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More TT Tips

2006-09-06 by Ray Dinwiddie

Hi All: Just picked up a used Laserjet 4 for use in TT. Testing and 
evaluating produced some tips I share. To remove TT from a spoiled 
board we all know that acetone makes a mess by diluting the old toner 
and staining the board requiring a lot of scrubing to restore a bright 
copper surface. I found that gasoline and a dead toothbrush works much 
better, the old toner is not diluted but dislodged from the board and 
with a little soap and water you are back to a clean board. 

The laserjet came with a lexmark toner cartridge that looks like it 
has never been refiled and I completed about 30 sq.in. S/S pcb with 
maybe 100 linier inches of .15 traces and not a single pit or pin 
hole. Considering my past experiance with pin holes in TT I speculate 
that the toner is the culprit, and the toner in the lexmark cartridge 
for an unknown reason is not as apt to produce the pin holes.

Removing Epson glossy paper from the PCB is easy with denatured 
alcohol but it leaves a little residue at the edges of the traces and 
in the pad center holes. This residue in easily removed by lightly 
scrubbing with a dead toothbrush and denatured alcohol.

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