On Mon, 4 Mar 2019 16:46:21 -0600, you wrote:
Harvey,
? I am a very careful person but I do appreciate the warnings
nonetheless. How thick is the correct amount of plating?
Not very, I think it works out to (and check the MG chemicals website)
5 microinches/minute. I remember leaving the boards in for about 5-6
minutes, which is what they recommend.
I used old photo trays, 5x7 or 8x10 were fine, and the plastic was not
attacked by the chemicals. You'll want a dedicated funnel for the
bottle, too.
While the solution has "brighteners" in it, that remove airborne
induced oxidation, the cleaner you get often the better.
When I did double sided boards, I could not have any vias under a part
(except a dip socket), but had to place them outside of any part.
I used #26 wire to "lace" the top to the bottom at the vias, soldered
both sides, then carefully clipped the excess off.
I also made the top and bottom separate, and aligned them (it can get
tricky) and used 30 minute (not 5, think about it....) epoxy to put
the boards together, and fairly stiff pins to align them. I had
masking tape on both copper sides (keeps epoxy fingerprints off...),
used gloves, and used tape to hold the boards in alignment before I
put the sides together. Putting it between two slabs of marble (home
discount store cheap stuff), made the whole board turn out flat.
Once done, remove the tape, trim to size (I use a shear), and then
drill.
Better to use a vacuum cleaner sucking in the debris than blowing
fiberglass dust into the air.
If you can find someone with a CPAP unit, the old hoses can be useful.
Harvey
On 3/4/2019 3:25 PM, Harvey White wrote:
On Mon, 4 Mar 2019 13:38:34 -0600, you wrote:
Please read the warning labels, do this outside, and do not breathe
the fumes.
Time in bath equates to thickness of plating.
Solution can be reused many times until it fails.
Harvey
