WTB, Good Quality Jumper Wire for Breadboard and 0.1'' Headers - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: RoadRunner
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 30, 2025, 11:00:50 pm
content: Hello,I am looking Good Quality Jumper Wire for Breadboard and 0.1'' Headers but issue is all you either find is from china or really expensive on mouser.Is there known reliable source for jumper cables?Regards

author: tggzzz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 31, 2025, 12:09:12 pm
content: If you find any 6" jumper leadswithoutthe normal 150nH inductor, please let us knowPlus, if you find some with reliable contacts, please let us knowApart from that, youaregoing to pay - with money, time or experience. Faites vos jeux

author: Kean
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: March 31, 2025, 12:31:53 pm
content: I have not bought any recently, but the ones I got from Pololu years ago were good quality.https://www.pololu.com/category/65/premium-jumper-wiresIn general, when buying them just check they are specified as stranded copper no thinner than 26AWG.Or make your own, the IWISS crimp tools are pretty good.If it is just for use on the breadboard, I would cut up some old solid core CAT5 cable.Wisher used to be a pretty common supplier for breadboards and jumper wires that I used as a teenager and they are still around.http://www.wishmaker.com.tw/

author: AVGresponding
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 01, 2025, 11:38:51 am
content: bd139 recommended BitsBox to me for kynar wire and I also found some cheap-ish jumpers there

author: ifonlyeverything
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: April 01, 2025, 11:47:03 am
content: Tayda's are decent.https://www.taydaelectronics.com/connectors-sockets/jumper-wire-dupont.html

author: DaJMasta
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 01, 2025, 07:02:44 pm
content: If you need jumpers for breadboards (male on both ends) you can just use solid core wire of appropriate size (maybe 20-26 awg or so) and it works great. Otherwise I think the affordable option is to get cheap Chinese ones that are sold by a company who will at least back them up - pololu, adafruit, sparkling, etc.

author: aeg
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: April 01, 2025, 09:21:10 pm
content: Quote from: AVGresponding on April 01, 2025, 11:38:51 amAfter some confusion, I found that this is bitsboxuk.com and not bitsbox.comThey have a 65pcs set that uses overmolded pins instead of the usual mini-PV style housings. Has anyone tried them? Other suppliers have them also:https://www.google.com/search?q=65pc+breadboard+jumper

author: Kean
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: April 02, 2025, 04:40:59 pm
content: Quote from: aeg on April 01, 2025, 09:21:10 pmYes, they are junk. IMHO.

author: AVGresponding
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 02, 2025, 04:49:32 pm
content: Quote from: Kean on April 02, 2025, 04:40:59 pmWhy? They seem to work fine, for me

author: tooki
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 02, 2025, 06:31:11 pm
content: Quote from: RoadRunner on March 30, 2025, 11:00:50 pmWell what is it you're after exactly?For connections within a breadboard, solid wire (0.6mm diameter is best) works well. For off-board connections, male Dupont work well. (Super-luxury version: TE MQS male pins, with heat shrink instead of a housing.)For headers, where you want female connectors on the wires, cheap stuff is bad. The best connectors for those are Amphenol Mini-PV, and you need to know thatjust a single contactcosts around 25 cents. Their housings are extortionate. So a simple F-F jumper made with real Mini-PV costs about $3 in raw materials (!). But it'll last forever. (Mini-PV is rated for 500 mating cycles minimum, and in practice should last even longer, while cheap Dupont loosen up after literally just a few insertions, often uselessly loose by 10 times. So the Mini-PV will last hundreds of times longer.)What I do is to use real Mini-PV contacts, but cheap Chinese Dupont housings. The contacts fit in the housings a little bit loose, but still work fine, and the Chinese housings literally cost 100 times less.

author: tooki
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 02, 2025, 06:32:32 pm
content: Quote from: AVGresponding on April 02, 2025, 04:49:32 pmSome of them are really poorly crimped. Their pin diameter (0.5-0.6mm) works well in high-quality breadboards like 3M, but is often very loose in cheap breadboards.(In other words, people should invest in good breadboards.)

author: Old Printer
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 04, 2025, 02:37:09 am
content: What I have found is old house telephone wire that the Bell installers used in the 1960's & 70's. It is really good quality, nice and stiff, and just the right size .024-.025" or .063mm. Downside is that it usually is only in four colors, red, green, yellow & black. Not sure what was used outside the USA but older homes here are full of it and since most have gone to cell phones, when houses are remodeled the stuff is just ripped out and pitched. Bx and Romex wiring is much heavier and gets recycled, but the phone stuff largely gets ignored.