Circuit Board Photo Resist Etching - Fail.. What went wrong?

Thread Starter

Qsilverrdc

Joined Aug 3, 2014
66
@Qsilverrdc
Richard, EXCELLENT! Very cool.

Your boards are looking good. Drilling a zillion holes has always been a pain. Very nice solution.

Have you thought about milling the PCBs with your Reprap?

Also have you thought about mounting a pin point UV light source in the Reprap and use it to expose your boards? This is something I have been working on for a while using a pin plotter.
I don't think this reprap is mechanically rigid enough to mill. I don't know about other versions of reprap.
As far as direct exposure, it could work. I think it would take a long time to print or expose a board.
If you were to convert the traces image to a stl file, then you could use reprap standard software to generate the tool path.

What pin point UV source would you use?
 

Thread Starter

Qsilverrdc

Joined Aug 3, 2014
66
Here is the circuit for driving my LED at 1 amp. LED Drive.jpg

Here is the finished UV LED point circuit.LED Drive Real.jpg
I did a brief test exposure. Looks sharp and quick.
 

Thread Starter

Qsilverrdc

Joined Aug 3, 2014
66
Here is a new exposure.20160623_215309.jpg
This is using Lestraveled photo resist.
Exposed by UV point led at about 8 inches thru 1 layer laser print film.
Developed 3 minutes with developer at about 100deg F.
Did not etch as I had bubbles between film and copper. Mostly lower left.
More update later.
 

Lestraveled

Joined May 19, 2014
1,946
@Qsilverrdc
Each time you post there is a notable improvement in your boards.

I got those kinds of defects when I used only sand paper or a scotch bright pad to clean the PCB. I now use a scotch bright pad and an abrasive cleaner like Cerama Bryte, or Comet. I finish it off with alcohol. (No, not a beer, isopropyl.)

Earlier, you said you stopped wetting the film when you apply it. May I suggest you reconsider wetting it. It really improves the film adhesion.
 

Thread Starter

Qsilverrdc

Joined Aug 3, 2014
66
@Qsilverrdc
Each time you post there is a notable improvement in your boards.

I got those kinds of defects when I used only sand paper or a scotch bright pad to clean the PCB. I now use a scotch bright pad and an abrasive cleaner like Cerama Bryte, or Comet. I finish it off with alcohol. (No, not a beer, isopropyl.)

Earlier, you said you stopped wetting the film when you apply it. May I suggest you reconsider wetting it. It really improves the film adhesion.
I got very bad results with water. I watch yours and other videos, and the resuls look very good. I don't know if it is my laminator temp or speed. Looks terrible when I have tried.
 
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