fender Blues DeLuxe Reissue ate two PT,s fuse not blown and correct value

[Chuck H]

Can't we all just get along!

[Audiotexan]

Can't we all just get along!

Lol, sometimes I have a way with words, others I fumble. Thanks for saying what I was trying to, and much more concisely. Jerk. rofl /kidding

[gui_tarzan]

Thanks. How long do you dip the board in? Do you rinse with water later?

The timing depends on the size of the board, temperature & humidity. I don't know why, but it does matter. I leave it in until the copper is gone except where I drew on it. Yes, you have to rinse it off and keep the water going for a while so it doesn't eat your pipes. We have a lot of plastic in our plumbing but the sink and p-trap are metal. And it will discolor stainless so don't drip it on the sink, hold the board right over the drain. If I were doing a lot of boards I would rig up a permanent tank with a fish tank pump to circulate air though the solution. It works better if you aerate the solution.

[gui_tarzan]

By the way, Radio Shack still sells tape products and a special marker for etching. I don't want to pay the high price they want so I don't buy those.

[Chuck H]

It might be possible to use a base solution to reduce neutralization time (for your boards AND your pipes). Getting to a neutral PH by rinsing with clear water is slow. A base solution might make for sharper trace edges and would certainly reduce the amount of time your pipes are exposed to acid damage. A very mild solution made from plain ol' drain cleaner should work. At the very least you could use a baking soda solution.

[J M Fahey]

You are right on spot.

I have a heated etching tank holding 60 pounds (22 liters) of perchloride solution which lasts 2 or 3 years and just "sits there" , no need to pour it back and forth to/from some container, so it ends up being the least messy solution, but when it starts getting too slow it has to be replaced, of course.

In that case I always neutralize it first with lye (2 to 4 pounds, as needed) , it turns into a brown sludge which if left alone separates into "mud" in the bottom and a relatively clear liquid on top, and is relatively safe to drop down the drain, wonīt attack metals because I add more lye than needed so it becomes alkaline, as an extra effect it helps to clean drains and pipes of organic matter (ugh!! )

Do the same (milder baking soda works well, of course) with used acid/peroxide solution.

I suggest alan he adds the tip of a teaspoon of bicarbonate or baking soda to the last PCB rinse and leaves the PCB there a couple minutes.

The base material absorbs a little acid which plain rinsing does not fully take away (unless you rinse it for hours) , but the mild alkaline solution will kill it for sure.

I noticed that plain rinsed boards had a slightly acid smell when heated , even a couple days later, which fully dissapears if neutralized.

After etching and rinsing, dry it well (heatgun or summer sunlight) lightly polish the copper surface with steel wool and lightly brush it with a pine rosin + alcohol solution, which protects it from humidity and fingerprints and being a standard flux helps future soldering, even months later.

I make relatively large batches of PCBs I use most, and they keep well without special precautions, while bare copper ones dull and get difficult to solder after a couple weeks.

Donīt know where you live but Buenos Aires is a humid city.

[Audiotexan]

...could I please talk you into sharing your method Juan?

I knew you were much larger scale than what I will ever be/consider. But the following kind of highlights what I was more curious about. I guess the process itself that you use/what works for you, eg: tips.

I noticed that plain rinsed boards had a slightly acid smell when heated , even a couple days later, which fully dissapears if neutralized.

After etching and rinsing, dry it well (heatgun or summer sunlight) lightly polish the copper surface with steel wool and lightly brush it with a pine rosin + alcohol solution, which protects it from humidity and fingerprints and being a standard flux helps future soldering, even months later.

I make relatively large batches of PCBs I use most, and they keep well without special precautions, while bare copper ones dull and get difficult to solder after a couple weeks.

I don't like doing things half-assed (even when it's only a 'hobby'), and I have the impression that you're of the same mind, which is why I value and appreciate your input!

I haven't dipped/etched in 20+ years, but am thinking about doing some 'vintage' pedal recreations. (I hate the word clone, because it's tossed around way too frivolously these days, and too many deviate with mass liberty and then it's not a 'clone' at all IMO.)

Do you mask your traces?? IIRC the pic with the boxful of etched boards earlier were not...but I don't take that to mean you don't/can't. Simply that those weren't masked (yet?).

Is masking a whole other kettle of fish? or is it worth the trouble/added expense?
(Still thinking home-brew here FWIW)

Cheers for additional input!

[J M Fahey]

Ok.
Masking, huh?

Truth is, when I started on this LONG ago no masking was used, period.

Because masking was invented to save solder when wave soldering, not *really* necessary when gatting a fresh batch of PCBs and hand soldering within a month or so.

I remember lots of 70s MXR pedals or Acoustic amps (to name a few) with *all* of the visible copper tinned in the soldering tank.

And how did I notice the difference?

Because electrolytic (or chemical) tinning was very thin and shiny ... or became duller along time but surface was clearly flat, while solder wave tinning was thick (it got the same bath meant to solder a part leg or wire to the corresponding pad) and had a frosted surface ... imagine a lake freezes in a millisecond and water retains the small waves present.
Same thing.

Since I still hand solder, donīt need a solder mask per se, but prefer as said before a layer of varnish/flux , mainly to protect copper.

A couple times I dyed said varnish/flux blue or green .

After soldering the board *looks* like it has a solder mask (you see a transparent blue or green layer over everything) and soldered pads are shiny silver ... but itīs only decorative.

In fact stopped doing it because aniline dye chemically attacks copper and after a couple weeks the dyed boards were hard to solder ... or had to be cleaned, lightly brushed (with a soft brass bristle rotating brush) and recoated with simple undyed flux.

If needed I can silkscreen again the etched and drilled PCB with a solder resist coat of 2 component epoxy paint of any colour, from classic green to blue to red or black.

Thatīs called SMOBC (solder mask over bare copper ) but I donīt use it for a couple reasons: itīs an extra step, adds to cost (since you cover practically everything you use a lot), if not cleaned immediatly it hardens on the silkscreen and makes it unusable, you lose it, but worst offender for me is that solder pads remain bare, unprotected, and can soon become very hard to solder ... so I MUCH prefer my dual purpose varnish/flux .

Otherwise youīll need an extra step of tinning or gold plating visible copper.

As of silkscreened paints or inks I use 2 depending on purpose.

Modern one is called "etch resist blue" , is blue, is somewhat tricky to apply (it traps air easily and makes bubbles, then those may be weak spots) , is not *that* strong BUT after etching and drying, you drop your PCB on a tank with water + a little lye and it dissolves fully in the alkaline bath, so you save 2 steps, just rinse them in tap water afterwards and they are already neutralized, so itīs the favorite of fabricators.
Some even skip the intermediate rinse and send PCBs straight from etching to alkaline bath.

Older one is "etch resist black", is based on "betún de judea" (bitumen of Judea???) , a very black and messy tar wich comes straight from the Dead Sea, go figure.
It was used by Egyptians to make mummies water resistant

It allows very high precision, very thin lines, resists acid or alkaline baths (can be used to engrave aluminum in a lye bath for example) and I guess itīs used to engrave US Dollar or postage stamp printing plates ..... but is messy and never is fully cleaned afterwards ... so take your pick.

[Mark Black]

Anybody seen a power transformer 'round here?

[g1]

Anybody seen a power transformer 'round here?

lol, anybody seen the OP?
I think after you mentioned "hit and run" it was "no holds barred" .

[Chuck H]

Ok... To get back on topic!?! Don't use the Fender iron. After market may be more expensive but it probably won't have the failure rate that seems to be making itself apparent with the Fender OEM part. At least, that's what I'd do. Spend an extra twenty five or thirty five bucks of the customers money and make give them back an amp that'll get through a gig reliably.