PCB Breadboard soldering help - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / beginners

author: kerouanton
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: June 07, 2018, 06:26:37 am
content: Hi,I got a few cheap PCB soldering Breadboards from Amazon to convert my solderless breadboard projects to a more definitive version, but I'm just unable to understand how to make the connections betweens the holes. Are we supposed to use *a lot* of solder to connect those, or is there another commonly used technique? I tried to look for videos and explanations on Internet without much success.I did my first experiment with those yesterday, but it is simply a mess... I used huge amount of solder to connect adjacent pins together, and it's definitely not looking good.

author: GerryBags
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 07, 2018, 06:34:15 am
content: You want to be using wire to make the connections.

author: ataradov
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 07, 2018, 06:39:01 am
content: Or like this:

author: vector
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: June 07, 2018, 06:51:11 am
content: for short connections you can also bend the leads of the components (the ones with long leads) to use them as a short wire: that's easier than running a small wire.

author: Ian.M
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 07, 2018, 07:59:16 am
content: Ah, the joys of matrix board!The easiest option is tinned bare copper wire run on the same side as the pads. It helps if its dead straight and stiff - Take few feet of wire, clamp one end and grab the other end with pliers and stretch it to straighten and stiffen it. Lay it on the bench and cut off lengths for jumpers as required.However if those are the cheap single sided SRBP (Paxolin) boards with punched holes, the pads are very weak and drop off if you dwell on them for even a second too long when soldering them, and using them will be an exercise in frustration until you have a lot of soldering skill. The double sided FR4 ones with plated holes are much better as the hole plating helps hold the pads in place.You can use stripboard and use a track cutter or you can get Tripad board - like stripboard but with the strips cross-cut into groups of three holes. The three hole pads stay on the board much better and vastly reduce the number of jumpers you'll need to solder compared to matrix board:https://www.kemo-electronic.de/en/Components/Consumables/Boards/E013-Experimental-board-with-3-strip-grid.phpIf you are feeling particularly lazy you can even get boards with five hole strips and side busses laid out just like a solderless breadboard so you can directly copy your original layout!

author: kerouanton
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: June 07, 2018, 08:06:00 am
content: Thank you! I'll follow youre advice, it seems more reasonable that my current bad soldering test.Edit: Much better! I removed all excess solder, replaced by straps (resistor tails). Now it worksSo thanks

author: rdl
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 07, 2018, 01:45:35 pm
content: The board that GerryBags posted is very much the same way I do it. I generally try to use the component leads as much as possible. Just fold them down flat and bend them at right angles to form traces. No need to twist or hook leads together, just touch them together and use solder like glue, it's much easier to make modifications that way. When lead length is not enough, use bare wire. Insulation is not usually needed.edit: not the best photo, but shows the general idea.

author: ahbushnell
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 08, 2018, 10:50:37 pm
content: I would use small gauge wire to make connections.Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

author: cowasaki
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 10, 2018, 07:30:43 pm
content: Quote from: GerryBags on June 07, 2018, 06:34:15 amI like that, that is very neat!

author: tooki
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 13, 2018, 01:02:06 am
content: Quote from: kerouanton on June 07, 2018, 06:26:37 amJust a little terminology tip: mostly, “breadboard” is used specifically to mean solderless. (The term came from before PCBs, when people would use an old cutting board, for cutting bread, to build up circuits on, using screws or nails to wind wires around.) The boards you’re using, with single holes (or just a few connected), are generally called perfboard or protoboard, whereas the kind with whole strips of copper-connected holes is often called veroboard.

author: Ian.M
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 13, 2018, 02:27:38 am
content: Its not *quite* so cut & dried. Although the use of 'breadboard' to refer to soldered prototypes is not a common usage nowadays, you should still explicitly mention 'solderless' (once) to avoid ambiguity if that's the type of breadboarding you are doing.Also although 'perfboard' is commonly used to refer to one pad per hole protoboards, it can also mean bare perfboard, with no copper pads, used to support leaded components for point to point wiring. To avoid ambiguity I would strongly recommend referring to one pad per hole protoboards as matrix board.

author: tpowell1830
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 13, 2018, 03:45:19 am
content: Or you could do it like GreatScott, see around 7:00.Hope this helps...

author: tooki
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 15, 2018, 12:31:55 am
content: Quote from: Ian.M on June 13, 2018, 02:27:38 amI’m pretty sure my express use of the weasel words “mostly”, “generally”, and “often” preclude any claims of me implying it’s “cut and dried”. Nonetheless, if you say “breadboard”, nowadays we mean the solderless thing. And is it actually, in most situations, all that important to differentiate between perfboard with and without copper pads?

author: KL27x
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 15, 2018, 12:37:18 am
content: Gerrybag's protoboard is how mine looked at first.Ataradov's protoboard is how they looked at the end.It's like what happens to many people's handwriting between grade school and college.my 2 cents:Breadboard = solderlessProtoboard = holes with copper pads.Perfboard = board with holes but no copperVeroboard = holes with strips of copper.Matrix board = WTF is that?I would think it is protoboard with some of the holes connected in a pattern.This isn't personal preference. These are the terms that are most likely to find the thing you want to buy, at least where I live. US.

author: JohnnyMalaria
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 15, 2018, 01:19:32 am
content: Quote from: KL27x on June 15, 2018, 12:37:18 amThere's also a half-way house between the first two - solderable PC breadboard:I've used these mainly because it gets me to a rugged, soldered version of my design quickly. My stuff is <100kHz. I don't have the experience, competence or patience to optimize the circuit layout for a traditional board. Of course, once I've thoroughly tested it in its intended real world application, I'll commit it to something more "proper"This is a quadrature demodulator with a +40dB gain 2kHz/30kHz BP input stage built around a quad precision op-amp IC. Basically, it's a $100 lock-in amplifier for a specific application. Even though I use 741s with the IQ outputs, this circuit works better than I could have hoped for allowing me to measure nanoparticle motion with sub-nanometer resolution

author: Ian.M
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 15, 2018, 01:28:53 am
content: 'Veroboard' is a brand name. The generic name is 'stripboard'.On the 'Matrix board' vs 'protoboard' question, log out of any Google accounts and compare these image searches:https://www.google.com/search?q=Matrix+board&tbm=ischhttps://www.google.com/search?q=protoboard&tbm=ischBoth are polluted by stripboards, but the second has far more boards high up in the results that don't have one pad per hole + a job lot of solderless breadboards!YMMV, and of course, as you say it may be a regional thing.@JohnnyMalaria: That's a nice protoboard copper pattern. Where do you get them from?

author: John B
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 15, 2018, 01:32:26 am
content: Tip 1) Scavenge a few bits of old house wiring of various gauges. They will provide all the strands of copper you'll want for prototyping.Tip 2) Only use the minimum solder needed to join components and wires, or to tack the wire to certain pads (eg for corners). Not only will you save on consumables, but it's easier to desolder and modify the design when there's less solder to clean up. However there are exceptions, such as when you need a high current path.

author: JohnnyMalaria
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 15, 2018, 01:34:45 am
content: I've bought them from Mouser and Amazon. The manufacturer has a "where to buy" listhere.There are other brands - I can't remember their names. My one gripe about the ones I have is that the silk screen print doesn't include the row and column identifiers. I had to write them on with a very fine sharpie and, some days, my handwriting s-u-c-k-s.