The first step is to solder a character LCD display onto the backpack. Remember that only character type displays are supported, and they can be up to 20x4 in size but no larger. All Adafruit character displays workbut we can't guarantee any others will work!
If you buy a kit from adafruit you may get an extra blue 10K potentiometer. This part isn't required for this kit so you can use it for another project!
The backpack comes with a piece of header you can use to fit the display on. Its handy to have a solderless breadboard to attach the header on straight.

Your kit may also come with a blue 3-pin potentiometer, this part is not required, you can simply recycle it into another project.

Break off the header so that it matches the number of pins on your LCD.
Place the header with the long side down into a breadboard. then place the LCD on top. If you're using an LCD with two rows available, make sure you're using the row that matches the image below.
Solder all the headers on with your iron.
Next, align the backpack so that it matches up with the corner of the LCD, the hole in the backpack should be in the same location.
Solder the backpack on completely.
Thats it!

This guide was first published on Feb 06, 2013. It was last updated on Oct 23, 2020.

This page (Assembly) was last updated on Feb 06, 2013.

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