1. Use a LOW wattage iron -- 15 or 20 watts max with a fine tip -- the finer the better (the SMD pins are the size of human hairs).   More than 15 watts and you'll risk cooking the chips.  Using a blunter or older/corroded tip will probably destroy the SMDs
   
2. You will absolutely need rosin flux paste (be sure it's rosin) and a brush in addition to any solder
3. You will absolutely need solder braid/wick -- a solder sucker WILL NOT WORK
4. Insure you and your workspace are grounded and don't remove chips from the packaging until you are at the point you need to install them
5. The SMDs are very static sensitive -- do not touch the pins
6. The SMD pins are very delicate and easy to bend.  If bent, you'll never get them back to the place they are supposed to be.  Another reason to never touch the pins and leave them in the package until the last moment.
   

• 15 watt solder iron with a new fine tip point (no chisel end -- a tiny, tiny point).
  
• 60/40 rosin core solder
• rosin flux paste (you NEED this and avoid anything like "solder paste" -- its not the same)
• A small, soft brush to apply the flux with
  
• Fine mesh (vs a coarser mesh) solder wick (do not use a solder sucker, no matter what you think of solder wick. I tried it and I cried).
• a 3" 8x magnifying glass (bigger/higher power is always better)
• clips/clamps to hold the board in place
• as much light as you can put on the thing
• An Xacto knife or small jewelers screwdriver (to position the SMD chips)
  
• Diagonal wire cutters
• Smaller needle nose pliers (to hold things and help form leads)
  

	Layout all your tools and the kit on a clean surface.  Since some parts are very tiny and easy to get mixed in with any debris, I recommend the cleaner and more open the better,
	Empty out the kit and carefully check to make sure you have all the parts.  Your part list should include: 1 RGBLED Driver PC Board 16 & 18 pin DIP socket (in packaging) 1 MAX232 and 1 PIC 16LF87 chips (in packaging) 4 SMD PWM chips (in packaging) 1 5-to-3.3 volt power regulator 1 1uf tantulm capacitor (larger than the other capacitors) 3 3 pin jumper posts 3 jumpers 1 RED LED 1 100 ohm resistor 2 2-position terminal blocks 1 3-position terminal block* 1 4-position terminal block 4 9-position terminal blocks 6 .01uf capacitors 6 10kohm resistors
	These photos are meant to show just how small the SMDs are.  Just to make a point. On with the detail on how to solder a SMD chip.  Note: This is a non-scientific and probably non-ideal process.  I've learned what I've learned by trial and error and reading about how other people do it.  Therefore, if  you are more experienced at SMD soldering (or know someone who is), feel free to laugh at/ignore these steps. The key to not damaging the SMD chips is to use a low wattage iron, never touch the metal pins and never apply the solder iron to one for more than 2-3 seconds.  If you are soldering multiple points on a single chip (like solder the left pins, then the right ones), leave some time for the chip to cool down before solder next.  This is probably too conservative, but you don't want to ruin a chip (note: I have no spares, so you'd have to order them from Maxim yourself and that can be slow/tedious). We'll cover the steps in detail for a single SMD chip.
	Gently apply flux to the pins of the chip.  Be gentle and while you want to make sure they are all touched, don't glob it on (you'll make a mess it'll be tough to fix later).
	Lightly "wet" the pins with solder.  I put a small bead of fresh solder on a clean tip and touch the pins on one side to the bead, then the other side.  It's ok if there are some solder balls or bridges -- we'll clean those up later.  Though the less solder you leave, the easier later cleanup will be.  Don't overheat the chip!! Sorry about the fuzzy picture -- didn't realize until later it was not quite in focus.
	Starting with the solder pads for the LEFT-MOST SMD chip, gently apply flux to the  pads on the circuit board.  Again, make sure they all gets some, but don't over do it.
	Lightly "wet" the pads with solder.  Make sure every pin is coated completely (not hard as they are very tiny pins). Use very little solder -- if you can perceive any sort of "bump" of solder on the pad -- even a tiny one -- there is too much solder and it will make aligning the SMD chip impossible (the SMD chips will keep slipping off the bumps).  A good way to get excess solder off is to lay down some solder wick and "suck" the excess off (no matter what you do, the wick will still leave some solder there).
	Clean the rosin flux off the chip and board,  It's done it's work and it'll just make everything sticky later which can seriously complicate getting the SMD in the right place.  I recommend using a dry, clean paper towel.  Be very gentle and dab/lightly wipe the chips (wipe the body and pins -- wiping in the same direction the pins goes helps).  Then wipe the pads and area around them on the PC board (you can press a little harder and make sure it looks very clean).
	Align the PWM chip on the PC board pads.  You have to use a magnifying glass, a LOT of light and a very fine point (like the tip of an Xacto knife or a very fine jewelers screwdriver).  Make sure the Pin 1 dimple in the case is pointing down and to the right (down being toward the PIC chip area).  Be sure the pins are exactly centered on the pads (left/right and up/down)-- exactly (if you did not clean the flux off, this is going to be tough because your sharp point will keep sticking to the SMD and pull it away when you move it).  Check with the magnifying glass on both sides.  This and the next step are the most critical in the SMD soldering process.
	Apply fresh solder to the solder iron tip and wipe off any excess (if you leave solder on the tip, it'll "bleed" onto the SMD and that makes a mess).  Using the magnifying glass, apply the very tip of the iron to the bright edge of the lower-right SMD pad on the PC board.  You should not be touching the actual SMD pins (if you do, you'll likely have moved the SMD chip already -- go back and re-align it).  Within 2-3 seconds, the heat should be enough to melt the previously left tiny amount of solder on the pad which will then "adhere" to the pin.
	Check the alignment on both sides again with a magnifying glass.  This is important -- if things are off, correcting them after the next step gets difficult and often results in destroying the SMD chip.
	Now use the solder iron (reclean/coat tip if needed), do the same "heat the pad only" thing to the top right pin of the SMD chip.
	Using the Xacto knife, gently touch the side of the SMD chip to see if it moves.  If not, then you got both pins connected enough to continue.  If it does move, reposition the chip again and repeat (allow time for the chip to cool between attempts -- 15 to 20 seconds should be enough).
	Again confirm all the pins are still aligned.  If not, you have a chance to correct them now (very careful melting of the solder on one of the two pins).  After the next step, it's almost impossible.,
	Now we're going to solder everything in place.  With a clean tip on the solder iron and a bit more solder on it than before (very, very little bit), try to quickly "touch" the tip to each pin of the SMD chip.  You'll need the magnifying glass and you don't need to be too fussy (don't leave gobs of solder, but if there are a few bridges, leave them for now).  You'll probably touch 1 to 2 pins at a time -- that's OK right now.
	Let the chip cool at least 30 seconds after this.
	Now lay some clean solder braid down one side of the PWM chip.  Make sure it lays over the pins and pads.  Lay the clean solder iron tip horizontally, trying to get as much of the solder braid touching the "sides" of the solder irons tip as possible.  After a few seconds (2-3 max), the braid should be hot enough to melt the underlying solder and it should "wick" up into the braid.  If you have a lot of solder, you may have to do this a few time, allow at least a minute between attempts for the chip to cool down.  Then do the other side. ALWAYS USE NEW, CLEAN SOLDER BRAID,  Don't try to re-use the braid, even if looks clean.  It probably isn't and the result will be either leaving more solder than you pick up or making you leave the heat on the pins longer (clean braid will wick up fast -- slightly used braid is much slower).
	Use a magnifying glass to look very closely at the pins.  Insure you cannot see any solder bridges,  if you do, fix them now.
	Next step is testing for shorts and continuity.  You cannot rely on your eye as proof there are no solder bridges/shorts.  You're eye is good (with a magnifying glass), but not infallible. This is a quick test, but if you put off till later and you find a problem, repairing it will be tough.  Using a DMM set to continuity mode, test each pin and it's neighbor.  You can do this at the solder pads (tough) or follow the PCB traces from the pad to an exposed point (much easier).  If you find a short, try some more solder braid (clean iron, clean braid). Next you need to check for continuity between the SMD pin and the PC board pad.  It's not uncommon to find one pin on a SMD chip that doesn't connect (usually the solder braid got too aggressive and pulled away too much solder).  Like solder bridges/shorts fixing this now is better than later. To test, put the tip of one probe on the solder pad or somewhere along the trace that comes from that pad.  Be sure you are not touching the pin.  Then use the other probe to touch the pin right where it goes into the SMD casing.  This is pretty easy to do actually and if you have no solder bridges, then you can just move the probe back and forth in the area of the target pin.  Whatever you do, do NOT apply any pressure to the pin.  Doing so may "temporarily" connect the pin to the pad -- a connection that may open up as soon as you lift the probe.  Ideally, each test will yield connectivity. When you find a disconnected pin/pad, using a clean and freshly coated tip, just quickly touch the tip of the iron to the at the pin/pad connection point for 1-2 seconds.  Let it cool, then test again (and redo the short test on the pins around the one you fixed). I probably find 1 pin in every 2-3 SMD chips that needs to be touched up.  But all the above -- the tests, the touch up, etc, really only takes a minute or so.  I can test for shorts and pin/pad continuity in about 30 seconds.  So don't put it off (fixing it later when there are parts around is tough/impossible).
	Okay, now  do the above to the remaining 3 SMD chips, going left to right across the board.  By the time you get to the 3rd chip, you'll probably being doing pretty well.
	Take a break and congratulate yourself -- you are done with the toughest part.  From this point on, things go pretty quick and easy
	Next step is to install the .01uf capacitors near the SMD chips.  There is one for each SMD chip. If you look at where the capacitors go for the SMD chips, you'll notice the holes are spaced further apart than the leads on the capacitor are.  You'll also notice there are PCB traces going through that space.  This means you can't simply jam the capacitor in the holes -- the leads will be on a diagonal and have a good chance of accidentally touching one of the PCB traces. The solution is to bend the leads or "form" them into a series of 90 degree turns to fit the actual holes.  Ideally, the leads will finish up being 5mm from each other (that is the spacing on the holes).  I use the "flat" edge of  one side of my needle nose pliers as a forming tool.  The pictures to the side illustrate what your are looking to do. You are only installing the capacitors that go near the SMD chips.  Do not install OR form the remaining capacitors! Install either 1 or 4 capacitors and solder in.  When cooled, clip the ends off with the diagonal wire clippers.
	Next install the terminal blocks across the top.  If you have a  1 PWM/3LED board, there is only 1 9-position terminal block that is installed in the left most position, over the single PWM/SMD chip.  If this is a full 4 PWM/13 LED board, there are 4 9-position terminal blocks along the top and one 3-position terminal block on the upper right edge. Solder these in place (making sure the solder flows around the pins well).  It helps to either apply pressure to the terminal block with a finger or tape them down.  If you don't, the blocks will tend to ride up away from the board when you flip it over to solder and the result will be an uneven, ugly looking set of terminal blocks.  Trying to level out an uneven terminal block after it's solder is difficult and makes it easy to apply so much heat, the PCB traces delaminate from the board.
	Next, install the 1 or 4 10kohm  resistors in the positions marked R4-R7 (R4 only for a 1 PWM/3LED board).  Also install the 100 ohm resistor at R1. The best way to form the leads is to bend them down and a sharp angle as the leads come out of the resistor package. If you keep the bend tight to the package, the resistor will slide right in neatly. Solder the resistors in a clip off the excess leads.
	Next up you'll install the 16 pin and 18 pin DIP sockets.  Make sure the notch on each socket faces toward the west (toward the left side of the board).  Solder them in place (apply pressure to the socket or tape it down before flipping the board over to solder or the socket may "ride up" and look ugly when the board flips over).
	Next, install the LED.  The LED has a flat side and the marking for it on the PC board also has a flat side.  Install the two other .01uf capacitors near the DIP sockets (they should slide right in).  Also install the R2 and R3 10kohm resistors as well.  Finally, install the 1uf tantalum capacitor.  This is a polarized capacitor and it has to be installed correctly or it will literally blow up.  The longer lead (usually marked with a +) is installed toward the "up" side of the board (in the direction of the SMD chips) and the shorter lead (negative, not usually marked) is installed down. Solder everything in place and trim the excess leads off.
	Now install the 3 3-pin jumper posts and the power regulator.  You will have to bend out pins 2 and 4 on the regulator to fit into the holes.  Like the SMD capacitors, I'd recommend you "form" them using 90 degree turns before installing on the board (just a simple "angle" bend will work here too, but you won't be able to push the regulator down as far. The flat metal side of the regulator should be facing "down"/south (away from the SMD chips) and the black plastic body should face north/"up". If you are using an SPI bus and you have longish SPI leads (like over 10 inches), you may want to install 10k resistors in R8 and R9 (these are not supplied with the kit -- use 1/4 watt, 5% resistors).  If you are not going to drive the kit via SPI and/of the SPI lines are short or already "terminated", you can leave these empty (and you can certainly add the resistors later, if the situation changes -- just remove the 2 DIP chips before you solder and then put them back afterwards). Solder everything in and clip the excess leads.
	Finally, install the remaining terminal blocks along the bottom of the board (the SPI connector can be omitted that if you know you'll never use SPI), the RS232 connector (you can omit that, along with the MAX232 chip, if you are not using RS232) and the power connector.
	You are now basically done. Go over the board carefully.  Check the solder joints -- are they clean and shiny and have enough solder? Are there any solder bridges?  Check very carefully (use the magnifying glass) now before you destroy all your work.
	Install the PIC16LF87 chip.  If you are using RS232, install the MAX232 chip (note: if you want to switch to SPI or only use SPI, DO NOT install the MAX232 chip or it will interfere with the SPI bus/connections.
	You are done!
	The board needs a regulated 5 volt power supply.  Don't apply more than 5.5 volts or you'll damage the 5-volt-3.3-volt regulator.  In terms of amperage, it depends mostly on your LED choice.  For example, if you use the the SuperBright LEDs that require 20ma for each color and had all 13 hooked up and lit, you'd need to supply .78 amps for for the LEDs.  the board itself draws about 25ma or so, so in this example, you'd need to about 1AMP to light all LEDs and power the board
	When making a cable to hook the RS232 port to a DB-9 serial port for your computer, use a DB9 female plug and hook the RX terminal to pin #3 on the DB9 and the GND terminal to pin #5 on the DB9.
	When hooking up a SuperBright RGBLED to the driver, use the pinout to the left.  The LED connectors on the top of the RGBLED board start with LED #0 on the left and increment as you move right.  The connections for each LED are always Red, Green and then Blue. Connect the COMMON ANODE to the same +5 volt supply that is feeding the driver board and you should be ready to go. If you are using special LEDs that require more voltage, you can have a separate power supply for the LEDs.  It has to have it's common/ground connected to the common/ground of the 5 volt power supply feeding the board and the + side connected directly the LED anodes.  Maximum voltage is 7 volts (DO NOT EXCEED or you'll damage the PWM SMD chips). You do not need any resistors -- the PWM chips will auto regulate the current to 20ma (or 10ma, if you later change it) to the LED, regardless of it's anode voltage (again, as long as the anode voltage is 7 volts or less).
	You will need to set the baudrate on the board to match your hosts speed.  The baudrate is set with the 3 jumpers on the lower left side of the board and the values are lset per the image to the left (click for larger one).  Do be aware that 57600 baud is slightly error prone as the oscillator in the chip isn't an even multiple of the needed baudrate.  It'll usually work, but the error is like 3% from standard, so for some systems, no deal. Also, the maximum sustained baud rate the controller can handle is 19200 (though that can slow a bit if there are commands with lots of animation color manipulation).  At 38400, the best bet is to insert a 1ms delay between each command (at which point the board can generally keep up).  Finally, keep in mind that the lower the baudrate, the longer the run of wire can be.  High baudrates and long wire runs often don't work (or don't work reliably).  So if you've got a major run, consider a more conservative baudrate.
	Now that you have the hardware done, the power supply hooked up, one (or more) LEDs hooked up and the RS232 connector plugged into your computer, download the jRGBLED configuration software (available at the www.rgbled.org).  This is a java program and should work under Windows and linux (probably Mac too).  It does require an annoying Java add on called Javacomm, but the add-on is documented on the jRGBLED page along with instructions on how to install it. Be sure to configure jRGBLED to use the right serial port and the matching baud rate. Boards are always configured, by default, as board ID #0, so when you run the software, you can immediately set a color into LED #0, set it to be "On" and press the Upload LED button and the LED should light. Do be sure to try out each primary color to insure that everything is connected right (RED is RED, GREEN is GREEN and BLUE is BLUE).
	If you have any questions or problems, please ask on the RGBLED forum.  Please DO NOT SEND EMAIL to me.  Any support email I receive will be replied to with a form letter asking you to post the question on the forum.  The Forum allows multiple people to help answer questions and acts as a repository of knowledge that future builders can consult.

Parts List