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| Thread ID: 115339 | 2011-01-14 03:02:00 | Want to make PCB etchant.. where to buy? | Agent_24 (57) | PC World Chat |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 1169628 | 2011-01-14 03:02:00 | I usually use Ferric Chloride but my supplies are starting to run out. Also, it's expensive and harder to get now. Then, I found this: www.instructables.com Is anyone already using this method and knows where to get the required chemicals? (Muriatic Acid and Hydrogen Peroxide) Or doesn't use it and knows anyway? |
Agent_24 (57) | ||
| 1169629 | 2011-01-14 03:49:00 | Hydrochloric Acid (HCl), is also known as Muriatic Acid or spirits of salts and should come from a hardware store, Hydogen Peroxide (H2O2) is used for bleaching hair etc, and should be available from a pharmacy, although I don't know what strengths you need. | Brucem (8688) | ||
| 1169630 | 2011-01-14 03:51:00 | The person who wrote that instructable says for the Hydrochloric Acid they used 31.45% and for the Hydrogen Peroxide it was 3% | Agent_24 (57) | ||
| 1169631 | 2011-01-14 04:00:00 | Etchant like ammonium persulphate would be very much better than hydrochloric acid or Hydrogen Peroxide. I am very dubious about hydrogen peroxide, doubt it would be strong enough unless you could get rocket grade test peroxide ! :) DSE use to sell both persulphate and ferric chloride before they became toaster shops, but they were expensive. I found these sites via Google: www.surplustronics.co.nz www.voltelectronics.co.nz I got a big jar of ferric chloride powder from a pcb manufacturer quite a while ago now. You could try and find a firm that makes boards and see if they will let you have some. |
Terry Porritt (14) | ||
| 1169632 | 2011-01-14 04:17:00 | I am hesitant to use Ammonium Persulphate as this article ( . com . au/index . php?id=article&name=etchantComparison" target="_blank">ultrakeet . com . au) shows the resulting board being a lot worse quality-wise than when using Ferric Chloride (and in my own experience, Ferric Chloride works very well) I am not worried about the strength of the HCl\H2O2 etchant being too low, it looks like a lot of people are using it very well . If this is the first time you're using this batch of solution (and I presume it is), it'll etch super-fast . This small board took only 2 minutes . Yikes! I also like the way you don't have to throw it away at all, so it should be cheaper in the long run . . . Also, note how the etchant gets greener over time as it eats away the copper . This is good news . What's happening is that you're dissolving the copper from the board and turning it into cupric chloride . In the long-run, the cupric chloride will be doing most of the etching (instead of requiring disposal) . For now, just watch your solution turn light green . Next time you use it, the color will deepen . |
Agent_24 (57) | ||
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