Rick,
Other than looking a little cruddy, what is the problem with the
precipitate that settles on the bottom? If you're worried it might be
ferric chloride that's fallen out of solution, then warm up the solution
and see if you can get the precipitate to dissolve. If you can't then it
can be simply filtered out. I wouldn't bother myself, but to each his own.
Now that you have muriatic acid, maybe it's time to switch to home-brewed
etchant made of the acid, drug-store peroxide, and table salt. Google it.
You'll find plenty. Best Todd
On Feb 14, 2013 10:21 AM, "Rick Sparber" <rgsparber@...> wrote:
> ∗∗
>
>
> First I added some Muriatic Acid and did see much of the precipitate
> dissolve. Next, I put a small tuft of steel wool in the ferric chloride.
> After 20 minutes it was gone. I then filtered it through a coffee filter. I
> next tried to use it to etch a board and found that it would not work at
> all. Maybe my proportions were all wrong. I would much prefer specific
> ratios than cut and try.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Rick
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com [mailto:Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com]
> On Behalf Of toddroberts2001@...
> Sent: Wednesday, February 13, 2013 8:44 AM
> To: Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: Re: [Homebrew_PCBs] Re: ferric chloride question
>
> In a message dated 2/13/2013 1:54:36 A.M. Eastern Standard Time,
> scubadogct@... writes:
>
> Does the addition of Hydrochloric acid help to maintain its working
> strength
> also?
>
> From what I have read adding Hydrochloric Acid (muriatic acid) does help to
> rejuvenate the Ferric Chloride. Here is a short article on the subject :
>
> http://users.monash.edu.au/~ralphk/etching-pcb.html
>
> The article says you can rejuvenate Ferric Chloride by adding a small wad
> of steel wool, then filter out the solution and add some Hydrochloric Acid.
> The steel wool precipitates the copper out of the solution. It doesn't say
> how much steel wool to add or how much Hydrochloric Acid to add so you will
> probably need to do it by trial and error, but should be worth a try.
>
> 73 Todd WD4NGG
>
>
> ------------------------------------
>
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