Resistors

[Dearslayer]

It seems like I always need a resistor that I don't have and it's a pain to drive an hour to the electronic store near me to get a package of two pieces for $3-4 and it's not for sure they will have what I might need because the selection is very small and limited and probably quite old to boot. They sell more items such as testers and equipment than they do components for electronic restoration so can someone recommend a Mouser " starter kit" perhaps that won't cost an arm and a leg that might have most types and values included that the Marantz units normally require or is there even such a kit? Or if no kit what would be the best way to order, such as most often used types and values that cover most of the bases.

GT.

 

[c.coyle]

It seems like I always need a resistor that I don't have and it's a pain to drive an hour to the electronic store near me to get a package of two pieces . . . so can someone recommend a Mouser " starter kit" perhaps that won't cost an arm and a leg that might have most types and values included that the Marantz units normally require or is there even such a kit? Or if no kit what would be the best way to order, such as most often used types and values that cover most of the bases.

GT.

I have bought metal film assortments off Ebay. Some say they are of dubious quality because they are unbranded, but about 99% of mine measure within tolerance. Just check out your seller before ordering.

I don't know if they sell assortments, but Tayda is a reputable Ebay seller based in Thailand.

 

[Dearslayer]

Ok I will check that out. Thanks.

Metal Oxide kits are more difficult to find on there than metal film it seems. Maybe because they are cheaper to produce??

 

[blhagstrom]

I have hundreds of thousands of resistors.
Lucked into nice assortments from different places.
One was an electronic tech school drop out yard sale.
One large bin was thrift store score.
One was a huge pile from Bryce, he bought out any sale with tubes so old TV and Radio shops stuff.
RadioShack had assortments and I got one of them.
Many orders from mouser.

The point?

Damn difficult to keep stored and sorted and I never seem to have the one I really want.

I find that I really need one very rarely.

I have probably spent more time sorting and storing and trying to maintain resistors than actually needing them and using them.

Mouser has large assortments but they are costly.

 

[airtime]

Usually I look at a schematic or two and get an idea of the most common values. However I find I have ALWAYS had to place an order or THREE every time I did a project. If it wasn't a resistor it was a transistor or odd ball cap.

Capacitors were easy to stock up on. I just didn't get as picky on voltage ratings. Newer caps are smaller with higher ratings so size was no longer that critical. What I did was tag on a few extra pieces with each order. Some power resistors, some caps, a few common transistors, etc... And when I did order parts I ordered 6-10 extra just in case I needed them for another project in the future.

Now that I no longer do repairs I have a large bag of parts kicking around. I'm sure those caps are going to dry out one day and no longer be any good.

 

[airtime]

I have hundreds of thousands of resistors.

Damn difficult to keep stored and sorted and I never seem to have the one I really want.

I have probably spent more time sorting and storing and trying to maintain resistors than actually needing them and using them..

Do you have that LARGE jumble bag of resistors you keep telling yourself you have to sort out one day? I tried to keep them in the bags Mouser sent them in but I couldn't read them half the time. Staples sells those little brown change bags. Using a marker pen in LARGE print I wrote the value/values of what's in the bag and that seems to be working pretty well.

 

[c.coyle]

My Ebay assortments come on ammo tape. I put them in marked 8 1/2 by 14 envelopes.

 

[Bob]

here's how I do it.

buy plastic zip-lock bags off eb. 2x3 will work, 3x5 are better. sort by size (1/4, 1/2, 1W, 2W, ...)
then by value and by boutiqueness (cheapy MFs vs hyphenated like Vishay-dale, or multi-syllable
like Rodenstein) and then bag then with a white address label. lastly plop into small boxes by
wattage and also labelled as such.

when needed just pull the boxes, liberate needed values and stack for use. if you're existentially
anal, then keep bags out as they drop below the economic lot for re-order. economic lot algorithm
is cheaper to buy at qty=10, than at qty=1 pricing or for those with a Finance MBA when
qty 10 is cheaper than, say 8 at qty=1 pricing.

do same for caps. decide whether to stock only axials or radials. Axials turned radial are cool but
radials turned axials look like skinny sumo wrestlers and look better. not to mention for the
angels-on-a-pinhead religious - there's less undetectable inductance.

all my caps and resistors take up about 3 linear feet of 8-9" high shelves. so you'll need a bookcase.

 

[kln138]

I buy Joe Knows Electronics resistors on Amazon. They are boxed and individually bagged and marked. Very handy!

 

[rBuckner]

I have gotten WAY in the past from Digi-Key.

 

[blhagstrom]

I actually got the drawers and trays on a couple assortments. The gigantic pile from Bryce came in moving boxes with parts bins full and semi sorted. I spent time cleaning and bagging that up. Mostly larger stuff from tube days. I am probably the king of 2 watt carbon comps.

I scored a pile of high watt cements from another old guy sale. TV stuff again.

I literally have boxes full and all sorted.
It's a massive amount.

It has been handy when I do need something odd. But hunting the odd one takes time.

I have some nice drawer racks and one of these days, I'll get those in play.



Really.




One of these days.

 

[restorer-john]

I've got my resistors in an interlinked set of 120 drawers which covers every value of the E12 carbon comp (5% tolerance) range (pretty much all the vintage gear used 1/4W 5%) with a number of spare drawers for fuses etc. Each drawer should be big enough to fit 1/4, 1/2 and 1-5W resistors.





All the E96 values (1% Metal Film), I use an E24 list arranged in order with the values written on the bandoliers. They are stored in flat storage containers with divided sections.

You can do the same with small value radial caps- get one of these type storage containers for low-medium voltage caps and fill it up with a selection of your favourite caps. I've got several, all different colours to store small signal transistors, LEDs/bulbs, diodes/zeners, etc. They stack up and lock together.











Once you've sorted and arranged your thousands of resistors- you'll never have to do it again. I have my drawer system attached to the side of my bench, right at my fingertips. Make sure you have plenty of every value in stock- periodically check each drawer and place an order to top up.

 

[gadget73]

I'm working on the "bunch of bags in a box" method. I never know whats in there. Once I get my front room done and some of the stuff moved from the workshop to there I plan to buy a bunch of bins and drawers to get this under control. I waste so much time looking for parts.

 

[Dearslayer]

Usually I look at a schematic or two and get an idea of the most common values. However I find I have ALWAYS had to place an order or THREE every time I did a project. If it wasn't a resistor it was a transistor or odd ball cap.

Capacitors were easy to stock up on. I just didn't get as picky on voltage ratings. Newer caps are smaller with higher ratings so size was no longer that critical. What I did was tag on a few extra pieces with each order. Some power resistors, some caps, a few common transistors, etc... And when I did order parts I ordered 6-10 extra just in case I needed them for another project in the future.

Now that I no longer do repairs I have a large bag of parts kicking around. I'm sure those caps are going to dry out one day and no longer be any good.

Better not let those caps go bad. Better send them to a rookie like me to put them to good use.

GT.

 

[catrafter]

Wow.

Tom

 

[Dearslayer]

It was meant to be a funny.

 

[arts]

I've got my resistors in an interlinked set of 120 drawers which covers every value of the E12 carbon comp (5% tolerance) range (pretty much all the vintage gear used 1/4W 5%) with a number of spare drawers for fuses etc. Each drawer should be big enough to fit 1/4, 1/2 and 1-5W resistors.

View attachment 998394
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View attachment 998397

All the E96 values (1% Metal Film), I use an E24 list arranged in order with the values written on the bandoliers. They are stored in flat storage containers with divided sections.

You can do the same with small value radial caps- get one of these type storage containers for low-medium voltage caps and fill it up with a selection of your favourite caps. I've got several, all different colours to store small signal transistors, LEDs/bulbs, diodes/zeners, etc. They stack up and lock together.

View attachment 998400

View attachment 998401

View attachment 998403

View attachment 998441



Once you've sorted and arranged your thousands of resistors- you'll never have to do it again. I have my drawer system attached to the side of my bench, right at my fingertips. Make sure you have plenty of every value in stock- periodically check each drawer and place an order to top up.

Wow,that is well done. I'd (almost) pay your plane fare to Canada to have you organize my pile of stuff. It's gotten so bad I just keep ordering new parts for projects rather than dig through everything.....

 

[ConradH]

Some values are always good to have, 100, 1k, 10k, etc. Then, go through the receivers or amps you tend to rebuild and note any fusibles and other values you might replace. Buy 100 or so from Digikey or Mouser. I find my surplus finds always have thousands of resistors of values nobody in the history of electronics has ever used. I bet I have as many as anybody but still have to buy a few values for every project. Watch out for small quantities- I've wasted more time than you can imagine scrounging around for some value that I was sure I had two or three of. If you do deal with small quantities, coin envelopes from the office store are handy.