Maplin administration

[ejstubbs]

I hope that something will arise to take Maplin's place.  It probably won't look much like Maplin but so long as it can sell you the stuff you need at short notice, allow touchy-feely browsing and provide advice then the end result would be the same.

 

In the mean time there are still a few independents out there eg https://www.facebook.com/RFPottsDerby/ (who helped me through my early model railway and electric guitar years).  There was one in Cambridge, too, which nurtured me through my undergraduate years, but I cannot for the life of me remember its name.  So maybe that one is gone by now.  (I don't think it was H Gee on Mill Lane - that's more electricals than electronics, I believe.)

 

Edited to add: Great news that StevieD71 has found a new position so quickly.  Good luck Steve, and hear's hoping your ex-colleagues across the UK all find similar happy endings.

Edited May 2, 2018 by ejstubbs

[robin maxwell]

I hope that something will arise to take Maplin's place.  It probably won't look much like Maplin but so long as it can sell you the stuff you need at short notice, allow touchy-feely browsing and provide advice then the end result would be the same.

 

In the mean time there are still a few independents out there eg https://www.facebook.com/RFPottsDerby/ (who helped me through my early model railway and electric guitar years).  There was one in Cambridge, too, which nurtured me through my undergraduate years, but I cannot for the life of me remember its name.  So maybe that one is gone by now.  (I don't think it was H Gee on Mill Lane - that's more electricals than electronics, I believe.)

 

Edited to add: Great news that StevieD71 has found a new position so quickly.  Good luck Steve, and hear's hoping your ex-colleagues across the UK all find similar happy endings.

Thanks mate for the info  

[stewartingram]

I hope that something will arise to take Maplin's place.  It probably won't look much like Maplin but so long as it can sell you the stuff you need at short notice, allow touchy-feely browsing and provide advice then the end result would be the same.

 

In the mean time there are still a few independents out there eg https://www.facebook.com/RFPottsDerby/ (who helped me through my early model railway and electric guitar years).  There was one in Cambridge, too, which nurtured me through my undergraduate years, but I cannot for the life of me remember its name.  So maybe that one is gone by now.  (I don't think it was H Gee on Mill Lane - that's more electricals than electronics, I believe.)

 

Edited to add: Great news that StevieD71 has found a new position so quickly.  Good luck Steve, and hear's hoping your ex-colleagues across the UK all find similar happy endings.

 

Gees, on Mill Road, are to the best of my knowledge, still going. (They were when I went in a few months back). They were the old fashioned electronics type of shop, though I believe they are now more of an RS outlet for components and less of a "s/h electro-junk" type of place. They always used to sell other things, such as bits of hi-fi, and some electrical bits and bobs though; I can't speak for that now as I never looked. Same staff too. I'd put them in a model railway context, in the "proper modelshop" market, but in the electronics trade.

 

Stewart

Edited May 2, 2018 by stewartingram

[melmerby]

I'm going to miss Maplins for all my gadgets, components and projects.  I hate amazon with a vengeance and nowhere else sells any of that stuff in-store   PC World doesn't do any of it either.

 

Wish you all the best for the future guys.  Good luck

*Shop at Rapid, Farnell or RS

Competitive prices and fast delivery

PC World IMHO is a waste of space.

 

Keith

 

* You will have to buy resistors etc in 5s or 10s albeit at the price for 1 at Maplin.

Edited May 2, 2018 by melmerby

[StevieD71]

Thanks for all the support guys. It's much appreciated.

I went down this morning and formally accepted the position, with the bonus that I can continue working at Maplin until it closes so I won't lose my redundancy and at the same time for in some training at my new job, so that come the day, I'm ready to hit the ground running.

 

Today is a good day.

[Coryton]

*Shop at Rapid, Farnell or RS

Competitive prices and fast delivery

PC World IMHO is a waste of space.

 

Keith

 

* You will have to buy resistors etc in 5s or 10s albeit at the price for 1 at Maplin.

 

For small orders where the postage would dominate if you use the larger companies, I find Bitsbox and Spiratronics very good. 

[Robin2]

For small orders where the postage would dominate if you use the larger companies, I find Bitsbox and Spiratronics very good. 

RS's prices are not cheap but they don't charge for delivery.

 

...R

Edited May 3, 2018 by Robin2

[Coryton]

RS's prices are not cheap but they don't charge for delivery.

 

...R

 

Even for a small order?

 

They used to do free delivery on any size of order for trade accounts - you could get a 10 p resistor delivered for nothing.

 

They changed that though a few years back.

[melmerby]

RS's prices are not cheap but they don't charge for delivery.

 

...R

I found some of RS's stock as cheap as any other supplier. (excluding the likes of Ali Express)

They weren't when we used them where I used to work but they wouldn't supply non-account holders and you had to be bona-fide trade to get an account.

They did stock some items which were difficult to get elsewhere which was useful. (We were allowed to buy for personal use, quoting the company account, as long as we paid cash)

 

Keith

Edited May 3, 2018 by melmerby

[melmerby]

The Birmingham store has now put all the loose components into "lucky bags"

Some esoteric mixtures in each bag such as: Car fuses, High voltage capacitors, Leds, Potentiometers etc.

They aren't discounted any more than the posted rates.

Resistors have been bagged up as well with the remaining quantities of each value separately priced, so if anyone wants 872 x 15R @ 3p each now's your chance to fill your draw!

The popular values e.g. 100R, 1K, 10K etc are all gone. I found a small quantity of 470R, so I snapped them up.

Strange they had so many resistors of each value in stock when diodes were very sparsely stocked.

 

Keith

Edited May 3, 2018 by melmerby

[Colin_McLeod]

R ? Surely you mean Ω.

[Coryton]

R ? Surely you mean Ω.

 

 

Sometimes used instead of Ω.

 

Perhaps from the days where fonts on computers were a bit limited.

Or because an Omega looks too much like zero.

Or something else.

 

Take your pick.

[Robin2]

R ? Surely you mean Ω.

R is normal.

 

...R

[TheSignalEngineer]

R is part of the recognised international standard for denoting resistance in diagrams, parts lists etc. See BS1852, EN60062, DIN40825.

[Colin_McLeod]

I've learnt something new today.

[Bucoops]

Resistance is futile.

[Titan]

[melmerby]

RIF.jpg

That would be a 0R

 

Keith

[melmerby]

I've learnt something new today.

Can make it easier, especially when using a keyboard as you don't need the Omega symbol or decimal points.

 

e.g. 2.2K (ohms) is written as 2K2, 1 (ohm) is 1R, 0.1 (ohm) is R1 etc.

 

Keith

[Hroth]

That would be a 0R

 

Keith

Depends on the value of R and the length of the parallel wire......

 

eg a meter of copper wire of 1.0 mm diameter has a characteristic resistance of 18R, so with a metre of copper wire and (for example) a 470R resistor, the calculated value comes out at about 17.3R

 

 

Ok, with a short length of wire, it would be 0R but its always best to state assumptions! 

[sharris]

Even for a small order?

 

They used to do free delivery on any size of order for trade accounts - you could get a 10 p resistor delivered for nothing.

 

They changed that though a few years back.

 

Now RS will do a free delivery if the order is over £20. If it's under £20 they charge a £4.95 handling fee.

https://uk.rs-online.com/web/generalDisplay.html?id=our-services/delivery

(it's hidden in the footnote!) 

 

Farnell do the same, but their handling fee is £3.95 (£20+VAT cut-off) - unless you have a trade account in which case there is no fee. 

http://uk.farnell.com/help-delivery-information?ICID=PromoS-help-delivery-information#standard

 

Rapid has a £30 cutoff with a £3.99+VAT handling fee.

https://www.rapidonline.com/help/delivery

 

I usually don't have a problem managing to spend over £20 with Farnell or RS! 

[Robin2]

eg a meter of copper wire of 1.0 mm diameter has a characteristic resistance of 18R,

The decimal point is very seriously out of place.

 

I have about 2metres of insulated wire which measures about 1.2mm diameter outside the insulation and the resistance is about 0.1 or 0.2 ohms.

 

...R

[melmerby]

 

eg a meter of copper wire of 1.0 mm diameter has a characteristic resistance of 18R, so with a metre of copper wire and (for example) a 470R resistor, the calculated value comes out at about 17.3R

 

I think that should be R18

 

Keith

[Colin_McLeod]

Recent posts demonstrate to me that the decimal point is easier!

[sharris]

The decimal point is very seriously out of place.

 

I have about 2metres of insulated wire which measures about 1.2mm diameter outside the insulation and the resistance is about 0.1 or 0.2 ohms.

 

...R

 

Correct!

 

0.021 ohms is a more likely DC resistance for 1m of 1mm diameter copper wire. 

 

Copper resistivity is 1.68x10^-8 ohm metres - divide that by the cross-sectional area of 1mm cable (7.85x10^-7m²)  = 0.021 ohms. 

 

 

If 1m of 1mm wire really did have an 18ohm resistance, house lights would be very dim, and house wiring would be very warm.

Edited May 4, 2018 by sharris