How do you guys organize your resistors, caps, etc

[mfergel]

I'm just starting to do a lot of pedal builds and the bigges issue I come across is keeping all the ratings organized.  Right now, they are in the short paper strips with anywhere from 5-10 resistors in a strip or in small blister packs, etc.  It's a pain because each time I have to go through all of them to find the one I'm looking for.  I thought about some kind of small plastic containers but I don't know if that's practical to have 100 small compartments.  How are the rest of you handling this?

[MikeH]

I initially started out with a tackle box, and now I've moved on to a 10 billion drawer wall mounted thingy.  I'm going to need a second one soon.   

[plankspank]

Here's a nice parts bin organizer that I use; works great for the price.
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=94375

[Mark Hammer]

I recently purchased a parts bin with drawers very much like that one so that it could all be centralized.

One of the places where I would buy lots of parts from has them hanging from hooks in the aisles in small (3" x 4") resealable bags.  Consequently, I have organized some of my holdings into those recycled bags and simply pin them to the wall with a push pin, though I imagine some of that masonite with a matrix of holes and a complementary set of hooks would work nicely too.  One of the nice things about the bags-on-hooks system is that you can often stick a board and all the parts to populate it in the same bag and pick up where you left off the previous night, without having to leave a mess on the bench in order to do so.

Other things that can work nicely are those little plastic containers for sewing supplies, or fishing lures, or even daily pill organizers that seniors use to keep track of whatto take when.  Those sorts of containers aren't perfect for components with long leads or bulkier components like pots and inductors, but they work well for transistors and ICs.

[StickMan]

I do order of magnitude, with the lowest & highest combined.

For instance any resistor < 100 ohm goes into one container.
Resistors 100 - 999 ohms in another, 1K-9.9K in another and so on.
Anything 1Meg and over into one container.

Same thing with caps, anything from 1-999 pF goes into one container, then 1-9.9 nF, then 10-99 nF and so on.  Anything over 1 uF goes into the same container.

Other stuff goes into containers that make sense.  I've got one with IC's, one with diodes & LED's, one with pots and so on.  I leave transistors in little plastic envelopes with the type written on the outside.  That's because they're darned near impossible to read at times and look the same (for the most part).

I find that it's fairly easy to find almost anything, although it is less obvious when you're out of something.  It's best to keep a notebook with a list of the components you've noticed you're running low on - sort of a perpetual shopping list. 

One thing I always do now, when I start a project, is to dig out all of the components for it and put them into a separate container at the beginning.  That means that populating the board goes much faster, you find out before you start if you're low on a critical component, and if you have more than one project on the workbench at the same time you won't "double book" any components.

[mdh]

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: coin envelopes (props to R.G. for the suggestion).  They can be had in office supply stores, and for an initial investment similar to one of the smaller drawer organizers, you'll have more than you'll ever be able to use.  It sounds like a nightmare to have a bunch of separate envelopes, but you just need to find some kind of container that they'll stand up in (in my case, those plastic desk drawer organizers were the ticket), and you can store them more or less like file folders.  It makes it incredibly fast to find the value you need, or to check your inventory before you run out to the surplus store or place that Mouser order.

[mfergel]

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: coin envelopes (props to R.G. for the suggestion).  They can be had in office supply stores, and for an initial investment similar to one of the smaller drawer organizers, you'll have more than you'll ever be able to use.  It sounds like a nightmare to have a bunch of separate envelopes, but you just need to find some kind of container that they'll stand up in (in my case, those plastic desk drawer organizers were the ticket), and you can store them more or less like file folders.  It makes it incredibly fast to find the value you need, or to check your inventory before you run out to the surplus store or place that Mouser order.

That is a good idea.  I used to organize my photos that way.

[dpresley58]

The envelopes work really well. I recently went to that system and couldn't be happier with it. Wooden open-top boxes were made from 1/2" material to hold them. All my resistors and smaller ceramic caps went into them.

Pots, jacks, switches, etc all go in to the Plano brand plastic organizers I found at a sporting goods store intended for fishing tackle. They come in several different sizes, so its easy to find a solution for those items. These are good for the green film caps and electrolytics, too.

This is just one example of the many types of storage from Plano : http://www.academy.com/index.php?page=content&target=products/specials/outdoor_show/plano&start=20&selectedSKU=0135-02397-3670

I also bought a sheet of the nonconductive foam and cut it into smaller strips for chip storage. It beats sifting through the box of electrostatic bags and tubes they come in from the supplier. The Plano boxes were handy for those.

What -was- a scattered mess is now easily stored in a central area and couldn't be simpler to find. Thanks to RG and the rest for the suggestions.

[petemoore]

  ~short boxes for resistors, larger cereal box bottom cut for larger resistors, small ones go in a thinner box.
  About the same thing for caps.
  And everything else, I've been having good time with cleanups and organizing s'stuff [everything from laundry to spare cables..to everything else] by trying to first find the right sized box.
  Another thing I look for or build is shelves...and places to put them.
  Box priorities:
1: bottom reinforced, at least checked.
   For light stuff a light box, right size.
  For heavier stuff, if the top flaps can go nicely inside, pressing the sides open while wedging an end in at a time without bending except on pre-creases helps keep the box square, fitting a bottom plate of cardboard, or thin wood, even just runners across the bottom to the strong sides keeps the bottom from falling out, I like to run parallel tape runs on all the seams, so there is tape right at the seam, and enough in both directions away from the seam to hold place].
  Stackable...for obvious reasons.
  Clear, stackable [lettuce boxes] are nice for miscllaneous.
  Segmented for...where segmented comes in handy, scissors and staple gun makes quick custom segmented boxes, fishing tackle boxes...I got a few for pennies at garage sale.
  Favorites are the hot ones [er...less frequently found behind drug stores], these are really nice, heavy duty, large plastic construction with re-inforcement ridges, lightweight and nearly indestructably strong, used to box retail stocks, very well designed, these have nice hinge pins and fingerfold tops.
  Plastic shop mini-drawers cabinets..nice for actives because the drawers don't tend to jam, I like my resistors to be more easily accessible than the drawers...plus I like them in a various boxes which can be held under the light.
  wires get wrap-ties or rubber bands, lots of messy wires get stuffed into a bag.
  Sometimes it takes a while to fill a box, it will sit mostly empty until the next cleaning day [organization skills developed over time...get the box, put a 'designator' item in it, when same type items come up, in the box this time...]...I found it takes a different type of discipline to break the mess down effeciently, thinking through your mess before you make it is always a good idea, breaking the mess habit certainly is fascilitate through the liberal use of boxes.
  Don't forget to designate, fill, and remove and replace rubbish boxes, these three 'simple' steps are too often postponed..piles of 1/2 to 3/4's salvaged out monitors...it's time to get rid of them and look for fresher ones...lol....these wise words of neatness goals typed by a perpetual mess freaq.

[RDV]

One of my son's stoner friends took a big hit off of a can of air and form tackled my parts bin and ruined everything I'd taken years to organize. Most of it's still in a bucket all loose.

Wear a condom.

RDV

[cpnyc23]

although i'm new to the game...

I've been using small plastic baggies with white strips on them so I can write what the component is and its value.  Then I have little Sterlite (I think that's the name) plastic boxes (about 4"x4"x6").  Caps in one, resistors in other, 'hardware' type pieces in another, etc.  Inside, the small bags are put into larger bags with a range of values, similar to StickMan.

I also have a log in Excel with a page for resistors one for caps, etc..  I have a column for quantity, one for value, one for notes and one for part #.  Then when I order from somewhere, I populate the log.  When I start a project, I collect all the pieces for that project in a small container and update the log.

Tedious, yes.  But effective!

-chris

[Solidhex]

My apartment looks like Small Bear electronics exploded in here. I just bought some big organizer bins with all the little pullout drawers. I'm slowly getting stuff put into place and it makes everything sooooo much easier. I hate when I order stuff I already have just due to my insane unorganization!

--Brad

[andrew_k]

tackled my parts bin and ruined everything I'd taken years to organize.

HAHA!!

Last night my girlfriend asked me what the big sectioned off tray full of little bits was and I explained they were transistors and diodes (Ge's)... less than a minute later she attempted to sit on my lap, clipped the edge of the box lid  (which was overhanging the edge of the desk) and launched approx. 120 transistors across the room and into the carpet. Good thing she's cute  

[juse]

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: coin envelopes (props to R.G. for the suggestion).  ......

I've thought about going this route - I currently use about a billion Mouser bags, but they have no spine to stand on their own in my metal ammo boxes.

Any ESD issues with the envelope paper rubbing on chips? Or do you keep them in the static baggies as well as the envelopes? I know it's pretty much a non-issue with passives, but just wundrin' about the ICs.

[mdh]

Any ESD issues with the envelope paper rubbing on chips? Or do you keep them in the static baggies as well as the envelopes? I know it's pretty much a non-issue with passives, but just wundrin' about the ICs.

I would worry more about bending the pins, especially since most of the chips we use around here aren't particularly static sensitive (BBDs and CMOS excepted).  Of course, I don't generally store ICs in the envelopes... larger components make for kind of lumpy envelopes, which don't close as well.  I usually just keep ICs in the plastic rails that they come in, or in anti-static foam in a drawer.  But just about everything else -- resistors, caps (even electros, just not the monster power supply filter caps), transistors -- I keep in the envelopes.  I keep mosfets in a little anti-static bag, which can then be shoved in one of the envelopes.

[sixstringphil]

I also use the envelopes and silverware drawer organizers from WalMart. They fit the envelopes perfectly and I can link the edges of several bins together. (one bin for resistors, one for caps, etc.) I write the component values at the top, keep them in order, and it's easy to flip through and find what I need quickly.

I got the envelopes at Office Depot, but they were only in boxes of 500. I've got about 300 left if anyone wants to buy part of a box...
http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=61609.0

[momo]

I really need to do something like these, also spend for the last time, maybe 2-3 hours sorting out resistors.....When I started off, I bought some cheap resistor package at RS, they were all bunched up in a mess.....jeese, Im really sick of searching for the right needle in the pile, straining my eyes for the color codes and even breaking out the meter to test. Just brutal, takes all the good energy out of building!
I finally got to buy one of SmallBears resistor packs, all nicley packaged in individual small bags.....just a breeze to pick out the components.

[mfergel]

I really need to do something like these, also spend for the last time, maybe 2-3 hours sorting out resistors.....When I started off, I bought some cheap resistor package at RS, they were all bunched up in a mess.....jeese, Im really sick of searching for the right needle in the pile, straining my eyes for the color codes and even breaking out the meter to test. Just brutal, takes all the good energy out of building!
I finally got to buy one of SmallBears resistor packs, all nicley packaged in individual small bags.....just a breeze to pick out the components.

And that's exactly why I started this post.  That's my problem exactly.  My eyes and lighting suck.  Constantly having to break out the meter and the magnifying glass.

Phillip, I'll take some of those envelopes.  I could use about 150 of them.  How much you want?

[lvs]

I use this leftover piece of 3cm insulation board (polystyrene I think) to keep 1/4W carbon resistors and diodes organized.  It's divided in squares following the e12 series. Needs a little refill here and there right now. I like it, especially for breadboarding.

[sixstringphil]

Phillip, I'll take some of those envelopes.  I could use about 150 of them.  How much you want?

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