Permanently Deleted
The three issues are:
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heating some of the ICs or shorting something on the board with that puddle of solder
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Static shock to the board
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Putting the battery backwards
So, if you are somewhat careful with the soldering iron and have a fine tip like pictured here and take some static precautions, it should be fine. I don’t think anything would be permanently damaged by putting the battery backwards, you would just have to repeat the procedure. With consumer boards that have somewhat exposed pads like this, I think it should be good enough to touch a grounded piece of metal before handling the board, as they should be made with people handling them in mind. But that is just my two cents.
“Explode” is probably not quite the right word. They are flammable, and can ignite, but they’re small enough they’re not going to be, like, grenades or anything; lithium ion rechargeable batteries are the ones that are infamous for randomly exploding, and these are not that. And they’re wrapped in steel besides, so it should be fine unless you really cook it with the soldering iron.
