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

YEP
I started with a ROYAL laminator..... increased the heater from 290 to 340 toner melt temp
by the FOOL THE THERMISTER hack then
added  motor roller pause and delay control for single pass
BUT
melted the plastic drive gear
so I resorted to plan B which is 20 pounds of press weight .... hot plate method: 
http://www.learnmorsecode.com/laminator/hotcakes.html

and now......the laminator waits for steel gears
http://www.learnmorsecode.com/laminator/index.html

but the heater and motor TRIAC PIC16F628A control is ready to share:
http://www.learnmorsecode.com/laminator/pic/index.html

My plan B hot plate method can be controlled by the laminator heater triac circuit
but honestly I feel it really does not need any control at all like the laminator did.

When I want to make a PCB I simply turn on the hot plate  on the MAX setting for 5 minutes
then back it down to ONE and watch a thermocouple digital thermometer first climb to 370 degrees then cool down.
When I see it hit 340 degrees I remove the thermometer and slap on the artwork and copper for 3 minutes and the
1 inch thick steel thermal mass cooks off real slow and consistantly holds out for enough time to slap multiple PCBs under the press for 3 minutes each.
http://www.learnmorsecode.com/pic/line/index.html

I have gotten to the point where the TIME it takes from steel getting piled on the hot plate until
the acetone is wiping toner off the etched board.... all happens in less than 30 minutes.
 

 

Before I started doing direct print, I had a similar laminator. I read about people gearing it down to make the board go through slower. I decided to instead use a micro controller with a relay to pulse the motor for 1 second every 10, instead of ironing after laminator. Sorry if it's off topic, but I can share more on how if need be.

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