Overview
Dupont jumper wires are the short, pre-crimped leads that connect breadboards, shields, sensor modules, and microcontroller headers. The ShillehTek 120-piece set is the full kit a maker needs for any breadboarding session: 40 pcs male-to-male, 40 pcs male-to-female, and 40 pcs female-to-female, all 20 cm long, in 10 different colors so you can keep power, ground, and signal lines visually distinct.
The housings use the standard 2.54 mm (0.1 inch) pitch that matches virtually every Arduino, Raspberry Pi, ESP32, Pico, sensor module, and breadboard on the planet. The contacts are tinned copper, the insulation is flexible silicone-style PVC, and the housings are detachable if you ever need to repin a connector or build a custom harness.
This manual covers when to use each wire type, color conventions for power/ground/data, how to route wires cleanly on a breadboard, combining the wires with our 400-point and 830-point boards, and FAQs about crimping, repinning, and dealing with stranded-vs-solid issues.
At a Glance
Specifications
| Parameter | Value |
| Quantity | 120 wires total (3 × 40 of each type) |
| Types Included | Male-Male (M-M), Male-Female (M-F), Female-Female (F-F) |
| Wire Length | 20 cm (approximately 8 inches) |
| Connector Pitch | 2.54 mm (0.1 in) |
| Conductor | Tinned stranded copper, ~26 AWG equivalent |
| Insulation | Flexible PVC |
| Housing Material | Nylon, detachable |
| Voltage Rating | 300 V (typical, for low-current signals) |
| Current Rating | ~2 A per wire (brief, ~1 A continuous safe) |
| Colors | 10 (black, white, gray, purple, blue, green, yellow, orange, red, brown) |
| Repinnable | Yes — contact clip can be lifted and slid out of housing |
Wire Types & When to Use Them
Wiring Guide
The biggest favor you can do yourself is pick color conventions and stick to them. Every ShillehTek tutorial uses the same scheme below — matching it makes debugging far easier and photos much clearer.
Recommended Color Scheme
Use these colors consistently across projects. When a wire comes loose, you will know exactly what it is.
| Color | Use For |
|---|---|
| Red | 5V / VCC positive supply |
| Orange | 3.3V positive supply |
| Black | GND / negative supply |
| White | Clock lines (SCL, SCK, CLK) |
| Yellow | Data lines (SDA, MOSI, TX) |
| Green | Return data (MISO, RX) |
| Blue | General GPIO / control |
| Purple / Brown / Gray | Extra GPIO, chip-selects, interrupts |
Arduino + Sensor via Breadboard
For most Arduino projects you will use male-to-male (M-M) wires between breadboard columns, and male-to-female (M-F) wires from the Arduino header pins to breadboard columns.
| Wire Type | From | To |
|---|---|---|
| M-M | Arduino 5V | Breadboard + rail |
| M-M | Arduino GND | Breadboard - rail |
| M-M | Breadboard + rail | Sensor VCC column |
| M-M | Breadboard - rail | Sensor GND column |
| M-M | Arduino D2 | Sensor signal column |
Raspberry Pi GPIO to Sensor
The Raspberry Pi's 40-pin GPIO header is male, and most sensor modules expose female headers. Female-to-male (M-F) jumpers connect the two directly, no breadboard needed.
| Wire Type | From (Pi) | To (Sensor) |
|---|---|---|
| F-M | Pin 1 (3.3V, male) | Sensor VCC (female) |
| F-M | Pin 6 (GND, male) | Sensor GND (female) |
| F-M | Pin 3 (SDA, male) | Sensor SDA (female) |
| F-M | Pin 5 (SCL, male) | Sensor SCL (female) |
Pico / ESP32 on Breadboard
Boards like the Pi Pico, XIAO, and many ESP32 dev boards are designed to sit directly on a breadboard. Use male-to-male wires to take their signals to sensors elsewhere on the board.
| Wire Type | From | To |
|---|---|---|
| M-M | Pico 3V3(OUT) (Pin 36) | Breadboard + rail |
| M-M | Pico GND (Pin 38) | Breadboard - rail |
| M-M | Pico GP0 / GP1 (I2C) | Sensor SDA / SCL columns |
| M-F | Breadboard column | Module with female header |
Usage Examples
No code runs on a jumper wire itself, but here is a minimal "hello world" showing the 3-wire DHT11 sensor hooked up with jumper wires, validated in code. Any time wiring is suspect, run this and watch for stable readings.
Arduino (DHT11 via M-F jumpers)
// Minimal wiring validation:
// RED M-F: Arduino 5V -> sensor VCC
// BLACK M-F: Arduino GND -> sensor GND
// YELLOW M-F: Arduino D2 -> sensor DATA
//
// If you see reasonable values the jumpers are making good contact.
#include <DHT.h>
#define DHT_PIN 2
#define DHT_TYPE DHT11
DHT dht(DHT_PIN, DHT_TYPE);
void setup() {
Serial.begin(9600);
dht.begin();
}
void loop() {
float t = dht.readTemperature();
float h = dht.readHumidity();
Serial.print("T: "); Serial.print(t);
Serial.print(" C | RH: "); Serial.print(h); Serial.println(" %");
delay(2000);
}
Raspberry Pi Pico (MicroPython)
# Minimal wiring validation with an LED on GP15.
# If your RED M-M, BLACK M-M, and YELLOW M-M jumpers are good,
# the LED blinks. If it doesn't, wiggle wires at each housing.
from machine import Pin
import time
led = Pin(15, Pin.OUT)
while True:
led.toggle()
time.sleep(0.5)