Homebrew PCBs

Adam,
Thanks for the description and insight. I have been talking to my
favorite PCB shop and they may sell me a small quantity of the activator
they use.
I expect they can tell me how long the shelf life is for such chemicals.

Best Regards
Hans W

adam Seychell wrote:

>  Hello Hans,
> I didn't give any details on the process I was using only because I
> haven't got it working good as I like and it would take me all day to
> write up :). Basically I'm using a variation of the proprietary
> BLACKHOLE process by Macdermid. Search the web for "blackhole pcb".
> Macdermid hold the exact chemistry a secret but I've managed to get
> some
> good results by investigating all the patents on the subject. A long
> time ago I looked into electroless copper and found it was an
> expensive
> and difficult process to run, so I didn't bother with it. Electroless
> copper is widely used by platers and has been around since 40's (I
> think) so you won't have trouble finding info in a good library.
>
> Tom is absolutely right in that most chemicals are only available in
> bulk. A bulk quantity for hobbyist is 25 kg, but that's about a
> minimum
> sale for any chemical from any chemical supplier. I was lucky enough
> to
> get some of my chemicals in small quantity. Others such as 98%
> sulfuric
> acid, and 25% aqua ammonia I could get in 25 liter, fortunately these
> are cheap.
>
> Waste disposal is discussed in many plating books. The carbon black
> solutions are non-toxic and I regularly dump them on the garden with
> zero effect to the plants (just makes the soil a bit blacker :).
>
> If you want to do electroless copper then your best bet is to contact
> your local plating supplier and ask them to supply you with the
> chemicals. They know exactly how their chemicals behave and how to use
>
> them so all the hard work is done for you. You will find it difficult
> obtaining all the individual ingredients and trying to make it work
> for
> your self.
>
> The bottom line is that if you don't like handing chemicals and not
> interested in the chemistry then I think it would be a waste of time
> for
> anyone trying to make through hole boards as part of their hobby.
> The electroless is only a fraction of the whole process. It took me a
> about year before I could successfully plate copper and tin on PCBs.
> Each step in the process is completely different to learn and
> understand. Unfortunately PCB making involves so many of these steps.
>
> If you are still interested in making holes platable then I'd be happy
>
> to sometime write about the carbon black process. But it won't be of
> much use unless you can also do dry film photoresist lamination, hot
> soak cleaning, acid copper plating, acid tin plating, persulfate micro
>
> etching and alkaline ammonia etching and photoresists stripping.
>
>
> Hans Wedemeyer wrote:
> > Adam,
> > I just posted a message about  solutions, and would like to know
> what is
> > in the "super activated palladium catalyst" and "electroless copper
> > bath" ?
> > Also what is the "daily process" for testing and maintaining them ?
> > How long can these solution be stored ?
> > How does one get rid of used solutions?
> > Hans W
> >
> >
> > "twb8899 " wrote:
> >
> >
> >> Adam and the group,
> >>
> >>If you want to make plated through boards you should consider asking
>
> >>a board fabricator to sell you some of their existing chemistry. The
>
> >>cost of this stuff is higher than you would think because of the
> >>minimum quantities that must be purchased when starting new. These
> >>chemical baths require almost daily testing and replenishment with
> >>the main culprit being the catalyst and electroless copper baths.
> >>Some systems don't require an electroless copper bath and use a
> super
> >>activated palladium catalyst which is a little easier to maintain.
> >
> >
> >
> > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> >
> >
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