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Step 9Wire Everything Up!
Almost done! This is probably the trickiest part, especially if you're not totally comfortable with a soldering iron just yet.
Start by stripping back 2" of jacket and shielding from the USB cables. Be very, very careful when you do this, because you don't want to nick or cut the wires inside. With the shielding removed, you should see four wires: red, black, green and white. The red and black are power, and the green and white are data.
Strip about 5-7mm of insulation off of every wire, including both USB cable ends and the wires coming from the solar panel. Give the wires a bit of a twist and pre-tin them with solder.
You must now install a protection diode on the positive wire coming from the solar panel. When the Flower is plugged into a proper USB port for charging or transferring pictures, this diode will prevent voltage from going the wrong way into the solar panel. You can use almost any regular diode, but a Germanium diode will work better because its forward voltage is lower (0.3V instead of 0.7V) - thus allowing the solar panel to charge the digital picture frame in lower light.
Begin by soldering the diode's anode (the side without a stripe) to the red wire coming from the solar panel. Be careful not to overheat the diode or the wire. Slide a piece of heat-shrink tubing past the diode and onto the wire, and leave it there for now. Next, solder the two red wires from the USB cables onto the other lead of the diode. Wait until the joint has cooled, then slide the heat shrink back over the diode and joints to cover them.
The black wires are next. Slide a piece of heat shrink over the solar panel black wire first. Then, solder the three wires together. When the joint has cooled, slide the heat shrink to cover the connection.
Lastly, solder the two green wires together, and the two white wires together, covering them with heat shrink as well.
Everything should now be functional - if you hold the solar panel up to a light source, the display should turn on and the little "charging" icon will appear. If you're satisfied that everything is hooked up properly, tuck the wires into the pot and slide the wood base with attached flower and solar panel into the pot. If it's snug then you won't have to glue it in. Otherwise, put a few dots of hot glue here and there to keep it in place.
Start by stripping back 2" of jacket and shielding from the USB cables. Be very, very careful when you do this, because you don't want to nick or cut the wires inside. With the shielding removed, you should see four wires: red, black, green and white. The red and black are power, and the green and white are data.
Strip about 5-7mm of insulation off of every wire, including both USB cable ends and the wires coming from the solar panel. Give the wires a bit of a twist and pre-tin them with solder.
You must now install a protection diode on the positive wire coming from the solar panel. When the Flower is plugged into a proper USB port for charging or transferring pictures, this diode will prevent voltage from going the wrong way into the solar panel. You can use almost any regular diode, but a Germanium diode will work better because its forward voltage is lower (0.3V instead of 0.7V) - thus allowing the solar panel to charge the digital picture frame in lower light.
Begin by soldering the diode's anode (the side without a stripe) to the red wire coming from the solar panel. Be careful not to overheat the diode or the wire. Slide a piece of heat-shrink tubing past the diode and onto the wire, and leave it there for now. Next, solder the two red wires from the USB cables onto the other lead of the diode. Wait until the joint has cooled, then slide the heat shrink back over the diode and joints to cover them.
The black wires are next. Slide a piece of heat shrink over the solar panel black wire first. Then, solder the three wires together. When the joint has cooled, slide the heat shrink to cover the connection.
Lastly, solder the two green wires together, and the two white wires together, covering them with heat shrink as well.
Everything should now be functional - if you hold the solar panel up to a light source, the display should turn on and the little "charging" icon will appear. If you're satisfied that everything is hooked up properly, tuck the wires into the pot and slide the wood base with attached flower and solar panel into the pot. If it's snug then you won't have to glue it in. Otherwise, put a few dots of hot glue here and there to keep it in place.
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