Homebrew PCBs

This is the stuff I talked about:

"MCPCB's offer one of the most effective methods of thermal management for
lighting designs utilising LEDs.

MCPCB's comprise of 3 main components;

1 - Copper conductor layer where the LEDs are mounted.

2 - Insulator; a very thin thermally conductive but electrically isolated
laminate material  (NOT FR4)

3 - Metal cladding - a sheet of aluminium or copper substrate which
dissipates the heat produced by the LEDs.

These MCPCB's also allow easy interface to a heatsink or the outer housing
of the customers application to aid cooling further."


After all collaboration on this thread, I believe it's hard to home brew.

"Nuno T." gave me an idea that looks feasible and might give a good result.

"Have no idea if what you ask is possible. Have you considered using a
common
FR4 copper PCB with common Al/Cu heat sinks bolted/screwed on the sides of
the led with some thermal paste? Much cheaper..."

Thanks,




2012/10/12 Dennis <nojoeco@...>

> **
>
>
> Odd to reply to myself, but.
> Phew... I'm not confused.
>
> After actually reading the referred to websites that make these boards,
> it's clear they are exactly like the ones I have.
>
> Yep it's copper top(standard weights too), fiberglass or kapton insulator
> layer, aluminum base. Some board houses use a "magic" process to etch the
> aluminum so there's no need to drill through the insulator layer to raw
> aluminum.
>
> Standard smt processes used for soldering.
>
> If I had to make one from scratch I'd get adhesive backed kapton tape,
> apply that to an aluminum sheet, and layer that with adhesive backed copper
> tape. Mask the aluminum and etch like a regular board. Another way would be
> to use raw flex board and use thermal epoxy to bond that to aluminum.
>
>
> --- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "Dennis" <nojoeco@...> wrote:
> >
> > Just to make sure I'm not confused(it happens).
> >
> > The original poster is wanting to make their own LED "modules".
> > In other words when someone usually orders a 1watt or larger led they
> actually get a module of led on an aluminum "board".
> >
> > Due to needing a custom solution the op is wanting to make their own?
> > It's absolutely correct that almost all commercial solutions are on
> aluminum, but it isn't required as seen by the datasheets.
> > But it's clearly the cheapest and easiest to machine/cut/etc. and is
> probably the way to go.
> >
> > Since this all started I looked at the led units I've got laying around.
> They are all indeed aluminum modules. But all that they really are upon
> closer examination is a wafer thin standard pcb bonded to an aluminum
> backing. Usually with an epoxy solder mask that appears to obscure the
> board completely, leaving only solder pads visible.
> > Some of these units have cutouts in the pcb under the led pad itself so
> that the led has direct contact with the aluminum backing.
> >
> > Indium does have solder for aluminum, and aluminum to copper
> applications, but it is corrosive to standard electronics so other
> solutions are usually used.
> >
> > If there are boards that are aluminum over an insulator on an aluminum
> backing, I clearly have to learn more about those. I might have to fix some
> someday soon!
> >
> > Good luck and keep experimenting!
> >
> >
> > --- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "jcarlosmor" <jcarlosmor@> wrote:
> > >
> > >
> > > Hello Roger,
> > >
> > > I can see that most users got confused about your question.
> > >
> > > I think Roger want to do is simply to make PCBs with aluminum. Am I
> right Roger?
> > >
> > > Instead as the usual copper base, the PCB surface is aluminum. Period.
> > >
> > > And although someone did comment about better heat properties of
> copper instead of aluminum, almost any LED manufacturer in the world is
> using aluminum instead of copper as the PCB thermal substrate.
> > >
> > > Regards.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > --- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, Rogerio F Cunha <rogerio.cunha@>
> wrote:
> > > >
> > > > Hi list,
> > > >
> > > > Hello List,
> > > > Anyone has a idea how to produce a aluminium pcb over a virgin
> aluminum
> > > > board?
> > > > I'm looking a way to home brew a pcb to solder some power leds that
> are
> > > > very sensitivy to thermal dissipation.
> > > > By what I've seen, the companies applying some kind of metal deposit
> over a
> > > > virgin aluminium board, to permit soldering.
> > > > Thanks.
> > > > Roger.
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> > > >
> > >
> >
>
>  
>


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