[sdiy] Cupric Chloride etchant?

[David G. Dixon]

I dispose of mine in my lab in the same drum with all the other solution
waste we generate from mineral leaching experiments.  Lime (CaO) neutralizes
all the acid and precipitates all the metals.  The clear, neutral,
supernatant solution is dilute salt water and can be put down the drain.
The precipitated sludge is taken away about once a year, when the drum is
full (I'm talking about a 45-gallon drum here!).

Washing soda will neutralize the solution and precipitate the copper.  I
suppose the precipitated sludge could be dried in the windowsill and is then
relatively harmless.  Otherwise, there's always dilution!


> -----Original Message-----
> From: cheater cheater [mailto:cheater00 at gmail.com]
> Sent: Saturday, January 16, 2010 1:45 PM
> To: HL-SDK Synths
> Cc: David G. Dixon; synth-diy
> Subject: Re: [sdiy] Cupric Chloride etchant?
> 
> How do you dispose of this stuff?
> 
> Is there a way to chemically neutralize it so that it can go down the
> drain?
> There are some links on the 'net about reducing cupric chloride, but i
> have no idea if that's feasible at home, or if it does much good to
> the disposability of the thing.
> 
> D.
> 
> On Sat, Jan 16, 2010 at 21:39, HL-SDK Synths <syntroniks at gmail.com> wrote:
> > Only thing I have to worry about is disposal, If it isn't etching fast
> > enough for me, I add more peroxide and/or acid. That speeds it up
> > considerably, but I am slowly working my way up in liquid volume. The
> same
> > bottle of acid and peroxide have lasted me a few boards I suppose. I
> prefer
> > it to the ugly ferric chloride.
> >
> > On Fri, Jan 15, 2010 at 12:34 PM, David G. Dixon
> <dixon at interchange.ubc.ca>
> > wrote:
> >>
> >> > Hi guys, has anyone used Cupric Chloride for etching their PCBs?
> >> >
> >> > Relevant link:
> >> > http://www.diyblog.net/2009/11/21/cupric-chloride-as-a-pcb-
> >> > etchant/
> >>
> >> I've done all my boards this way.  It's brilliant.  I keep a bottle of
> >> green
> >> solution in my garage, and when I'm ready to etch, I bring it in the
> >> house,
> >> pour some into a pyrex dish, and do it in the laundry-room wash-basin.
> >> About every third or fourth time I add a few splashes of hydrochloric
> >> (muriatic) acid, and each time I add a splash of peroxide.  Even when
> the
> >> solution is stone cold, etching is still complete in about 3-5 minutes.
>  I
> >> just wear a rubber glove and swish the board around with my hand.
> >>
> >> I'm still using the same solution I started with almost a year ago.
> >>
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> >
> >