Cheap and good PCB etching solution????

medtech

medtech

Joined
Mar 5, 2006
Messages
100
The etching solution is made by adding 1 part Muriatic Acid (the common kind that's sold in hardware stores, about $5.00 gal.) to 2 parts Hydrogen Peroxide (the common 3% kind that's sold in dollar stores & drugstores for $0.50 a pint)

Warning!!!!!!!!
Mixing is a hazardous process (add acid to the peroxide, not the other way around!)

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I found this on another forum and thought I'd ask around before I tried. :eek:

Thanks Steve
 
FeCl (ferric chloride) is probably 100 times safer :) . Hit your nearby RatShack to see if they have any left. You can always buy it as powder on the Web. I am not a big fan of anything acid , 'cept may be citric :)
 
While we're on etchant, what's the mix proportions for ferric chloride etchant? I've got an old gallon jug of it and need to mix up a batch.

Thanks
 
scottickes said:
I and most others mix 1 part ferric chloride to three parts distilled water.
Click to expand...

Yupyup....

Oh and I can confirm that as of yesterday, you can still get FeCL at Radio Shack.....Well, not right now at the one by me...I bought everything they had :D

-d
 
Something which I was told here works well, and what i've used for all my etching so far and which DOES work well is a 50/50 solution of FECL from radio shack and 5% distilled white vinegar. FeCl is an etchant but it's actually a base, and the vinegar which is an acid neutralizes it a bit, the result is about the same strength as 1 part FeCl to 3 parts water. It can be hard finding distilled water in places to mix with the fecl, but distilled white vinegar is pretty common, and then you can use the rest of your vinegar as the neutralizer comming out of the etchant before rinsing it off in water. (believe me you want to neutralize it or you end up with bad rust spots on your blades the day after you etched
 
The radio shack near said they no longer carried it. I guess I'll try the 10 or so other stores in the Dayton area. Hopefully I can picki some up before it's all gone.
 
Justin.Mercier said:
.... FeCl is an etchant but it's actually a base, and the vinegar which is an acid neutralizes it a bit.....
Click to expand...

Justin, Ferric Chloride is chemically defined as a metallic salt, not a base. Actually, chemically it's what's called a Lewis Acid because of the electron structure.

Dissolved in water, it forms a weakened solution of hydrochloric acid. Using vinegar puts in more hydrogen ions, making it even more acidic.

Here's a little wiki article that will tell you a bit about ferric chloride. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron(III)_chloride
 
I found a RS close by that said the still care it, so i'll be off to that store to pick some up. Deker you wern't in Ohio were you?-- HAHA-- The one store we stop by said they had a case last week before someone came by and bought it all. Thanks for the direction on the mixture.
Steve
 
what is a good price for this. becaus ther is a store close to me that sells it in very large bottles that look like 2 leter pop bottles in size and it seamed like it was 20 bucks or less. ill check tomaro. how much do you get from radio shack for what price.
 
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