Jumper Wire Question

[GreenEye]

Newbie here. :lol:

I have a question regarding jumper wire on PCB boards.  Basically what happened was, I got a board from General Guitar Gadgets, and began populating the board.  

For the first jumper, I tried to use the stranded wire I bought for the off-board components, but it took forever to get all the little strands to come together to go through the holes.  For the next two jumpers, I used cut pieces of wire from the resistors - is this OK?  I mean, it's supposed to work for the resistors, but I realize it's not shielded.

I'm concerned with wiring the off-board components - I think I'll need to get those "flea clips," in order to use the stranded wire to connect to the PCB.  Is this true, or should I be enlarging the holes on the board?  Or, is there a particular way to stuff all those little wires of the strand in the holes?

[aron]

Yes, you can use the left over leads from resistors.

Good thinking! I use them all the time.

As for the stranded wire, you may be using too thick a wire. Try a smaller gauge.

Good Luck!

[thomas2]

i bought a box of crap ceramic caps (very, very cheap ones) and i mainly use their leads for jumper wires and for connecting components when using perfboard..  :lol:

[Joe Hart]

Here's what I've done. I use leads from caps and resistors for jumpers. For off-board components I use stranded wire, but seperate the strands at one end into two seperate bunches, twist the strands from each bunch together but keep them as two seperate bunches, wrap one bunch around the other close to the insulation end. Now tin (solder) the entire end. You will now have a chunk of wire and solder with a much thinner piece of tinned wire sticking out. Ta-da! Hope this helps.
-Joe Hart
P.S. I feel so proud that I can offer an idea instead of just taking everyone else's ideas!!

[thomas2]

i usually use those little metal pins i get from my old 486 computers.. can't explain it better  :lol: .. but anyway.. i stick them into the holes on the pcb and solder the wires to them on the component side..

[Hal]

i actually have a bag full of component leads from various projects i made, for just that purpose, and for perfboarding.  I think i can stop collecting them now...for a while :-D

[bwanasonic]

If you are trying to stuff strands through the PCB holes, it sounds like you are not tinning your leads. You will find life much easier if you melt a small amount of solder onto all exposed stranded wire ends before soldering into place. The wire your're using may still be to heavy a gauge though. 22 gauge can work, but 24 gauge is easier to deal with. If you get the pre-tinned wire from smallbear, you will never want to use anything else.

Kerry M

[GreenEye]

Tinning leads.  That's just crazy enough to work!  :idea:

[aron]

No need to tin leads with the hookup wire from Small Bear.  

[Mark F]

I wholeheartedly agree with Aron and Bwanasonic. I got some of the wire from Smallbear and love it. I'll never go back to the "unpretinned" stuff!

[Hal]

i've had small amonts of pretinned, but in too broke.  So dont listen to them, and get wire the cool way, from power supplies that are in the garbage!  You can also yank some good stuff from the boards...

[Paul Perry (Frostwave)]

OK, the rule is: if it's going off the board & can get flexed, use stranded. If it is between stuff ON the board, use solid. And the solid stuff, if you are cheap, use stripped phone cable wire.
Well, that's MY rule, anyways..