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

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!

Great kit, instructions were easy to follow. I can see how my soldering got better as i progressed. The instructions do say to check each component before using and i’m glad i did as one of the leds had the negative on the longer leg. The do provide extras so it wasn’t a big deal but it’s a lot easier to identify before soldering.

I was a bit nervous at first since I’d previously bought an FM radio practice board from the same brand (GikFun) that arrived with damaged and mismatched parts. Thankfully, this experience was completely different. The kit was easy to assemble and took me less than two hours from start to finish. The instructions were clear, easy to read, and easy to follow. I noticed I even ended up with some spare LEDs and a spare Triode. While I understand it’s meant to be a practice board, soldering so many LEDs did get a bit repetitive. After about twenty of them, you’ve pretty much got the hang of it. I would’ve liked to see a few surface mount components included, as most modern PCBs use those rather than through-hole parts, and that’s what we’re more likely to encounter during real-world repairs. That said, I knew exactly what I was buying. My main goal was to practice soldering with lead-free solder, which is a bit trickier than leaded solder. It did the job perfectly, and now I’ve got a fun little gadget to tinker with. Totally worth the money, both for those who want to practice and learn, and for those who like to burn time with something a bit more complex than Lego.

Bought for my husband as one of his Xmas gifts (I did ask for ideas!). This is what he said: It’s a really well thought out learning tool to get to grips with soldering. They give you the order to do things in, so you start with wide gaps and plenty of working space, and things get progressively tighter and more awkward as you get more confident. The instructions are easy to follow and it was a great feeling to turn it on at the end and realise it actually works! Great value for money.

I felt like a complete beginner before starting this kit, probably having done less than 10 solder connections in my life years ago. I have a very cheap soldering iron from amazon and no experience, but I was still able to put this together over the course of a few hours spread over a week. The result was very satisfying and worked immediately, with only one LED not functioning. I have checked and it looks like the LED does work, so the fault is probably with my soldering or I have damaged the pad. Also, the kit contained 4 spare LEDs and a spare transistor, so I should be able to fix this assuming the pad isn't ruined. Overall this was definitely worth it and I have a lot more confidence and a fun side project completion to go with it.

Very easy project. Not easy in terms of soldering, that was actually quite hard work, but conceptually this project is easy. One can see from the schematic what the buttons do, and I was able to explain what the device does to a five year old. Very high quality of kit. Great print quality of the instructions document. The board was really well made too ( no falling off pads ruining the project). Some spare LEDs and a spare triode were in my kit, which I didn’t need but highly appreciate. Solid five stars to this product/manufacturer/seller. Very happy with my purchase

Nice kit to build. Good soldering practice board as there are a lot of components included. Instructions included but they are not really needed as the board is well laid out. Doesn't do a great deal as a finished project but if you like soldering and making kits it is a good buy and value for money.

Got new soldering iron, and it was awhile since I've done some soldering jobs, so my skill was a little bit rusty. bought this board to refresh a little bit skill. It was fun to assemble, a little bit challenging to get all LEDs evenly which is great, not sure of the function of it, it's just LED chaser that you can alter angle and speed but it's alright :) it's function is to practice soldering, not to do something special after :) Highly recommend for someone like me, that haven't done soldering for a while or if you want to teach your kid/teenager how to do it, that would be good.

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!

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!

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.

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.