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Step 5Soldering the LEDs
Figure out whether your tree should have (conventional) current flowing clockwise, or anti-clockwise. This will depend on the location of your power supply contacts, and which way you want it to be oriented to have the tree face forward.
Now, reverse it, because you'll be working upside down (I missed this, so my tree has the brick facing the wrong way)
Put each LED into the jig holes, making sure that they are oriented so that the positive lead of the first LED will go to the power supply (possibly through a resistor first), and that the negative lead of each LED goes to the positive lead of the next LED.
Carefully bend the leads of adjoining LEDs toward each other, and trim any excess so that ~1cm of overlap exists. Align them closely, then solder together.
WARNING:
LEDs are temperature sensitive - get them too hot, and they will burn out.
SOLDER AS FAR AWAY FROM THE LED AS YOU CAN
Try and melt the solder and put it on the connection, rather than heating up the wires until the solder melts onto them.
If you are not successful with soldering a connection in the first ~10 seconds, wait for the LEDs to cool down before retrying. If you're soldering two long leads together, the risk is only small, but if the LEDs are very close together (like the yellow LEDs in my design) then you have to be much more careful.
LED diagram is from wikipedia
Now, reverse it, because you'll be working upside down (I missed this, so my tree has the brick facing the wrong way)
Put each LED into the jig holes, making sure that they are oriented so that the positive lead of the first LED will go to the power supply (possibly through a resistor first), and that the negative lead of each LED goes to the positive lead of the next LED.
Carefully bend the leads of adjoining LEDs toward each other, and trim any excess so that ~1cm of overlap exists. Align them closely, then solder together.
WARNING:
LEDs are temperature sensitive - get them too hot, and they will burn out.
SOLDER AS FAR AWAY FROM THE LED AS YOU CAN
Try and melt the solder and put it on the connection, rather than heating up the wires until the solder melts onto them.
If you are not successful with soldering a connection in the first ~10 seconds, wait for the LEDs to cool down before retrying. If you're soldering two long leads together, the risk is only small, but if the LEDs are very close together (like the yellow LEDs in my design) then you have to be much more careful.
LED diagram is from wikipedia
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