Quick DIY resistor testing jig

[composition4]

One of my most hated jobs is re-sorting resistors after using them on the breadboard. As I get older my eyes have trouble picking up the colours easily, but laying the resistors down and getting the multimeter probes onto them is slow when you've got a lot to sort.

I finally decided to do something about it and made a jig for quick testing. I didn't want to have to insert each lead into a tiny hole, so had the thought to use a gold-plated spring mounted slightly expanded onto a couple of bus bars, and leads going straight to the multimeter. It worked out great! Sharing photos and video in case anyone else would find this handy.

[crane]

Unless you are dealing with some very specific old and expensive NOS resistors I don't really see the point doing this. Resistors cost next to nothing and can be bought in huge amaounts.

[ElectricDruid]

Unless you are dealing with some very specific old and expensive NOS resistors I don't really see the point doing this. Resistors cost next to nothing and can be bought in huge amaounts.

What, you mean you use them on the breadboard and then throw them away?!? Ok, they're not expensive, but that's just wasteful.

[crane]

ī don't do a lot of breadboarding but i happen to throw resistors with bend leads away. it might sound wasteful but a 100 thrown away resistors is less wasteful when related to time spent if a resistor gets misplaced.

[composition4]

If you did a lot of breadboarding I think this may be useful. Sounds like you don't and this idea isn't for you

[GibsonGM]

I think it's a Great idea, C4, and thanks for it!  Clever.   

IMO, to throw away perfectly good resistors would be like a carpenter not picking up 100s of nails or screws that fell on the floor, just throwing them away, because "I can get more when I order for the next customer".   Symptomatic of our lazy, throw-away (and declining) culture.   Sad, but to each their own.

[antonis]

I hate bending, previously bended straightened, leads resistors..

I uphold individual bags/drawers for breadbording items (caps, resistors, transistors, etc)..

[Phend]

I have resistors that disappear.  Puff into thin air. While testing one on the work room table with dmm leads it suddenly disappeared.  How much time can you spend looking for it, even with a magnet.
Tried the tiddley wink theory. Yes they can jump into thin air.
Still looking for it, I do not give up, I think.

[GibsonGM]

Retrieving parts will, of course, involve some level of waste, ha ha.

[bluelagoon]

Not Bad, Looks a whole lot quicker than my method

[Ben N]

The DIYer in me absolutely loves this to death. I love DIY test jigs! I won't be making one, because I use one of those cheapy GM328 testers from Aliexpress with a zif socket to do my component testing. But that spring idea is bound to come in handy one of these days.

[duck_arse]

a hundred thrown away resistors means the bloody drawer is empty. build stops. time saved?

[pacealot]

Heck, I don't even feel good about throwing away faulty components! I usually stick those in a baggie I've labelled "Dead Components Society". I wouldn't throw away a perfectly good resistor if you forced me to under threat of grievous bodily harm.

I do, however, try to keep my bent-lead resistors in the front of their drawers, so that when pulling for a BB, I can peruse those first to see if there are any values that I need that are already bent, so I don't have to needlessly bend any more.

[mark2]

IMO, to throw away perfectly good resistors would be like a carpenter not picking up 100s of nails or screws that fell on the floor, just throwing them away, because "I can get more when I order for the next customer".   Symptomatic of our lazy, throw-away (and declining) culture.   Sad, but to each their own.

I agree with this mentality, and avoiding material waste is noble.

That said, this comes with an unrecoverable corollary expense: Time.

I throw all my random resistors in a box to "sort some day," but if I'm being honest, IF they get sorted it'll be by whomever inherits my supplies and is young enough that they haven't yet realized the value of their time.

[Phend]

Heck, I don't even feel good about throwing away faulty components! I usually stick those in a baggie I've labelled "Dead Components Society".

Reminds me of the component drawers in the electronics lab at work. Back in the good ole days.
Someone labeled one of the small clear plastics drawers as "Dead Flies".
It was half full with the ones found on the window sill.
Funny as heck when you first saw that.
What the electronics guys did with them I don't know, but I do know the software group had problems with "Bugs".
True story.

[Matthew Sanford]

This is pretty brilliant! I really need a DIY organization tool so after testing I can put them where they belong, all my resistors currently live on the paper tape...maybe should put a cork or foam board labeled on the wall to stab a lead into...

Edit: just watched the video, I need a box of folders like that!

[ElectricDruid]

I throw all my random resistors in a box to "sort some day," but if I'm being honest, IF they get sorted it'll be by whomever inherits my supplies and is young enough that they haven't yet realized the value of their time.

This (and crane's original reply) *over*estimates how long it takes to sort a few things out. I have a little tray I put stuff that I've hauled out of the bread board into when I need more space, and when I'm feeling a bit pointless and not much like doing anything that requires actual brainpower, it's the kind of job I'll do. Y'know, saturday morning still feeling somewhat the worse for friday night, for example. Not likely to do anything much better with the time: why not sort a few resistors?

The thing is: Not all time is created equal. Some time you already wasted. Anything you can get back from it is a bonus at that point! Putting a couple of hundred components back in the right bins falls in to this category and probably only takes a big half hour. Caps are quick (electrolytics are really quick), resistors are  a bit slower.

[Frank_NH]

I like this idea as well.  And note that you can use this setup for any two lead part, for example capacitors and diodes.

I don't know if this is common but I like to measure my resistors and capacitors when I'm stuffing a pcb.  That way I have one less thing to worry about (well, except that I placed the measured part in the wrong location on the board  ).

[mark2]

Caps are quick (electrolytics are really quick), resistors are  a bit slower.

Yeah I always re-stock most caps, diodes, transistors, and ICs. It's specifically resistors that get neglected (unless it's a recent and short-lived build, in which case I leave the resistor bags out so I can stick them back in when done). But yes, you're probably right that I'm overestimating the time, and that's probably part of why I save them rather than throw them out.

[Shoeman]

The test jig is a great idea but what really struck me was your storage method.  Wow!  Envelopes with open tops in order of rating in a plastic tub?  Brilliant.