Soldered Parts on Wrong Side

[loriwood01]

I feel like a complete noob for asking this (I actually am, but I'm trying to learn). I am new to soldering, but took the time to learn how to do it from the videos on Adafruit. Got my MintyBoost, and pulled up the instructions on the website. I got the first orange resistor in place and soldered it in. I had been so worried about being able to solder it effectivly, that I did not realize that I fed the leads through on the wrong side and soldered them on the bottom instead of the top. I didn't have a desolderer, but when looking at the board, I saw that there were the metal rings around the holes on both sides, so I figured I may as well try and see if it would still achieve a connection - even though I was soldering things on the opposite side of the board. Everything is in the correct position (positive/negative, correct resistors, correct spots on the board, solders look great) except it's backwards because my solders are on the bottom. Of course I plugged my iPhone 4s in and the charger was not recognized. I soldered the two middle data lines on the USB connector since it was the iPhone, thinking that would fix it, but it did not.
So my question - is it because I soldered on the wrong side of the board that it is not working? Do the solders have to be on the top vs. the bottom? I assume so, because everything else looks perfect. I assume I will be buying another kit...beginners mistake.
I can post a picture of my board later this evening. I'm currently at work so I don't have it handy. I appreciate anyone's input!

[adafruit_support_rick]

It really depends on the part. Resistors can go in either side of the board. IC's cannot.

Did you solder everything on the wrong side, or just a few things? If you post clear pictures of both sides, we'll have a look.

[loriwood01]

Unfortunately, once I started, I put everything on that side. :-/ Would it be worth trying to desolder?

[adafruit_support_rick]

Weeelllll… that's kind of up to you. Assuming that you have the polarity correct on the electrolytic caps and the diode, the problem parts will be the USB socket and the IC socket. Also, with parts on both sides, the board may not fit so nicely into a tin - offhand, I don't know for sure.

Unsoldering is more difficult than soldering, so if you're new to it all, it may not go so well. On the other hand, if you think of it as a learning opportunity, and if you're already planning to buy another kit, then you've got nothing to lose.

You'll need a solder-sucker and/or solder-wick. I prefer solder-suckers myself, but other people go straight for the wick.

The sucker we stock is very nice. We also stock solder wick.

[loriwood01]

You'll be happy to know that I got a new kit and it works perfectly! I did figure out that leaving the batteries in there without use drains them quickly. I'm not sure exactly how quickly because I didn't test it throughout the week, but after about a weekish, they were completely dead when I tried to charge my phone. These are rechargeable NiZn batteries, high capacity (1.6V, 2500mWh) - http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/09/powe ... e-cells-w/

Is this common?

[adafruit_support_bill]

There is typically a few milliamps of drain through the resistor voltage divider on the data pins. (The boost chip itself consumes only a few micro-amps). Still, a week should only be 300-400 mAh worth.

I have heard conflicting reports about the self-discharge rate of NiZn. Powergenix claims they are comparable to NiMH, but some regular users of them say they are closer to NiCd which self-discharge fairly fast.

[loriwood01]

Ah, ok. I need to look into that. I love the NiZn because they work well with my high drain devices like camera speedlight and things, but I'm sure they have their downsides too. Thanks for the info!