Electronic Parts Suppliers

[RobG 1,890]

I think it would be a good idea to have a list of part suppliers in one convenient location, so here's my list:

 

Element14

I found a mention of this place in one of the posts last week and it quickly became my #1 parts supplier

Pros: Huge selection, prices are good, some are lowest I could find. Shipping from US and the shipping is flat $5, and it's fast, I got my package in 2 days (USPS shipped from SC to NC.)

Cons: Well, it's not really a con but I got my package with parts worth $10 and it was over-packed, paper bags, plastic bags, boxes, etc. definately not a green company OK, no cons, not yet.

 

Futurlec

90% of my parts came from Futurlec because their prices are one of the lowest around and I had pretty much no problems with them.

Pros: Low prices, good selection, shipping is only $4

Cons: Ships form China so it takes 2-3 weeks to get the package, international charge on credit card.

 

Jameco

Pros: Fair selection, shipped from US

Cons: Prices and shipping are OK but not the lowest

 

Mouser

Pros: Huge selection, shipped from US

Cons: Prices are rather high, shipping OK but not the lowest

[chibiace 46]

ebay is pretty good, free international shipping ftw, although not so good for quick or bulk manufacturing.

 

anything from the texas instruments store is good, very fast shipping(currently free?) with fedex, and they have a good sampling program (also with free fedex shipping).

 

then you have digikey and mouser, very similar to elements14(farnell). depending on country is there minimum order for free shipping.

 

[zeke 692]

In this corner, weighing 900 lbs, it's Digikey.com. Or for us Canadians: Le Digikey.ca

 

And in that corner, from Sunny California, it's MDFLY.

 

And, in the other corner, from Hong Kong, weighing 98 lbs - DealExtreeeeeeeeeeeeeeme!

[RobG 1,890]

Looking for terminal blocks, I came across Wayjun, did not try yet but it does look interesting. If anyone dares to try before me, please share your experience.

[bluehash 1,578]

If you guys find more suppliers, please add it here. It will be a good sticky thread.

[gatesphere 45]

There's always Newark and Electronic Goldmine.

EDIT:URL-ify.

[SugarAddict 227]

http://www.mpja.com/ - Got my breadboard there and am ordering some other random stuff soon. They call you if something you order goes on backorder.

[EngIP 31]

If I ever want something quickly, I use http://uk.rs-online.com/web/ . I'm not sure if they have a US store, and I am sure they're not the cheapest place to buy from, but they hold a lot of stock and I've always found them helpful whenever I have a problem.

 

Edit: The US arm is Allied Electronics - http://www.alliedelec.com/

[Mac 67]

Has anyone found a better price for an 830 point solderless breadboard than this one ($4.95) at Pololu Robotics & Electronics?

 

Regards, Mike

[zeke 692]

That's a good price!

 

This is the closest that I know of. It's only 300 points though.

 

By the way, this guy is my friend.

[DanAndDusty 62]

It kinda all depends on how long you want to wait and if you have the quantity/items to soak up the shipping.. but this is a good price.. I have their (el-cheapeo) 700 pt boards and Im happy with em.

[xmob 26]

In the UK, I almost exclusively use Farnell (http://www.farnell.co.uk) which is part of the same group as Element 14 (Silicon ) mentioned earlier. Great stock, great prices (WAY cheaper than RS) and speedy delivery (next day, nine times out of ten). Only downside is a minimum order of

[RobG 1,890]

FYI, I've noticed that by ordering directly from newark instead of element-14, I get lower (sometimes much lower) prices, bigger selection, and special deals.

 

Now back to my topic. Are there any good SMD kits out there?

I was thinking maybe we should get together and order some larger quantities of different SMD parts and then create our own SMD kits at a decent price. The kit would have of course selection of resistors, probably 50 different values, 50-100 pieces of most used values and 20-40 less used values, 10-20 different capacitor values, 5-10 electrolytic cap values, switching transistors and diodes, power transistors and diodes, some MOSFETs and Schottkys, some basic ICs, etc.

Any thought on that?

[zeke 692]

The best prices I've seen on SMD caps and resistors is from MDFLY.

 

The resistor kits are from Yageo: 0405, 0603 and 0805.

 

Their capacitor kits are from Murata: 0603 and 0805.

 

Building your own kit is a labor intensive operation. You can buy reels of caps and resistors for $10 each but then you have to cut them into x50 or x100 unit strips. If you want 63 values in your resistor kits then you have to make 63 cuts. Then consider how many kits you want to build.

 

Here's my math:

1. 63 values * $10/reel = $630 for uncut parts

2. 5000 pieces-on-a-reel / 50-on-a-strip = 100 strips

3. 63 reels * 100 strips = 6300 strips-need-to-be-cut

4. Raw cost per kit = $630/100 = $6.3/kit

 

So, it would cost $6.3 for each kit of 63x50 resistors.

Add to that the cost of your time and there is your kit value.

 

MDFLY sells their 0603 and 0805 kits for $13.95 each. That's around $10 gross profit per resistor kit. I wonder what their net profit is? Maybe they have a cutting machine to lessen the workload?

 

I don't think I could make a living selling kits like this for that final price. I'd have to sell A LOT of them.

[GeekDoc 226]

3. 63 reels * 100 strips = 6300 strips-need-to-be-cut

Hmmm... I'm thinking a couple of servos, some kind of cutter on one of them (scissors?), and a little structural hardware.

 

If you have to do something more than twice, automate it!