Post by thread:[EE] DIY Board Toner Removal?

Hi All, Any ideas what solvent can be used to remove the toner on a board once it has been etched? I've tried acetone and white gas (naphtha camp fuel) and those don't work well. My first Brother printer had toner that could be easily removed with acetone. One wipe and it was gone. With my new printer (another Brother) the toner formula seems to have changed and acetone doesn't remove much. I guess I could scrub it off, but then I would loose some copper as well. Any ideas? Regards, Gordon Williams

Try some Lacquer Thinner...it is a concoction of some really nasty solvents that disolve pretty much anything. It has worked in situations where acetone, MEK and xylene failed to the job at hand. Cheers, Milosz K. On Mar 31, 2005 10:10 PM, Gordon Williams <spam_OUTg_willTakeThisOuTcyberus.ca> wrote: {Quote hidden}> Hi All, > > Any ideas what solvent can be used to remove the toner on a board once it > has been etched? I've tried acetone and white gas (naphtha camp fuel) and > those don't work well. > > My first Brother printer had toner that could be easily removed with > acetone. One wipe and it was gone. With my new printer (another Brother) > the toner formula seems to have changed and acetone doesn't remove much. > > I guess I could scrub it off, but then I would loose some copper as well. > > Any ideas? > > Regards, > > Gordon Williams

On Thu, 2005-03-31 at 22:10 -0500, Gordon Williams wrote: > Hi All, > > Any ideas what solvent can be used to remove the toner on a board once it > has been etched? I've tried acetone and white gas (naphtha camp fuel) and > those don't work well. > > My first Brother printer had toner that could be easily removed with > acetone. One wipe and it was gone. With my new printer (another Brother) > the toner formula seems to have changed and acetone doesn't remove much. > > I guess I could scrub it off, but then I would loose some copper as well. > > Any ideas? I use 320 grit wet sandpaper. You loose very little copper, and the benefit is you end up with a very clean and nicely rough surface that solder seems to like. Takes me about 2 minutes to do a 4"x6" board. TTYL ----------------------------- Herbert's PIC Stuff: http://repatch.dyndns.org:8383/pic_stuff/

Indeed, works well on samsung toner. Ten dollars will get you a gallon 'round here. D Milosz Kardasinski wrote: {Quote hidden}> Try some Lacquer Thinner...it is a concoction of some really nasty > solvents that disolve pretty much anything. It has worked in > situations where acetone, MEK and xylene failed to the job at hand. > > Cheers, > Milosz K. > > On Mar 31, 2005 10:10 PM, Gordon Williams <.....g_willKILLspam@spam@cyberus.ca> wrote: > >>Hi All, >> >>Any ideas what solvent can be used to remove the toner on a board once it >>has been etched? I've tried acetone and white gas (naphtha camp fuel) and >>those don't work well. >> >>My first Brother printer had toner that could be easily removed with >>acetone. One wipe and it was gone. With my new printer (another Brother) >>the toner formula seems to have changed and acetone doesn't remove much. >> >>I guess I could scrub it off, but then I would loose some copper as well. >> >>Any ideas? >> >>Regards, >> >>Gordon Williams

Its known as "Cellulose Thinners" here in the UK, if that helps the OP. {Quote hidden}> -----Original Message----- > From: piclist-bouncesKILLspammit.edu > [.....piclist-bouncesKILLspam.....mit.edu] On Behalf Of Dave Lag > Sent: 01 April 2005 06:20 > To: Microcontroller discussion list - Public. > Subject: Re: [EE] DIY Board Toner Removal? > > Indeed, works well on samsung toner. Ten dollars will get you > a gallon 'round here. > D > > Milosz Kardasinski wrote: > > Try some Lacquer Thinner...it is a concoction of some really nasty > > solvents that disolve pretty much anything. It has worked in > > situations where acetone, MEK and xylene failed to the job at hand. > > > > Cheers, > > Milosz K. > > > > On Mar 31, 2005 10:10 PM, Gordon Williams <EraseMEg_willspam_OUTTakeThisOuTcyberus.ca> wrote: > > > >>Hi All, > >> > >>Any ideas what solvent can be used to remove the toner on a > board once > >>it has been etched? I've tried acetone and white gas (naphtha camp > >>fuel) and those don't work well. > >> > >>My first Brother printer had toner that could be easily > removed with > >>acetone. One wipe and it was gone. With my new printer (another > >>Brother) the toner formula seems to have changed and > acetone doesn't remove much. > >> > >>I guess I could scrub it off, but then I would loose some > copper as well. > >> > >>Any ideas? > >> > >>Regards, > >> > >>Gordon Williams > > -

At 23.31 2005.03.31 -0500, you wrote: >On Thu, 2005-03-31 at 22:10 -0500, Gordon Williams wrote: >> Hi All, >> >> Any ideas what solvent can be used to remove the toner on a board once it >> has been etched? I've tried acetone and white gas (naphtha camp fuel) and >> those don't work well. >> >> My first Brother printer had toner that could be easily removed with >> acetone. One wipe and it was gone. With my new printer (another Brother) >> the toner formula seems to have changed and acetone doesn't remove much. >> >> I guess I could scrub it off, but then I would loose some copper as well. >> >> Any ideas? > >I use 320 grit wet sandpaper. You loose very little copper, and the >benefit is you end up with a very clean and nicely rough surface that >solder seems to like. Takes me about 2 minutes to do a 4"x6" board. I now use rs-components' 216-2706.

>> Any ideas what solvent can be used to remove the toner on a board once it >> has been etched? I've tried acetone and white gas (naphtha camp fuel) >> and >> those don't work well. >> >> My first Brother printer had toner that could be easily removed with >> acetone. One wipe and it was gone. With my new printer (another >> Brother) >> the toner formula seems to have changed and acetone doesn't remove much. >> >> I guess I could scrub it off, but then I would loose some copper as well. >> >> Any ideas? > > I use 320 grit wet sandpaper. You loose very little copper, and the > benefit is you end up with a very clean and nicely rough surface that > solder seems to like. Takes me about 2 minutes to do a 4"x6" board. Steel wool? Bob Ammerman RAm Systems

{Quote hidden}>> Any ideas what solvent can be used to remove the toner on a board >> once it has been etched? I've tried acetone and white gas (naphtha >> camp fuel) and those don't work well. >> >> My first Brother printer had toner that could be easily removed with >> acetone. One wipe and it was gone. With my new printer (another >> Brother) >> the toner formula seems to have changed and acetone doesn't remove much. >> >> I guess I could scrub it off, but then I would loose some copper as well. >> >> Any ideas? > > I use 320 grit wet sandpaper. You loose very little copper, and the > benefit is you end up with a very clean and nicely rough surface that > solder seems to like. Takes me about 2 minutes to do a 4"x6" board. >Steel wool? >Bob Ammerman >RAm Systems I once had a PCB that had been cleaned with steel wool before being assembled and found that small steel "whiskers" had worked their way into strange places, including underneath a connector. It was not fun to find all the resulting short circuits. Ever since, I've been cautious about steel wool and PCBs. I use a household abrasive cleaner, such as Comet, with a sponge or a Scotch-brite pad, to remove the unwanted toner. It is milder than sandpaper and also yields a good surface finish. Jack

> Any ideas what solvent can be used to remove the toner on a board once it > has been etched? I've tried acetone and white gas (naphtha camp fuel) and > those don't work well. I use something called "Citrusolv", only because it's what we have around. I gather it's a common-ish solvent in biomedical labs, but past that I can't say. If I had to guess, I'd say it's pretty similar to most grocery-store available citrus-based cleaners. The toner runs off quite readily, and I have yet to identify any undesirable side effects. Plus, the room smells orangey-fresh! Mike H.

aerosol brake part cleaner. recycle with used oil or paint, or just let it evaporate. works like a charm on laser printer toner. --- Gordon Williams <g_willspam_OUTcyberus.ca> wrote: {Quote hidden}> Hi All, > > Any ideas what solvent can be used to remove the toner on a board > once it > has been etched? I've tried acetone and white gas (naphtha camp > fuel) and > those don't work well. > > My first Brother printer had toner that could be easily removed with > acetone. One wipe and it was gone. With my new printer (another > Brother) > the toner formula seems to have changed and acetone doesn't remove > much. > > I guess I could scrub it off, but then I would loose some copper as > well. > > Any ideas? > > Regards, > > Gordon Williams > > --

>-----Original Message----- >From: @spam@piclist-bouncesKILLspammit.edu [KILLspampiclist-bouncesKILLspammit.edu] >Sent: 07 April 2005 22:21 >To: Microcontroller discussion list - Public. >Subject: Re: [EE] DIY Board Toner Removal? > > >I went out and bought some lacquer thinner as someone >suggested. It worked well. The litre will last me the next 100 years. > As long as the top is screwed on tightly! Mike ======================================================================= This e-mail is intended for the person it is addressed to only. The information contained in it may be confidential and/or protected by law. If you are not the intended recipient of this message, you must not make any use of this information, or copy or show it to any person. Please contact us immediately to tell us that you have received this e-mail, and return the original to us. Any use, forwarding, printing or copying of this message is strictly prohibited. No part of this message can be considered a request for goods or services. =======================================================================

On the other hand.. it would be great if there was some chemicals able to "eat" paper while leaving the toner on the copper clad. Anyone has some idea on some substance able to do this to paper, while being inert on the toner and copper? At 13.53 2005.04.07 -0700, you wrote: {Quote hidden}>aerosol brake part cleaner. recycle with used oil or paint, or just >let it evaporate. works like a charm on laser printer toner. > > >--- Gordon Williams <RemoveMEg_willTakeThisOuTcyberus.ca> wrote: >> Hi All, >> >> Any ideas what solvent can be used to remove the toner on a board >> once it >> has been etched? I've tried acetone and white gas (naphtha camp >> fuel) and >> those don't work well. >> >> My first Brother printer had toner that could be easily removed with >> acetone. One wipe and it was gone. With my new printer (another >> Brother) >> the toner formula seems to have changed and acetone doesn't remove >> much. >> >> I guess I could scrub it off, but then I would loose some copper as >> well. >> >> Any ideas? >> >> Regards, >> >> Gordon Williams >> >> --

At 08.23 2005.04.08 -0500, you wrote: >> On the other hand.. it would be great if there was some chemicals able >> to "eat" paper while leaving the toner on the copper clad. >> >> Anyone has some idea on some substance able to do this to paper, while >> being inert on the toner and copper? > >Fire? As a first thought, I had that too, but the toner won't survive I'm sure..

>>> Anyone has some idea on some substance able to do this to paper, >>> while >>> being inert on the toner and copper? >> >>Fire? > > As a first thought, I had that too, but the toner won't survive I'm > sure.. How about water and agitation. Maybe a dilute chlorine solution. RM

Warm water? -- Martin ThePicMan wrote: > On the other hand.. it would be great if there was some chemicals able > to "eat" paper while leaving the toner on the copper clad. > > Anyone has some idea on some substance able to do this to paper, while > being inert on the toner and copper? -- Martin K http://wwia.org/sgroup/biofuel/

you don't have the right paper. try clay based paper, magazines use it, try some different magazines until you get the one that doesn't leave any lint. My success happened to be a Carvin guitar catalog. --- Martin K <spamBeGonemartin-distlistsspamBeGonennytech.net> wrote: {Quote hidden}> Warm water? > -- > Martin > > ThePicMan wrote: > > On the other hand.. it would be great if there was some chemicals > able > > to "eat" paper while leaving the toner on the copper clad. > > > > Anyone has some idea on some substance able to do this to paper, > while > > being inert on the toner and copper? > > -- > Martin K > http://wwia.org/sgroup/biofuel/ > --

At 20.29 2005.04.08 -0700, you wrote: >you don't have the right paper. try clay based paper, magazines use >it, try some different magazines until you get the one that doesn't >leave any lint. My success happened to be a Carvin guitar catalog. But you then reuse it, or throw it off? In the latter case, buying a magazine for each PCB may not be really too convenient.