Archive of the former Yahoo!Groups mailing list: Homebrew PCBs

Sorry for the "What's the best laser printer" post but I need advice.

I am currrently using a Xerox DocuPrint 240A to produce positive PCB
artwork which I then expose via UV to make my boards. Unfortuantely
the print quality is poor.

Firstly, the blacks aren't very black, they're all splotchy. I
wanted to use GCC Toner Density Spray, but according to GCC, the
spray only works with carbon based toners - the Xerox uses something
else - sorry I forget the details.

Second, the dimensions are wrong. A 100mm x 100mm rectangle comes
out at about 100.5 x 99. I can scale it, but not accurately enough.
My inkjet printer is much more precise but it sprays.

And finally, the paper handling is woeful. The paper seems to jiggle
around when being printed. A line running down the left side of the
page can be up to 2mm longer than the one on the right. This makes
the printer pretty useless for double sided boards.

All this is not a problem for small boards, 50mm x 50mm. Up to 100mm
it starts getting a bit tricky, vias can sometimes miss, but can be
creatively soldered. Larger than that and it is a waste of time
trying. I will go to my local printer and get them to print it for
me. They have a large table sized Xerox DocuCenter 1100 which prints
amazing images on transparency - accurate, black, and no toner
splatter. Unfortunately, they are usually busy and I have to wait -
hence this post; I won't get my print outs till tomorrow.

So, are there better printers around? Affordable that is. Am I
expecting to much from a home laser? Or do I just have a lemon?

Any advice will be appreciated.

Thanks,
Frank