Copper Etchant, from materials at home?

[Fred.Amoson]

Hello,

I finally finished a board and it is ready to etch today. Unfortunately I forgot I ran out of etchant the last time I etched.

Is it possible to make etchant using materials that are lying around the home, or can be easily purchased at a store like Wal-Mart?

I will be ordering real etchant soon, but would like to etch this board today, if possible.

Thanks!

 

[jpanhalt]

A lot of formulas based on HCl and peroxide have been posted in the past. Walmart may have both ingredients. The HCl will be known as muriatic acid. If not, a big box home store will have the HCl. John

 

[RetiredHAL]

As per previous posts elsewhere in this site. 2 parts 3% hydrogen peroxide to 1 part commercial Muriatic Acid or Hydrochloric Acid (sold as brick cleaner) does the trick.
I was dubious, but I guarantee that it works.
15 minutes to completely etch away the copper, especially if you agitate the etching bath. (probably posted too late before the shops close)

Cheers
RH

 

[Overclocked]

To tell you the truth, I could never get the Hydrogen Peroxide + HCL mix working. What did work for me was combining Black Copper Oxide With HCL and then adding in the board. I turned Copper Carbonate into Copper Oxide By heating it until it was black. I got the copper carb from a pottery store.

I havent seen HCL at home depot, however the dollar store sells Tons of it! $1 for a gallon of 20% HCL. Its sold at drain unclogger, but read the ingredients since some contain Sodium Hydroxide and Sodium Hypo-chlorate

But dont worry! You can make Copper Oxide At home, but it will take a while. You going to need a fair amount of baking soda for this process also! Salt can also be used, but you have to use a voltage greater than 5V.

This Process is to get copper Carbonate, You'll need a heatsource (like a blow torch and some heating vessel) to heat it up until black.

1) You'll need Copper. You should have extra copper pipe around some where.
2)Get a plastic tub of some kind, Pour in warm water and mix in a little baking soda.
3) Attach Copper to the Cathode of the PSU (or the anode) well in any rate, attach copper to both the anode and cathode. Put in bucket turn on Power. Youll get bubbles and the liquid will turn a bluish greenish color. Leave On for about a day and replace Cathodes and Anodes as Necessary.

For Copper Itself, you can use Salt, but you must use a voltage greater than 5V, or else you will get copper chloride. This process is the same, just use salt instead of baking soda. You will end up with brownish looking water after a couple hours. You will also start seeing sludge form at the bottom. This is what you want! Put into vessle and heatup.

The process can take a couple days (ive done it before..), and FYI, in those couple of days you can just order some copper oxide (or copper carbonate) and have it shipped to you.

 

[Hero999]

In those few days you can just get the real PCB etchant shipped to you.