learn to solder:
Skull Badge Kit
Cat no.
KM1090
4
STEP 6: LEDS
Now that we have all of the necessary rear-mounted
components soldered in place, we can install the two red
LEDs to the front of the circuit board.
LEDs only work in one direction. The long leg is positive (+)
and the short leg and side with the flat edge on the LED’s
body is the negative (-) leg.
Insert both LEDs into the front side of the circuit board so
that the flat edge on the LED matches what is printed on the
circuit board. Turn the board over and solder the two LEDs
from the rear side of the circuit board. Make sure the LEDs
are sitting flush on the circuit board before you solder them
in. Trim off the legs once you have finished soldering these
in.
Testing &
troubleshooting:
DOUBLE-CHECK
Before you apply power,
it is good practice to
double-check that you
have the components
in the right spot and
soldered correctly.
Make sure the LEDs,
capacitors, and
transistors are in the
circuit board the correct
way. If not, you need to
de-solder the component and solder it in the right way. See
our instructions opposite about de-soldering.
Look closely at all of your solder joints and make sure they all
look like “volcanos” as we described on page 2. If not, apply
the soldering iron again and add a tiny bit of solder to make
the solder joint reliable. Make sure all of the component legs
are trimmed so they are not short-circuiting each other.
Finally, make sure you don’t have any bridged solder joints
where one solder joint has joined with another because of too
much solder. If this is the case,
follow the de-solder instructions
opposite to remove the solder,
and then solder again.
POWERING IT UP
Insert a CR2032 lithium battery
(We recommend, SB2522) into
the battery holder so it clicks
firmly in place. Your skull lights
should start to flash straight away.
Congratulations. You can now pin the badge to your clothes
and show it off to your family and friends.
TROUBLESHOOTING GUIDE
If your badge doesn’t work:
1. Make sure your battery is not flat. Try using a fresh battery.
2. Recheck all of your solder joints (review the soldering
guide on page 2)
3. Make sure you don’t have any short-circuits because of
component legs touching or solder pads on the circuit
board bridged together.
If the red LEDs are very dim, make sure you are using a fresh
battery. If they are still dim with a fresh battery, double-check
that you inserted the resistors into the right spots. If you
still can’t get the badge to work, you can show the circuit
diagram (shown below) to an electronics enthusiast who can
help fault-find it with you.
DE-SOLDERING
In the unfortunate event that you need to remove a
component, you need to de-solder it from the circuit board.
You will need asolder sucker (We recommend, TH1862) or
Desolder braid/Solder Wick (We recommend, NS3020) to do
this. If you are using a solder sucker, heat the solder joint to
melt the solder and use the pump to suck the solder away. If
you are using de-solder braid, you place that over the solder
joint, apply heat, and you will see the solder be soaked up
into the braid. Insert the component the correct way and
solder again.
470Ω
R1
10K
R3
10K
R4
470Ω
R2
+
C1
Q1
Q2
100μF
C2
100μF
+
3V
Cathode
(-)
Anode
(+)
Fla
t Edge
