Hardware Journey #1: How I Accidentally Blew Up an LED

⚡ First project: explosive.

💡 Current project: future Tony Stark.

😂 Somewhere in between: a lot of failures.

I’ve always loved building stuff, but recently I fell into a new rabbit hole of learning electronics and hardware. Like many good projects, it started with an explosion.

My very first attempt was fixing my 3D printer. I thought it’d be easy. Spoiler: it wasn’t. RIP printer. That was my wake-up call to actually learn the basics. To which in hindsight I should’ve done before trying to fix it.

So I did. The fundamentals turned out to be fun, until I tried my first circuit. Just some simple power, some wires, and an LED. What I didn’t know? Resistors aren’t optional. The LED blew up in front of me, smoke puffed, and I nearly had a heart attack. Definitely not the smooth inventor vibe I wanted, but hey at least won’t do it again and now I know going forwards what not to do.

From there, things got cooler. I built a shed lock I can control from the web or with Siri shortcuts. Then I added an RFID scanner, so now I swipe a card and the lock opens like I’m in a sci-fi movie. I honestly felt like a genius. To much so, I started to consider going the path of becoming an Engineer. I think I should build a few more things and get a better grasp on things till I go deciding any career changes. But along the way I’ve been learning which components actually matter, how to turn an idea into something real, and how fast this hobby empties your wallet 😂.

This is just the start of the journey. I’ll be posting more as I build new things—hopefully with fewer explosions and no electrocution.

If you’ve been doing electronics too, I’d love to hear your tips. Or if not, what hobby are you picking up right now?