Somewhat of a success

[foxworth]

So for the last... I don't know how long... I've been in the process of working on doing an acid etched circuit board (using instructions from here in order to fix the power supply for the big Biamp board (the board itself now works fine, but the Phantom Power does not and has been traced back to the power supply itself).

The portion of the

Comments

[spacewoozl]

Radio shack carries Ferric Chloride ("Etchant"), although not at all stores, and they won't ship it.

There are also cad/cam milling machines that can be used instead of chemical etching, although renting time on one might be pricey.

[foxworth]

I'm actually going to pick up some more Ferric Chloride down at Fry's next time I'm down there (they have a sizable bottle for like $15, and I know they have it in stock).

There are a number of other options I could have used for doing the etching (like the light exposure kind) but this looked to be the (relatively) simplest way to do it. If anything, it's kinda fun to do as a learning experience.

[jairus_greywolf]

Etching your own PCBs is definitely a trial-and-error process. I use to have great results using the old sunlamp photo exposure method but when I tried recently I couldn't find a sunlamp so I used a black light instead but never could get satisfactory results.

I haven't tried the laser printer method. Usually, if I only need to do one or two boards I'll just use prototyping boards with point-to-point wiring. In the long run it saves time and money. If I need to do more than two boards, I'll have one of the rapid prototyping board houses do it since they've come down in price.

Good luck with your next attempt!