First Laser Printer Transfer - Canon LBP 6000

[Jdansti]

I'm still kicking myself for not buying a color laser for $40 at Fry's before the holidays. They're back up to around $70 now.

[Mustachio]

Woah I've never seen a color laser printer for that cheap! even 70 is a steal!

[Jdansti]

Hey-I just checked Fry's online and it's $50 if you do an "in store pick up", which means you order it online, they ship it to the store, and you pick it up at the store. You probably have to pay state tax too.  I checked the toner prices and it goes for about $50 per color (black plus three colors) or a little less if you buy value packs.  Not great, but probably about average. PC Magazine says it's about 3 cents/page for monochrome and 15 cents/page for color.  http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2329122,00.asp

I found that the printer counts the number of print cycles and has been reported say it's out of toner when it's really not.  One guy found a simple hack to reset the counter and get more toner out of it.    PC Magazine also says that while the text is better than inkjet, it's not as good as laser gets; howver, the photo quality is near high end. The Fry's model is not wireless and uses a USB cable, but I have a printer server that I can plug it into so I can access it with my laptop and iphone from across the house.

I think I'm going to go ahead and get the sucker.   

[Mustachio]

That's awesome, I read about covering a little window with electrical tape makes it think it still has more then enough toner.

I think I'm going to use the cheap refill yourself toner and or aftermarket cheap toner cartridges for mine. I think the canon toner replacment for mine is pretty cheap though anyway but I'm cheaper haha!

No frys near me but a color printer would be awesome for etching enclosures and leaving the color toner for the graphics!

[Jdansti]

Well, I'm bummed out.    Turns out that the "order online, in store pick up" is just paying online for what they have in stock in the store.  No stores anywhere around me have any. Soooo, I'll just keep a look out for them.  Fry's must purchase them by the butt load to be able to sell them for that price.  Everyone else is selling them for $170-$500.  I drive past a Fry's every Friday, so I'll have to start checking each week.

Yeah, aftermarkets can be good, but based on my experience at work, they vary in quality and how long they last.  I've really noticed that the aftermarket toners and inkjet cartridges for HP printers from Office Depot aren't nearly as good as the real HP's.  You'll just have to experiment and see what works best for you.

[Rethfing]

Jim, how did you make your board black? Also, could you share that 3PDT layout? I was looking for some for a long time and found one at some Spanish site, but it has a little bit too smal pads for switch pins and a little too thin tracks.

[Mustachio]

That's a bummer on the printer, hopefully one will show up soon !

The PCB is already black I got it here

http://stores.ebay.com/PCB-Laminates-Copper-Clad?_trksid=p2047675.l2563

the board layout I found from the web but I'm not sure I like it. Was going to make another one more how I usually wire a switch but here's the one I used for this board.




Also In the past I've used a sharpie marker to try to make a board black and I've taped the bottom trace side and painted the top of the board. It works out pretty good. But this black pcb is pretty nice and easy to work with. I ordered Red and Blue from the same place as well! should be here soon!

[Rethfing]

Ah right, thats not how I wire my switch either. Well its so simple that I may as well design it myself Thanks anyway! These PCBs looks awesome but they are quite expensive (thats of course subjective, as my currency is not dollars ;d).

[Mustachio]

Its about a dollar per 4x6" board I think I can get 4-6 projects out of each one that puts each project on or under 25 cents per pcb. thats pretty cheap compared to the MG chemicals pre sensitized boards I used to use.


Was looking over the 3pdt layout and decided to try to make one in DIYLC. Did a bunch of tests to make sure the lug pads would line up and be the right size and I think I got it. And it should be wired up the same as the GGG layouts show.

And its curly!



now looking at DIYLC I think you can edit the electromechanical switch to be a 3pdt and it should line up the same. Oh well was good practice doing it by hand haha.

[Mustachio]

Just did another etch, What I like about this black pcb is when your etching, you know its done when its all black! looks pretty cool.

There's a small area I touched up with a etch resist red pen


The tinning didnt go over perfect but its good enough for me


I'm really liking this method of etching, glad I bought a laser printer!

[Jdansti]

Nice work!  What method of tinning did you use?

[Mustachio]

I used the MG chemicals Liquid tin

http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/MG-Chemicals/421-125ML/?qs=%2fha2pyFaduivGSB%2ffTEdLkj312x%2flVfhjRh%2fkvUAG7g%3d

This one didn't tin as good as I usually get it, I don't think I cleaned It good enough was using nail polish remover for acetone. But overall its not bad I'm happy with it , the detail in the etch turned out great I added 3 smiley faces and text that was pretty small and it all turned out really clear!

Gonna work on etching an enclosure soon!

[Jdansti]

Some nail polish removers have perfume and moisturizers that can leave a residue behind after the acetone evaporates.  If that's all you have you can finish the cleaning with alcohol, which will remove the residue. 

Sometimes when I'm out shopping with my wife, she goes to a beauty supply place to pick up shampoo, nail stuff and other strange paraphernalia. I discovered that they sell acetone in various quantities, with and without the foo foo stuff in it. I also found that they have some cheap dispenser bottles that I use for alcohol and acetone, and they have a huge assortment of sanding boards and foam sanding blocks.  There's a wide variety of grits, and they're not expensive.

Looking forward to seeing your etched enclosures.

[CodeMonk]

Sorry to bring this back from the dead.

I just got a Canon LPB 6000 (christmas money).
I got that model because of the positive experiences posted here.
There was one in particular that sealed the deal, but I forgot who said it.
But they did mention that it had a toner density setting, which was what had the most impact on choosing that printer.

Anyway, My first print was just a layout, with density at the default setting (-4).

I just printed out my first circuit and set the density at 0 (zero).
I haven't done the transfer yet, thats gonna have to wait till tomorrow.

Now I am here asking those that have had this printer for awhile what density setting have you had the best results with for transfer to copper clad?

Thanks