Homebrew PCBs

hallo!
i just bhought 2 litre of ammonium persulphate, since im tired of 
the mass ferric chloride makes. my only problem is that i have to 
fill a 3 litre tank with the 2 litre i have. can i mix ammonium 
persulphate with water??? and if so- how much water can i use on 
each litre of ammonium persulphate so it will keep working well?
one more question- what is the shelf life of ammonium persulphate? i 
read that once you heat it up and cool it down it wont work again. 
is that true? and what is the optimal temperature to use ammonium 
persulphate????

thanks a lot
mumin

I assume your A.P. is in powder form. Use only enough powder to do 3 or
less boards under 4X6 inches. Pour water into a glass tray such as a
casserole dish to about one inch deep. Add A.P., about 3 tablespoons.
Stir until dissolved. Emmerse board and agitate often. With single sided
boards, copper side down. With double sided boards turn over every
minute. If you heat the solution it will etch faster, less than 10
minutes. Solution can be used until it turns a medium blue. Solution can
be cooled and reheated as necessary to use. It is not necessary to
bottle it or cover it if you come back in a week or so to reuse it. A
heat lamp or hot plate can be used to speed up the etching as described
on the website. I heat mine to almost a boil and I can etch a board with
fresh A.P. in less than 5 minutes.
Rick - http://www.pic101.com/pcb

mumin55555 wrote:

>  hallo!
> i just bhought 2 litre of ammonium persulphate, since im tired of
> the mass ferric chloride makes. my only problem is that i have to
> fill a 3 litre tank with the 2 litre i have. can i mix ammonium
> persulphate with water??? and if so- how much water can i use on
> each litre of ammonium persulphate so it will keep working well?
> one more question- what is the shelf life of ammonium persulphate? i
> read that once you heat it up and cool it down it wont work again.
> is that true? and what is the optimal temperature to use ammonium
> persulphate????
>
> thanks a lot
> mumin
>
>

--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "Rick C." <rixy@V...> wrote:
> I assume your A.P. is in powder form. Use only enough powder to do 
3 or
<snip>

Rick! The first picture on your webpage shows a PCB with green screw 
terminals that (apparently) mate with the ones on the cover.

What are those called, how much are they(roughly)? Where did you get 
them?

I've been trying to figure out how to allow screw connections 
without leaving a gaping hole in the side of my enclosures - those 
look perfect!

Merci!

Hello,

I'm not Rick, but the green color is a tipoff. They're likely Phoenix 
connectors, and they're available at mouser and digi-key. You can get 
these kind of screw terminals a number of places, and the "other" 
major mfr's. products are blue. Usually they come in .200 and .156" 
inch size, and 5mm metric (pin spacing) Sold in 2 and 3 screw units, 
they have "dovetails" so you can join them up as long as you need.

Some types are what's called "pluggable", which means you solder a 
strip which looks just like a typical pin header, and the screw 
terminal part fits onto this. That way, once you're wired up, you can 
remove the connector to remove/replace the unit. Without re-wiring 
everything.

Hope this helps,

Ballendo

P.S. You usually design the s/m cover to surround the screw 
terminals. Some types have a "ledge" across the back to help. The 
sides are easy.


--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "ghidera2000" 
<ghidera2000@y...> wrote:
> --- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "Rick C." <rixy@V...> wrote:
> > I assume your A.P. is in powder form. Use only enough powder to 
do 
> 3 or
> <snip>
> 
> Rick! The first picture on your webpage shows a PCB with green 
screw 
> terminals that (apparently) mate with the ones on the cover.
> 
> What are those called, how much are they(roughly)? Where did you 
get 

> them?
> 
> I've been trying to figure out how to allow screw connections 
> without leaving a gaping hole in the side of my enclosures - those 
> look perfect!
> 
> Merci!

The ones with fixed soldering pins are nearly all grey here,
the ones with the "plug on pins" are dark grey or black.

Rest is the same as described by Ballendo.

Are sold in all dimensions (for different currents with different spacing).
some have a receptacle for the 2/4mm meter probes.

Find them cheap at ebay on "sub-D to screw terminal adaptor" or similar.
often >50 screw terminals at one pcb for next to nothing, even cheaper 
than
loose terminals.

ST

On Tue, 30 Mar 2004 15:56:52 -0000, ballendo <ballendo@...> wrote:

> Hello,
>
> I'm not Rick, but the green color is a tipoff. They're likely Phoenix
> connectors, and they're available at mouser and digi-key. You can get
> these kind of screw terminals a number of places, and the "other"
> major mfr's. products are blue. Usually they come in .200 and .156"
> inch size, and 5mm metric (pin spacing) Sold in 2 and 3 screw units,
> they have "dovetails" so you can join them up as long as you need.
>
> Some types are what's called "pluggable", which means you solder a
> strip which looks just like a typical pin header, and the screw
> terminal part fits onto this. That way, once you're wired up, you can
> remove the connector to remove/replace the unit. Without re-wiring
> everything.
>
> Hope this helps,
>
> Ballendo

Hi-
These are grat, but a little expensive.  I have some 0.1" centred ones.  
They also come in a wide variety of units: single to 12.  Have a look at 
the http://www.digikey.com catalog, serach for Phoenix. 
David

ballendo wrote:

>Hello,
>
>I'm not Rick, but the green color is a tipoff. They're likely Phoenix 
>connectors, and they're available at mouser and digi-key. You can get 
>these kind of screw terminals a number of places, and the "other" 
>major mfr's. products are blue. Usually they come in .200 and .156" 
>inch size, and 5mm metric (pin spacing) Sold in 2 and 3 screw units, 
>they have "dovetails" so you can join them up as long as you need.
>
>Some types are what's called "pluggable", which means you solder a 
>strip which looks just like a typical pin header, and the screw 
>terminal part fits onto this. That way, once you're wired up, you can 
>remove the connector to remove/replace the unit. Without re-wiring 
>everything.
>
>Hope this helps,
>
>Ballendo
>
>P.S. You usually design the s/m cover to surround the screw 
>terminals. Some types have a "ledge" across the back to help. The 
>sides are easy.
>  
>

jtm
  Another way to secure the wires (physically, not electrically) is to 
hot glue them in place when your dome soldering.  It's great stuff - 
friendly to use, strong, and resilient enough to not just snake the 
wires off.
Richard