OT RANT - I hate modern resistors with hair-thin leads !!!

[Tom Katt]

Recently purchased new 1/4 + 1/2 watt resistor kits as my stock was running low...  I bought a few variety packs at Rat Shack ages ago that have lasted decades - the new ones  have leads that seem to be literally hair-thin - they bend all over the place in a breadboard and break off on terminal strips if you push them out of the way to get to another component.

I know that everything has gotten 'cheaper' over the years, but this really surprised me.  Do I really need to start hunting for 'vintage resistors' on eBay now?  Crazy!

Sorry - I feel a bit better getting that off my chest.

[Leroy Jones]

That, plus the extremely annoying (to me anyway) "4-band" color code.    These "new" resistors are garbage.   When ever I see these light sky-blue colored resistors, I know there is annoyance ahead.

[Dekatron42]

What brand did you buy and where?

Most professional brands sold by Digikey or Mouser have the usual pins, however cheap unbranded components from hobby places usually sell a cheaper Chinese brand with quite flimsy pins.

/Martin

[Tom Katt]

Not knowing any better I did in fact buy a cheap set from Amazon.  I typically purchase most components from reputable resellers like Digikey, but I figured what could they do to small resistors?  

From what I can tell, even kits from places like Jameco and SparkFun are identical to what I received.  Everything at Digikey beyond Sparkfun is about $50+ with some running over $300 (!!!) for Vishay sets that aren't offered in wide ohm to Megaohm ranges.  At best that means I'd need to order dozen qtys for popular values rather than the grab-bag kits I'm used to, and that seems like a PITA.

Any suggestions?

[Nicholas Stock]

taydaelectronics.com (https://www.taydaelectronics.com/)

I've purchased a lot of components from them and they're good quality as far as I can tell. I've never had any issues...(famous last words!)

Nick

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "neonixie-l" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to neonixie-l+...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/d74c0de0-2059-4180-a355-449d0e78210dn%40googlegroups.com.

[Leroy Jones]

I have bought quite a few items from Tayda.   I will vouch for them they are a decent supplier.  But all of the resistors they have are the 4-band light-blue garbage.

It is true that if you really want high quality and reliable well made stuff, Digikey and Mouser are the best.   But always with those two outfits, remember

to get out your wallet and empty it very fast.    Jameco also has some decent stuff but not as much any more like it was 20 years ago.

[Leroy Jones]

Electronic Goldmine is also worth keeping an eye on.    They have some real nice old stuff that pops up from time to time.

Got a big bunch of N.O.S. C.P. Clare 24 volt multipole relays from them a while back.   They even have nixie tubes every so often.

[Tom Katt]

On Wednesday, November 5, 2025 at 12:48:33 PM UTC-5 Nicholas Stock wrote:

taydaelectronics.com (https://www.taydaelectronics.com/)

I've purchased a lot of components from them and they're good quality as far as I can tell. I've never had any issues...(famous last words!)

Nick

Do you know if they have US based shipping? 

I did some Googling and apparently this is just how most through-hole low wattage resistors are made these days.  Amazing how I just never noticed lol.  I saw some comments that suggested these 'blue' film resistors might have better leads - they claim #24 gauge leads: ELEGOO 17 Values 1% Resistor Kit Assortment, 0 Ohm-1M Ohm (Pack of 525) RoHS Compliant for Electronic Projects: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific

For $10 maybe I should order a set and see what they're like - I don't need another 1,000 but one of the two kits could go back.  They certainly can't be any worse.  Even the 1/2 watt kit I got is hair thin.

Failing that I'll start looking for old Radio Shack sets on eBay - at least I know what I'm getting.

[Nicholas Stock]

I don't understand the dislike of 4-band resistors.... get your multimeter out! LOL.

--

You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "neonixie-l" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to neonixie-l+...@googlegroups.com.

To view this discussion, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/32da5856-910c-4bb8-bd30-0602cfa8c06an%40googlegroups.com.

[Tom Katt]

On Wednesday, November 5, 2025 at 1:04:47 PM UTC-5 Leroy Jones wrote:

Electronic Goldmine is also worth keeping an eye on.    They have some real nice old stuff that pops up from time to time.

Got a big bunch of N.O.S. C.P. Clare 24 volt multipole relays from them a while back.   They even have nixie tubes every so often.

I used to get random stuff there all the time.  I wonder if they still send out the printed catalogs (probably not) - it was like the Sears Wishbook when it came in the mail ;-)

PS - I just took the calipers to the resistors I bought and the leads are .015".  My old Radio Shack resistors have .023" leads.  I'd guess that makes the ELEGOO set I linked earlier what I'm looking for (plus they're 1%).  Despite being 'blue', they do have 5 band color codes and aren't those funky new ones.

[Mac Doktor]

On Nov 5, 2025, at 12:01 PM, Leroy Jones <leroypu...@gmail.com> wrote:

That, plus the extremely annoying (to me anyway) "4-band" color code.    These "new" resistors are garbage.   When ever I see these light sky-blue colored resistors, I know there is annoyance ahead.

They really are crappy. Reading the colors is tricky to almost impossible A whiter light source helps but then you run into the partially smearing ones. Then there are the 1/8W resistors. Almost microscopic.

I bought a huge set for less than $10 recently. Mostly oddball values you'll rarely need but then that's the whole idea. In the event that I need  a funky value I don't have to wait.

On Nov 5, 2025, at 1:20 PM, Tom Katt <tomk...@gmail.com> wrote:

Failing that I'll start looking for old Radio Shack sets on eBay - at least I know what I'm getting.

I have a bunch of those including the 1/2W 10% ones.

On Nov 5, 2025, at 1:29 PM, Nicholas Stock <nick...@gmail.com> wrote:

I don't understand the dislike of 4-band resistors.... get your multimeter out! LOL.

Get your hands on one of these:

https://jyetech.com/m162-10-lcr-meter/

The case is tricky to put together. They also have a modular version of the same thing. The contacts are on a separate (much cheaper) board and could easily be connected to your $20 Harbor Freight DMM.

Terry Bowman, KA4HJH
"The Mac Doctor"

https://www.astarcloseup.com

"There is no Main Street anymore except at Disneyland—and try and buy a gun there"—Hank Hill

[Tom Katt]

On Wednesday, November 5, 2025 at 1:48:40 PM UTC-5 Mac Doktor wrote:

Get your hands on one of these:

https://jyetech.com/m162-10-lcr-meter/

The case is tricky to put together. They also have a modular version of the same thing. The contacts are on a separate (much cheaper) board and could easily be connected to your $20 Harbor Freight DMM.

I got a pair of smart tweezers that work great for quick measurements of small parts like a pile of random resistors (Shannon ST42 that I lucked into from following an Eevblog forum)... They ended up being a lot more useful than I expected   I bought them for around $80 when they first came out, now they're over $200 (thanks tariffs!).   I highly recommend smart tweezer style meters if you can find one at a reasonable price - one handed measurements and they automatically determine the components.

[Toby Thain]

The short answer is: Buy _name brands_ on Digikey, Mouser, Farnell etc.
Never buy retail, generic, aliexpress or ebay.

Had this specific problem buying from a small parts retailer in Toronto
who put mystery meat generic resistors in bags and the leads were all
low gauge junk and probably the part was too.

--T

>
> Sorry - I feel a bit better getting that off my chest.
>

> --
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
> Groups "neonixie-l" group.
> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send

> an email to neonixie-l+...@googlegroups.com <mailto:neonixie-
> l+unsu...@googlegroups.com>.

> To view this discussion, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/

> neonixie-l/533bedb8-6347-4591-a6cd-e134000ae9f4n%40googlegroups.com
> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/533bedb8-6347-4591-a6cd-
> e134000ae9f4n%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>.

[Nick Andrews]

And that's not even considering the crappy rohs leads that crappy modern solder doesn't want to stick to .

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "neonixie-l" group.

To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to neonixie-l+...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/79a6b909-95b2-498b-be59-c8134611d08en%40googlegroups.com.

[Tom Katt]

On Wednesday, November 5, 2025 at 5:30:44 PM UTC-5 Toby Thain wrote:

The short answer is: Buy _name brands_ on Digikey, Mouser, Farnell etc.
Never buy retail, generic, aliexpress or ebay.

Believe me - I'd do that if Vishay kits weren't $300+ on Digikey... For kits that are only a few decades in value, so you'd need to buy several kits for the whole range.  No way I'm spending over $1K on resistors lol.  Which means I'd have to buy small qtys of each value I need - and would still end up costing $$$ for just a kit of 1/4 or 1/2 watt resistors. 

I'm all ears if you have alternative suggestions ;-)

[J Forbes]

a friend recently gave me some electronics stuff from the 1980s, that he hadn't played with since the 1980s.

I guess these days, you have to have connections. I don't know the answer. 

[Tom Katt]

On Wednesday, November 5, 2025 at 6:34:35 PM UTC-5 J Forbes wrote:

a friend recently gave me some electronics stuff from the 1980s, that he hadn't played with since the 1980s.

I guess these days, you have to have connections. I don't know the answer. 

That's exactly what I'm looking for!   And what nice packaging!  You'd think that would be easy to find these days, but nope.   I think eBay scouting might be the answer for me.

And I remember All Electronics - another classic surplus shop ala Electronics Goldmine.