One day while I was going through my whole parts searching routine for the umpteenth time and lamenting the sad state of my storage situation I had an epiphany of invention. I had lots of the perfect storage containers on hand, they just needed a bit of modification in order for them to work perfectly for storing electronics components. In this article I will show how I did it.
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First a little about my dilemma so you can see if any of this applies to you or not. Some electronic components I just don't have enough of to dedicate a separate storage container for each value. They still need to be kept in some kind of order in relation to each other though. Like lets say for instance I needed small NPN signal transistors for a project, sure I have a drawer of NPN transistors but they're all just tossed in there in piles basically. So I'd dump them out, sort through them with a pair of tweezers to see what I had, lining the different ones up with each other so I could read them etc. This got to be a real bore and a chore after a few times. This activity seemed to go on every time I wanted a transistor too. Sifting through the lot to pick one.
I don't know maybe I'm nuts but all I know is I like all of my transistors lined up like little soldiers before I feel really comfortable picking one out of a basically mixed group. Call me crazy! It is sort of crazy I know, but it seems like the thing to do whenever I have to choose a transistor. Anyhow that is what this article addresses, making storage containers where I can leave my parts all lined up and organized, so I don't have to line them up and organize them whenever I want to pick one to use. Because doing that over and over really is crazy!
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You inspired me to clean up my transistors, and (The few that I have) IC's.
I didn't do exactly like you though :) I had a bunch of foam from something I bought online (I have no idea what it was) So I cut a piece of it, and stick the transistors in that :) Also, for IC's (I only have LM386's, LM555's and a few others) I did the exact same thing.
I then labelled each foam piece with white paint (They were black, so sharpie didn't show well)
A CD case in its natural state all you can put in it is a CD. But with a little ripping, chopping, and gluing it can be so much more! I make sleeves for CDs out of regular paper. They sit in that well enough, and store a lot denser too.
When you get more parts you can expand your jeweled case storage system easily too. The best part of a lot of CDs is the case it came in.
I'll need to find some conductive foam.
You can even add a summarized datasheet on the back for complex IC.
Have a nice day.
Static is such a complicated issue with electronic components that rather than clutter my article I chose to ignore it. If a component is that subject to static damage then no carrier will protect it from assembly line to circuit connection, so other methods are used. One technique I've seen even major manufacturers use is to wrap the leads with a strip of break away conductive foil. Explicit instructions are even provided with such parts not to remove the foil until after the component is secure in circuit. If it is good enough for them then it is good for me too. Mostly I avoid such sensitive devices though. Personally I consider overly sensitive electronics defective designs with few exceptions.
As of now I only store bipolar transistors and voltage regulators in my cases. Static has not been an issue with either of those for me. In my experience I can say over all static hasn't been an issue for me. When it is I blame the part!
CD jewel cases would be a tight fit for the kinds of ICs I use. I don't use surface mount technology, though if I did then I'd want anti-static foam for holding those. If you go the anti-static foam route you're going to want the soft stuff so parts can push into it. Though it probably would be really cool to mill little pockets into rigid foam to hold parts. I'm not quite that far gone yet over here, though I admire those who are :)