DIY PCBs At Home (Single Sided Presensitized)

Learn to fabricate Single Sided PCBs at home! Prototype PCB fabrication is one of the essential skills you must learn in electronics. Instead of using breadboards and perfboards, custom PCBs would make any project smaller and more compact!

PRESENSITIZED PCBs:
Also known as photopositive PCBs or photoresist PCBs, are regular PCB copper clads, layered with a light sensitive paint or film. Once exposed to light, the paint would dissolve in the developing solution, while the unexposed areas would remain undissolved in the solution. This forms a Mask on the clad. When the developed PCB is exposed to an etchant, the masked areas would remain in tact while the unmasked areas would dissolve on your etchant, thus forming a copy of your printed PCB artwork.

WHAT PAPER AND PRINTER TYPE TO USE:
- You can use an injket printer for this type of PCB fabrication, no need for toner printers.
- I use regular Short Bond Paper (Letter 8.5x11"). You can use parchment paper or inkjet friendly films for better fabrication quality.

BETTER THAN TONER TRANSFER METHOD:
Toner transfer method has been the number 1 go to in homebrew PCB fabcrication, next to the sharpie method. Toner transfer has its own limitations. One, is that you would need a toner printer, common inkjet printers simply wouldn't work. Second, as your line traces gets thinner, it would be more difficult to transfer the toner prints to the copper clad. Presensitized PCBs on the other hand creates the sharpest lines of all the homebrew fabrication methods. This is perfect for smaller circuits that involves SMT (Surface Mount) components. I use this method for building PCBs with line traces reaching down to 10mils (0.254mm). You can go as thin as 5mils (0.1275mm), but you would have to use inkjet friendly acetate.
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Instructable Tutorial:

DIY Etching PCB Shaker

DIY Digital PCB Exposure Box!
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Tools & Materials:
1.) Photopositive PCB Pack

2.) Ferric Chloride (Copper Etchant)

3.) Pure Acetone (Nail Polish Remover)

4.) Baby Oil

5.) Mini Drill

6.) Drill Bits (0.8mm - 1.0mm)

7.) LED/ CFL/ UV Lamp

8.) Cutter Knife
9.) Hack Saw
10.) Wooden Plank

#Circuits #Electronics #DIY , Kinsten PCB

[TechBuilder]

Please wear latex gloves and wear protective goggles when dealing with these chemicals. For this video, I ran out of gloves at the moment due to the massive shortage of medical supplies due to the COVID19 pandemic. Lye (developing solution) can be corrosive to human tissue, for this project, the concentration of lye is quite low. I washed my hands thoroughly after getting exposed to it. Ferric Chloride on the other hand barely has an effect to human skin, but it does leave a stain on everything when not immediately rinsed with water. Stay safe fam!

[new-knowledge]

Brings back memories. Back in 1985, we technicians were making our own boards for all sorts of stuff. One of my pet projects was making a PAY TV decoder. I designed it so that it decoded the video line by line rather than the standard frame by frame method. Thus there was no need for a PLL ( phase-locked loop) circuit. It was powered by 12 vdc, and it only pulled about 12 mA, and the board was only 1.5 inch by 4.5 inch. So you just installed it inside your TV converter by tapping the converter's 12 vdc power line, and then cut the video connection that connected the RF demodulator to the RF modulator, and then feed these wires to the tiny decoder board. And that was it. You now had a PAY TV decoder. It decoded all the PAY channels, and did so instantly, since there was no PLL delay. Meanwhile, the engineers used the standard method that required tons of IC's and other components, and it therefore pulled plenty of current, so it needed its own power supply, and of course it needed its own box as well. That costs money. Mine, only had three IC's, MC4013, MC14538, and an LM393, plus a few transistors, diodes, etc. So making just one, cost about $5.00 total. Those days were fun indeed.

[ev]

"Only peel the PCB in a dim room."
Proceeds to peel the PCB in a room brighter than the beaches of Normandy.

[StephenNesbit]

That was, hands down, one of the nicest and easiest to follow Youtube tutorials I've seen in ages! Thank you for that! :) So many content creators mumble or talk to fast without taking the time to speak CLEARLY.

[ezion]

Overall a good tutorial. Just 3 remarks.
1) There is a easier/better way to cut PCB material that also works with glass-fiber and double sided material. Score BOTH sides 2 to 4 times with the sharp side of your blade, then snap.
2) Temperature is important for development and etching. Do both "au bain marie" in a tub of hot water, to get around 30C - 40C. You may find you get better results and the chemicals can literally last years.
Years? yes. My etching machine holds about 2 liters Ferric Chloride. The same Ferric Chloride has been in there for over 10 years and was used to etch almost 2 square meters worth of double sided PCB material. I add Hydrochloric acid to compensate for evaporation and keep the solution active, even though there is now a lot of copper in there.
3) Please be safe, pure Ferric Chloride only stains HOWEVER the Copper Ferric Chloride mixture you get after etching is rather poisonous.

[tanvach]

One tip is to leave as much copper on the board as possible, and only etch the spaces between the traces. Usually there is an option in the PCB software like "create ground plane". First, this reduces the amount of etching required significantly, extending the life of your solution. Second, you will have more uniform etching, since there are no areas that get exposed to bare etchant for a long time. Third, you'll have a ground plane to help reduce interference and make your trace impedance more consistent (important for high frequency or timing sensitive applications).

[KrotowX]

Definitely brings back memories from 1980-ies. When I made my DIY PCBs only in such way because there were no better ways.

[CommenterRick]

You explained everything in a simple, straightforward and slow pace that made it EXTREMELY understandable. I hope you become a teacher because you have a great skill at presenting information. I also admire your ingenuity at building the machines you needed to finish the project. Well done!

[hrishikeshb]

This is my preferred method of building PCBs too. I use transparent sticker paper instead of the paper and oil. It’s too messy :) The transparent sheets are think and stick to the PCB thereby reducing the gap between the film and the PCB. The lines are more defined with this and I was able to get clearances as low as 0.3mm and track widths of 0.25mm with this.

[dzidzac]

TechBuilder, you have just gotten me out of the months-long toner-transfer vicious circle - in 10 minutes and 10 seconds! Thank you greatly for that!! Every day is a new lesson!

[notsonominal]

Now thats an interesting approach, by some miracle a local store is selling positive presensitized boards, will have to try this. two thumbs up!

[fractera]

How I wish this quality tutorial existed 7 years ago. Tough times.

[hvmhvm]

I kinda knew the process before but this made it so much clearer. It was super easy to follow and had all the information needed but none of the fluff. Thanks dude!

[Denkaa]

Thank you! This was very helpful. Did everything as suggested. Printed my designed circuit on A4 plain paper with laser printer. Did some testings to find the right recipe for my conditions and I found that paint on paper are tend to blur after contacting with cooking oil, so I used spray varnish to protect my paper circuit before applying cooking oil. This worked perfectly.

[simhoper]

Man... you are an asset to the whole world! Hope you shine more and share your knowledge with te world! Thank you!

[ooltimu]

Ferric chloride etching can be significantly sped up (3-4 minutes) by heating the solution. I usually put it in a cooking glass container on the stove and heat it on the lowest setting, while agitating the solution and board with a stick. Toner transfer can yield same results and much cheaper. I made quite a few SMD boards with close traces (QFP32) and even one double sided board (even though I admit the alignment was tricky and got it on the second try).

[geraldwesley]

just started electrical engineering and this got me super excited for it

[markp]

Amazing content. Clear and educational. Thank you.

[peat]

I usually don't comment on videos, but this is something else. Very clear& easy to follow. Definitely worth subscribing

[Arisentec]

Peat
1年前
I usually don't comment on videos, but this is something else. Very clear& easy to follow. Definitely worth subscribing