I had this problem initially where some toner would still lift off the
cpper with the paper.
The solution I have found is novel, but works surprisingly well - in
fact I can now reliably transfer and etch to smaller than SOIC traces.
All I do is let the board + paper soak for a few minutes after the
initial 10 or so laminator passes. Then, whilst the paper is still wet,
I run it again through the laminator. It hisses and steams, but after a
few passes the paper dries and the toner really sticks to the copper.
When the peper and board are wet, the paper holds to the board until I
manually pull it off. And the toner sticks firm enough that I can run a
fingernail across without lifting the toner.
Note that if you want to do this, for safety you MUST make sure that the
electricals in the laminator are far enough from where you pass the wet
board through - I figure if you're making PCBs, you're also able to
safely open up your laminator to check this out.
It may take careful paper placement to prevent the laminator from
tearing the wet paper+toner away from the board.
Also, the way to verify that the copper is clean is that when you wet
the board, water actually stays wet across the whole surface. If the water
retreats from areas of copper and pools up, your board is dirty. When it's
clean, air-dry it, don't wipe it down. I use Jif for the final clean -
rubbed across the board, the abrasive action cleans the copper, and the
built in soaps remove the oils.
FYI, my setup uses an HP laserjet4 (found on the street), a k-mart
laminator, and IJ-84 matte paper. A home made bubble tank (using an
aquarium pump + air stone) etches a 5x7mm board in under 10 minutes.
BB
Chuck Kelsey <
wb2edv@...> uttered the following thing:
> I picked up a new GBC 9" personal desktop laminator and tried some boards
> with no luck.
>
> I'm using a 4" x 6" board with 1 oz. copper and it has a thickness of
> 0.032". I clean it with a brillo pad and rinse thoroughly while wiping with
> a wet paper towel, then dry with a paper towel.
>
> The laser printer is a Lexmark 4039 10plus set at the darkest setting. Using
> the Pulsar toner transfer paper.
>
> The first attempt I ran the board (with the paper on the bottom) for 8
> passes in different directions. The laminator ready light had been on for
> 15-20 minutes before I began. I also pre-heated the board with a hair dryer.
>
> I dropped the board with the paper into a container of water and let it rest
> until the paper floated off on its own. Right away I could see pieces of
> black toner floating in the water as I lifted the paper out.
>
> My second attempt was done the same way, except I ran the board through 16
> times. Same problem - toner pieces floating around in the water.
>
> This is very discouraging and I'm at a loss. Anyone have any suggestions?
>
> Chuck
> WB2EDV
>
--
Ben Buxton - Random Network Person