Re: Magnetic Drive Etchant Pump


Barry Lennox wrote:

I saw a very effective etching tank that used minimal etchant. It was
a *very* thin vertical tank made from two sheets of glass, but the
side "walls" were only strips of glass. 5 mm thick. The cunning part
was the bottom was 5 mm dia glass tube, with about 10 holes drilled
along it's length. One end was blocked off, and the other fed, via PVC
tubing, from an aquarium pump.

The drilling took some time and care with a special glass drill (Lee
Valley has them) but it was the only tricky part of the whole tank,
and the results were worth it.

It was all bogged together with RTV intended for aquarium tank
construction.

You guys are making this ALL to complex!

I've got LOTS of etching tank setups. Cheap and effective. I build a
tall thin (about 1 inch gap) somewhat wider than the circuit board
you wish to etch out of plexiglas. Make it rather taller than the
boards. It's easy to glue with solvent glue and you put a couple of
cross pieces on each end for feet. Fit a L shaped piece of PVC pipe
(capped) into the bottom and up the side. Drill two rows of small
holes in the bottom leg. (Use a PC board drill! ... You ARE making
PCBs right?) down one side of the tank (inside) you hang a glass fish
tank heater to heat the etchant. These heaters usually have a temp
control which you turn up to get some decent heat. Supply some air to
the bottom pipe from say an air brush pump and you are in business!
The bubbler etches nicely (works better with other etchants than
Ferric Chloride but does work with that too.) Basically just a plastic
tank partly filled with etchant covering the board, heated with the
heater and stirred with bubbles. Build one, you'll love it.

Yeah, they get all stained with ferric Chloride after a while but who
cares the things cost very little to make if you have some access to
plastic scraps of some kind. Glass? We doan need no stinking glass!
Just make sure the seams are nice and tight all around before you
start to try it with etchant.

OR if you insist, my previous setup was a pyrex baking dish mounted on
a hotplate for heating which was mounted on a pivoting board and
gearmotor that gently rocked the dish so etchant sloshed form one end
to the other. Believe me the bubbler is MUCH better!

Benj

.

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