Gikfun LED Chaser Soldering Practice Kit PCB Board 81 LEDs for STEM Electronics School Learning Project DIY EK1974

Picked one of these up as a soldering practice project and enjoyed it enough that I ended up getting a second one. Both builds went smoothly and worked right away once finished. It’s a nice mix of components and a good project if you’re trying to get more comfortable with soldering. The LED chaser effect looks really cool once everything is assembled. Fun little electronics kit and surprisingly satisfying when you power it up and see all the LEDs start running.

I bought this to teach myself how to solder, and I bought it alongside a cheap starter kit that included an iron and some soldering wire. There a LOT of components on this thing, and probably a few hundred total solder joints, so I get plenty of practice in. I'd never done this before and didn't get any help, so I was worried that something wasn't going to work correctly when I tried to start it, but when I saw it come to life I was hyped! It's really cool to see the product of your work at the end.

There are no surface mount components. Therefore it's very easy to build. When you are finished, it's really cool. Test the diodes beforehand. I like to cut the transistor leads at an angle before inserting. It's easier to insert the long lead first and the rest go in easier. Pay attention to the polarity of the diodes and electrolytic capacitors. Start with soldering the diodes in the middle rows and work your way outward. That way you don't get boxed in as you go. Inspect your soldering and reflow when needed.

1. Haven't figured out how to get the yellow illumination shown in pictures and videos, only red. 2. No instruction or part supplied for the wire support shown in the video for part J1. Had to provide it myself. Otherwise fairly straight forward. Beginners might need a basic idea of how to affix components on a board to be soldered on the reverse side without them falling off or moving. Just sayin'.

I'm a hobbyist electronics enthusiast. I treat electronics projects like lego sets, following instructions to build cool gadgets. This was a really fun, simple soldering project that I turned into a portable stim toy for my 9 year old son. The instructions are simple and easy to follow. The project does require some skill in soldering. I recommend a needle tip for your soldering iron to help get the tiny joints soldered neatly. With a project box, a lipo battery, a discharge/overcharge protection module, a boost converter and small amount of knowledge, you can convert this into a portable version. Out of the box, it just plugs into a standard USB block and works great like that.

I assembled two of these over the last few days. The first one I think I messed up as 6 of the LED's did not illuminate and I am pretty sure it was my mistake. The second one I assembled and I was much more careful with my soldering using a finer tip and it worked out perfectly. It is fun to build and really helps with dialing in your soldering skills. The finished product is an adjustable light chase and is exactly what the product claims to be and I think it was well worth the money. I would recommend a good solder sucker in case you make a mistake for easy solder removal/cleanup.

I’ve recently gotten the itch to learn how to solder. I started soldering coax connectors for ham radio and there was just something about the soldering part I really liked. This is probably the fifth soldering kit I’ve purchased from Amazon and it probably has more actual soldering joints than all the others combined. It’s not as practical or as usable as the calculator, fm radio, or clock but those always left me wanting more to solder but this kit finally satisfied that desired. I worked on it throughout the day and probably spent 2-3 hours total on it. TIP: If you want nice straight flush components, only solder one joint per component. Then, reheat the joint while pushing up on the component/led until it’s flush. Remove the soldering iron and hold in place for another two seconds before removing your finger. Have fun!

This is an excellent product for those who are interested in electronic devices, for children who are interested in learning about electronics and for those who are interested in their electronic kit building skills. I do have one suggestion for anyone who is interested in purchasing this kit. You should purchase a small kit with DIP sockets. It is better to place the integrated circuits into sockets so that if they ever need to be replaced it will be easy to complete the step. You need to have two 8 pin sockets and two 16 pin sockets.

Good fun. Took me about 4 hours to complete. All components present with a few spares. Well made and easy instructions.

To preface my review: i've never spent a minute soldering anything before, so I was going into this completely blind outside of watching some tutorials on youtube. The instructions are well written and document every single individual component required to complete the project, and there was never a moment I felt confused or lost due to poorly made instructions. The pictures are pretty blurry, but they ensure to circle every solder point on the board and indicate what numbered component goes where so you don't end up putting a capacitor where it shouldn't go. It took approximately 6-7 hours across two days to complete with the right hardware in hand (heat proof soldering mat, soldering iron, flux core solder, fume sucker, solder sucker, and some copper to remove any accidental soldering plus a multimeter will be handy for testing components prior to soldering). Very fun and simple to do if you have an idea of what you're doing or have worked with small consumer electronics before, but I could see how someone with zero experience working with electronics would easily get lost. I managed to get it working on my first try, but had to replace an LED Diode as it was dead out of the box. I'd recommend this to anyone who wants to learn how to solder and has been working with repairing electronics or computers in the past, but maybe not someone entirely new. Beginners should start with practicing on wires!

This is a great little kit to not only practice your soldering skills but to also have a ton of fun playing with it, took me around 20 minutes to assemble, really simple instructions and the pcb is very clearly marked for each component, the diy aspect really gives you the sense of accomplishment when you've finished building, gives it that nice touch knowing you put it together yourself! This is a relatively easy build for someone with basic soldering skills, worth every penny!

This is a nice kit to spend an afternoon building with a fun result. The board seems to be surprisingly good quality with nice clear markings for component placement. All components are good quality. All this makes for a good project for beginner to intermediate soldering skills. You will need a multimeter to measure the resistors, but if you do t have one, the colour bands are nice and clear. General tips for beginners: - solder iron temp max 700 degrees - don't apply too much time/heat soldering the LEDs, as they are sensitive to heat damage - take note of the LED polarity: SHORT LEAD = negative = the line on the board marking = flat side of board marking = flat side of LED bulb bottom rim - use IC Sockets (not included) if you have them - mount components in order from lowest to tallest height (resistors 1st, then LEDs, small switches, capacitors, transistors, pots & jack, ICs last) - take your time, take a break & enjoy!

Extensive soldering kit well laid out. My unit didn't fully function but it could have been my error in soldering.