{"id":742,"date":"2014-04-14T13:09:27","date_gmt":"2014-04-14T20:09:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/?p=742"},"modified":"2014-06-20T11:25:47","modified_gmt":"2014-06-20T18:25:47","slug":"testing-a-breadboard-for-continuity-and-isolation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/testing-a-breadboard-for-continuity-and-isolation\/","title":{"rendered":"Testing a Breadboard for Continuity & Isolation"},"content":{"rendered":"

Consisting of multiple columns and rows connected beneath by metal strips, a\u00a0breadboard<\/a>\u00a0is a plastic grid used for creating and testing electronic circuits designed for use with through-hole components that have connection legs or pins you can insert into the holes of the breadboard. Because all the holes are connected, the individual columns and rows on the breadboard have continuity and are isolated from the other columns and rows. You can check both continuity and isolation using a digital multimeter.<\/p>\n

You will need two jumper wires, which may have been included with your breadboard. Only use jumpers that fit the breadboard. Connect a jumper wire to both multimeter probes. If your multimeter has straight pin-type probes, use alligator clips to connect the jumper wires to the probes. Set the multimeter to test resistance, typically listed as ohms.<\/p>\n

A bus consists of two columns labelled \u201c+\u201d and \u201c-\u201d that are generally used for ground and power connections. Locate one on the breadboard. If you have a large breadboard, there may be several buses from which to choose. Next you will locate a row consisting of a group of five holes labelled \u201cA\u201d to \u201cE\u201d or \u201cF\u201d to \u201cJ\u201d. Find the row number listed on the left side of the breadboard.<\/p>\n

You test the continuity of the \u201c+\u201d column for a given bus by touching one of the\u00a0multimeter<\/a>\u00a0probes to the top hole and touching the other probe to the bottom hole in the same column. The multimeter will read around zero if the device under test has continuity. You test the continuity of the \u201c-\u201d column for that bus the same way: touch one multimeter probe to the top hole and other probe to the bottom hole of the same column.<\/p>\n

If want to check that the \u201c+\u201d column is isolated from the \u201c-\u201d column touch one probe to any hole in the \u201c+\u201d column and the other probe to any hole in the \u201c-\u201d column. The multimeter should display infinite resistance, typically represented by the number one followed by a series of dashes, meaning the two bus columns are not electrically connected (i.e. isolated).<\/p>\n

You test a row\u2019s continuity by touching one probe to hole labelled \u201cA\u201d and the other to \u201cE\u201d. If the multimeter reads nearly zero the row has continuity. Touch one probe to the \u201cA\u201d and the other probe to \u201cJ\u201d in the same row to ensure the row is isolated from adjacent rows. You test the isolation of one row from another by touching one probe to \u201cA\u201d and the other probe to the \u201cA\u201d hole in the row below. The row is isolated from the one below it if the multimeter reads infinite.<\/p>\n

If you question the functionality of other sections of the breadboard, repeat these tests in those places.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Consisting of multiple columns and rows connected beneath by metal strips, a\u00a0breadboard\u00a0is a plastic grid used for creating and testing<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"colormag_page_layout":"default_layout","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-742","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-all-posts"],"yoast_head":"\nTesting a Breadboard for Continuity & Isolation | Simply Smarter Circuitry Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/testing-a-breadboard-for-continuity-and-isolation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Testing a Breadboard for Continuity & Isolation | Simply Smarter Circuitry Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Consisting of multiple columns and rows connected beneath by metal strips, a\u00a0breadboard\u00a0is a plastic grid used for creating and testing\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/testing-a-breadboard-for-continuity-and-isolation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Simply Smarter Circuitry Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CircuitSpecialists\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-04-14T20:09:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-06-20T18:25:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"George\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@CircuitSpecial\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@CircuitSpecial\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"George\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/testing-a-breadboard-for-continuity-and-isolation\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/testing-a-breadboard-for-continuity-and-isolation\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"George\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/414c9adb626f1f36fba73f3b4ae376ca\"},\"headline\":\"Testing a Breadboard for Continuity & Isolation\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-04-14T20:09:27+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-06-20T18:25:47+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/testing-a-breadboard-for-continuity-and-isolation\/\"},\"wordCount\":471,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"All Posts\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/testing-a-breadboard-for-continuity-and-isolation\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/testing-a-breadboard-for-continuity-and-isolation\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/testing-a-breadboard-for-continuity-and-isolation\/\",\"name\":\"Testing a Breadboard for Continuity & Isolation | Simply Smarter Circuitry Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2014-04-14T20:09:27+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-06-20T18:25:47+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/testing-a-breadboard-for-continuity-and-isolation\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/testing-a-breadboard-for-continuity-and-isolation\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/testing-a-breadboard-for-continuity-and-isolation\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Testing a Breadboard for Continuity & Isolation\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Simply Smarter Circuitry Blog\",\"description\":\"How To's, Reviews, and Product News from Circuit Specialists HQ.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Circuit Specialists\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/csi.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/csi.jpg\",\"width\":120,\"height\":120,\"caption\":\"Circuit Specialists\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CircuitSpecialists\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/CircuitSpecial\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCG87WTqDKIqA704uqjumJgg\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/414c9adb626f1f36fba73f3b4ae376ca\",\"name\":\"George\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f7719440cadb3ea0bf4a1ef0c50b309a?s=96&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f7719440cadb3ea0bf4a1ef0c50b309a?s=96&r=g\",\"caption\":\"George\"},\"description\":\"George Leger has a Masters in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University, worked in private industry pioneering surface-mount technology and in government research labs for twenty years, published several papers on surface-mount technology, co-authored papers published in national symposiums on accelerator technology, was past president of SMTA and an adjunct professor at the community college level, holds a patent, and is a certified microchip design partner, serving as a consultant to many companies developing electronic circuits.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/author\/george\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Testing a Breadboard for Continuity & Isolation | Simply Smarter Circuitry Blog","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/testing-a-breadboard-for-continuity-and-isolation\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Testing a Breadboard for Continuity & Isolation | Simply Smarter Circuitry Blog","og_description":"Consisting of multiple columns and rows connected beneath by metal strips, a\u00a0breadboard\u00a0is a plastic grid used for creating and testing","og_url":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/testing-a-breadboard-for-continuity-and-isolation\/","og_site_name":"Simply Smarter Circuitry Blog","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CircuitSpecialists\/","article_published_time":"2014-04-14T20:09:27+00:00","article_modified_time":"2014-06-20T18:25:47+00:00","author":"George","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@CircuitSpecial","twitter_site":"@CircuitSpecial","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"George","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/testing-a-breadboard-for-continuity-and-isolation\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/testing-a-breadboard-for-continuity-and-isolation\/"},"author":{"name":"George","@id":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/414c9adb626f1f36fba73f3b4ae376ca"},"headline":"Testing a Breadboard for Continuity & Isolation","datePublished":"2014-04-14T20:09:27+00:00","dateModified":"2014-06-20T18:25:47+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/testing-a-breadboard-for-continuity-and-isolation\/"},"wordCount":471,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/#organization"},"articleSection":["All Posts"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/testing-a-breadboard-for-continuity-and-isolation\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/testing-a-breadboard-for-continuity-and-isolation\/","url":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/testing-a-breadboard-for-continuity-and-isolation\/","name":"Testing a Breadboard for Continuity & Isolation | Simply Smarter Circuitry Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2014-04-14T20:09:27+00:00","dateModified":"2014-06-20T18:25:47+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/testing-a-breadboard-for-continuity-and-isolation\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/testing-a-breadboard-for-continuity-and-isolation\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/testing-a-breadboard-for-continuity-and-isolation\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Testing a Breadboard for Continuity & Isolation"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/","name":"Simply Smarter Circuitry Blog","description":"How To's, Reviews, and Product News from Circuit Specialists HQ.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Circuit Specialists","url":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/csi.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/csi.jpg","width":120,"height":120,"caption":"Circuit Specialists"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CircuitSpecialists\/","https:\/\/x.com\/CircuitSpecial","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCG87WTqDKIqA704uqjumJgg"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/414c9adb626f1f36fba73f3b4ae376ca","name":"George","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f7719440cadb3ea0bf4a1ef0c50b309a?s=96&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f7719440cadb3ea0bf4a1ef0c50b309a?s=96&r=g","caption":"George"},"description":"George Leger has a Masters in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University, worked in private industry pioneering surface-mount technology and in government research labs for twenty years, published several papers on surface-mount technology, co-authored papers published in national symposiums on accelerator technology, was past president of SMTA and an adjunct professor at the community college level, holds a patent, and is a certified microchip design partner, serving as a consultant to many companies developing electronic circuits.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/"],"url":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/author\/george\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/742","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/42"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=742"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/742\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":743,"href":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/742\/revisions\/743"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=742"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=742"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=742"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}