I picked up my first "from-scratch" DIY electronics project in a long time, building a 2-tone door bell on stripboard with a basic 555 circuit.
For the most part everything went well. I assembled the circuit and measured up before going out and getting a snug fitting plastic enclosure (since it will be mounted close to the door).
I made one vital mistake, I forgot to include the 555 IC in my measurements, which is now protruding from the IC holder I soldered in - and now the 9v battery is poking out of the enclosure and blocking the lid!
I feel I have three options:
- Meticulously unsolder the IC holder and solder the 555 directly to the stripboard
- Run the 9v battery clip outside the enclosure and strap the battery to the outside of the box
- Re-measure and buy a slightly larger enclosure
I'm not experienced at soldering; my current efforts have been reasonably neat but the components have had to cope with some excess heat as I occasionally fumbled with the solder. I'm very tempted to give the resoldering a go, but does anyone have some advice on how to keep the component cool while I solder the pins? Are there any other things I should watch out for when soldering an IC without a holder?