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Starting electronics
Whichever battery you buy, you’ll also need its corresponding
battery connectors. These normally come as a pair of
push-on connectors and coloured connecting leads. The red
lead connects to the positive battery terminal; the black lead
connects to the negative terminal.
The ends of the connecting leads furthest from the battery
are normally stripped of insulation for about the last few millimetres
or so, and tinned. Tinning is the process whereby
the loose ends of the lead are soldered together. If the leads
are tinned you’ll be able to push them straight into your
breadboard. If the leads aren’t tinned, on the other hand,
don’t just push them in because the individual strands of
wire may break off and jam up the breadboard. Instead, tin
them yourself using your soldering iron and some multicored
solder. The following steps should be adhered to:
1) twist the strands of the leads between your thumb
and first finger, so that they are tightly wound, with no loose
strands,
2) switch on the soldering iron. When it has heated up,
tin the iron’s tip with multicore solder until the end is bright
and shiny with molten solder. If necessary, wipe off excess
solder or dirt from the tip, on a piece of damp sponge; keep
a small piece of sponge just for this purpose,
3) apply the tip of the iron to the lead end, and when the
wires are hot enough apply the multicore solder. The solder
should flow over the wires smoothly. Quickly remove the
tip and the multicore solder, allowing the lead to cool naturally
(don’t blow on it as the solder may crack if it cools too
quickly). The lead end should be covered in solder, but no
excess solder should be present. If a small blob of solder has
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