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PBC toner smears

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Ambient

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I have made a few boards using the copy center at Office Max. When I clean the toner off with acetone after etching, I get some areas where the toner smears very badly and overall it makes the board dark. UGLY!!!!!

Should I be cleaning with something other than acetone? Or could it be the boards that I have? No amount of scrubbing will remove the toner stains.

Thanks for any suggestions.

EDIT: can't believe I mis-spelled PCB.
 
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I use a HP laserjet 1020. I wipe with acetone and clean up with dawn dish soap and a stiff tooth brush but only after the board is fairly free of toner.

You do need to use a clean paper towel (or expose a clean surface) quite often as the toner tends to redeposit.
 
I use Pulsar paper and a Laserjet 1020, so might not apply... I had a few messy looking boards at first, once the liquified toner gets onto something, it's tough to get all of it off (hands, clothes, work bench...). Here's how I deal with the mess. I put down newspaper, soak a paper towel well (dripping) with acetone, and try to go over the board quickly and thoroughly, not scrubbing yet, just a quick soaking wipe. Then I scrub, trying to use as much of the clean surface of the paper towel. Usually have the board fairly clean, but usually need to use a second soaked towel to finish it, and will move the board to a clean area of the newspaper if toner gets on it. A can of acetone at the hardware store or even Walmart is around $3.00, so don't be stingy with it. I think if you use too little, the toner is just softened into more of a paste, and doesn't get soaked up into the towel, just smeared around. Wouldn't use cloth, as its pretty much a one use deal, won't wash out in the laundry.
 
I was also wondering if solder paste would work well for protecting the copper from oxidation. It's either that or I spray it with lacquer or polyurethane. On the traces I have been using regular solder and its a pain to get it on smooth.

I may try using acetone in a spray bottle so that I don't rub the toner into the board. I just gotta do it outside since the acetone will be evaporating like crazy.
 
Ambient said:
On the traces I have been using regular solder and its a pain to get it on smooth..

If you wet the traces with a flux pen prior to applying the regular solder you can get it very smooth. Only wet a few traces at a time as the flux does not seem to work as well when dry.
 
I use the "don't clean" flux but it remains sticky and grows dust bunnies... so I clean it. When it runs out I'll just get regular and clean anyway. isopropyl alcohol works good.
 
Ambient said:
I was also wondering if solder paste would work well for protecting the copper from oxidation. It's either that or I spray it with lacquer or polyurethane. On the traces I have been using regular solder and its a pain to get it on smooth.

I may try using acetone in a spray bottle so that I don't rub the toner into the board. I just gotta do it outside since the acetone will be evaporating like crazy.

Never thought of trying to rinsing toner off, might work, but imagine wiping would be quicker and cleaner. Always use acetone outside, the fumes really bother me, and guess quite flamiable. Since it melts plastic, and I wear contacts, and smoke... it wouldn't be good.
 
Ambient said:
I just gotta do it outside since the acetone will be evaporating like crazy.
And very flammable ...
I use acetone to clean off the flux residue and resist, too. That is, when I clean the board. Usually, if it's a board with just thru-hole components, I leave the resist on to protect the traces and solder through it. If the design is SMT, I clean off the resist, tin the traces and pads, then remove the excess solder with solderwick. Then I clean it again to remove the flux. Also, I use the photoetch process, not toner-transfer. Don't know if that makes a difference or not.
Jeff
 
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