Wires for Vibration Sensor
We'll need two long wires for connecting the vibration sensor to the ItsyBitsy board. Mine were about 23cm (9in) in length. I suggest using different colored wires to help tell the connections apart.
Prep Wires
Using wire strippers, remove a bit of insulation from the tips of each wire. Since I'm using 30AWG silicone covered wires, they're stranded wires so I suggest tinning the tips with a bit of solder. This will help prevent them from fraying when attaching them to pins and other wires. I used a third helping hand to keep the wires steady, which is super helpful when soldering.
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Heat Shrink Tubing
I used a couple of pieces of heat shrink tubing to keep the two wires bundled together. Since this project will use a quite a few wired connections, keeping them nice and tidy is super useful.
Prevent Shorts
Before soldering the wires to the leads of the vibration sensor, add a piece of heat shrink tubing to each wire. This will prevent the two leads from shorting when assembling.
Connect Wires to Vibration Sensor
The two leads on the vibration sensor are long so we can cut them shorter. To make it easier to attach the wires to the leads, add a bit of solder. Be sure to add pieces of heat shrink tubing before soldering the wires to the leads. I secured the vibration sensor to a set of third helping hands to keep it steady while soldering the connections.
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Insulate Exposed Leads
Those extra pieces of heat shrink tubing can slide over the exposed leads and cover them up so they don't accidentally short. I like to use a lighter to heat up the tubing.
More Heat Shrink
While prototyping the project, I flexed the leads so much that they ripped out of the capsule. So, to avoid damaging the leads I suggest heat shrinking the whole sensor. This way, pulling on the wires won't stress the leads. If you don't have the right size of tubing, a dab of hot glue will be suffice.
