Customer Reviews

Elenco AmeriKit Learn to Solder Kit

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I'm 17 and I wanted to learn how to solder printed circuit boards. This is a great product that has (almost) everything you need to get started. The soldering iron melted the solder quickly, even though the solder was lead free. The instruction manual teaches you not just about soldering, but about the components in the kit. It teaches almost like a class, complete with detailed instructions and even quizzes you on what you have learned. In the end, the device you make is pretty useless, but here, its all about the journey not the destination.

I do have a few cons however. There is nothing included to clean the soldering tip like a small piece of sponge. I also could not get the soldering wick to work, so I would recommend also ordering a desoldering pump as well. also, it can be a bit tricky to solder without some kind of helping hand device. However, for less than $15, this is still a great bargain.

The value of this kit is great, however I'm sure that people would be willing to pay a bit more if it included something to clean the soldering tip and possibly a desoldering pump, however, with the value of this kit, adding those items to your order should be no problem.

All in all, I greatly recommend this product to anyone trying to dive into the world of electronics.

This is not a toy. It should be in the category of tool for electric.

I am not getting this to learn how to solder because I am no beginner, but for the items in the package, especially that soldering iron. The package comes with a lot of stuffs for less than $20 + shipping that is so nice, even just for the solder iron itself costs more than that price. The quality of the solder iron is so good that it works so nicely for soldering electric circuit. Other stuffs are so nice too; I usually call this kind of product, a high price value item that you pay less for more.

BUY it if you are interested in circuit, and want to learn how to do soldering. You won't regret it.

here is a list of what you get:
1, a good quality soldering iron pen - 25w
2, a small size wire cutter - good quality as well.
3, a small box of curved solder with rosin flue - about half meter long
4, a circuit board for practice
5, a lot of circuit components : few resistors and capacitors, 2 LED, 1 Integrated chip, some wires, and a speaker.
6, a booklet teaching you how to put everything together - Pretty nice instructions and explanations

I didn't know how to solder before I bought this kit, and now that I'm finished with it, I feel very competent at it. This was exactly what I needed to figure out soldering! Overall I think this project took 4-5 hours from beginning to end. It gives you a couple dozen practice joints to begin with, where all you have to do is put solder on the circuit board. Then it goes through different examples of how to fix problems, such as causing a short circuit by making a solder bridge and having to desolder a joint with the included desoldering braid. The instructions are very clear, and the only problem I had building the final circuit (which is a decently loud alarm with speaker and flashing lights) was my own fault: I soldered the R2 resistor to R1, and had to use my newly acquired desoldering skills to switch it around.

Note that the kit comes packaged in a way that it describes every single part that comes with it thoroughly, so you do not have to know anything about electronic parts to get it up and running. But if you're just getting started in electronics, like I am, I would highly recommend these additional materials:
There Are No Electrons by Kenn Amdahl
MAKE: Electronics by Charles Platt
Absolute Beginner's Guide to Building Robots by Gareth Branwyn

If you use all these together, you should be well on your way to becoming an electronics hobbyist!

I have bought over 30 of these kits to teach Boy Scouts how to solder for there Electronics merit badge. The kit are well organized and have good directions. The end of the board is set up to practices honing your skills before you start working on the main kit. All the scouts enjoyed the project.

This is a great product. For less than the price of a comparable soldering iron alone, you get a nice iron plus lead-free solder, wire, solder wick (and well more of each than you need for the project), a practice circuit board that makes a fun little lights-and-sirens gadget when it's finished and has extra solder pads just for practice, and an extremely clear and thorough instruction book. The book does assume some prior knowledge of electronics--you won't get the most out of it if you don't already know what ohms and farads are or how to read a circuit diagram, although you will still be able to complete the project and learn the soldering part.

I went from total ignorance to completing the project confidently in about three hours, and I had a lot of fun doing it. The instruction manual, and the way that the practice board is designed with everything clearly labeled and room to practice, were excellent for learning. I wouldn't recommend this as a toy for children (the soldering iron is in no way a "play" or "practice" model, it gets very hot and has to be taken seriously), but for teenagers or adults who want to learn how to solder and get a decent soldering iron as well, this is a great kit.

Two things you should know:
-There's only one of each resistor and capacitor, so if you break or lose one you're out of luck. They're filed on a nice little labeled card, though, so they're pretty easy to keep track of.
-The instruction manual has you solder in the wrong resistors initially and then gives you the "desoldering practice" of putting in the right ones. I didn't read ahead and was a little annoyed when I found this out, although the desoldering and replacement went fine and hey, I did get the practice. (SPOILER: R4 and R6 are incorrect; you'll replace them with R4A and R6A.)

It's a good kit to learn how to solder and the educational value. The finished product is pretty good, and I had fun building it. The things learned can really help in the long run. The only problem I had was that the wires were a bit stiff and were hard to strip.

I recommend this kit to anyone who wants to introduce electronics to young people. Kit itself is from quality components but the most important part is its instruction book. After this and maybe a basic radio kit, your son/daughter will have the confidence in basic electronics.

This kit is highly recommended. The step-by-step guide is great. This kit gave my son the confidence and know-how to start on his first electronic project.

This kit was a great little bit of work to learn basic soldering. It has virtually everything you need to manage to build the circuit, and you learn to both watch polarity of components and read resistor values. I'd recommend getting a set of helping hands with a magnifying glass if you're over 40 like I am, but that will come in handy for anything like this. The lights and siren worked the first time, so I clearly managed to figure out the basics. It took about 2.5 hours to work through everything.

I have a few minor complaints
1) The desoldering wick included just doesn't work very well. A pump or something would help
2) The wire cutters/strippers are not very good. A decent wire stripper will make it much easier
3) A cheap sponge would be nice as well

All that said, the kit's all of $13, and that includes the soldering iron which is actually better quality than I expected.

As a bonus, the final product is both useless and really annoying! Next up- fixing up an old electric guitar with some bad electronics, which in my hands will be even more useless and annoying.

Elenco's Learn to Solder kit is pretty good for a beginner. It provides all the tools a beginner needs to learn how to solder properly. My only complaints are that the instructions can be a bit difficult to understand at certain times. The siren does not work properly unless the proper resistors are used and the instructions have you purposefully solder the wrong resistors in place. The instructions then have you test the siren, stating that it should warble, however, it does not, since the wrong resistors were used. Only after all of this do the instructions finally hint at the fact that the wrong resistors were used. This wouldn't be a problem, except that the soldering wick provided is pretty shoddy and barely picks up any solder at all, which makes it very difficult to add the correct resistors. All in all, this is a good investment for anyone who wants to learn some basic soldering and by the end of the instructions, you'll feel pretty confident in your soldering skills.