Copper Chloride Pcb Etching

A better etching solution cupric chloride hydrochloric acid is an excellent pcb printed circuit board etching solution according to adam seychell s etching with air regenerated acid cupric chloride more copper ii ions enhance etching speed the purpose of this instructable is to show how to.

Copper chloride pcb etching.

According to the real elliot s instructable titled stop using ferric chloride etchant. In doing this the. Typical solutions are 1 part fecl 3 to 1 part water and 1 part nitric to 3 parts water. Do a simple google search for pcb etchant part number.

That s the end etchant. A number of stages are involved in proper pcb fabrications which include designing layout routing etching troubleshooting. The strength of the acid determines the speed of the etching process. Ferric chloride may be used for etching copper or zinc plates whereas nitric acid may be used for etching zinc or steel plates.

Cuppric chloride cucl2 h2o 2 is another pcb etchant that is actually made by etching copper in a mixture of hcl and h2o2. Eventually you etch so much that you convert all the cucl2 into cucl which doesn t dissolve copper and is a yucky brown color. The etching process is known as biting see also spit. They sell a pint for 6 a quart for 10 and a gallon for 35.

When exhausted it can be revived by adding hydrogen peroxide or by bubbling air through it. Of the several types of etchant chemistries the hobbyist can choose acid cupric chloride also called acid copper ii chloride or just cupric chloride is one of the more interesting types since it has the ability to be regenerated or replenished without having to throw away the solution this is the reason why cupric chloride is one of two main etchants widely used by pcb fabricators. Better yet our new etchant will turn an eerie green color rather than the dull. In this issue we show you how to etch a pcb at home using the toner transfer method and ferric chloride etchant.

Etching your own circuit boards is tons of fun but etching requires strong chemicals to dissolve the copper plating on blank circuit boards. 1 4 copper etching pcb. Luckily we can whip up our own etchant at home with everyday chemicals. Pcb is an acronym that stands for printed circuit board that helps to connect active passive electronic components with pads tracks and lines incorporated on a laminated copper sheet.

Cucl2 cu 2 cucl. Prices are pretty competitive. After you ve dissolved a lot of copper into the solution and used up all the peroxide the copper chloride does most of the etching for you. If you have been following our how to design a pcb using eagle series in issue 34 and issue 35 you would have designed a square wave generator circuit board that you could send off to a circuit board manufacturer this tutorial uses the same square wave generator circuit board.

Again if using our contactetch it might be a bit dumb to buy that much etchant when you use so little per etch. This company sells direct. To get rid of undesired copper from copper clad substrates to form electronic circuits two methods are discussed.