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Basic compontents you should always have on hand?

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oneslowz28

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We already covered the resistor assortments so what do you guys think about must have values of other common components?

Ceramic caps
Electrolytic caps
Diodes
transistors
etc.

Just wanting to set my bench up properly.
 
Ceramic cap
22pF, 100nF, 1uF

Electrolytic Cap
10uF, 100uF, 1000uF

Diodes
1N4148, 1N4002, 1N4007, 1N5819

Transistors
Any high gain small signal transistor
Any medium gain low power transistor
 
Ceramic Caps:
0.1uf, 15-30pf

Transistors:
Basic 2N3904 & 2N3906 will do you justice

LEDs:
It doesnt matter just have some.

Wire of course.

Buttons, Switches and battery holder that takes 9v Clips are very usefull.
 
Collect old wall-warts, if you don't have a power supply and don't want to keep spending money on batteries. Get some 12V, 9V, 5V, etc.

I like having some 7805s and 7809s around for when I actually build the final project, and it can't run off the bench supply anymore.

On a related note, old electronics are a great place to find cheap parts which are still perfectly usable. Recently I pulled an old UPS out of my neighbour's garbage pile and opened it up; there are lots of goodies in there like MOSFETs, regulators, various other ICs, and of course LEDs, resistors, caps, MOVs, etc. I have already used the internal wiring and spade terminals in another project (along with the relay from a burned-out RV furnace ignitor board). And I got a pair of 6V 4.5Ah SLA batteries out of the UPS, which is always nice. :)


Regards,

Torben
 
Collect old wall-warts, if you don't have a power supply and don't want to keep spending money on batteries. Get some 12V, 9V, 5V, etc.

I like having some 7805s and 7809s around for when I actually build the final project, and it can't run off the bench supply anymore.

On a related note, old electronics are a great place to find cheap parts which are still perfectly usable. Recently I pulled an old UPS out of my neighbour's garbage pile and opened it up; there are lots of goodies in there like MOSFETs, regulators, various other ICs, and of course LEDs, resistors, caps, MOVs, etc. I have already used the internal wiring and spade terminals in another project (along with the relay from a burned-out RV furnace ignitor board). And I got a pair of 6V 4.5Ah SLA batteries out of the UPS, which is always nice. :)


Regards,

Torben

I have already been salvaging as many components as I can. I have salvaged so far:
5 radios with cd players bought at a yard sale for $.75 each
2 old CB radios that were damaged
1 old marine radio/radiophone that was given to me
4 old vcr's
1 old 100 watt car stereo amp
3 old Toshiba stereo receivers that had the front panels busted up. (found on the curb on a Saturday)
and a hand full of old cd rom drives.
have 6 or 7 old atx psu ranging from 250 watt to 400 watt. Converted one to a bench supply.

I am just salvaging the through hole stuff as I have a hard time desoldering smd IC's and SMD resistors and caps. I have not even taken most of it apart as my day job is running my photography business. I mainly shoot sports and right now is the middle of college winter / spring sports season. So I am swamped.
 
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Resistors, an E12 set from 10R to 1M is recommended.
 
Ceramic cap
22pF, 100nF, 1uF

Electrolytic Cap
10uF, 100uF, 1000uF

Diodes
1N4148, 1N4002, 1N4007, 1N5819

Transistors
Any high gain small signal transistor
Any medium gain low power transistor

This should about cover you. I personally use the 2N4001 and 2N4002 transistors. You may want some FETs if you want transistors used as switches.
 
I find it handy to have one 12V Gel cell battery (like 4 AH) on the bench for projects sensitive to noise or ground loops. Hookup wire is another key commodity that you should collect when you can get it free or at scrap prices. I used to collect scraps of telephone cable because the solid wire inside is perfect for solderless breadboards. I also collect surplus pieces of unused copper-clad pcb stock if I can find them.
 
My favourite size hookup wire is 0.5mm² because it will fit in veroboard and will take up to 5A unsheathed or 3A sheathed.
 
Leftyretro Money ------

No matter how many parts you have there will always be some that you find yourself lacking for that next project. I've been collecting parts for over 20 years and if I need one I will usually buy two or three.

Start with resistors, cap, transistors, pick up surplus items along the way; before you know in you will be shopping for another 50 drawer parts cabinet.

Some places have a minimum order and that is a perfect excuse to stock up!

After a while you will find yourself tossing all of those salvaged/harvested parts in favor of new, unused ones. I've spent too much time trying to find/use parts out of old electronic equipment just to find out the component I was using was bad.

Mike2545
 
I have a access database of my parts but just remembered i lost it lol. I guess paper/pen(cil) would be a wise choice if you dont have thousands of parts. If you do then a database is a good idea.
 
No matter how many parts you have there will always be some that you find yourself lacking for that next project.

This is very true. There's a real limit as to how much you can "stock up" on stuff. Annoys the hell out of me when I have to answer to some idiot boss who expects me to be able to order everything I'm going to need in the future using some mythical clairvoyant ability or something.

(when did we decide the Peter Principle was standard operating proceedure, anyway? didn't they used to put the smart guys in charge of the dumb guys back in the old days? what happened?)
 
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