How can we help?

We can help! Here are some of the most common circuit issues for why a light isn’t turning on and how to fix it:

• Is the battery facing the right way?
Make sure your battery is + side up (when using our circuit templates) before you fold the page over.

• Is the LED sticker stuck down firmly?
Press down on your LED for a count of 5 seconds to ensure a good physical and electrical connection.

• Is the LED pointing the right way?
Check that the metal parts of the sticker are sitting on top of your conductive copper or fabric tape, positive to positive (wide side of triangle to + of your battery) and negative to negative (pointed side of triangle to the – side of your battery).

• Is your battery fresh?
Ensure that you are using a new battery, such as a CR2032 or CR2016. Batteries should ideally be stored in their protective packaging to insulate them from other batteries or conductive materials. A fresh battery will measure between 3.2 and 3.3 volts when tested with a multimeter. While certain colors of LEDs (red, orange, yellow, and green) will generally still light up with a weak battery (between 2.2 and 2.7 volts), other colors of LEDs (white, blue, and pink) require more voltage to turn on.

• Are you mixing different colors of LED stickers and finding that certain colors don’t seem to work as expected?
Think about the rainbow and try grouping your colored LEDs according to their location on the visible light spectrum. Red, orange, yellow, and green LED Stickers on one end of the spectrum require less voltage than the white, blue, and pink LED Stickers on the other end. As a rule of thumb, this means that red, orange, yellow, and green lights will usually work well together within a circuit. The same may be said for white, blue, and pink. If you start mixing low voltage colors (such as red and yellow) with a high voltage color (such as white), and the white LED doesn’t light up, it’s likely that your battery may not have adequate power.

If your circuit is still not working, or if you have questions regarding coding and other topics, please check out our more in-depth troubleshooting guide.

Try this paper card tutorial for a friendly introduction or jump into the Circuit Sticker Sketchbook for a more in-depth exploration of paper circuits!

There is no upper bound on the recommended age for our products!  However, for younger learners and creators:

Intro Pack and STEM Starter Kit:
The youngest recommended age for the STEM starter kit depends on whether the child is using it alone, or with adult supervision.

For kids using the kit on their own, the recommended age is 12 and up due to the choking hazard for small parts and the coin cell battery.

For kids using them with adult supervision, we have seen teachers use the kit successfully with 3rd graders and up (age 8 years and older). Younger children may need extra help from an adult to lay out the copper tape traces and align the LEDs with the template when placing them. Older kids (5th graders and middle schoolers) generally can do the circuit building and drawing activities themselves.

Love to Code kit:
Due to the advanced coding concepts covered and integrated circuit building, we designed the Love to Code series for learners in middle school and up through University level, so age 12 and older.

We recommend 3V CR2032 coin batteries for standard projects. You can also use 3V CR2016 coin batteries, which are thinner and great for paper crafts, but these don’t last as long as the CR2032 batteries.

Any battery or power source that is between 3 volts to 6 volts will work for the LED stickers. The higher the voltage, the brighter your lights will glow.  However, any power source with voltage above 6V may be too high and cause damage to the lights.

To learn more, visit 10 Ways to Make a Paper Battery Holder.

We recommend up to 10 LED stickers per standard 3 volt coin battery (size CR2032).  However, you can actually light up many more. We have done up to 25 LED stickers in a project once! 

The issue is that the more LED stickers you turn on with one battery, the faster the battery will drain, since it has a limited amount of power.  You may also notice that as you connect even more LEDs to the one battery, all the lights will begin to get dimmer.  For fewer LED stickers (like 10 or so) this effect isn’t really noticeable.  However, as you reach the limit of how many lights the battery can power at once, you’ll start noticing the dimming effect on all the lights.  

Likewise, if you light up many different colors of LED stickers with one battery, you’ll start to notice that certain colors seem to dim more than others.  For example white LED stickers will dim faster than red LED stickers.

Yes! Just be careful not to bend the sticker when you peel it back off the circuit.  If you bend the sticker too much, it may break the sticker. Once the sticker is removed, if it peels off very cleanly you may be able to reuse the conductive adhesive once or twice. If not, you can use conductive fabric patches or solder to reconnect the LED to a new circuit. 

For more detailed information, see Five Ways to Reuse Circuit Stickers.

The Chibi Chip will work on most laptops, including Chromebooks, as well as tablets and phones. To use with phones, you will need a separate USB power supply. All the Chibi Chip needs is an audio jack for uploading code and a USB A port with enough power for the Chip.

Please note: if you have issues getting the program to upload even though the chip is on, you may need a stronger power supply.  Try plugging the chip into a USB wall charger, for example.  If you continue to have issues programming your Chibi Chip, please contact us at info@chibitronics.com.

Chibitronics is a portmanteau of “chibi” which means little in Japanese and “tronics” from electronics. We aim to make circuits small and friendly (and cute!), rather than intimidating and scary, so that everyone can feel comfortable creating electronics.

We ship internationally from the United States to most countries. Unfortunately we currently do not ship orders from our online shop to countries in the European Union due to new VAT regulations. However, if you are in the EU and agree to cover import duties, VAT and any other fees, you can email your order to info@chibitronics.com and we will be able to ship to you directly (learn more).

If we don’t ship to your country, or if you would like to buy locally, here’s a list of our international resellers.

If you don’t see your favorite local reseller listed, or they’re not stocking the products you’re looking for, please consider reaching out to them and requesting our products be added to their store. Thanks for your support!

While we do ship to European Union countries, such orders may not be placed directly through our online store due to complexities involving VAT rules. 

To place a direct order from Chibitronics to your EU country, please send an email to info@chibitronics.com that lists the items (and quantities) you wish to purchase, as well as your billing and shipping address, VAT ID, and a phone number. From there, we will be happy to generate an invoice for you that includes the estimated shipping costs. Payments may be made using a credit card or PayPal. Please note that you will also be responsible for any additional import fees and duties. 

If there are no unexpected delays, shipping will take an estimated 15 business days. 

Please note that once a parcel leaves the USA, we cannot be held responsible should it become lost in the mail. In the event that your item is returned to (and received by) our warehouse, a refund will be issued for the cost of the products ordered, excluding the fees for shipping.

For your convenience, you might also wish to explore our resellers near you https://chibitronics.com/resellers/

If you don’t see your favorite local reseller listed, or they’re not stocking the products you’re looking for, please consider reaching out to them and requesting our products be added to their store. Thanks for your support!

Please send a request for an invoice along with your order number to info@chibitronics.com.

If you are having technical issues with a purchased product, please email info@chibitronics.com for assistance.

Domestic US: Our main carrier is USPS Priority. Most orders should reach you within approximately 7 business days.

International: We use USPS First Class Mail International and USPS Priority Mail International. You can choose your preferred method during checkout.

International customers, please note that you are responsible for import taxes and fees. Also note that once a parcel leaves the USA, we cannot be held responsible should it become lost in the mail. In the event that your item is returned to (and received by) our warehouse, a refund will be issued for the cost of the products ordered, excluding the fees for shipping.

If you have special shipping requests, please let us know at info@chibitronics.com.

Returned products must be new, unopened and returned within 30 days of purchase.  To make a return, please email info@chibitronics.com with your order number. Please note: shipping will not be refunded.

If you are having technical issues with a purchased product, please email info@chibitronics.com for assistance.

Yes! Email purchase orders along with billing and shipping address to: info@chibitronics.com. You can also contact this email if you need an estimate. Our contact information is below, and our W-9 is here. More information about ordering can be found on our How to Order page.

Chibitronics Inc
1000 N West Street
Suite 1281-222
Wilmington, DE 19801
Phone: (302) 316-5113
Email: info@chibitronics.com

Please send your tax certificate to info@chibitronics.com so we can make sure you are not charged tax on your purchase.

Check out our classroom and makerspace supply lists here. We also offer convenient discounted classroom-size bundles in the educator section our shop.

To help you or your organization get started with professional development, we’d like to first refer you to our free, downloadable  Paper Circuits STEAM Educator’s Guide, which is filled with classroom-tested teaching ideas and standards based connections to a wide variety of disciplines.

Additionally, there are many free, self-paced videos and tutorials available on our website.  For example, our Circuit Sticker Sketchbook is free for download, and is available in a number of languages.  There are also free support videos and templates which are useful for professional development.

Should you have additional questions that need to be addressed, once you’ve explored the resources shared above, please let us know, by contacting us at education@chibitronics.com.

You may also wish to check out our Events & Workshops page to find out about upcoming events and professional development opportunities.

Yes! Sign up here to register for an educator discount. We also have special discounts throughout the year.  To learn about these, please subscribe to our newsletter here or follow us on social media.

Additional discounts are available for large institutional orders, please contact us at education@chibitronics.com for more information.

Thank you for your interest! Please fill out our Wholesale Inquiries Form and we will get back to you within 1 to 2 business days with more information.  We look forward to hearing from you.

Please fill out our contact form or email us at:

info@chibitronics.com for general questions

education@chibitronics.com for education-related questions.

We are a small team spread over several different time zones and will do our best to respond to you as quickly as possible. Our regular business hours are Monday-Friday 9AM-5PM ET. We are closed for US national holidays. We look forward to hearing from you!

Chibitronics Inc
1207 Delaware Ave #1510
Wilmington, DE 19806

Phone: (302) 316-5113