Mechanical Advantage when Soldering Wires
Instructions:
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Blue Arrow Down – for both Red and Black wires together
Blue Arrow Up – for both Red and Black wires together
Red Arrow Down ( ‘+’) for Red wire only – solder on opposite side
Black Arrow Down ( ‘GND’) for Black wire only – solder on opposite side
Pull the wires back through the holes as far as possible – they should now be tight
Explanation:
Whenever you need to solder wires onto a PCB (Printed Circuit Board), it’s necessary to include a couple of
holes just big enough for the wires to pass through. This creates a mechanical advantage that stops wires
breaking over time due to repetitive wiggling of the wire at the soldered joint.
Polarity and Alignment of Components
Explanation:
Alignment Marks on a PCB help you assemble the circuit board correctly. The following must be followed:
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Components
Alignment Mark on PCB
IC Sockets and Integrated Circuits
Polarised Capacitors
Diodes
LEDs
Battery Enclosures
Semicircle aligned and Dot indicates pin 1
‘+’ aligned (capacitors without the ‘+’ mark are non-polarised)
BAR aligned, bar indicates current flow
FLAT aligned where possible (or Long Leg aligned)
‘+’ and GND aligned (‘+’ is red wire, GND is black wire)
The examples above are for the PicoDice, PicoDualDice, and PicoFlash electronic kit from