Jaycar maycar Skull Badge Kit User manual

learn to solder: Skull Badge Kit Cat no. KM1090 1
Thank you for purchasing the Skull Badge Kit.
Here’s a great way to get started with soldering, learn
a little about electronics, and end up with a really fun
wearable badge at the end!
This kit is part of a range of wearable badges designed
exclusively by Jaycar. Each project is powered by a
small CR2032 Lithium coin battery (Not included. We
recommend, SB2522), and the badges include a lapel
pin so you can wear it too.
Each of the designs has a different look and feel, while
the electronics involved is slightly different in each one,
so you’ll learn more about electronics and how it works
even if you build them all!
Before you start:
Before you start building your project, open up the package
and lay out the contents to ensure you have them all based
on the parts list.
You should also prepare a clean workspace and get all of the
tools needed, which we will discuss on the next page.
learn to solder:
Skull
Badge Kit
WITH ALTERNATING FLASHING EYES
QTY CAT. NUMBER PRODUCT PCB MARKING
1 Circuit Board -
1 Lapel Pin -
2ZD0150 5mm LED REDs -
1PH9238 CR2032 Battery Holder
2RR0596 10K Resistors (Brown-Black-Black-Red-Brown) R3, R4
2RR0564 470Ω Resistors (Yellow-Violet-Black-Black-Brown) R1, R2
2ZT2298 2N2222 Transistors Q1, Q2
2RE6130 100µF Electrolytic Capacitors C1, C2
ADDITIONAL PARTS REQUIRED (Not included)
1SB2522 CR2032 Battery
Kit contents:
Disclaimer: Content can change without prior notice. Please visit the website page for the most up-to-date information.

learn to solder: Skull Badge Kit Cat no. KM1090 2
RECOMMENDED
MAKER TOOLS
You will need
the usual Maker
essentials,
including a
soldering iron, solder, and
side cutters. A soldering iron kit is a good place to start if you
are new to electronics, such as the one we show here.
A third-hand PCB holder like the one
shown here is also recommended to
make soldering easier. This product
also includes a soldering iron holder to
securely hold your soldering iron when
you are not using it, a light to make sure
you can see what you are doing, and also a
sponge to clean the soldering iron tip.
Soldering guide:
Before you solder for the rst time, read the following
instructions. We also recommend you watch our Soldering
tutorial video on our YouTube Channel or by visiting:
www.jaycar.com.au/safe-soldering-for-kids
First, a note about safety. A soldering iron
can get very hot and can easily burn
you if you touch the hot end. Make
sure you only have the soldering
iron turned on when you need it
and off when you don’t. Keep it in a
soldering iron stand when not in use
to avoid it falling off your workbench.
Keeping the soldering iron tip clean is
important to create a reliable solder joint.
To prepare your soldering iron tip, turn on the iron and give
it a few minutes to get sufciently hot enough to melt solder.
Touch some solder onto the iron tip so that the solder and ux
(a component of the solder responsible for keeping the joint
clean and “owy”) cleans any rust or dirt off the tip of the iron.
Once you have some solder on the soldering iron tip, you need
to remove it so you are left with a simple clean and shiny
soldering iron tip. You can do this by wiping
the tip onto a damp sponge or rag. (Don’t use
a plastic sponge as it will melt).
If you have a soldering iron tip cleaner that has
a curly brass type cleaner, then stab the tip into
that to clean the tip.
You should now have a clean and shiny soldering iron tip
ready to solder. Use the above tip cleaning process during the
soldering process to keep your soldering iron tip clean.
Jaycar stocks a wide range of solder should you run out. For
example, the NS3013 Hobby Tube.
A GOOD SOLDER JOINT
In simple terms, soldering is joining
two metals together with solder.
In our case, we are soldering each
leg of the components to the
solder pads on the circuit board.
Soldering a component to the
circuit board is a matter of placing the
soldering iron tip against the component’s
leg and the solder pad on the circuit board for a couple of
seconds. This will allow the metals to reach the required
temperature for soldering. You can then quickly add solder by
touching the solder to the pad or lead of the component you’re
soldering (not to the soldering iron tip).
This process needs to be done within a few seconds as you
can damage the component you’re trying to solder if heat is
applied for too long. If the solder joint isn’t great move on to
a different component and let the bad joint cool down before
trying to solder it again.
A bad solder joint may cause your project not to work. If the leg
of the component you are soldering doesn’t reliably join to the
circuit board’s solder pad, the electrical current won’t be able to
ow when you apply power.
The diagram here shows you a good solder joint and two
bad solder joints. A good solder joint is clean and shiny with
a “volcano” shape, which means the component’s leg is fully
soldered to the entire solder pad on the circuit board. If your
solder joint is like the one shown in the middle, it means you
have not applied enough heat to the solder pad on the circuit
board. If your solder joint looks like the one on the right, it
means the component leg was not heated enough by your
soldering iron for the solder to join properly.
TRIMMING THE COMPONENT LEGS
Once you are condent you have a
reliable solder joint, you need to
cut off the leg of the component
that you just soldered. If you don’t
cut away the component legs it
can cause a short circuit when
you apply power to your project.
Using sharp cutters (We recommend
TH1897), trim off the component leg
just above the solder joint.
Note: Make sure you’re holding the lead as you’re cutting as the
cut lead can y off when trimming causing an eye injury.
GOOD
Shiny “Volcano”
type shape
BAD
The solder pad is
too cold
BAD
Component leg
too cold
TS1652 25W
Soldering Iron Starter
Kit with Multimeter
TH1987 PCB Holder
with LED Magnier
TS1510 Soldering
Iron Tip Cleaner

learn to solder: Skull Badge Kit Cat no. KM1090 3
Construction:
STEP 1: RESISTORS
A resistor works both ways so it can be inserted into the
circuit board in either direction. To work out which resistor is
which, you can use a multimeter set to Ohms, or you use the
coloured bands printed on them. The 470 Ohm resistors are
Yellow-Violet-Black-Black-Brown and the 10K Ohm resistors
are Brown-Black-Black-Red-Brown. The Jaycar catalogue also
has a handy colour code chart on the resistors page.
Bend the resistor legs so they can be easily inserted into the
board, and then insert the 470 Ohm resistors into the rear
side of the circuit board marked R1 and R2. Insert the 10K
Ohm resistors into the circuit board marked R3 and R4. Bend
the legs slightly so the resistors won’t fall out when you turn
the board around.
Turn the board around and solder the resistor legs (eight
in total) to the front side of the circuit board. Make sure the
solder joints look like the “volcano” shape we described on
the previous page. Once you have soldered all eight legs you
can trim away the component legs above each solder joint.
STEP 2: BATTERY HOLDER
Insert the battery holder rmly into the rear side of the circuit
board, matching the diagram printed on the circuit board.
Front View Rear View
Turn the board around and solder the two
legs on the front side of the circuit board.
STEP 3: CAPACITORS
We will now solder in the two electrolytic capacitors, which
only work in one direction so we need to solder them in the
right way. The longer leg on an electrolytic capacitor is the
positive leg and the side with the white stripe is the negative
leg. Insert these capacitors into the rear side of the circuit
board marked C1 and C2. Make sure the long leg goes into
the hole marked with the + symbol.
Solder these capacitors to the circuit board and trim away
the legs.
STEP 4: TRANSISTORS
Insert the two transistors into the rear of the circuit board
marked Q1 and Q2. Make sure you insert them the same
way as printed on the circuit board because they only work
in one direction.
Solder these into the circuit board. Make sure you don’t add
too much solder that you end up causing the solder pads to
join each other. Once you are happy with the solder joints
(six in total) you can trim away the legs.
STEP 5: LAPEL PIN
If you plan to wear this circuit
board as a badge on your
clothes you need to solder on
the lapel pin onto the rear side
of the circuit board. You will need
to apply enough solder here to
make sure it holds securely to the
circuit board.
(+) (-)
10K
470Ω

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 at edge on the LED’s
body is the negative (-) leg.
Insert both LEDs into the front side of the circuit board so
that the at 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 ush on the circuit board before you solder them
in. Trim off the legs once you have nished 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
rmly in place. Your skull lights
should start to ash 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 at. 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-nd 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
C2100μF
+
3V
Cathode
(-)
Anode
(+)
Flat Edge