Breadboard Tips & Tricks

Hey guys! Today's tutorial is about Breadboard Tips & Tricks as well as common mistakes you should avoid. I committed several mistakes myself and I think it's beneficial for everyone if I share my learnings in a way other people avoid making these mistakes too. Regarding Tips & Tricks, look at it as a kind of shortcut to SUCCESS!

If you want you can watch my generic tutorial ALL you need to know about BREADBOARDS.

Sometimes a medium breadboard is not big enough to test our prototype circuits. You might need to have more space for more components as the circuit complexity grows. If you have two medium breadboards you can transform it into a big breadboard by bridging one to another with staples! Check the picture to see how.

Pre-cut wires are essential to build a clean and professional looking circuit. It helps you keep everything organized and an easy-to-read circuit. Moreover, if you need to make changes, these wires are tremendously easy to swap. You can attribute distinct colors to different electronic components. This is one of my personal recommendations! In picture 1 you can see the different colors and lengths whereas in picture 2 you can see an example of a circuit.

If you want to take up electronics and start building your own circuits, I recommend purchasing a breadboard kit which comes with a lot of useful materials. Here is a list of material I consider important to have in order to start making you own circuits:

1. Breadboard Kit
2. Pre-cut Wires
3. Hookup Wires
4. Jumper Wires
5. 9V battery (to act as a power supply)
6. Snap cap

See picture for visual help. Read 1 to 6 as left to right. Refer to supplies section for more info about materials used.

Here is a list of Tools is use while doing my projects and advise you to have also:

1. Wire cutter
2. Needle-nose pliers
3. Tweezers

Check images for visual examples. Refer to supplies section for more info about tools used.

If you are using Hook up wires to make your circuit it can be hard to guess the length needed for each connection. A trick I learned with experience is that if you measure the length you need for the wire (between one component and the other) and add 3 extra breadboard holes, you will get the exact length needed (image 1). You can then cut it (image 2) and ply it's tips 90º (image 3) to insert in the breadboard holes and create a stable connection.

I highly recommend listening to Audiobooks. I first started listening because I didn't have time to read, therefore while walking my dog or driving to work, I would be listening to these interesting books. My personal recommendation is "Electronics all-in-one for dummies" which is a 24 hour reading book that combines the teachings of 8 books in one. Definitely learned a lot by listening to this book and highly valued my time. Another recommendation is "Circuit Engineering" which teaches you a lot about electronic components and how to build electric circuits.

You have a 30-day free trial if you would like to give it a try.

One very common and easy to fix mistake is to insert an electronic component in the wrong row. As you can see in image 1, the LED lead is inserted in the wrong row forming thus an open circuit where electricity doesn't flow. To make a closed circuit, make sure you correctly insert you electronic component in the right row, as shown in image 2.

Sometimes you might not push deep enough the components lead, also originating an open circuit. One of the first checks you should do when your circuit isn't working is double check if all components are inserted correctly in the breadboards holes. If you look at the second picture, the fact of pushing the LED deep enough closes the circuit and allows electricity to flow, lighting up the LED!

LEDs have polarity. You need to pay attention to this when building your circuit otherwise it won't work. The long leg is the positive leg and the short one negative as you can see in pictures 1&2. If you insert the LED as picture one is showing, the circuit won't work. You need to plug in like picture 2 because the positive leg matches with the positive side of the circuit and the negative matches with ground. On the other hand, resistors don't have polarity so you can insert it the way you wish.

Please make sure you don't create a short circuit! This is the exact reason why I recommend to use a 9V battery as power supply. One tiny mistake and we can short our components.

Also be careful with the battery itself! If + and - make contact it will short the battery instantly. You can see the molten wires as a result. The battery heat up very quickly too! This was a close call!