BLOG 5 : From BreadBoard prototype To Homemade PCB :: The Fastest Way

12 Nov 2017

First of All, Another pic of my photography skills

Ok, after admiring the golden sand, lets come to the point. In my previous Blog I had mentioned about Hall effect sensor and how I have tested the design and finalised it for my project.

In this blog I will walk through the process of getting a more permanent prototype to play with. So, lets get started with the Easiest way to Homemake PCB's of What I would like to call the Poor Artist's way of PCB Prototyping

Now you may Ask Why Not Purf Board / Zero PCB / Prototype PCB ? Well Because of the following Reasons.

1. I have a Cheep Chinese soldering Iron and it gets rid of the pads All together

2. The Purf boards, are mechanical week specially for the Size I am planning. So, When I plan to use cable tied and tight it to the cycle frame the board will break. (I am HULK)

I will go through the process of in house Fabricating the PCB and testing it. Tools Required are listed as under

What is Needed	Where can it be found	How Much :/	Quantity Required
Single Side Coper PCB	Can be found on eBay/Amazon/Local Store the last being the cheepest	20-100 INR	Small piece of about 1.5x3cm
A Permanent Marker	Most Common places are (Your Boss's DESK, School teachers room, with a lab assistant), I would prefer a stationary shop	20 INR	Only 1x Black Colour Needed
Aftershave	Most commonly found in a washroom or with your dad	60 INR
Ferric chloride Crystals	eBay / Amazon, Local dealer	120 INR	50/100 gms is more than enough
Water	everywhere	FREE	at least 1Ltr
Paper Cutter	Common that you should have	40 INR	Only 1
Rough paper and Pen	That you Must have	FREE	as per your wish
Surgical Gloves	Medical Store or Friendly neighbourhood doctor	30-60 INR	one pair is good enough

So, Lets Get Started with Fetching a Glass Jar (Preferably Heat resistant) and come powder of Ferric Chloride. Mix them in 1:5 parts of FeCl3:H2O.

NOTE This is a EXOTHERMIC Reaction so do it deliberately. Add the crystals first then mix water slowly.

NOTE FeCl3 is extremely irritating so use Gloves.

-->+Water ==

Second Step is cut the Copper Board using paper cutter; Make grooves in front as well as Back and simply snap them. to get the pieces as shown in the image. After snapping, take a dish scrubber and gently scrub the copper surface till it is shiny.

Third step is to feet the components you want to use on a piece of paper and mark the leads on paper, then draw the connections on the paper.

NOTE DONT CRISS CROSS The connections, they will come up as shorts In final design.

P.S. You can also be more artistic by making designs and writing texts. as you can see below in image

Fourth step is Etching. Take the Solution created and place the board upside sown. I.e. the shiny side inside the solution and let the board float on the liquid, Do regularly check the echoing process by removing board and inspecting. Keep etching till you can no longer see the copper.

NOTE while etching, the places you had drawn using marker will be intact and rest of the copper will slowly turn into a mate copperish look.

Fifth STEP is cleaning. I used a AfterShave for this as it has high concentration of Alcohol (One of the universal solvent) and it smells Awesome

Pre Final STER is to check the board for stupidity \

As you can see in the Images below I had Written SbSr right where my Hall effect sensor would come an di was stupid enough to remove the marker from it exposing the copper. So I had to use some Insuating tape to hide the text Stupid me.