Global Specialties PRO-S-LAB - Manual (Page 6)

HOW TO WORK WITH SOLDERLESS BREADBOARDS
A solderless breadboard is an extremely useful device which
allows you to interconnect electronic components in an almost
endless variety of ways to produce working circuits. More
importantly, it makes it easy to modify or completely revise
these circuits quickly, and without use of any tools. And since it
eliminates the possibility of overheating and damaging them,
and it allows them to be used over and over.
Mechanically, the solderless breadboard is a set of formed
metal sockets inserted into a plastic housing which holds them
firmly in place. The pattern seen from the top is designed to
provide a useful combination of isolated tie points as well as
continuous bus structure. The isolated tie points serve as
discrete points in the circuit you are constructing, while the
busses serve, generally, to distribute power and provide
common ground points.
Solderless breadboards have a very long life expectancy if
treated properly. The most important thing to be aware of is the
size of the wire used; we recommend using #22 AWG solid wire
only. Wire which is too small may lead to poor or intermittent
connections. Wire which is too large may deform the internal
metal sockets to the point where they will not grip the proper
wire size any more, rendering the breadboard useless. A
second caution is to avoid soldering a wire which is inserted into
a solderless breadboard, as it may cause the plastic
surrounding the pin to melt, or may remove the temper from the
metal rendering it electrically unreliable.
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TRANSISTOR INDENTIFICATION
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