Having a little problem with PCB making .

After choosing the right PIC USB programmer schematic i have decided to make a PCB with the help of traditional methods using :
Clothes iron
Ferrite chloride ( copper remover )
Copper surface.
Lazer printer .
Normal A4 paper .
Liquid soap .


Now according to the tutorial , i :
Printed the schematic on the paper ( Normal A4 paper ) , i have done that using lazer printer .
Let the clothes iron to heat up at max temp.
Put the paper on the copper surface
applied heat with pressure on the paper using the iron
After that i have directly put it in the liquid soap ( this is supposed to make the paper peel off easily from the copper surface ) and let it for about 4 minutes.

Now the problem is in the peeling process, i peel off the paper but there is a thin paper layer that is hard to remove , when i try to remove it with my hand the ink gets removed with it too .

Any ways i have continued the process , now i have to put the copper surface on the ferrite chloride to remove the copper and only the copper beneath the ink should stay .

After doing that i see the copper disappearing , i have left to to disappear entirely .

Now i only see the schematic lines alone witch is good , but the problem is that the ink is still hard to remove to let the copper lines appear ( probably because i did not remove all the paper in the previous step ?? )

I hope some one help me out on this .

I used rice paper because it dissolves in water better. (this has been years ago)

Use acetone or MEK to remove the toner/ink. Nail polish remover can be used, but is more expensive and may leave some residue.

John

Thanks , i guess the problem is the paper am using .
What type of paper is advised ?

What type of paper is advised ?

Click to expand...

Ordinary printed glossy magazine/catalogue paper gets good reports. I've not tried it.

I thought you had the etched board. If you can't remove the toner with solvent, use a fresh razor blade as a scraper, like when you remove paint from glass. Just slide it under the resist and do a final clean up with solvent. You can also use a 3M, non-metallic abrasive pad.

John

Thanks for the help , i have actually managed to get rid of the ink manually , the PCB looks nice though , but am sure it will look nicer with the right paper .

BTW this is the PCB layout , and i wonder what is a good alternative for the L1 component (VK200 self ) , am not sure i will find one like it easily .

Top looks nice lets see the back side.

I know you know but it is art work and not the schematic that you are transferring. Would be a real trick to only have to do the schematic

No this is just the layout posted on the tutorial , its not me who designed it , am just making one based on it

As i said before i managed to remove the ink from the copper , now i have to use a small drill .

could i just use a strap as a replacement for the VK200 self L1 ?

It depends on what L1 is used for. If it is part of a charge pump you must have it. If it is just to smooth power like a ferrite bead then you might get by without it.

Link to the project ?

Its in french :
https://www.technologuepro.com/montages-electroniques/programmateur-PIC-USB-6.html

Looks to me like it is part of a noise filter on the USB 5V supply:


John

jpanhalt said:

Looks to me like it is part of a noise filter on the USB 5V supply:
View attachment 81758

John

Click to expand...

I think i will make one with simple ferrite circle

(Now the problem is in the peeling process, i peel off the paper but there is a thin paper layer that is hard to remove , when i try to remove it with my hand the ink gets removed with it too .)

don't forget to clean the board w/ a solvent (I use acetone) before applying the iron. Make sure it's cleaned and dry.

That what i got on the first try , unfortunately i had to recover some tracks with tin .

Not bad for a first go and with regular paper.

If you can find rice paper you can give that a try. Color pages from SOME magazines work. Finding which can be a trial.

PulsarPro sells a paper coated with starch. The paper falls off the board about a minute after you put it in the water.

3v0 said:

Not bad for a first go and with regular paper.

If you can find rice paper you can give that a try. Color pages from SOME magazines work. Finding which can be a trial.

PulsarPro sells a paper coated with starch. The paper falls off the board about a minute after you put it in the water.

Click to expand...

Hey thanks

Next time i'll try to make better ones .

Do you have an idea on a good PCB design software ?? i have some PWM circuits to make .

Yup I am a big fan of eagle. I used to make my PCBs but now have OSHpark make them. You get 3 copies of the board at $3 sq inch including shipping. Nice boards too and they take the eagle files.

Eagle sounds good .

Right now am reading a book about SMPSs , hopefully i will learn enough from it to make my own , also planning to make PCBs based on that power supply and a
PWM design .