Gikfun DIY SMD SMT Welding Practice Soldering Skill Training Board Ek7028

I've been soldering through hole parts for many years, thinking that SMD was best left to factories with specialized equipment. Working through this kit made me realize that soldering SMD by hand is not only feasible, but actually faster and easier than through hole in my newly-formed opinion.Completing this project was fun and meditative and now I have confidence in this skill and am eager to apply it to a project.The kit has a smart design. Your first 78 parts have no real penalty for mistakes because they are not part of the final "light show" circuit. Yet there are still some basic test points for these areas so you can check your connections with a multimeter. You start with 1206 size components (0.12 x 0.06 inches), then move to 0805, then 0603 and finally 0402. As you would expect, it gets progressively more challenging.After all of that practice, comes the LED blinking circuit. These are all 0805 components which should feel pretty manageable after finishing 0402. A schematic is provided but I never needed it - the board is already marked with what goes where, including the polarity of the LEDs and diodes. I did use the parts table to determine which part values to use. It's also useful to know how to read a SMD resistor code (e.g. 473 = 47,000 ohms).I experimented with a number of different techniques and tools and suggest you do the same, below is a small account of my experiences:Soldering Iron vs Paste + Heat Gun. Between these, I preferred a soldering iron with a small chisel tip.For the paste I was putting it on with a syringe and trying to fix it up with a toothpick - it looked a bit sloppy. For the larger components, it all worked reliably and components "magically" flowed into place. At 0603, about a third of the parts didn't settle correctly and needed corrections with the tweezers and heat gun. At 0402, about half of the parts needed corrections. I think that a solder mask and reflow oven would be quite a different (better) experience here but I don't have either of those.For the soldering iron, I prepped the area with rosin fluid (Kester 951) and held the component in place with some high-quality tweezers. I put a very small amount of solder on the tip and touched the pad, then the corner of the component for less than a second each. I never needed to use the solder wire directly on the board, which is great because I was already using both hands. After doing one side, I put down the tweezers, rotated the board and did the other side in the same way (touch the pad, touch the component side, done). I then went back to the first side and touched it with the soldering iron for another second or so for a finishing step. It takes longer to type this than to actually do it. You can also batch the work by doing one side of a bunch of components, then doing the other side in a followup pass.USB microscope vs headband magnifier (Donegan DA-4). They both worked but I preferred the headband magnifier for several reasons. In short, the headband magnifier was more comfortable to use, the "real" 3D image was nicer than the 2D LCD image and it was nice to easily see where my tools were as I worked. I found the 2x magnification on the magnifier was plenty enough for every case except the 0402, where a little more would be nicer.Silicone work pad. I recommend using one because these pads are heat resistant, and make it easy to see the tiny SMD parts. I placed the board right on the work pad while soldering. This allowed me to use the table to support my hands and keep them more steady during the work.Multimeter. My multimeters will light up an LED in the continuity testing mode. I used this to spot check the LEDs as I installed them, placing the negative probe on the "-" pad at the bottom center of the board and the positive probe on the resistor that is associated with the LED. The correct resistor can be discovered using the multimeter or by looking at the traces under the soldering mask.

This is fun, perplexing, addicting and sometimes a little frustrating but well worth the money and time.

Ah, the joys of SMD practice boards—the ultimate test of patience and eyesight! At first glance, this board seemed like a fun project, but wow! First off, it’s going to come with sooo many tiny pieces and yes, you WILL have to go hunting for at least one after you simply exhale too hard. But do the instructions make sense? Pfft, who needs those, right? Apparently me, because I ended up combing through these reviews for pointers just to figure out where things go.Oh, and the components? Nothing’s labeled! It’s like playing a very tedious guessing game of “Does this resistor go here, here, or here?” Only near the end did I realize, half the pads on the board don’t actually NEED anything on them! They’re just there, like tiny soldering side quests!And the pièce de résistance—no battery connector for the required 9V battery. Maybe that was a flukish me-problem, but I had to Frankenstein one from another project and solder it on just to make the lights go “blinky blinky.” But hey, they do go blinky blinky in the end, so it’s a win. All in all, it was a chaotic ride, but I did feel like a champion once it actually worked. And yeah, I did have fun with it. Just bring your patience and a spare battery connector!

This is a great kit for learning to work with SMD. Make sure that you are properly outfitted, though, or you will end up in the position I am in. SMD work requires good magnification and a properly set up workbench. If you try to do this without the proper equipment then you will be in for a nightmare.This kit includes all of the essential SMD type components.

Could be difficult for someone new learning to micro-solder. Instructions are poor and difficult to understand what goes where.

I've never soldered SMD so I bought this for practice. I have a Hakko FX-888D, an usb microscope, flux, tweezers, ect so I have the basic tools to do this. Just not the skills.I started off with the wrong tweezer profile and flung a resistor off into where ever. Later had to be careful to clean the tweezer I liked as the chips would stick to it.The tiny led's in the ring seem to be the hardest to deal with.I've lost a few components that flung off to where ever so a second kit for spares is my recommendation. I just ordered my second kit. More to learn with.Some of my components are crooked but work. At a later point I'm going to take my Quick 957DW+ hot air rework station and see what I can do with it. I think the surface tension of the solder will make the component align it self. I'll find out.It is winter, I'm stuck inside for the most part and I'm having fun with this kit.

I waited to long to use this to return it, but check you parts when you get it, as I was missing the right sized 1206 resistors. For the inexperienced the parts list is a starting point but you will need to use magnification to see the part sku and try to match them up with the back side measurements.