Assembly
The Reflowduino comes with complimentary standard female headers (the ones you see on the Arduino) but you have the choice to solder wires directly to the pins without using any headers at all or use different headers. The different options are described in this section.
These are the most common types of headers and they allow you to easily connect dupont wires your board to breadboards, other boards, etc. If you go with this option, please note that most shields won't attach if you put male headers on your Reflowduino, because shield headers typically have pins that snap into the target board (Reflowduino in this case).
These are the standard female headers that you see on Arduino boards and many other boards that accommodate the male headers described above. These are useful if you want to quickly connect dupont wires to the Reflowduino or for allowing shields to be placed on top of the Reflowduino. You can buy this female header kit that is recommended for the Reflowduino.
Stackable female headers are the same as the standard female headers above except with much longer pins. This enables them to stick out below the board so that another board with standard female headers can attach to the Reflowduino from below.
If you're a complete newbie to soldering I would suggest going through Adafruit's Guide to Excellent Soldering.
Some people like to use tape or sticky tack to temporarily hold the headers in place, but personally I like to use this method, and it works for male and female headers of all sorts:
- Insert the header into a set of holes on the board and rest the header in the holes. By no means does it have to be exactly where it should be in the end and it will inevitably be at an angle
- Put just enough solder on one pin of the header so that it doesn't move or fall out on its own
- Hold the board in your hand and gently squeeze the body of the header against the board
- While gently pressing on the header, use your other hand to melt the solder on the pin. The header should now move to where it's supposed to be!
- After ensuring the alignment is correct, fully solder a second pin (doesn't really matter which one)
- Revisit the first pin and add more solder to it if needed
- Note: if you try to add solder to the first pin before doing the second pin, the header will fall out! Don't be that guy to make that mistake!