Low-Profile Benchtop Power Distribution
Introduction
![](pwrdist_finalposition.jpg)
I usually have many breadboard projects on my workbench. I wanted to find a convenient way to connect power to the breadboards. I had an idea to take a 40-pin connector and use it as an "outlet" with 20 sockets and making miniature "extension cords" with 2-pin headers on each end.
![](pwrdist_before.jpg)
I picked up the parts at a surplus electronics store. Since all of my projects are typically PIC microcontroller, TTL, or something else in that voltage range, I decided to use a single voltage 5V 2.5A supply that had a simple connector. I found a matching jack and a 40-pin IDE connector.
![](pwrdist_soldered.jpg)
I soldered all of the pins on one side together with a wire and did the same for the other side. Then, each of the wires were soldered to the power jack. I placed the jack as close as possible so that the entire "power strip" would be a single unit and the jack would not flex the wires.
![](pwrdist_inuse.jpg)
After soldering, I used hot glue to cover all of the exposed pins and wire. I put red electrical tape on one side to show the positive side.
To connect the power to the boards I created small "extension cords". I used speaker wire, because I liked the way the wires were attached to each other. At both ends I soldered on a 2-pin header. I used heat shrink tubing to both cover the solder joints and to give the connection a little extra strength.
I should have waited until I got some red heat shrink tubing to finish this. Instead of waiting I used a red Sharpie to mark the "positive" (really, just the same) side of each end.
![](pwrdist_inuseboards.jpg)
Here I am testing the "power strip" with various boards to make sure everything still works.
![](pwrdist_boards.jpg)
Once nice thing about the extension cords is that you can use them to connect the power from one boards to power another board.