Solar Turret — Version 2 — The PCB

Whip Up A Printed Circuit Boards — Part I—Ardu_Serie#71

J3
Jungletronics
5 min readFeb 11, 2019

--

Just point and rotate the drill quickly, so it doesn’t slip;)
Would you like to have a prototype PCB of your project in a no-time & no-delays & easy-to-follow approach?

Follows a short description of the process to produce Solar Turret v2’s PCB.

Materials:

Glossy Paper (150g): can be replaced by the magazine sheets we have at home; alternatively, you can use Toner Transfer Paper For DIY PCB:

The Copper Clad Phenol Board — PCB Board: sizes 5x5cm, 10x5cm … 40x40cm (single or double-sided, it is possible to cut the board to the size that interests):

Iron Perchloride: A compound for etching of printed circuit boards and pickling of copper; Alternatively you can use Pure Ferric Chloride Sodium Persulfate; The etching solution must not be stored in hermetically sealed containers due to the risk of developing overpressure and cracks.; the solution can be reused:

CAUTION: Chemicals used in this demonstration are hazardous to your health and the environment. Read the Material Safety Data Sheet(MSDS) for each chemical and follow all safety precautions. NOTICE: Dispose of chemicals in accordance with all applicable laws. If in doubt, contact your local waste management service for disposal of hazardous materials

the Spray Insulating: is for the finishing of the board after the soldering is completed:

PROTECTIVE VARNISH / SPRAY / ACRYLIC / FOR ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONICS APPLICATIONS

the Drills: I advise to buy some of each one we use most is 0.8mm and 1.0mm depending on the component and they break with certain ease; an alternative technique that worked very well here is to use sewing machine needles 12; the size corresponds to the diameter of the needle in hundredths of a millimeter at a non-reinforced point above the scarf (shaft). just trim the tip and voilà! Perfect hole to fit a 1/4 w resistor without backslack :)

CD Pens: are for touching up some printing imperfections on the board before corroding with Iron Perchloride; I used a CD/DVD Marker Pen:

similar to this one:)

the Holder: is to hold the board as you manipulate it with the solder;
the mini vise or bench vise is useful for securing the Phenol Board during drilling;

Rotary Multi Tool: (microretifica in Brazil) to drill the board; see offers on amazon:)

Process Descriptions

The process essentially involves bathing the unprotected areas in a corrosive chemical known as an Iron(III) chloride, also called ferric chloride (Percloreto de Ferro in Brazil), which reacts with the material in the area not covered and causes the solid material to be dissolved; inert substances known as maskants (ink’s CD Pens) are used to protect specific areas of the material as resists.

With the finished print image follow the steps below…

Step by step

1Use steel wool to remove the grease from the board; remove all fingerprints:

2this step picks up before a copper clad board has had traces printed on it with a laserjet printer; I used hard iron pressure against a marble plate; Use an electric iron so that the Toner Transfer Paper For DIY PCB’s image is transferred to the Copper Clad Phenol Board (about 7–10 minutes):

3 Now use clean water to wipe away the remnants of the paper:

4 Retouch images that have failed so that the tracks are well covered by ink:

5 bathe the board in iron chloride and wait for the corrosion of the copper (approximately 20–30 minutes) :/ omg 1/2 hour +? try to heat your solution up to 45 degrees Celsius. u will etch in minutes =)

6 this step picks up after I used steel wool to remove the paint and expose the copper; then I use sewing machine needles as drill and drill all the holes in the board according to your project (click and download the image of this project):

7 Here is the result of the experiment so far:

Final Result: Solar Turret v2

The next step we will put all the components together in the board and test it; Wait and you will see this project working! let’s hope o/

See you soon :) Bye!

Download All Files For This Project

Related Posts

Solar Turret V2 — PCB — Part II — Designing Printed Circuit Boards — PCB — Ardu_Serie#72

Solar Turret v 1.2 — More Responsible Than Ever! Ardu_Serie#70

Solar Turret V 1.1 — Improving Design 4 Learning More — ArduSerie #69

J3 Solar Tracker Turret V1.0–100th Pub Youtube Video about Arduino #arduSerie 100

Arduino Pro Mini — Flashing — Having Trouble Flashing ProMini? Ardu_Serie#67

Reference And Credits:

Thanks to my friend Pompermaier great Expertise about this issue:)

Etching a Printed Circuit Board(PCB) using sodium persulfate

Arduino Sun Tracker Turret © CC0

PCB Fab-In-A-Box — Ancillary Items — Here are our picks for the best “must have” items!

Circuit Skills: Circuit Board Etching (sponsored by Jameco)

Circuit Skills: Circuit Board Etching by Make: (Collin’s Lab: Arduino)

CAUTION

Chemicals used in this demonstration are hazardous to your health and the environment. Read the Material Safety Data Sheet(MSDS) for each chemical and follow all safety precautions.

NOTICE

Dispose of chemicals in accordance with all applicable laws. If in doubt, contact your local waste management service for disposal of hazardous materials

— Published @ Feb 2019 —

I made only one mistake; can you see? I think I can get around this …
Please notice the two jumpers on the other side of the board;)

--

--

J3
Jungletronics

Hi, Guys o/ I am J3! I am just a hobby-dev, playing around with Python, Django, Ruby, Rails, Lego, Arduino, Raspy, PIC, AI… Welcome! Join us!