Gikfun Christmas Tree 3D Xmas Tree Led DIY Kits 7 Color Flash Circuit LED EK1697

I had a day of rain so I decided to put this tree together. Took me about 3 hours of organizing parts and then assembly. 1st: Make sure you have a decent soldering iron. I didn't (until I started putting solder in holes adjacent to where I wanted...) I wasted about 1/2 hour clearing out mis-soldered joints. The circuit boards and instructions were easy to follow and easy to assemble. Make sure you bend the LEDs and the capacitors over (per the instructions) or you'll have problems fitting the two "trees" together. End result is colorful and worth your time!

I got two of these for my grand daughters and helped them assemble them. The directions were reasonable but lacked some information especially when it came to installing all the boards together once the components were all soldered together. You need to solder the tree parts together and then solder the base to the tree but none of that is explained in the directions. It was pretty much common sense though. The parts all worked fine except one LED which did not work but they provided a couple extra ones so we just swapped it out. The tree lights up great using 3 AA batteries but is even brighter use the USB port. Overall its a good project with a worthwhile finished Christmas tree.

This is a soldering practice kit and I used it to introduce my teen to soldering and basic electronics over the course of a couple hours. The kit is quite adequate quality considering the price and the final product is a fun treat fora job well done. The instructions are lacking in clarity for a novice bu no problem to follow if you have some basic electronics knowledge and have built other types of hobby kits.

This is a beautiful little kit that is fun to build and nice to look at when finished.I wanted to give my 9-year old daughter a sense of how electronics work and are made and think that this is an excellent set if you can provide a bit of supervision and know how to solder. I was very surprised how quickly my daughter lost her fear of the hot iron and learned to make solid connections. Some of the soldering spots are tight and require a bit of experience. There aren't any instructions but the schematic is simple enough, and everyone who has done a bit of electronics knows that particular circuit. If you have never seen one it will be tricky. I like that there aren't any ICs or other parts that can be fried easily. The board itself also takes a good amount of heat.I am echoing what many have said already and add a couple more thoughts:There are only 3 types of resistors: 10k, 2.2k, 1k. The 10ks are marked on the board.Don't put the top LED in until you have assembled the tree.The long legs of the LEDs go into the square part on the board.I soldered the tree to the base before I screwed the base onto the battery component. It would have been easier to first screw the base to the battery component and then put the tree on top.I loved that they provided 3-color LEDs--although you should expect more of a disco experience than somber blinking.

Don't get side tracked by the bad reviews. Very rarely are these type of components bad ..... more likely bad techniques in soldering. I've built 3 of these with absolutely no issues. They are simply beautiful when completed! (Note, this is not designed as a beginners soldering kit, a little experience is needed)

I bought a second one to give away as gift. Be aware that there arent any spares (transistor, resistor, capacitor) included, only spare LED's. So get an egg carton or parts tray ready before you open the package. There's quite a few connections to make, 72 LED joints alone, so maybe bend and solder 3 LEDs at a time, then move on. The tri-color LEDs in this kit are a hoot to watch. Only improvement I would suggest is please include 1 spare transistor, capacitor, and resistor value.As someone else noted - This kit has two-sided circuit boards, (traces on both sides) so you should check your solder joints on each side as you go along. Pay attention and don't rush it. Also, yes, I did use some desoldering wick a few times. NOTE- I isolated a bridged solder joint by battery testing each board as I got more LED's in. Since I knew what I recently soldered, I located and cleared a short.The newest versions of this kit are brighter and faster blinking - and I much prefer the original. I see that R2,R4,R6 previously = 1k not 150. And R7 previously = 2.2k not 470. R1,R3,R5 are unchanged.