pcbFX questons (aka Pulsar)

Well I finally decided to go take a look at that link 3v0 started this thread with.I did find an ozzie outlet for the pulsar paper and also a pretty neat hack for those GBC Laminators **broken link removed**

That page shows how to raise the temperature for pcb printing.

Cheers Bryan

I use BRASSO to clean and buff my boards and then acetone to remove any residue.

Ultrakeet TTS paper

@Bryan1

<shameless plug> Have you also checked out our A-Z PulsarProFX tutorial, that covers silkscreening and solder masking? ;D </shameless plug>

Also, I've been doing vias beneath TQFP64 dsPICs for years without plating, simply using some enamel copper strands from "headphone wire" (from cheapie headphones) and a little wet'n'dry sandpaper to sand down the solder joint ever so slightly... Haven't any had issues to date!

Pulsar paper and foil in UK.

Some members in the UK have been looking for this stuff.

Pulsar now has a UK outlet that has the TTP (paper), and TRF (green and white foils).



3v0

Great, Many thanks!

Expounding on a few points...

edeca said:

It is just a normal laminator made by GBC (model H65 in the UK at least). I bought one second hand from someone else, they aren't exclusive to Pulsar at all.

The apparent difference is that it uses rollers to compress the media as it travels through.

But.. having said all this, I've still not got a successful board from the Pulsar method. User error gets me every time

Click to expand...

Hello Edeca,

I was just zipping through some comments today (normally don't get on but for once a week or so) and ran across you mentioning you had bad results. Please drop me a line when you get a chance. I'd like to talk with you on what's going wrong for you.

Yes, the "TIA" Toner Image Applicator (out name) is a standard off the shelf 9" GBC laminator. It is the lowest cost unit on the market to be able to do full 8" .032" boards. It will physically transport .064" BUT the load is very high on the motor/geartrain so you have to "help" it through with a little finger pressure, etc).

The H-65 model means it's 220v and the Personal means 110v. Both identical units (except the USA version is just a thermostat whereas the H-65 is a full blown PWM heating circuit. We just don't rate here in the US! You guys get all the luck. There are only two possible problems... low heat or low toner density (assuming no BROTHER brand printer!). The density is set on the printer (illusive sometimes) and the temp is a feedback resistor you can easily adjust. If you have the full "PCB Fab-In-A-Box" kit, there is a preprinted sheet of sample "test" images with known good toner density. If the image fuses perfectly to the copper it says your toner density is LOW! Vise versa and the laminator is not getting hot enough (needs to be between 270ºF ~ 300ºF) for all conventional toner when using the laminator providing hundreds of PSI (extrapolated) across the board. Huge pressure, minimal temperature inhibits all image distortions.

Sorry if I got off topic a tad but like to be able to show above all we (I) directly support every one of my customers who experience ANY problem. If I don't get an email or call I don't know there is something wrong. We don't allow disgruntled customers!

Frank mail@pulsarprofx.com

Thanks for the information 3V0.

I would just like to add a vote of gratitude to Frank. I emailed him directly about some transfer issues I had with the pulsar paper. He was very knowledgable and exceptionally helpfull. Nice bloke all round.

It's a great product, and it's unbelievable that Frank would go out on the web to help people work out any issues they may have. I only had a few minor issues, that I worked out on my own, mostly handling the copper, and recycled toner cartridge. I tried the sponge method of etching last time, but didn't see much advantage. Still took 10 minutes or so, but bigger mess to clean up, and would have be tough if there would have been a knock on the door, or the phone ring