PCB TONER TRANSFER ... NO HEAT

[moodz]

http://www.instructables.com/id/Heatless-cold-Toner-Transfer-for-PCB-Making/?ALLSTEPS

[Carl-NC]

That's really interesting. I used to use the Press-n-peel blue for PCBs, but now it's so fast & cheap I just get PCBs from a board house. No holes to drill, multiple layers, a nice silkscreen, and tinned.

[eclipse]

I haven't made any boards myself (except for couple of when I was in school) but since my last few boards from board house have errors here and there
I've decided I will no longer more make PCBs directly from a board house.

It's really bad when you end up with 5-10-20 PCBs with couple of wrong connections which could screw up the whole scene.

I would prefer to make at least a prototype board manually with toner transfer method or UV exposure,
and give it a try, correct if there are any errors and only then order from fab if I'm happy with the layout.

For the test board I could reuse old parts, defect sockets & stuff I don't care stuffing.

I even got my old HP Laser printer up and running (it's been sitting 7 years!) and toner still works!
I was able to hack the toner cartridge counter so I could make quite a few more free copies.

[Geo]

I make many pcbs (at least prototypes)especially when i want to do tests.
So this method is very interesting.

Thanks Moodz

[chevesne]

http://www.geotech1.com/forums/showthread.php?23400-PICKINI-V4-an-easy-to-build-self-adjusting-PI-detector&p=223677#post223677

Easier to find, I agree.

[Koala]

Thanks for sharing.

[Goaty]

Has anyone had any success with this method of making PCBs?
I tried it but could not get the toner to stick to the board at all.
In the end I resorted to thoroughly wiping the pc board with straight acetone and then taping the toner transfer paper to it and passing it through my 'hotted- up' laminator at least 6-8 times.
This produced a quite respectable resist layer which etched quite well. Much better results than scrubbing with a scourer and washing with water.
I think the brand of laser toner has a marked effect on the results of each method - I used an HP Laserjet P1102w printer with the original HP toner cartridge.
Would be interested to hear if others have had any luck and what toners/printers they are using.

[Hyena]

Has anyone had any success with this method of making PCBs?
I tried it but could not get the toner to stick to the board at all.
In the end I resorted to thoroughly wiping the pc board with straight acetone and then taping the toner transfer paper to it and passing it through my 'hotted- up' laminator at least 6-8 times.
This produced a quite respectable resist layer which etched quite well. Much better results than scrubbing with a scourer and washing with water.
I think the brand of laser toner has a marked effect on the results of each method - I used an HP Laserjet P1102w printer with the original HP toner cartridge.
Would be interested to hear if others have had any luck and what toners/printers they are using.

Exactly!

I tried several PCBs by hot toner transfer - quality depends mostly on toner type and paper.

And several acetone+alcohol mixtures for cold toner transfer. I ended up with pure acetone. This metod also depends on room temperature. I needed to push paper against copper layer and acetone vaporisation depends on material which you push against paper (it must allow acethone to vapor through this material). I think you need to experiment with paper and - more important - toner quality.

My cheap noname toner crack in layers, sticks too much to paper... Original Canon toner was far better. Anyway I always needed to correct it with varnish, more or less.

[riad]

thank,s