires -- forget it, something will not be making good contact. Either that, or I do a trifecta, mangulating a wire in the same hole until giving up on it. Will try one of your good ones here to see how the other half lives.
Late to the party, but I'll add some comments anyway... I've noticed that there can also be a variation in the power rail dimensions. Amongst my several breadboards, some measure 0.100" (Jameco Valuepro WBR-202-R) between '+' rail and '-' rail, while others are 0.150" ( older E&L Instruments SK-10). I only noticed this recently when I built a 5V brreadboard power supply that is designed to connect into the top and bottom power rails, straddling the board vertically. In either case, the PS as-built did not fit; with the Jameco it was because the power rails top-to-bottom dimension did not match (1.800" vs. 1.750", with the E&L it was because the pitch of the power rail '+' and '-' was not standard 0.100" but 0.150". I also have other breadboards (Archer/Radio Shack) that have only one row per power rail. I have one breadboard that accepts the PS exactly. So many variations!
That's interesting. At least for me, I never seen those differences. Still, there's no real set standard so sadly that kind of things happens. Thank you for sharing
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you. I have been fighting with cheap ass breadboards for ever. Just ordered a couple of the bus boards. couldn't justify the almost double price for the janesco ones for just the added feature of end-to-end connectivity. 👍😁💖
I am glad it was useful for you. And you are right, I better buy more quantities of the Bus Board than less of the Jameco. Actually after I made the video I've bought 5 more Bus Board breadboards and they all work perfectly. Remember to buy them from a trusted seller. There's fake articles saying is from Bus Board but actually you receive something else. If you don't get a real Bus Board Prototype Systems, get you money back.
Then it should be the right one because I've bought them from that same link in amazon and they are the original. Although I selected the Bus Prototype Systems seller fulfilled by amazon.
A feature not discussed is the construction material. I have several breadboards that have warped and curved upwards at the ends from plastic shrinkage after a couple years. They aren't flat or straight any more. Some boards do this, and others do not, because the plastics they are made from is different. The ones that are curved up are annoying to use now because 40 pin dips and adapter pcb's don't even fit well any more because the chip or socket or pcb is long enough that the curvature makes the pins not line up with the holes just from one end of the chip to another. You can still insert the parts, but they don't lie flat. One real problem is you can no longer use those breadboards as a soldering jig to solder pin headers onto pcbs, if you need the pins to be accurately aligned to plug into something else later.
That's a great point. You are right. I saw it only once with a breadboard that was all warp. It was a cheap one. At least I can assure you that the good modela I recommend are still going strong without issues, even after all these years of using them
Thank you so much for this video. I'm so tired of buying breadboards that are garbage. I bought some listed as 3M off ebay and it's so hard to insert components that I threw them away. I'll def try the jameco and busboard. Thanks again!
One thing I look for in a good breadboard is that the power rails line up with the holes in the main part of the breadboard. I have some quite nice half-length ones that I like OTHER than the way the power rails don't line up. ALSO... My Elegoo breadboards don't have split rails. They hold quite well, the funneling is nice and I only found one bad connection due to a manufacturing error that I was able to fix. Some of the power rails can be difficult sometimes but that main body of the boards are fine.
Another person also mentioned that their elegoo breadboard was different than mine. He was from Europe so I am thinking elegoo sends different products to different parts of the world. From what country are you?
I bought a cheap one... instant regret... had problems with the simplest of circuits like 1 LED and 1 resistor (just learning) and 1st lesson learned was that a large % of the pin holes didn't work. Nothing like trying to learn circuits and how they work, with a half dead breadboard... well, I guess I did learn something so... bravo cheap breadboard. Any love for Bestol brand?
I think you've helped me avoid some frustration by guiding me to a good quality breadboard. I really appreciate your efforts and all the detail you provided. You mentioned several factors that I would not have thought to consider. Thank you very much.
Nice video. I was a little disappointed that he didn't cover other more $ boards like Global, Wisher, and 3M. Personally, I've been using Wisher brand lately. They are very high quality and not too expensive. You can find them on Radio Shacks web site and Amazon.
can you buy the metal parts and rebuild the breadboard? i dont think its possible but if it was you could possibly make a cheap breadboard more expensive with better internal metal plates plates.
Thanks for your great review. it has bin very helpful. The only brand i can get is the BusBoard can't seem to find the Jameco Electronics one. But the BusBoard is good enough. Going to buy 2 from each BB830 and BB400.. and i think one BB1460 not because i need it but i think it's fun to have a big one and shipping is 7 euro so i had better make sure i have enough.
I have a large size breadboard made by 3M, and it is far superior to any others I’ve tried. It was expensive, but 22 gauge solid wires and breadboard type wires fit very firmly and I’ve never had any intermittences issues.
InterlinkKnight it was well worth it to me as I spend hours in my lab making things. Check out my channel if you’re curious. And please, please subscribe, like and share if you enjoy what you see - and hear. 🙋🏻♀️
On the Jameco you forgot to mention the same detail that you pointed on the Adafruit one, and it's that the connectors wont align with other brands as they are completely different.
Great advice. I have a love hate relationship with breadboards, because there are so many crap ones out there. Every project I ever tried building on them turned out to have a problem with the board rather than my own work. I'd be interested to see the frequency performance comparison between the two you recommended. Keysight Labs did a video on one kind and found they perform decently up to 100 MHz, but it depends heavily on the wiring you use. Could also be interesting to know the resistive between contacts. Not that I would recommend putting high voltage in any of these....
Breadboards in general are bad for high frequency, no matter the quality. Also, some resistance is to be expected, but it's not something we should be worry about in a normal circuits.
You're mistaken about the uninterrupted power rails for the MB-102 -- it does have them. And, I've actually had decent experiences with the Elegoo MB-102, so far. I haven't yet noticed any significant connection problems, nor have I had any trouble inserting the pins/wires. But, these are the best of all my other brands of boards, so I can't yet compare with your recommended top of the list. All others I've tried are much worse than these (shorted power rails, connection issues and difficult to insert, etc.). For the money, I'd put them higher up, on the maybe list. Otherwise, great review. Thanks for the summary.
Someone else also mentioned that they got a different elegoo breadboard than mine. Apparently they have different products for the same model. It's about luck with the elegoo. From what country are you? In europe I heard they sell a better elegoo than america. I'm from america, btw
Thanks for mentioning Mouser. I was scratching my head in frustration tonight wondering where the bloody hell I can either buy the Busboard BB830 or the Jameco Valuepro he mentions here in the UK. Jeeez, they're not easy to find these two recommended breadboards he recommends here in the UK. I see that Mouser are in Buckinghamshire. I take it you've ordered from Mouser more than once and they sell genuine products yes?
Stringbean oh yes. Very much a legit retailer. Large quantities of chips. In US the orders I’ve made come in two days during pandemic. My stuff was always packaged great too.... and the BB is fantastic.
I somehow missed this review before I did my own research and bought the Jameco WBU-204-R. It looks to be the same as the 202-R in your review but with a large base plate and binding posts. I really hope the quality of the connections is the same as you reviewed.
I've been struggling for 3 days with some (very simple) Arduino code that wouldn't run correctly and couldn't figure out where I went wrong. Then I accidentally pushed on the breadboard while the code was running and voila, it's the %^$#^%$# breadboard. Thanks so much for this video, I really never considered the importance of the quality of breadboard.
That's a funny story. But yeah, most of us made that mistake of buying a bad quality breadboard thinking that is enough. I was so angry about it that I made the video. It took almost a year to make the video. I love seeing that I helped other people so all that time and effort was worth it. Good luck
For example, in amazon check that the seller is actually amazon and not another seller. What i did was to buy it from arrow.com which is well trusted. In the website of busboard prototype systems has a list of retailers.
I'm pretty sure I bougth the first kind. I really don't breadboard much as I found it a bit frustrating with bad wobbly connections and/or hard to insert components. I usually go straigth to prototype boards as what I have been doing so far is following instructions or copying others project. When I shamelessly copy projects seen on UA-cam I actually prefer those done on breadboards (especially the tidy ones (Stefano91ste)). I find it much easier to 'read' a breadboard than a PCB or proroboard. Schematics is dumb ;) I think I should get more into breadboards as I want to experiment a bit more of my own. Besides, some of the prototype projects of some complexity I've done had issues.
Very helpful, thanks! Another brand I've been curious about is "Global Specialties" at around the same price point, might be one to review next if you plan to do so
I failed test practical tests and went through 2 breadboards before realizing that getting a GOOD quality breadboard is essential for prototyping. I would happy pay 3 times the price for a quality board rather than get frustrated with junk.
True, but i find that "feature" more of a problem than an advantage. That's why all the good brands never split the power rails. Usually we just need 2 different power rails and a breadboard has them already.
Well, it's not so good with 1/4 watt resistors, which is all I have right now. Seems great with everything else. I guess the leads are just too thin. Do people generally not use components with such thin leads with breadboards?
@@SwapPartLLC This is kind of a late answer but might be useful to some people: Where you buy resistors is just as important as where you buy breadboards. It sounds like you got cheap resistors with very thin leads. I call them 'angel hair' leads because they're so thin and they collapse when you try to insert them into breadboards. Arrow probably has them too, but I found 1/4W resistors with nice thick leads on ebay. You can read my take on resistors at mechatronicsworkshop.com/index.php/2017/04/24/buy-resistors/
Arent split rails necessary for over 1 voltage sources? My circuits class has been doing voltage dividers and measuring current using 2 voltage sources and I am trying to buy boards that can do this
When I need to use two voltages, I use one side for one voltage and the other side for the other one. So we do have two power rails already in all good quality breadboards. They are just in different sides. When you need 3 or more voltages, then you could join multiple breadboards. Technically some people could need 4 power rails in a single breadboard, but count the time you ever need more than 2 power rails. Now count the times you need the entire power rail. Obviously by far we mostly use the entire power rail so all good quality breadboards have the entire power rail without splits.
Noo! I have ordered $25 in breadboards. If i had found this last week, i wouldn't have done that. 😭 I was surprised that Adafruit would make something in bad quality
Nice comparison and defined requirements. But the Busboard BB830 appears different from the one in the video in the amazon link. In the amazon picture, the numbers are not lined up the same, the power lines seem to break according to the power line markings, and the Column markings do not match top to bottom. Have they changed this model since the video?
Good observation. I checked out and looks like in the amazon page they changed the images to a random breadboard. I bought from that link many times and I received an original breadboard and looks different than those "new" pictures. If you go to the Busboard website you'll see the real pictures. They did change a few things from the one I showed on the video, but nothing bad. For example, the ground lines are black instead of blue. Also they now say the brand on the side. If you buy from Amazon and says busboard prototype systems as the brand, don't worry about the picture because you should receive the correct breadboard. Let me know how it goes.
3M and Texas Instruments seem to make really good ones. they are quite a bit more expensive (like $50) but I would wager they are good for life? I am in the market for a breadboard and I only like to buy things once.
Yeah I've been stung by the Amazon "chosen ones", too... Kinda suspicious who gives them such great ratings, if already in a simple circuit one can see that they just don't work. How about testing the 3M? I can contribute $10 for you to buy one.
They are so expensive! $58 for one? 3M is a great company and I'm sure they build great quality breadboards so I don't think I need to test them (I trust them). But no matter if their breadboards are excellent, I would prefer buying several breadboards from busboard prototype systems or jameco. Don't you think?
@@interlinkknight I am on the same page. Nobody in the UK had busboards when I was shopping around a week ago. Therefore, I put one 3M board in my basket because I need to reuse my components and I need a reliable connection... But I couldn't pull the trigger on £45 for a breadboard... Luckily, they (BusBoard) just came in to our Mouser today and I see I can buy a whole selection of boards for 45 quid... That being said, I still think it's interesting and even if the 3M doesn't make sense, I'd still like to know just how different it is from a BusBoard. Could also look into unwanted capacitance/induction...
We all know breadboards have some capacitance, induction and other unwanted stuff but i never seen it to be a problem. Unless you are using it for very high frequencies, it's fine.
I agree the Elegoo breadboards are not good. I thought they looked good quality because they come in printed cardboard boxes, but the connections are too loose.
Contrary to the rave reviews on on EEVblog forums, Reddit and elsewhere, I would highly advise *against* purchasing the Assembly Specialists (same as 3M) breadboards. Required insertion force for a 0.6mm pin is just a hair over 1kg. That's not a typo -- it's absolutely bonkers. If you abuse a terminal -- reinserting a pin repeatedly and wiggling it up and down -- you can get that down to around 300g. You're going to have a really, really bad time trying to get solid core wire, resistors, etc to not buckle and fold over well before they insert. Going to give the BusBoard a go, will report back later.
thanks for this, it seems the busboard BB830 on amazon uk at the moment, is bad version (bad reviews and they mention the letters are not aligned). I'm looking at the velleman sd12n 11gbp free delivery, let's see.
There are many counterfeits of the busboard BB830 breadboard, especially on ebay and amazon. You should only buy it from a trusted source. I bought it on arrow.com
InterlinkKnight ah ok, thanks. I’m happy with this vellememan sd12n (power rails are separated and no back plate and no labels, but connections seem good so far) - really appreciated your video though
I have the Elegoo breadboard (as part of an Arduino starting kit) and it's not good! Also, the components in the kit are low quality. It's cheap, but quality is below average as well. Anyway, thanks for this video!!!, i'll try to find me a Busboard or Jameco ;)
Yeah, i haven't seen a kit with good quality components. And elegoo in general has bad quality stuff. I bought also from elegoo jumper wires and they are so flimsy. I recommend breadboard from mostly busboard prototype systems because they are inexpensive and good. Just buy it in a reliable source because there are many fake ones
If you understand in the beginning that all these breadboards are crap then you won't get as frustrated. I've used a lot of four letter words working with these intermittent connections.
I'm getting back into electronics after quite a few years of pure programming and bought some Elegoo packages to introduce me to the Arduino family. I couldn't believe how inexpensive the breadboards were. I now know why. The piss poor connections are very frustrating. My 40 year old Global Specialties and Radio Shack Archer breadboards are more reliable than these brand new Elegoo. (I found that a liberal spray of Flux Remover or Contact Cleaner helps.) And yes, I have one Experimentor 600 that perfectly fits the Arduino Nano! ferretronix.com/stuff/breadboards/ I just bought two Busboard BB830s. Let's see how they compare. Thanks for the recommendations!
Same here too ... getting back into electronics after years of programming. The components are so damn crappy compared to back in the day when I was doing my labs in college. The resistor lead gauges now are so feaking flimsy it's terrible. Don't by anything less then 0.5mm leads in size.
This is a great review! You've summed up all of the important points very well and your conclusions match my experience. I've had great luck with the BB830 and WBU-202-R. Thanks for the comprehensive video.
I am glad I could help.
you are the one
who makes computer on breadboard
thanks i got intrest in logic gates
ben
Ben, have you used 3M breadboards? I’ve had great luck with them as well.
@@Sarahbuildsstepsequencers I bought an Assembly Specialists breadboard, which, IIUC, is the OEM for 3M's breadboards. They look exactly the same, apart from branding in the top left corner. Inserting a 0.6mm jumper pin requires a bit over 1kg force on my board (unless I intentionally loosen the terminal by abusing it, which then drops insertion force to about 300g). Does this match your experience?
I've seen rave reviews for ASP/3M breadboards, but I'm having a hard time understanding why people like them so much, and I've seen no complaints about the insertion force being so high that solid core jumpers and resistors would surely buckle. Does everyone loosen up all several thousand of their terminals, or?.. Did I get a dud?
There needs to be lots more folks like you on the Internet. That's the kind of info we designers and experimenters can appreciate. Thanks so much.
Aww. Thank you so much for those kind words :)
I've been frustrated with the overall quality of breadboards out there and have wondered if there are any higher-quality boards to be had. This review is EXCELLENT! You're concise, you cover the relevant issues and you don't ramble .... thank you very much for taking the time and spending the money to get this information out there. you're awesome!
Thank you for your kind words. Making videos like this take a lot of time, but knowing that I helped someone makes it worth it.
Glad I didn't have the money yet because I'm sure I would've wasted it on loads of boards already
I had a breadboard as a teenager in the 80's, from Radio Shack. Lately, 40 years later, I've been studying Arduino. I was so disappointed to see the obviously junk breadboards available these days. Thank you, 6 years later, for posting this. I'm going with Busboard.
This is one of the most helpful video-tutorials a beginner could watch.
Thank you so much for spending your money on all these boards and for taking the time to record and share your knowledge.
Cheers m8
I am glad I could help :)
I don't think if I'm able to find any of these brands in Iran, but your precise criterions helped me so much, THANKS.
Same in India.
They ship from another country n shipping cost is more than the product itself
Bless you for doing this. Holy cow, breadboards have gone to crap. I feel the pain of all those commenting below. My hair is already gone (can't pull any more out) which means I only have my own life to take out of frustration. And I can't budget any more work benches, having broken the last 20 with my forehead.
Thanks for the recommendations. I recently encountered some problems with a few different breadboards of dubious origin and measured an insanely high contact resistance that ranged from 0.4R to 50R.
And this is the only useful video I could find on the subject so thanks again.
We all been there. I'm glad I could help.
I often feel like the world of breadboards is still in the 1900s.
There's a lot of room for improvement and it could be a good business opportunity for those of us who want more from their breadboards.
1:18 The purpose of interrupted power rails is for when you need more than two different supplied voltages on the same breadboard.
Installing jumpers when only one voltage is required is a small price to pay for that functionality.
I disagree. Most of people and most of the time we use only 1 or 2 power sources, much more often than 3 or 4. All good brands know this so they don't split the power rails.
lol "nonsense labels." That sent some chuckle-worthy mental images through my head.
Nice video, btw.
A comprehensive investigation into breadboards. I know now I am not alone in my frustration of some of the cheaper ones. I've ordered the BBS BB830T as the Jameco seems to be unavailable in the UK. I'll try and remember to report back here whether it was better than what I already have! Thanks again for a great video.
:)
ValuePro now in Uk www.amazon.co.uk/Valuepro-WBU-202-R-830-Point-Solderless-Breadboard/dp/B00B88630E#customerReviews
I bought the Jameco with the metal backing plate. Wow! All the connections are SOLID! Worth the extra money! Thanks for the video. Now I can be sure of all my connections.😎
I'm glad I could help. Cheers
hi, great video and very thorough. I use a matsuhama breadboard. I bought it when i was in univercity and i'm still using it 17 years after. i remember paying about 30 USD. the only downside according to your list is that you cannot expand it. it comes as an assembly , it has twice the capacity of the breadboards you compared and its own base plate and 3 banana posts. Also you cannot plug in a breadboard power module because the positive/negative rail have 1pin clearance between. you must construct an adapter pcb
Thank you for your words. Yes, I've seen those kinds of breadboards and they look great. I didn't test those big breadboards because would be too expensive and I wanted to focus in only one type of breadboard for the video. Keep taking care of your breadboard because that level of quality is not easy to find. But if you ever need to buy a smaller breadboard, go with the Jameco Valuepro WBU-202-R. It's my favorite. Although the Busboard Prototype Systems is not bad either. Good luck.
Thanks for taking the time to post this. It was very well done.
Aww. Thanks for your kind words. I'm glad you like it :)
Thank you for Lending your hard learned knowledge and opinions. It will allow me to avoid the pitfalls you encountered.
I have the AZ-Delivery ones and i love them. The labeling is a bit shifted but you can live with it, the connections are good and it's easy to connect. There's adhesive, if you peel it off, you can get to the metal, and the power rails have no interruptions. You can connect them on all 4 sides with those square connectors and they don't have a backplate but the adhesive is pretty strong.
It's incredible how so many of these have good reviews on Amazon. Thankfully a good look at the worst reviews and pictures helps.
Probably done by those very same manufacturers.
Thank you for this video. 👍 I bought breadboards for a university course and they are aweful. We sometimes couldn't read analog sensor signals with the breadboard and now I know why. I will send them back and tell the dealer that the quality is unacceptable for university projects. Bad connections make it almost impossible to learn from mistakes.
Yeah, you should return them and get decent ones. I'm glad I could help
Great review! I've just wasted 2 hours chasing ghosts because the breadboard I was using had shitty connections.
Hopefully that's soon a thing of the past. Bought a BB830.
Excellent review. I wish I saw your video before buying Elegoo breadboard which is terrible.
Haha 😄 same. Worst board I ever bought
i agree
Good comparisons, thanks for taking the time to do them. There's a US brand called Global Specialties Corporation who do good quality boards (they're test equipment manufacturers). Basic prices are reasonable but if you're buying from outside the US (as I am) they might get hit with a hefty import tax - if you shop around there are suppliers who cover it for you by shipping stuff over in bulk (I use Mouser, there are probably others).
When I was searching for other brands I did found the Global Specialties model GS-830. I contacted the company and asked if they include the back-plate and they say no. At that point I didn't want to try more disqualified breadboards. I want to find good quality breadboards that have all requirements, or at least the first 7 features on my list. That's why I didn't even bother buying it.
yes thank you for spending the time to do this i found out the hard way that only for a few dollars its worth buying the better ones.
Thank you. I've decided to learn about repairing electronics and and learning as I go, so this helped me a lot and saved me from making a rookie mistake.
That's great. Thank you for sharing. And keep learning :)
Excellent video. I can’t tell you how much time I have wasted using bad boards.
Great video. I like the way you review the different brands. Really helps when making purchase decisions.
Thanks.
I have a couple of Velleman SDAD102 and the BIG advantage is that these have 6 holes (a to f) on each side instead of the standard 5 holes (a to e) and the quality is superb.
There is a new breadboard coming, the Velleman VTBB9, Lego compatible and also with the 6 connections on either side (nickel-copper alloy and ABS polymer).
Nice. I see the Velleman SD12N on amazon at $14.69. Does it come with a back plate?
I do not know, I do not have the SD12N. I have the SDAD102 and it is my very best breadboard. I will buy a couple of VTBB9 when they are available.
Thank you! I've avoided breadboarding in the past because the circuits only seemed to work after some furious wiggling of all the conponents. Will get myself a new quality board and give breadboarding another chance.
I understand you. Yeah, you should give it another try. They are very useful and the good brands don't have connection problems.
Your Video have been very good for me thanks alot to make these informations public. I sent all my crappy breadboard to the trash and I got Jameco it's really great
This is so helpful! Thank you for taking the time to do this in a thoughtful and thorough manner.
Excellent review. I avoid breadboards simply because mine are so poor. Too may wires -- forget it, something will not be making good contact. Either that, or I do a trifecta, mangulating a wire in the same hole until giving up on it. Will try one of your good ones here to see how the other half lives.
Cool. You wont regret it.
At first I thought this would just be dopey, but in fact it was very helpful and well thought out. Thanks
Late to the party, but I'll add some comments anyway... I've noticed that there can also be a variation in the power rail dimensions. Amongst my several breadboards, some measure 0.100" (Jameco Valuepro WBR-202-R) between '+' rail and '-' rail, while others are 0.150" ( older E&L Instruments SK-10). I only noticed this recently when I built a 5V brreadboard power supply that is designed to connect into the top and bottom power rails, straddling the board vertically. In either case, the PS as-built did not fit; with the Jameco it was because the power rails top-to-bottom dimension did not match (1.800" vs. 1.750", with the E&L it was because the pitch of the power rail '+' and '-' was not standard 0.100" but 0.150". I also have other breadboards (Archer/Radio Shack) that have only one row per power rail. I have one breadboard that accepts the PS exactly. So many variations!
That's interesting. At least for me, I never seen those differences. Still, there's no real set standard so sadly that kind of things happens.
Thank you for sharing
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you. I have been fighting with cheap ass breadboards for ever. Just ordered a couple of the bus boards. couldn't justify the almost double price for the janesco ones for just the added feature of end-to-end connectivity. 👍😁💖
I am glad it was useful for you.
And you are right, I better buy more quantities of the Bus Board than less of the Jameco. Actually after I made the video I've bought 5 more Bus Board breadboards and they all work perfectly.
Remember to buy them from a trusted seller. There's fake articles saying is from Bus Board but actually you receive something else. If you don't get a real Bus Board Prototype Systems, get you money back.
@@interlinkknight I used your link. Hope they send the good ones.
Then it should be the right one because I've bought them from that same link in amazon and they are the original. Although I selected the Bus Prototype Systems seller fulfilled by amazon.
A feature not discussed is the construction material. I have several breadboards that have warped and curved upwards at the ends from plastic shrinkage after a couple years. They aren't flat or straight any more. Some boards do this, and others do not, because the plastics they are made from is different. The ones that are curved up are annoying to use now because 40 pin dips and adapter pcb's don't even fit well any more because the chip or socket or pcb is long enough that the curvature makes the pins not line up with the holes just from one end of the chip to another. You can still insert the parts, but they don't lie flat. One real problem is you can no longer use those breadboards as a soldering jig to solder pin headers onto pcbs, if you need the pins to be accurately aligned to plug into something else later.
That's a great point. You are right. I saw it only once with a breadboard that was all warp. It was a cheap one. At least I can assure you that the good modela I recommend are still going strong without issues, even after all these years of using them
Thank you so much for this video. I'm so tired of buying breadboards that are garbage. I bought some listed as 3M off ebay and it's so hard to insert components that I threw them away. I'll def try the jameco and busboard. Thanks again!
I am glad that you like it. Be careful with places like ebay and amazon. They are full of fake breadboards.
Great video. Tired of breaking the connection points by only inserting components or having loose wires.
One thing I look for in a good breadboard is that the power rails line up with the holes in the main part of the breadboard. I have some quite nice half-length ones that I like OTHER than the way the power rails don't line up.
ALSO... My Elegoo breadboards don't have split rails. They hold quite well, the funneling is nice and I only found one bad connection due to a manufacturing error that I was able to fix.
Some of the power rails can be difficult sometimes but that main body of the boards are fine.
Another person also mentioned that their elegoo breadboard was different than mine. He was from Europe so I am thinking elegoo sends different products to different parts of the world. From what country are you?
@@interlinkknight
I'm from Canada
I got them from Amazon.ca
www.amazon.ca/gp/aw/d/B01EV6LJ7G?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_pd_title
Interesting. Thanks for your input.
Thanks for the info.. wanted to build a really large breadboard and this will make my descicion easyer!
Thanks a lot! I also bought the cheapest and had very bad connections! Im going for your Top 2 as the price quality factor seems to be great!
I bought a cheap one... instant regret... had problems with the simplest of circuits like 1 LED and 1 resistor (just learning) and 1st lesson learned was that a large % of the pin holes didn't work. Nothing like trying to learn circuits and how they work, with a half dead breadboard... well, I guess I did learn something so... bravo cheap breadboard.
Any love for Bestol brand?
Most of us go through that mistake and lesson. I haven't tried that bestol brand
I had no idea there was so much variation with breadboards, thanks a lot! ❤
I think you've helped me avoid some frustration by guiding me to a good quality breadboard. I really appreciate your efforts and all the detail you provided. You mentioned several factors that I would not have thought to consider. Thank you very much.
:)
@@interlinkknight - I bought two Jameco Valuepro WBU-202-R for $20 on Ebay. Can't wait to get them.
Great. Make sure you receive a real one (original). If it doesn't look like mine, return it.
@@interlinkknight - Yep, I got it directly from Jameco. It's good.
Nice video. I was a little disappointed that he didn't cover other more $ boards like Global, Wisher, and 3M. Personally, I've been using Wisher brand lately. They are very high quality and not too expensive. You can find them on Radio Shacks web site and Amazon.
Wisher is made in Taiwan ..Global Specialties & 3M are good!
I believe the reviewed WBU-202-R is a Wisher. www.jameco.com/Jameco/Products/ProdDS/20723.pdf
There's also 3M and global specialities breadboards. Usually without markings, but I have the last ones and after 40 years are still rocking
I searched before and they don't seem to make 3m breadboards anymore. At least not the standard size. But I heard they were really good.
can you buy the metal parts and rebuild the breadboard? i dont think its possible but if it was you could possibly make a cheap breadboard more expensive with better internal metal plates plates.
I don't see the point of doing that
Thank you very much for your hard work I was surprised about Adafruit I thought that would be the best as their prices are so high
Good guess. I was expecting a decent breadboard from adafruit too, but it's the worst I've seen
Thanks for your great review. it has bin very helpful. The only brand i can get is the BusBoard can't seem to find the Jameco Electronics one. But the BusBoard is good enough. Going to buy 2 from each BB830 and BB400.. and i think one BB1460 not because i need it but i think it's fun to have a big one and shipping is 7 euro so i had better make sure i have enough.
That's great. Yeah, the BusBoard is good enough. I'm glad I could help :)
I have a large size breadboard made by 3M, and it is far superior to any others I’ve tried. It was expensive, but 22 gauge solid wires and breadboard type wires fit very firmly and I’ve never had any intermittences issues.
That's true, I heard that the 3M are great. But too expensive
InterlinkKnight it was well worth it to me as I spend hours in my lab making things. Check out my channel if you’re curious. And please, please subscribe, like and share if you enjoy what you see - and hear. 🙋🏻♀️
On the Jameco you forgot to mention the same detail that you pointed on the Adafruit one, and it's that the connectors wont align with other brands as they are completely different.
That's true. Good point
Great review, it helped me to make a purchase decision. Thanks!
Great advice. I have a love hate relationship with breadboards, because there are so many crap ones out there. Every project I ever tried building on them turned out to have a problem with the board rather than my own work.
I'd be interested to see the frequency performance comparison between the two you recommended. Keysight Labs did a video on one kind and found they perform decently up to 100 MHz, but it depends heavily on the wiring you use. Could also be interesting to know the resistive between contacts. Not that I would recommend putting high voltage in any of these....
Breadboards in general are bad for high frequency, no matter the quality. Also, some resistance is to be expected, but it's not something we should be worry about in a normal circuits.
You're mistaken about the uninterrupted power rails for the MB-102 -- it does have them. And, I've actually had decent experiences with the Elegoo MB-102, so far. I haven't yet noticed any significant connection problems, nor have I had any trouble inserting the pins/wires. But, these are the best of all my other brands of boards, so I can't yet compare with your recommended top of the list. All others I've tried are much worse than these (shorted power rails, connection issues and difficult to insert, etc.). For the money, I'd put them higher up, on the maybe list. Otherwise, great review. Thanks for the summary.
Someone else also mentioned that they got a different elegoo breadboard than mine. Apparently they have different products for the same model. It's about luck with the elegoo. From what country are you? In europe I heard they sell a better elegoo than america. I'm from america, btw
I'm in the US, and bought from Amazon. (also, for Jameco products, its cheaper to buy from Jameco directly, than through Amazon)
Is it possible that elegoo changed their quality after I bought mine?
BusBoard - the makers of the BB830 (#2) is for sale on Mouser, which for me is the go-to place for everything electronics-related, not Amazon.
Thanks for mentioning Mouser. I was scratching my head in frustration tonight wondering where the bloody hell I can either buy the Busboard BB830 or the Jameco Valuepro he mentions here in the UK. Jeeez, they're not easy to find these two recommended breadboards he recommends here in the UK. I see that Mouser are in Buckinghamshire. I take it you've ordered from Mouser more than once and they sell genuine products yes?
Stringbean oh yes. Very much a legit retailer. Large quantities of chips. In US the orders I’ve made come in two days during pandemic. My stuff was always packaged great too.... and the BB is fantastic.
I somehow missed this review before I did my own research and bought the Jameco WBU-204-R. It looks to be the same as the 202-R in your review but with a large base plate and binding posts. I really hope the quality of the connections is the same as you reviewed.
It should be the same quality
I've been struggling for 3 days with some (very simple) Arduino code that wouldn't run correctly and couldn't figure out where I went wrong. Then I accidentally pushed on the breadboard while the code was running and voila, it's the %^$#^%$# breadboard. Thanks so much for this video, I really never considered the importance of the quality of breadboard.
That's a funny story. But yeah, most of us made that mistake of buying a bad quality breadboard thinking that is enough. I was so angry about it that I made the video. It took almost a year to make the video. I love seeing that I helped other people so all that time and effort was worth it.
Good luck
Tx, awesome, rich, no BS review.
Thanks for the video, I ordered the BB830 and WBU-202, hope they are good :)
Make sure you buy the busboard breadboard from a well trusted seller. There are many fake ones out there.
How to know? I just went to Amazon. Says seller is BusBoard Prototype Systems.
For example, in amazon check that the seller is actually amazon and not another seller. What i did was to buy it from arrow.com which is well trusted. In the website of busboard prototype systems has a list of retailers.
Mouser UK is on the BusBoard site as a seller
I'm pretty sure I bougth the first kind. I really don't breadboard much as I found it a bit frustrating with bad wobbly connections and/or hard to insert components. I usually go straigth to prototype boards as what I have been doing so far is following instructions or copying others project. When I shamelessly copy projects seen on UA-cam I actually prefer those done on breadboards (especially the tidy ones (Stefano91ste)). I find it much easier to 'read' a breadboard than a PCB or proroboard. Schematics is dumb ;) I think I should get more into breadboards as I want to experiment a bit more of my own. Besides, some of the prototype projects of some complexity I've done had issues.
Very helpful, thanks!
Another brand I've been curious about is "Global Specialties" at around the same price point, might be one to review next if you plan to do so
They don't come with a back plate, at least not in the 830 tie-points version.
I failed test practical tests and went through 2 breadboards before realizing that getting a GOOD quality breadboard is essential for prototyping. I would happy pay 3 times the price for a quality board rather than get frustrated with junk.
We all been there...
The Jameco is manufactured by Wisher Enterprise and might be easier to find in some markets under that brand.
Interesting. Thank you for the tip
Excellent review!
So helpful. Thank you
interrupted power rails are good if you want to decrease the voltage drop by the trace itself
True, but i find that "feature" more of a problem than an advantage. That's why all the good brands never split the power rails. Usually we just need 2 different power rails and a breadboard has them already.
is there one that has no gaps between the power rail holes? i don't like the diagonal connections you often have to do because of those
There might be, but i haven't seen one like that. Good point, though
I just ordered the WBU-202-R. Thank you.
Nice. You won't regret it.
Well, it's not so good with 1/4 watt resistors, which is all I have right now. Seems great with everything else. I guess the leads are just too thin. Do people generally not use components with such thin leads with breadboards?
I have those thin resistors and I don't have any problem.
InterlinkKnight Might not have been the board causing my problems after all. Its definitely better than the cheap one I had.
@@SwapPartLLC This is kind of a late answer but might be useful to some people: Where you buy resistors is just as important as where you buy breadboards. It sounds like you got cheap resistors with very thin leads. I call them 'angel hair' leads because they're so thin and they collapse when you try to insert them into breadboards. Arrow probably has them too, but I found 1/4W resistors with nice thick leads on ebay. You can read my take on resistors at mechatronicsworkshop.com/index.php/2017/04/24/buy-resistors/
Outstanding! Than you for your service!
A great review, very useful, I have subscribed and liked immediately
Thank You very much. You done very good work.
Arent split rails necessary for over 1 voltage sources? My circuits class has been doing voltage dividers and measuring current using 2 voltage sources and I am trying to buy boards that can do this
When I need to use two voltages, I use one side for one voltage and the other side for the other one. So we do have two power rails already in all good quality breadboards. They are just in different sides. When you need 3 or more voltages, then you could join multiple breadboards.
Technically some people could need 4 power rails in a single breadboard, but count the time you ever need more than 2 power rails. Now count the times you need the entire power rail. Obviously by far we mostly use the entire power rail so all good quality breadboards have the entire power rail without splits.
wow thank you, i'm in love with electronics... so when i would be bigger i would use your recommended ones... but i'm still a kid
I understand. You have a great journey ahead of you learning electronics. Good luck
Super review, thanks. But Jameco, unfortunately is unavailable in france (and i suppose in europe). Ouinnnn !
Noo! I have ordered $25 in breadboards. If i had found this last week, i wouldn't have done that. 😭 I was surprised that Adafruit would make something in bad quality
Ask for a refund, based on the bad quality of the breadboards
Very helpful for a beginner like me , thanks
Really nice review !
Nice comparison and defined requirements. But the Busboard BB830 appears different from the one in the video in the amazon link. In the amazon picture, the numbers are not lined up the same, the power lines seem to break according to the power line markings, and the Column markings do not match top to bottom. Have they changed this model since the video?
Good observation. I checked out and looks like in the amazon page they changed the images to a random breadboard. I bought from that link many times and I received an original breadboard and looks different than those "new" pictures. If you go to the Busboard website you'll see the real pictures. They did change a few things from the one I showed on the video, but nothing bad. For example, the ground lines are black instead of blue. Also they now say the brand on the side.
If you buy from Amazon and says busboard prototype systems as the brand, don't worry about the picture because you should receive the correct breadboard.
Let me know how it goes.
@@interlinkknight I see. Thanks for the explanation!
Great Test. Thanks for your work.
3M and Texas Instruments seem to make really good ones. they are quite a bit more expensive (like $50) but I would wager they are good for life? I am in the market for a breadboard and I only like to buy things once.
I've been using these for a few years and still going strong. I don't see why they would not last for my entire life
Yeah I've been stung by the Amazon "chosen ones", too... Kinda suspicious who gives them such great ratings, if already in a simple circuit one can see that they just don't work.
How about testing the 3M? I can contribute $10 for you to buy one.
They are so expensive! $58 for one? 3M is a great company and I'm sure they build great quality breadboards so I don't think I need to test them (I trust them). But no matter if their breadboards are excellent, I would prefer buying several breadboards from busboard prototype systems or jameco. Don't you think?
@@interlinkknight I am on the same page. Nobody in the UK had busboards when I was shopping around a week ago.
Therefore, I put one 3M board in my basket because I need to reuse my components and I need a reliable connection...
But I couldn't pull the trigger on £45 for a breadboard...
Luckily, they (BusBoard) just came in to our Mouser today and I see I can buy a whole selection of boards for 45 quid...
That being said, I still think it's interesting and even if the 3M doesn't make sense, I'd still like to know just how different it is from a BusBoard.
Could also look into unwanted capacitance/induction...
We all know breadboards have some capacitance, induction and other unwanted stuff but i never seen it to be a problem. Unless you are using it for very high frequencies, it's fine.
Thanks brother to provide good knowledge regarding best breadboard.Pakistan
I agree the Elegoo breadboards are not good. I thought they looked good quality because they come in printed cardboard boxes, but the connections are too loose.
Contrary to the rave reviews on on EEVblog forums, Reddit and elsewhere, I would highly advise *against* purchasing the Assembly Specialists (same as 3M) breadboards. Required insertion force for a 0.6mm pin is just a hair over 1kg. That's not a typo -- it's absolutely bonkers. If you abuse a terminal -- reinserting a pin repeatedly and wiggling it up and down -- you can get that down to around 300g. You're going to have a really, really bad time trying to get solid core wire, resistors, etc to not buckle and fold over well before they insert.
Going to give the BusBoard a go, will report back later.
That's interesting. I never tested that breadboard. Thanks for sharing
thanks for this, it seems the busboard BB830 on amazon uk at the moment, is bad version (bad reviews and they mention the letters are not aligned). I'm looking at the velleman sd12n 11gbp free delivery, let's see.
There are many counterfeits of the busboard BB830 breadboard, especially on ebay and amazon. You should only buy it from a trusted source. I bought it on arrow.com
InterlinkKnight ah ok, thanks. I’m happy with this vellememan sd12n (power rails are separated and no back plate and no labels, but connections seem good so far) - really appreciated your video though
GREAT video! Thank you!!
I need to put the link to this for any Super Starter kit I review.
unfortunately i have already bought a breadboard, and the only real issue i have is the poor connections, is there something i can do about it
I guess you can return it
The WBU-202-R is $9.95 from Jameco, but you would have to add perhaps $10-$15 for shipping.
Right now I see $12.34 & FREE Shipping
Is already on the description
@@interlinkknight jameco.com, product 20723. If you buy 5 it's roughly equivalent to Amazon's cost, even with shipping (domestic US).
this helped so much . thank you . really
You are a saint. Thank you.
I have the Elegoo breadboard (as part of an Arduino starting kit) and it's not good! Also, the components in the kit are low quality. It's cheap, but quality is below average as well. Anyway, thanks for this video!!!, i'll try to find me a Busboard or Jameco ;)
Yeah, i haven't seen a kit with good quality components. And elegoo in general has bad quality stuff. I bought also from elegoo jumper wires and they are so flimsy. I recommend breadboard from mostly busboard prototype systems because they are inexpensive and good. Just buy it in a reliable source because there are many fake ones
Great review! Tnx dude!
Have you tried Pro'skit bx-4112N? I have bx-4123 model and it looks good.
My breadboard did not come with back plate and power rails are interrupted
Great review, thanks!
Thanks! Very useful!
Thanks brother for the advisessss
No problem
If you understand in the beginning that all these breadboards are crap then you won't get as frustrated. I've used a lot of four letter words working with these intermittent connections.
Please try 3M breadboards.
I could not find the standard size
I'm getting back into electronics after quite a few years of pure programming and bought some Elegoo packages to introduce me to the Arduino family. I couldn't believe how inexpensive the breadboards were. I now know why. The piss poor connections are very frustrating. My 40 year old Global Specialties and Radio Shack Archer breadboards are more reliable than these brand new Elegoo. (I found that a liberal spray of Flux Remover or Contact Cleaner helps.)
And yes, I have one Experimentor 600 that perfectly fits the Arduino Nano! ferretronix.com/stuff/breadboards/
I just bought two Busboard BB830s. Let's see how they compare.
Thanks for the recommendations!
Great to hear that I could help.
Totally agree, I have a old Archer board with better connections than my brand new Elegco (RIP Radio Shack).
The race to the bottom frequently comes at the cost of quality.
Same here too ... getting back into electronics after years of programming. The components are so damn crappy compared to back in the day when I was doing my labs in college. The resistor lead gauges now are so feaking flimsy it's terrible. Don't by anything less then 0.5mm leads in size.