Beginner with construction questions

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LarryAB
 
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Joined: Sat May 14, 2016 6:35 pm

Beginner with construction questions

Post by LarryAB »

Hi:

Relatively new to Arduino and electronics in general, and have run into problems finishing my product nicely in a container.

I have multiple issues and questions. I previously built a project using a Trinket and a 1/4 proto board. Worked, but was a pain to replace the battery.

So, for my new project, I unsoldered the proto board and started attaching wires for LED's, etc. And the wires are very stiff, and I'm leaving everything overlong to ensure I can get this all together.

Would it be easier to put on a 3 inch wire with a snap connector of some type for each port? Or even just a 3 inch wire and solder the LEDs wires to it? Then I would never unsolder the protoboard, just the wire???? And if connectors are the way to go, which ones...the amount of wires, connectors, etc. is mind-boggling to me.

Is there a more flexible softer wire I could be using? I'm currently using solid core. Not sure of the gauge.

The same problem arises when I try to use a button switch. They actually are really bulky so I don't see how you can fit them in Altoid containers, etc. Which makes me think there's smaller switches, and that I don't know what I'm doing or even looking for.

Are there any videos, books, etc that discuss these issues?

Thanks for any help.

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dastels
 
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Joined: Tue Oct 20, 2015 3:22 pm

Re: Beginner with construction questions

Post by dastels »

In the shop there is a selection of 30awg, stranded, silicon coated wired: https://www.adafruit.com/product/3164. I use this pretty much exclusively for my wiring. It's flexible and the insulation doesn't melt when soldering.

I don't know what kind of switch you are using, but the shop has an assortment of types, styles, and sizes: https://www.adafruit.com/category/155. If you go to some place like Digikey, you'll find an even greater (some might say overwhelming) selection.

For disconnectable wiring harnesses, have a look at this selection of products: https://www.adafruit.com/product/5090, available with various numbers of pins/wires.

Make Magazine has published a large number of project related books, articles, etc. that may have what you're looking for https://makezine.com/. There's also HackSpace Magazine (free PDFs) https://hackspace.raspberrypi.com/. Instructables will probably also have useful projects: https://www.instructables.com/.

Dave

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LarryAB
 
Posts: 29
Joined: Sat May 14, 2016 6:35 pm

Re: Beginner with construction questions

Post by LarryAB »

Thank you so much. This is what I was looking for.

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