Learning to solder is incredibly helpful with getting your esphome devices off the desk and into real-world use.
Don’t cheap out on the iron, though. Hakko and Weller are the two brands I’m familiar with and “everyone” seem to trust. You don’t need to spend hundreds of dollars, but the quality gap between $30 and $60 is very obvious.
This is one of those instances where the idea of “a poor craftsman blames his tools” falls apart. I was using a crappy non-adjustable pen and could never achieve good, reliable results despite having proper technique. Then I got a decent Weller adjustable unit, and suddenly everything was “perfect”.
If you’re looking for additional toys, a 3D printer is insanely useful for creating bespoke cases for your projects ;)
I was actually thinking about this again today, and wondering if it was an adaptive lighting issue. I’ll give that a go and see what happens.
Edit: came across this: https://github.com/basnijholt/adaptive-lighting#bulb-bulb-specific-issues
Just configured it as described, so we’ll see…
Are y’all me? Mid 40s, still mentally 20-something, can’t read silkscreen pin numbers, and back pain? It’s the best