#hackingandbuilding

For my second project, I worked in a group with two of my classmates, Jazzma and Calye basically learning how to solder and unsolder objects. Unfortunately, I missed a class because I was sick but I was still able to participate in soldering wires. However, our main focus was tearing down and soldering components off a drawdio. 

Bill of Materials

- Drawdio

- Soldering iron

- Helping hands soldering 

- Wire cutter

- Damp sponge

- Wire

- Wire stripper

- Circuit board

- Gel paper

To begin this project, I started off with something simple which was trying to solder something together. I have never worked with a soldering iron, so this was something new and interesting. I chose to use a wire to solder together, so I cut off a piece and stripped each end of the wire with a wire stripper. 

Next, I placed my wire withing the soldering helping hands in order to make the soldering process easier.

I'm pretty sure, you have an idea of what came next, that as actually soldering both ends of the wires together.

You're probably thinking "what the hell is soldering? what does she keep referring too?" An easy explanation based on my experience is, its basically the melting of two metal objects in order to join them together.

So here's a picture of what it actually looks like.

The process was a little harder then I expected because of how difficult it was to get both ends to stay together while i melted them. As you can see, a piece of solder broke off which made it even harder but eventually I got the hang of it.

This is what I used to melt these parts together

Once I grasp the concept of soldering, our group worked on using the soldering iron for the opposite use compared to what I did earlier, and that was to take apart things. We decided to focus on taking off the speakers and the battery holder off of the Drawdio. 

Drawdio in the "helping hands"

Drawdio by itself

Finally, Jazzma used the soldering iron to heat the circuit board in specific areas in order for the battery holder to come off. She heated the leads that held the battery holder to the circuit board. She also was able to take off both speakers and once both components, the drawdio was pretty much "teared down".

What are you even breaking apart?

I decided I wanted to do my tear down project on a remote, it originally going to be my old direct tv remote but instead I used a borrowed remote from a fellow classmate (because I left it at home but thanks jazzy). So here's the starting product. 

What did you use to take apart the item?

Taking apart this remote was the most difficult part of this process because of how strong it was sealed together. I used a variety of tools, from a hammer to a flathead screw driver. I first started out using the flathead by trying to loosen the adhesive that was keeping both sides of the remote together. I constantly tried poking it in between but after a while, I realized I needed something much stronger. So next I hammered the flathead into an open space of the remote that was a bit loose. After a few bangs, it popped right opened. (:

Bill of Materials

- Remote

- Wire cutter

- Hammer

- Hobby knife

- Flathead screw driver

LET'S SEE WHAT'S INSIDE =D

As you can see, there are a couple of foreign things that are connected to the inside of the remote. I say foreign because I have no idea what they actually are and what they do but by the end of the semester, I will know. So i decided to cut the wiring of the things I could reach, but I also left a few of them unharmed. It was interesting ti examine these objects individually, as well as observing where they originally were.

And finally, the final project. Now that most of the parts are disconnected, it shows how simple yet complex this object really is. It doesn't seem like its made up of much parts as you would think it would be but also makes you wonder how do these parts work.