SUCCESS!!!

[freebird1127]

In light of my recent string of PnP Blue problems, I'd like to post what I did to get it right.

First off, I need to thank all the people that gave their suggestions in my previous PnP Blue thread.  All of you are wonderful for trying to help, thanks so much.

I think it was Mark Hammer that clued into one of the 2 real problems.  He mentioned that the water from our main source here in Calgary might have something that was causing the board to oxidize slightly, and he was right.  It's said that Calgary's drinking water is some of the best in the world (and IMHO I have to agree, lol).  Of course it never occured to me that it might not be chemically clean.  Duh.  Thanks Mark, you're a clever guy.  So the order of prep I use now is this:  Sand edges; Clean with *** (see experiment below!), clean with acetone, clean with isopropyl, dry with lint free cloth.

The second problem was factory grime.  I'm serious!  I invite you all to perform a little experiment:

While preparing the copper board before your next PCB fab (or now, if you wanna see), take some Ajax or Comet or whatever powdery bleachy household cleaner you have and sprinkle some on the board.  Then take a moist paper towel and put some muscle into it!  After you've scrubbed for a little while, take a look at the paper towel.  Mine was BLACK!  I honestly don't think the acetone and iso were cleaning this stuff off before, and it in combination with the water rinse pre PnP Blue was messing it up.

If you're having trouble with PnP Blue, maybe give this stuff a whirl.  Of course, if you've got a method down, don't change it!  What works for me might not for you!!  Thanks again to all that helped.

[Impaler]

Wow, must be the brand of board you are using. I find that phenolic boards are a cakewalk and all I have to do is scotchbrite with alcohol in a circular pattern for a lil bit. Then there's the ratshack epoxy boards... those things have a layer of crap on it that only a true RS employee could be proud of... I head right for the 300 grit sandpaper with alcohol for those  

[Mark Hammer]

Congrats, Evan.  Funny how things you think of as benign can blindside you.

The real secret to any toner-based pattern-transfer, whether PnP or glossy paper or anything else, is that the toner has to find the copper easily.  If anything stands in its way, no matter how thin, it may as well be a wall.

Let it never be said that Ottawa doesn't help the provinces!!  :lol:

Now get soldering!

[petemoore]

I've cleaned copper repeatedly and still get that black oxide looking stuff on the cloth when rubbing.
 The copper produces oxides that blacken the cloth I believe.

[Joep]

The board must be really shiny, that will be a good indication that it is prepared right for transfer. No fingerprint or dark spots.

I use Thinner to get rid of all the chemical stuff on the PCB, that I use a real fine (800 at least) sandingpaper to make it shiny and remove the oxide. Then I clean it again with tinner. Ready to go!

Joep

[freebird1127]

Yeah I never realized how shiney the board WOULD get if I kept polishing it... it was like a little copper mirror.  Ha!

[phillip]

To clean the boards, I use RG's method of using an abrasive cleaner like
"Comet" or "Bon Amie" and then scrubbing it vigorously under running water with a scotchbrite pad.

Before I clean it, however, I use some 220-grit sandpaper to rough it up and sand down the edges.

Phillip

[Basonsubatomia]

Let it never be said that Ottawa doesn't help the provinces!!  :lol:

Hah.