Etching PCB:s - Page 8

AuroraB · 20th February 2006, 05:06 PM

Some of us have been referring to chemical tin plating, or more correctly, dip plating.....there are several products on the market for this. My experience with this through more than 20 years is that it works very well. There are hower some problems with shelf life for these products.

Others have been refering to hot plating with tin paste....using various types of solder pastet from products intended for plumbing and others intended for electronic soldering, and hot plates and heat guns to do the job. I am personally slightly wary of this process, as the risk of overheating the boards are quite high, I, think. if you have access to a reflow oven, that is one thing, -- but hot plates..hmmm.....

siongboon · 18th March 2006, 08:17 AM

I have a PCB fabrication website with picture illustration,
and interesting references.

Hope you will Enjoy.

http://sg.wrs.yahoo.com/_ylt=A9FJqhp...b_fabrication/

See U.

AudioWizard · 18th March 2006, 02:22 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by AuroraB

Others have been refering to hot plating with tin paste....using various types of solder pastet from products intended for plumbing and others intended for electronic soldering, and hot plates and heat guns to do the job. I am personally slightly wary of this process, as the risk of overheating the boards are quite high, I, think.

Using a hot air gun, I've never had any problems with this. Granted, I usually use high quality epoxy boards. Since I also use toner transfer, I only need raw copper boards, so I can afford to buy high quality ones instead of so-so presensitized boards...

Actually, for amateur work and amateur tools, I'd be more wary of using a doubtful reflow oven to do the job, as it would heat the whole board to a high temperature for long enough for the whole tinning paste to reflow - whereas with a hot air gun, you come and go over the copper, letting areas not directly under the gun to cool down a bit while you're moving the gun.

That's just my experience, though.

dfdye · 13th May 2006, 04:08 AM

To add a little information to an old thread, Brother printers are absolutely terrible for use in the toner transfer method. I tried a bunch of different photo papers and could never get the results everyone had been showing until I tried my ancient HP printer. I FINALLY got some good results!! Just for the record, I love my Brother printer for text, but for PCB's it is not what you want.

David

TwoSpoons · 17th May 2006, 04:03 AM

Did you try proper toner transfer paper? I can make pcbs using my Brother laser quite successfully.

dfdye · 17th May 2006, 04:07 AM

Hmmm. . . I thought I did! I have used everything from high end Epson to generic inkjet photopaper. Also I've tried overhead projector "paper", but nothing I ever did with the brother toner worked. What paper are you using?

Bazukaz · 17th May 2006, 02:45 PM

Hi,
Did you try another types of paper ? I have had success with magazine pages.The printer , Xerox phaser 3121 , is very good for this - it can print thick layer of paint.
Heating is also important - you need to go through all the surface with edge of iron slowly , set at high temp.

Note : it is always worth to check if magazine pages don't have heat-melting surface coating(that could destroy the printer).

dfdye · 17th May 2006, 02:52 PM

Actually, I have had no problems with my last batch of transfers from the HP printer on Epson glossy photo paper (just because I had it around). I was just having issues with the brother printer.

I do like the magazine paper idea! I'll have to try that some time.

David

Wombat2 · 18th May 2006, 12:19 AM

Since they changed the printers at work from older Brother to Lexmark and I changed my home printer from HP LJIII to newer
Brother I have not been able to produce good transfers. I have always used glossy inkjet paper but the transfer just is not as complete as it used to be when I first started. The only other change I have noted is I have stopped doing a final clean of the copper with acetone immediately before transfer so next time I'll do that as well as cranking up the print intensity.

David L

TwoSpoons · 18th May 2006, 05:41 AM

I use Press'n'Peel Blue, which is expressly designed for making pcbs from laser prints.

The other parts of the process do have to be right , though. PCB copper must be absolutely clean (I use 0000 grade grease-free steel wool, and isopropyl alcohol). Getting the temperature just right is also essential - it will be different for different toners.
Time and pressure also must be right.

To this end I built a temperature controlled hotplate, with a vacuum port. pcb goes on the plate, then a piece of cloth as a vacuum spreader, then a sheet of silicone on a frame. With vacuum applied the silicone sheet sucks down and gives me a nice even 14 lbs/sq inch pressure over the whole board. I use a thermocouple on top of the silicone, to tell me when the whole thing is hot enough.

Still get it wrong sometimes ...

18th March 2006, 08:17 AM	#72
siongboon diyAudio Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Singapore	I have a PCB fabrication website with picture illustration, and interesting references. Hope you will Enjoy. http://sg.wrs.yahoo.com/_ylt=A9FJqhp...b_fabrication/ See U. __________________ siongboon@yahoo.com www.siongboon.com

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20th February 2006, 05:06 PM	#71
AuroraB diyAudio Member Join Date: May 2001 Location: Norway, -north of the moral circle..	Some of us have been referring to chemical tin plating, or more correctly, dip plating.....there are several products on the market for this. My experience with this through more than 20 years is that it works very well. There are hower some problems with shelf life for these products. Others have been refering to hot plating with tin paste....using various types of solder pastet from products intended for plumbing and others intended for electronic soldering, and hot plates and heat guns to do the job. I am personally slightly wary of this process, as the risk of overheating the boards are quite high, I, think. if you have access to a reflow oven, that is one thing, -- but hot plates..hmmm.....

13th May 2006, 04:08 AM	#74
dfdye diyAudio Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: USA	To add a little information to an old thread, Brother printers are absolutely terrible for use in the toner transfer method. I tried a bunch of different photo papers and could never get the results everyone had been showing until I tried my ancient HP printer. I FINALLY got some good results!! Just for the record, I love my Brother printer for text, but for PCB's it is not what you want. David

17th May 2006, 04:03 AM	#75
TwoSpoons diyAudio Member Join Date: Oct 2004	Did you try proper toner transfer paper? I can make pcbs using my Brother laser quite successfully.

17th May 2006, 04:07 AM	#76
dfdye diyAudio Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: USA	Hmmm. . . I thought I did! I have used everything from high end Epson to generic inkjet photopaper. Also I've tried overhead projector "paper", but nothing I ever did with the brother toner worked. What paper are you using?

17th May 2006, 02:45 PM	#77
Bazukaz diyAudio Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Vilnius	Hi, Did you try another types of paper ? I have had success with magazine pages.The printer , Xerox phaser 3121 , is very good for this - it can print thick layer of paint. Heating is also important - you need to go through all the surface with edge of iron slowly , set at high temp. Note : it is always worth to check if magazine pages don't have heat-melting surface coating(that could destroy the printer).

17th May 2006, 02:52 PM	#78
dfdye diyAudio Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: USA	Actually, I have had no problems with my last batch of transfers from the HP printer on Epson glossy photo paper (just because I had it around). I was just having issues with the brother printer. I do like the magazine paper idea! I'll have to try that some time. David

18th May 2006, 12:19 AM	#79
Wombat2 diyAudio Member Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Brisbane	Since they changed the printers at work from older Brother to Lexmark and I changed my home printer from HP LJIII to newer Brother I have not been able to produce good transfers. I have always used glossy inkjet paper but the transfer just is not as complete as it used to be when I first started. The only other change I have noted is I have stopped doing a final clean of the copper with acetone immediately before transfer so next time I'll do that as well as cranking up the print intensity. David L

18th May 2006, 05:41 AM	#80
TwoSpoons diyAudio Member Join Date: Oct 2004	I use Press'n'Peel Blue, which is expressly designed for making pcbs from laser prints. The other parts of the process do have to be right , though. PCB copper must be absolutely clean (I use 0000 grade grease-free steel wool, and isopropyl alcohol). Getting the temperature just right is also essential - it will be different for different toners. Time and pressure also must be right. To this end I built a temperature controlled hotplate, with a vacuum port. pcb goes on the plate, then a piece of cloth as a vacuum spreader, then a sheet of silicone on a frame. With vacuum applied the silicone sheet sucks down and gives me a nice even 14 lbs/sq inch pressure over the whole board. I use a thermocouple on top of the silicone, to tell me when the whole thing is hot enough. Still get it wrong sometimes ...