[HN Gopher] Agitating homemade PCBs with ease
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Agitating homemade PCBs with ease
Author : PaulHoule
Score : 28 points
Date : 2024-09-23 22:15 UTC (4 days ago)
(HTM) web link (blog.arduino.cc)
(TXT) w3m dump (blog.arduino.cc)
| MegaDeKay wrote:
| Or just scrub the board with a bit of ferric chloride and a
| sponge. I've also seen a modified version of this method that
| might be better for larger boards that puts the board and the
| sponge in a ziploc bag with some etchant poured in. Use two
| sponges for a double sided board.
|
| https://hackaday.com/2009/07/13/etch-pcbs-with-ferric-chlori...
| squarefoot wrote:
| > Or just scrub the board with a bit of ferric chloride and a
| sponge.
|
| If you use ink pen and transfer pads like I did decades ago,
| the sponge would almost certainly wipe the pads off. The best
| way that I'm aware of to ensure the copper is being
| consistently covered by the solution is to use an air pump to
| produce bubbles under it. Those used in aquariums are quite
| cheap and durable.
| wrs wrote:
| Yes! The sponge technique takes a little practice to get
| consistent results, but it works well (at least for small
| boards), and lets you use microscopic amounts of etchant, which
| is good for cleanup. I find it's especially good when trying to
| do relatively small traces, because you get such fine control
| over the process. (I have to say though, nowadays I'd usually
| rather wait six days for JLCPCB to do it for me.)
| StayTrue wrote:
| I don't think this is the best way to clean PCBs but it would
| make a great machine for marinating food, moving the marinade
| around continuously for max/even absorption.
| _Microft wrote:
| This is not a cleaning process (in the sense of "removing
| dirt"). One way to create PCBs is to use a board with a copper
| surface, put a protective mask on the locations that should
| have traces or pads and then etch away copper from everwhere
| (else). In the end, only copper under the protective mask will
| remain. Etching is faster when the solution is moved around
| during the process. This machine does exactly that.
| MegaDeKay wrote:
| It would make a poor machine for marinating food. Most of the
| foods you'd marinate should be refrigerated during the process.
| A much better way to marinate is throw everything into a ziploc
| with as much air removed as you can to maximize contact. Flop
| it around every now and then if you like.
| Workaccount2 wrote:
| I have made a number of PCB's at home. By far the best etchant is
| warm hydrochloric acid (30%) and peroxide (3%). In a 1:2 mixture
| (HCL:Peroxide). Will etch a board in about 3 minutes. But be sure
| to do it outside.
| buildsjets wrote:
| Am I the only one who finds it immensely sad that they are using
| a microcontroller, code, and a servomotor to replicate the motion
| of one of the simplest and most basic of machines to construct, a
| crank and kingpin?
|
| This is a project for Lego, not Arduino.
| dmb2 wrote:
| No, I came to the comments after having this exact reaction.
| topspin wrote:
| My design would have a pivoting arm holding the PCB in the
| fluid and bump or rotate the arm with a cam. Why put the big
| container full of caustic liquid in motion when you can just
| move the PCB?
|
| I've been nerd sniped thinking about this. Latest thinking:
| simple sliding bar clamp to hold two edges of the PCB. The PCB
| hangs down into the solvent tank. The bar on the clamp drops
| into vees at both ends. One end of the bar is bumped with a
| motorized cam, the other has a spring. The clamp+PCB oscillates
| back and forth and the arms agitate the fluid. When the cycle
| is complete you just lift the clamp+PCB out of the tank. The
| tank doesn't move. Tank shape can be optimized to minimize
| working fluid and agitation.
| pstrateman wrote:
| The YouTube video acknowledges the over engineering in the
| title.
| dvh wrote:
| Piece of string and this bash script: while
| true; do eject eject -t done
| amelius wrote:
| I don't understand. Ordering PCBs online is nowadays almost as
| fast as ordering the components. Why would you want to make them
| yourself?
| bobmcnamara wrote:
| There are reasons.
|
| Mine: phased Vivaldi antenna arrays. Iteration is painful if
| you have shipping in your run debug loop.
| amelius wrote:
| Ok, but that usecase is very exceptional.
| daghamm wrote:
| EUR40 to receive it in 3 days or EUR0 to have it in 3 hours.
| brotchie wrote:
| My thoughts exactly. It's fun as a hobby I guess, but sitting
| down and soldering a non-trivial board sounds like a PITA vs
| paying $50 for a respin of 5x boards with full pick-and-place
| assembly, delivered in <5 days.
| avaldez_ wrote:
| >Why would you want to make them yourself?
|
| Welp, not everyone lives in the US or Europe. Living in South
| America my only options are either spend ~$100 for a two weeks
| _fast delivery_ or have it for free ~2 months later. Not many
| options for the hobbist maker over here. There are local
| services but they are more expensive (and slower if that's even
| possible) or just middleman for PCBWay or JLCPCB.
| amelius wrote:
| But how long does it take for your components to be
| delivered?
| Animats wrote:
| The usual way to agitate PCB etching today is to put an aquarium
| bubbler at the bottom of the tank.[1] Cheap, compact, simple, and
| you need less etching solution.
|
| [1] https://www.circuitspecialists.com/et20
| daghamm wrote:
| I built a similar device some years ago only to realise that all
| my servomotors where cheap knockoffs that broke after 5 minutes
| l.
|
| Has anyone managed to get those $2 servos on Ali to work
| reliably?
| ein0p wrote:
| Just buy them in China. Super cheap even in small quantity and
| very high quality. Shipping isn't too bad either. Beats the heck
| out of figuring out how to dispose of ferric chloride. They'll
| even populate the boards for you for a reasonable fee if your
| design uses SMD parts
| pavl wrote:
| Can you recommend a Website/service?
| ein0p wrote:
| I've been using https://jlcpcb.com/ and have nothing but good
| things to say about the results. Caveat: my latest order was
| well over a year ago.
|
| BTW if someone knows of any domestic US alternatives, please
| list them. I'd be more than happy to pay 2x the price for
| faster turnaround, but certainly not 10x the price.
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