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[moved] Steve Wards new DRSSTC driver on single sided board

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Mads Barnkob

Sun Jun 07 2009, 02:36PM

Registered Member #1403 Joined: Tue Mar 18 2008, 06:05PM
Location: Denmark, Odense C
Posts: 1968

Hey all

I got a feeling that I have thrown myself into something too complex for the tools I have available, FeCl3 and drawing traces by hand... and this is what it look like so far...

should I give it a go or just order a board with steve's pcb design from some PCB company and use smd components.

schematics used:

cjk2

Sun Jun 07 2009, 04:29PM

Registered Member #51 Joined: Thu Feb 09 2006, 04:17AM
Location:
Posts: 263

Drawing traces by hand is certainly not a problem, It is just time consuming. If you still want to do your own layout, I would suggest you use a better CAD tool, like Eagle. If you use a real tool like eagle, you can easily send your board out to a service like batchpcb and get a professional board made for around $30 or so.

Even if you want to etch it at home and use a toner transfer or photo resist method, you can still get good results with a single sided board, It will just be larger than a two sided, partially surface mount board.

If you like design work, Id say do the design yourself in eagle and have batchpcb make it for you.

Finn Hammer

Sun Jun 07 2009, 06:36PM

Registered Member #205 Joined: Sat Feb 18 2006, 11:59AM
Location: SkÃ¸rping, Denmark
Posts: 741

Mads,

I have had good results with this method:

Make the layout in Eagle, then print the artwork on transparancy sheets with a laser printer.
If you deside to do so, I can tell you exact procedure.
Then use photo sencitive PCB.
With the right amount of light, it does well, but takes some fiddeling to get light right.
Etch with water, hydrocloric acid and peroxide.
A 105Âµm print is done in 20 sec.

Here is the backside from my latest batch:

Not perfect, but keeps getting better. It's a bit of an art, so takes pracdtice to get it right.
The convenience of being able to make a semi pro pcb in your own home, now, when you need it should not be underestimated.

Cheers, Finn Hammer

Mads Barnkob

Sun Jun 07 2009, 06:43PM

Registered Member #1403 Joined: Tue Mar 18 2008, 06:05PM
Location: Denmark, Odense C
Posts: 1968

Finn Hammer wrote ...

Mads,

I have had good results with this method:

Make the layout in Eagle, then print the artwork on transparancy sheets with a laser printer.
If you deside to do so, I can tell you exact procedure.
Then use photo sencitive PCB.
With the right amount of light, it does well, but takes some fiddeling to get light right.
Etch with water, hydrocloric acid and peroxide.
A 105Âµm print is done in 20 sec.

Here is the backside from my latest batch:

It looks good, but you have a few things at hands that I do not, I am also trying to cost optimize by using what I currently have in stock, which is alot of normal single sided PCB and FeCl3 :)

I have read about printing on glossy paper and iron it to the pcb, but I dont know how good this method is for etching compared to photoresistant I read about, since the acid likes to go through my marker traces already.

uzzors2k

Thu Jun 11 2009, 10:13AM

Registered Member #95 Joined: Thu Feb 09 2006, 04:57PM
Location: Norway
Posts: 1308

Why don't you try photoresist? I'm getting into it myself right now. I've purchased 100 cheap UV LEDs from somewhere in Asia, and just finished making the firmware for a simple PIC timer with VFD display. I should be able to do some test etching next week sometime, so I'll let you know if it turns out. I use ExpressPCB too, and it works alright. Here's my PLL IH in PCB form. I think most PCB fab places accept ExpressPCB files.

(btw, it's called marker in English, not tusj.

)

Tetrafluoroethane

Fri Jun 12 2009, 11:55AM

Registered Member #127 Joined: Fri Feb 10 2006, 03:36PM
Location: Cincinnati, OH - USA
Posts: 44

I have pulled off boards far more detailed than that with simple iron-on transfers. If you have access to a 600 DPI laser printer, they really do work.

This is about the complexity I normally work with:

You might have to experiment to see what temperature setting on your clothes iron works best (the directions on the transfers say "rayon" but I need closer to "cotton") and make sure you clean your board well (steel wook & acetone or high-grade 90+ isopropanol). Heat the FeCl3 to >100F (I aim for 110F) and the etch will be fast enough it won't undercut too much. You can even print right from Eagle to the transfer film.

In case you are wondering, I use "press-n-peel blue". Google it for the site. But there are others out there I haven't tried.

Edit: One additional piece of advice. If your access to the laser printer is limited, print off several copies of the design. Especially since just starting your will probably mess up a few in the transfer process. I did anyway... maybe that is just me. :D

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