NOT saying DO NOT build a heated bubbler etching
tank ......
but
for any newbies doing it for the first
time........
you don't need heat or bubbles.
I've been etching for 4 years on my kitchen
counter at room temperature and in summer in 65 degree crisp
cold air conditioning
and
never have seen any deviation in my HCL H2O2 etch
bath time.... always between 5 and 7 minutes
and
I periodically wipe bubbles off the copper with a
fan shaped makeup brush and make sure that the metal
ferule on the brush never touches the liquid.
Some guys use rockers to slosh the liquid.
Some guys attach vibrator motors.... the kind in
pagers and cell phones and kink toys...
?to shake away the bubbles that form on the PCB.
?Sometimes I don't even bother with the brush
and
always end up with a pretty PCB.
On 03/05/2019 12:21 PM, Dave wrote:
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On
3/5/2019 10:28 AM, Harvey White wrote:
On Tue, 5 Mar 2019 08:26:04 -0600, you
wrote:
Thanks. I had found that one earlier
today. It has been replace by a
more expensive model. After a lot of searching online, it
looks as
though I just need to look for a suitable container, get a
pump, and a
heater. The proper shaped glass vase or something.
Glass is better.? The etchant tends to eat the seal on
rubbermaid
containers, but will work.? You could use an air bubbler stone,
but
that will be attacked by the acid.? At one time, I used an
aquarium
heater to heat the etchant, from what I remember, I stopped that
and
just etched on warm days.
Ammonium persulfate (or perchlorate) does not corrode things the
way
that HCL based etchants do.? I've seen designs that are
effectively
spray etchers, rotating cylinders with holes in them.? Normal
water
pipes (schedule 20 or so) do not get affected by the acid, so an
"L"
of that plastic with small holes drilled in it, fed outside by
an air
pump will handle the bubbler.
Your tank needs to be level for a good bubble flow.
Harvey
I was just looking at those 8x8 inch square glass blocks as an
easy container. The ones that have the rectangular hole already
cut in them. May make a good starter bubble tank. So now I already
have my first problem. Finding a plastic suitable for my HCL based
etchant. :) Or change etchants already... I want to stick with the
muriatic and peroxide for now.
