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This is some unpopular opinion but please, do not buy extra components thinking that you will use it in some extrea projects. Only buy components that your curr

by gaudat 3y ago

This is some unpopular opinion but please, do not buy extra components thinking that you will use it in some extrea projects. Only buy components that your current design needs. It's even better if you can get a board house to assemble them before it arrives at your desk. Otherwise it is the beginning of the fall to a hoarder life. Except if you are playing in RF or some black magic where simulation does not cut it...

SAI_Peregrinus 3y ago
I prefer to buy components I need, but buy enough extras to deal with failures or losses easily. E.g. if I'm buying SMD resistors (of reasonably common value & package like 4k7 in 0402) I buy at least 100, even if I only need 10. That way when I inevitably drop one or send one flying by forgetting to turn down the hot air flow I can just grab another. And 100 costs $0.56, 10 costs $0.14, so there's not much point trying to save money. When I run out of a cut tape of 100, I know I've used enough of them and I just buy a reel of 10,000 for $15-20. Lifetime supply, easy tracking. That obviously doesn't apply to the more expensive components.
- ComputerGuru 3y ago
  > That obviously doesn't apply to the more expensive components. Or the larger ones! I bought a 100 of pretty much every standard resistor value in through-hole format from a bulk seller and came to regret the mess of loosely taped together resistor bundles intermixing and tangling and the shelf space they occupied!
rescbr 3y ago
What? Nooooo, you must buy enough components for future projects to qualify for free shipping.
runtime_blues 3y ago
This is often impractical when shipping costs more than the components. Yeah, there are things you shouldn't be buying "just in case" - for example, a stash of SoCs will age faster than you can use them - but definitely buy a hundred of common capacitors, such as 100 nF, 1 µF, or 10 µF, rather than buying them one-by-one. You generally don't need a complete set of all standard resistances or capacitances - there are precious few circuits where you need precisely 47 pF and 6.8 kΩ - but there's plenty of stuff that goes into almost every single project you build. Battery clips, 100 Ω / 1k / 10k resistors, 100 nF / 1 µF / 10 µF decoupling caps, LEDs, PCB-mount switches...
- ComputerGuru 3y ago
  I thought I had every capacitor size I needed but yesterday I received my digikey order for a 22mF 63V capacitor.
jacquesm 3y ago
A nice selection of jellybean components is a must though, but don't bother with all kinds of silicon that you may never use.
nerpderp82 3y ago
This is not good advice. If you are just doing paint-by-numbers projects, sure. But they usually come with the parts. Being blocked on a lack of parts is not a good use of your time.

by gaudat 3y ago

SAI_Peregrinus 3y ago

I prefer to buy components I need, but buy enough extras to deal with failures or losses easily. E.g. if I'm buying SMD resistors (of reasonably common value & package like 4k7 in 0402) I buy at least 100, even if I only need 10. That way when I inevitably drop one or send one flying by forgetting to turn down the hot air flow I can just grab another. And 100 costs $0.56, 10 costs $0.14, so there's not much point trying to save money. When I run out of a cut tape of 100, I know I've used enough of them and I just buy a reel of 10,000 for $15-20. Lifetime supply, easy tracking. That obviously doesn't apply to the more expensive components.

ComputerGuru 3y ago
> That obviously doesn't apply to the more expensive components. Or the larger ones! I bought a 100 of pretty much every standard resistor value in through-hole format from a bulk seller and came to regret the mess of loosely taped together resistor bundles intermixing and tangling and the shelf space they occupied!

rescbr 3y ago

What? Nooooo, you must buy enough components for future projects to qualify for free shipping.

runtime_blues 3y ago

This is often impractical when shipping costs more than the components. Yeah, there are things you shouldn't be buying "just in case" - for example, a stash of SoCs will age faster than you can use them - but definitely buy a hundred of common capacitors, such as 100 nF, 1 µF, or 10 µF, rather than buying them one-by-one. You generally don't need a complete set of all standard resistances or capacitances - there are precious few circuits where you need precisely 47 pF and 6.8 kΩ - but there's plenty of stuff that goes into almost every single project you build. Battery clips, 100 Ω / 1k / 10k resistors, 100 nF / 1 µF / 10 µF decoupling caps, LEDs, PCB-mount switches...

ComputerGuru 3y ago
I thought I had every capacitor size I needed but yesterday I received my digikey order for a 22mF 63V capacitor.

jacquesm 3y ago

A nice selection of jellybean components is a must though, but don't bother with all kinds of silicon that you may never use.

nerpderp82 3y ago

This is not good advice. If you are just doing paint-by-numbers projects, sure. But they usually come with the parts. Being blocked on a lack of parts is not a good use of your time.