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Subject: Re: [Homebrew_PCBs] sluggish etchant

From: "Herbert E. Plett" <cachureos@...>
Date: 2008-06-17

the bubbler running will provide for some of the needed O2.
perhaps a little more HCl is needed, it also fumes out...



--- On Tue, 6/17/08, DJ Delorie <dj@...> wrote:
> I've got a somewhat new tank of HCl etchant that
> I've used a few
> times, but it's mostly been sitting for a while.
> It's only pale
> green, but it's emerald not brownish. My test boards
> (one just
> scrubbed copper as a control) have been in it for 40
> minutes now.
> It's warm and the bubbler is running, I even added a
> shot of peroxide
> ten minutes ago. It etched real quick the first time I
> used it, when
> it was fresh.
>
> What's the most likely cause of this sluggishness?
> What could I try
> doing? Things to test?
>
> I was thinking of making some copper oxide (the wire+heat
> trick) and
> try to get the solution darker, but I'd rather not put
> too much copper
> in if there are simpler ways.