Homebrew PCBs

Hi Mycroft,

I decided to go the route of feeding in the PCB material from the 
backside and NOT USING THE CD tray.  I didn't want to be restricted 
by the size of the PCB which is why I went for the super hacker 
method....

I pulled all the covers off this morning and got it to print again.  
I will have to make up a guide device to guide the PCB into the 
printer squarely - shouldn't be too difficult. Getting the timing 
right for feeding the PCB into the printer at the right time isn't 
too bad - I got paper to start fine after a few tries.

The head is too low, but lifting it up high enough is very easy - I 
think.  You can see a metal bracket on the right side of the guide 
shaft for the print head.  A cam in there somewhere lifts the head 
up and down for something, but you can also just push up that metal 
bracket and the head raises up high enough for PCB stock.  I just 
ran some epoxy board through the printer without jaming the head.

So far, the modifications to feed through the back were very easy - 
just removing plastic.  There will be some tinkering on the flap 
that folds down for the CD tray. That needs to be open to raise the 
pizza wheels, but when open, the PCB hits that flap. I think the fix 
will be a bit more hacking away at the plastic.  The switch for 
detecting if that flap is open or closed is inside that flap so I 
have to be very careful what I do with it till I get a better grasp 
of what is going on there.

The ink is going to be the big problem I suspect.  I am going to 
attempt to print on some PCB stock later today and try to etch it.  
I will just print some color bands or something to see which colors 
etch and which don't.  For heating the first time around I will try 
the heat gun like the other guys did and then give the aquarium 
heater a try after that.



--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "mycroft2152" 
<mycroft2152y@...> wrote:
>
> Hi Chris,
> 
> I've been working on a R220 on and off for a while now. The most 
> annoying thing is the positioning of the CD tray. It is finicky. 
One 
> note: if you create two addtional "thumbholds" in the tray you can 
> print on a 4.25" square board. This is about the minimumb hack 
needed.
> 
> You may have a problem getting the cartiridge re-filled with 
another 
> kind of ink. I tried Island Inkjet and they refused to do it. They 
do 
> not completely flush out the cartridge before refilling and were 
> concerned about incompatibilities betweeen inks and cpntaminting 
> thier ink supply.
> 
> I was just given a C88, which uses the pigment inks. I haven't 
tried 
> it yet but it looks like the cartridges will fit. I'm not sure 
about 
> the "chips" though.
> 
> As for a heater, consider a long aquarium heater. I'm not sure how 
it 
> wil "survive" outside of water but they are pretty cheap.
> 
> Myc
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> --- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "lcdpublishing" 
> <lcdpublishing@> wrote:
> >
> > I am about to dive back into the ink jet printing concept for 
etch 
> > resist application.  It seems as though the Magenta and Yellow 
inks 
> > are working the best for MisPro and for Epson inks.  I have an 
> Epson 
> > R220 that is going to be my test machine.
> > 
> > Not wanting to invest in yet more ink and more refillable 
> cartridges 
> > and all that stuff, I am thinking I will run over to 
cartridgeworld 
> > and have them fill up a black cartridge with either a mix of 
> magenta 
> > and yellow, or one or the other if they complain.  The reason 
for 
> > doing it this way, I can bypass the problem with the printer 
> > complaining about the wrong "Color" in the wrong slot and get 
past 
> all 
> > the stuff with the goofy chips on the cartridges.  My PCB layout 
> > software doesn't allow me to select which color to print with 
and I 
> > have not had any luck going to a PDF first, then changing the 
> colors 
> > there.  
> > 
> > Does this all seem to make sense and seem like a reasonable 
> direction 
> > to go?
> > 
> > I have taken the printer partially apart a while back and put it 
> back 
> > to gether again.  I hope to get a bit further this weekend if 
time 
> > allows.  There is a straight through path on this printer with 
the 
> > exception of "Something" on the right rear area that I have yet 
to 
> > find out what it is.  Hopefully that thing can be moved and the 
> > plastic just cut away to allow for clearance to feed a full, 8 
1/2" 
> > wide sheet of PCB material through in that area.
> > 
> > It also seems as though adding a heater is a good idea to allow 
for 
> > faster and better drying of the inks, so that too will be 
> considered 
> > along the way.  Any suggestions for a heater that could heat the 
> > entire width of the PCB board and allow for temperature control?
> > 
> > Chris
> >
>