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Building a UV PCB exposure box?

A

Aly

Jan 1, 1970
0
Hello,

Ideas please?

A small professional UV box with two 8W tubes will cost about £100, and is,
professionally made and neat and tidy. I'm wondering if for sake of ease it
would be easier to just go out and buy one?

I've seen the UV "fly killer," tubes on eBay for say £10, which are
mentioned in a few of the tutorials online. Ballasts I have at home
somewhere. Would need a neat little case, cut glass, switches, bits bobs,
and time.

This is all purely for making the odd PCB so nothing commercial. There's
also those little UV nail boxes for curing the plastic, they're only about
£20 although I wonder about even coverage with those, and if indeed it is
the right type of UV?

Circular tubes? U-shaped tubes? Straight tubes? Little 9W dual parallel
tubes?

I'm just wondering in the end if it would be easier to just buy one,
although that's not really in keeping with the spirit of diy.

Many thanks for any input, I'm just looking for ideas and opinons really.
I'd also be half tempted to put in regular tubes too so that it can be used
as a light box.

Friendly regards,

Alison

ps. There's this one at Rapid for £110 in a little kit;

<http://www.rapidonline.com/searchresults.aspx?style=0&kw=34-0690>
 
P

petrus bitbyter

Jan 1, 1970
0
Aly said:
Hello,

Ideas please?

A small professional UV box with two 8W tubes will cost about £100, and
is,
professionally made and neat and tidy. I'm wondering if for sake of ease
it
would be easier to just go out and buy one?

I've seen the UV "fly killer," tubes on eBay for say £10, which are
mentioned in a few of the tutorials online. Ballasts I have at home
somewhere. Would need a neat little case, cut glass, switches, bits bobs,
and time.

This is all purely for making the odd PCB so nothing commercial. There's
also those little UV nail boxes for curing the plastic, they're only about
£20 although I wonder about even coverage with those, and if indeed it is
the right type of UV?

Circular tubes? U-shaped tubes? Straight tubes? Little 9W dual parallel
tubes?

I'm just wondering in the end if it would be easier to just buy one,
although that's not really in keeping with the spirit of diy.

Many thanks for any input, I'm just looking for ideas and opinons really.
I'd also be half tempted to put in regular tubes too so that it can be
used
as a light box.

Friendly regards,

Alison

ps. There's this one at Rapid for £110 in a little kit;

<http://www.rapidonline.com/searchresults.aspx?style=0&kw=34-0690>


The DIY spirit found a real cheap method some years ago. Use an obsolete
face tanner and an old scanner. An example can be found on
http://gathering.tweakers.net/forum/list_messages/730455///
Although the text is Dutch, the pictures tell the story. I build one this
way. Bought scanner and tanner for less then $15,-- on a flee market. The
only extras were some pieces of scrapwood, some wire, two screws and piece
of hot melt glue. Works like a charm. Two minutes exposure is enough to get
perfect PCBs.

You only must make sure that your positives are pitchblack. My printer,
although perfect in normal printing, does not make the artwork black enough.
I have to stack two sheets to block the UV.

petrus bitbyter
 
L

larwe

Jan 1, 1970
0
somewhere. Would need a neat little case, cut glass, switches, bits bobs,

You need _quartz_ glass to pass all UV. Apart from this issue, all the
mechanical needs are satisfied by taking an old scanner and removing
the innards; put the UV tubes and reflector inside where the scan
mechanism used to go, and put your PCB on the glass, then close the
lid.
Many thanks for any input, I'm just looking for ideas and opinons really.
I'd also be half tempted to put in regular tubes too so that it can be used
as a light box.

Not advisable. If you're building a UV box, you should interlock it so
that the tubes cannot come on while the lid is open. There are fun
ways of going blind, and dumb ways... stick to the fun ways.
 
P

petrus bitbyter

Jan 1, 1970
0
larwe said:
You need _quartz_ glass to pass all UV. Apart from this issue, all the
mechanical needs are satisfied by taking an old scanner and removing
the innards; put the UV tubes and reflector inside where the scan
mechanism used to go, and put your PCB on the glass, then close the
lid.


Not advisable. If you're building a UV box, you should interlock it so
that the tubes cannot come on while the lid is open. There are fun
ways of going blind, and dumb ways... stick to the fun ways.

_Quartz_ glass? I was told so very often. But the glas of scanner is
apparently good enough.

Face tanners have no lid. So the need for an interlock will not be that
strong. Nevertheless you should not look into the light. If you want to tan
your face with it, you need to keep your eyes closed. The light can do
serious damage to your eyes.

petrus bitbyter
 
C

Coyoteboy

Jan 1, 1970
0
larwe said:
You need _quartz_ glass to pass all UV. Apart from this issue, all the
mechanical needs are satisfied by taking an old scanner and removing
the innards; put the UV tubes and reflector inside where the scan
mechanism used to go, and put your PCB on the glass, then close the
lid.
Are scanner glasses usually quartz glass? I have an old scanner here now....
 
A

Aly

Jan 1, 1970
0
Aly said:

Thank you to those who are replying. I'm following with interest.

At the moment I'm swaying towards the £100 for sake of ease. Oh, printer,
photo inkjet, transparances, Brother DCP-340CW apparently 1200x6000dpi...
we'll see about that.

:) Aly

Aly :)
 
L

Leon

Jan 1, 1970
0
Hello,

Ideas please?

A small professional UV box with two 8W tubes will cost about £100, andis,
professionally made and neat and tidy. I'm wondering if for sake of easeit
would be easier to just go out and buy one?

I've seen the UV "fly killer," tubes on eBay for say £10, which are
mentioned in a few of the tutorials online. Ballasts I have at home
somewhere. Would need a neat little case, cut glass, switches, bits bobs,
and time.

This is all purely for making the odd PCB so nothing commercial. There's
also those little UV nail boxes for curing the plastic, they're only about
£20 although I wonder about even coverage with those, and if indeed it is
the right type of UV?

Circular tubes? U-shaped tubes? Straight tubes? Little 9W dual parallel
tubes?

I'm just wondering in the end if it would be easier to just buy one,
although that's not really in keeping with the spirit of diy.

Many thanks for any input, I'm just looking for ideas and opinons really.
I'd also be half tempted to put in regular tubes too so that it can be used
as a light box.

Friendly regards,

Alison

ps. There's this one at Rapid for £110 in a little kit;

<http://www.rapidonline.com/searchresults.aspx?style=0&kw=34-0690>

I built one using two UV tubes in standard 12" fluorescent fittings,
with a box made from MDF and a sheet of glass. It cost me about 20
GBP.

Leon
 
L

Leon

Jan 1, 1970
0
You need _quartz_ glass to pass all UV. Apart from this issue, all the
mechanical needs are satisfied by taking an old scanner and removing
the innards; put the UV tubes and reflector inside where the scan
mechanism used to go, and put your PCB on the glass, then close the
lid.


Not advisable. If you're building a UV box, you should interlock it so
that the tubes cannot come on while the lid is open. There are fun
ways of going blind, and dumb ways... stick to the fun ways.


You don't need quartz, ordinary window glass is transparent to the
long-wave UV used for PCB exposure. The light isn't particularly
hazardous.

Leon
 
L

Leon

Jan 1, 1970
0
<SNIP>

Thank you to those who are replying. I'm following with interest.

At the moment I'm swaying towards the £100 for sake of ease. Oh, printer,
photo inkjet, transparances, Brother DCP-340CW apparently 1200x6000dpi...
we'll see about that.

:) Aly

Aly :)

I use an HP 5940 printer with JetStar premium film, results are
excellent.

Leon
 
B

Bob Masta

Jan 1, 1970
0
Hello,

Ideas please?

A small professional UV box with two 8W tubes will cost about £100, and is,
professionally made and neat and tidy. I'm wondering if for sake of ease it
would be easier to just go out and buy one?

I've seen the UV "fly killer," tubes on eBay for say £10, which are
mentioned in a few of the tutorials online. Ballasts I have at home
somewhere. Would need a neat little case, cut glass, switches, bits bobs,
and time.

This is all purely for making the odd PCB so nothing commercial. There's
also those little UV nail boxes for curing the plastic, they're only about
£20 although I wonder about even coverage with those, and if indeed it is
the right type of UV?

Circular tubes? U-shaped tubes? Straight tubes? Little 9W dual parallel
tubes?

I'm just wondering in the end if it would be easier to just buy one,
although that's not really in keeping with the spirit of diy.

Many thanks for any input, I'm just looking for ideas and opinons really.
I'd also be half tempted to put in regular tubes too so that it can be used
as a light box.

I don't use the photo method much anymore, but
for many years I did it wifh a UV tanning floodlamp
in one of those clamp-on utility lights with a spun aluminum
reflector. I'd lay the PCB on a piece of plywood on the
floor, with the artwork taped over it and a sheet of
ordinary window glass on top to make sure everything
was flat. The tanning light was clamped to the back
of a chair so it was 2-3 feet from the work, and
pointing straight down at the center of the board.

True, that plain glass probably blocked some UV,
but so what? The tanning flood puts out a ton of it,
and you don't really want a super-short exposure here.
Several minutes is fine, since it gives you some
room to adjust exposure times.

Best regards,


Bob Masta

D A Q A R T A
Data AcQuisition And Real-Time Analysis
www.daqarta.com
Scope, Spectrum, Spectrogram, Signal Generator
Science with your sound card!
 
L

larwe

Jan 1, 1970
0
_Quartz_ glass? I was told so very often. But the glas of scanner is
apparently good enough.

It depends on the UV wavelength required for this application, I
assumed it was rather short-wave. Below 170nm or so quartz glass is
really necessary. Germicidal lamps have a quartz envelope.
 
A

Aly

Jan 1, 1970
0
Aly said:

What nM are we talking about for photoresist exposure?

I'm looking at UV LEDs on eBay at the moment. 150mcd, about 400nM.

Search for inside the brackets. ( UV "LEDs" ) to weed out the other stuff.
 
C

Coyoteboy

Jan 1, 1970
0
Aly said:
What nM are we talking about for photoresist exposure?

I'm looking at UV LEDs on eBay at the moment. 150mcd, about 400nM.

Search for inside the brackets. ( UV "LEDs" ) to weed out the other
stuff.

Not sure they have the intensity needed for etching, youd probably need
hundreds of them lol. That said they're fairly cheap.
 
L

Leon

Jan 1, 1970
0
What nM are we talking about for photoresist exposure?

I'm looking at UV LEDs on eBay at the moment. 150mcd, about 400nM.

Search for inside the brackets. ( UV "LEDs" ) to weed out the other stuff.

UV LEDs can work, Elektor mag. had a design a few months ago.

Leon
 
H

Hershel

Jan 1, 1970
0
deas please?

A small professional UV box with two 8W tubes will cost about £100, and
is,
professionally made and neat and tidy. I'm wondering if for sake of ease
it
would be easier to just go out and buy one?

I've seen the UV "fly killer," tubes on eBay for say £10, which are
mentioned in a few of the tutorials online. Ballasts I have at home
somewhere. Would need a neat little case, cut glass, switches, bits bobs,
and time.

This is all purely for making the odd PCB so nothing commercial. There's
also those little UV nail boxes for curing the plastic, they're only about
£20 although I wonder about even coverage with those, and if indeed it is
the right type of UV?

Circular tubes? U-shaped tubes? Straight tubes? Little 9W dual parallel
tubes?

I'm just wondering in the end if it would be easier to just buy one,
although that's not really in keeping with the spirit of diy.

Many thanks for any input, I'm just looking for ideas and opinons really.
I'd also be half tempted to put in regular tubes too so that it can be
used
as a light box.

Friendly regards,

Alison

ps. There's this one at Rapid for £110 in a little kit;

I would think that used ones would be plentiful. I probably haven't
erased a UV chip in 10 years, and would sell you mine if I could find it.

Hershel
 
A

Anton Erasmus

Jan 1, 1970
0
Hello,

Ideas please?

A small professional UV box with two 8W tubes will cost about £100, and is,
professionally made and neat and tidy. I'm wondering if for sake of ease it
would be easier to just go out and buy one?

I've seen the UV "fly killer," tubes on eBay for say £10, which are
mentioned in a few of the tutorials online. Ballasts I have at home
somewhere. Would need a neat little case, cut glass, switches, bits bobs,
and time.

This is all purely for making the odd PCB so nothing commercial. There's
also those little UV nail boxes for curing the plastic, they're only about
£20 although I wonder about even coverage with those, and if indeed it is
the right type of UV?

Circular tubes? U-shaped tubes? Straight tubes? Little 9W dual parallel
tubes?

I'm just wondering in the end if it would be easier to just buy one,
although that's not really in keeping with the spirit of diy.

Many thanks for any input, I'm just looking for ideas and opinons really.
I'd also be half tempted to put in regular tubes too so that it can be used
as a light box.

For the occasional home made PCB, I find that the sun works much
better than any UV tube. Depending on the time of day, I normally
expose pre-coated PCB material for 20 to 80 seconds. This works
quite well and it is fairly easy to produce boards with 12thou tracks
with 12thou clearance. With a bit more care, one can do 10 thou.
I have used a UV box bought from RS Components in the past, but
I found the sun to give better results.

Regards
Anton Erasmus
 
J

John Larkin

Jan 1, 1970
0
Hello,

Ideas please?

A small professional UV box with two 8W tubes will cost about £100, and is,
professionally made and neat and tidy. I'm wondering if for sake of ease it
would be easier to just go out and buy one?

I've seen the UV "fly killer," tubes on eBay for say £10, which are
mentioned in a few of the tutorials online. Ballasts I have at home
somewhere. Would need a neat little case, cut glass, switches, bits bobs,
and time.

This is all purely for making the odd PCB so nothing commercial. There's
also those little UV nail boxes for curing the plastic, they're only about
£20 although I wonder about even coverage with those, and if indeed it is
the right type of UV?

Circular tubes? U-shaped tubes? Straight tubes? Little 9W dual parallel
tubes?

I'm just wondering in the end if it would be easier to just buy one,
although that's not really in keeping with the spirit of diy.

Many thanks for any input, I'm just looking for ideas and opinons really.
I'd also be half tempted to put in regular tubes too so that it can be used
as a light box.

Friendly regards,

Alison

ps. There's this one at Rapid for £110 in a little kit;

<http://www.rapidonline.com/searchresults.aspx?style=0&kw=34-0690>

A light box is about the worst possible way to expose pcb's. To get
good resolution, you need sharp shadows hence collimated light. The
typical light box is a maze of position-dependent blurs. The light
source should be far away from the film and the board, not close.

Get a bright light with decent UV concentration. A 175 watt
warehouse-type mercury vapor lamp is ideal, and perfectly safe. Mount
it about 3 feet above a table and add a bit of foil on top if it
deosn't already have a reflector. Place the pcb, film, and a top piece
of glass or plexiglass, on the table. Try 10 minutes to start. This
will cast much sharper shadows than any light box can.

A tanning lamp isn't bad, and they're cheap.

The sun is pretty far away, too.

John
 
A

Aly

Jan 1, 1970
0
A light box is about the worst possible way to expose pcb's. To get
good resolution, you need sharp shadows hence collimated light. The
typical light box is a maze of position-dependent blurs. The light
source should be far away from the film and the board, not close.

Get a bright light with decent UV concentration. A 175 watt
warehouse-type mercury vapor lamp is ideal, and perfectly safe. Mount
it about 3 feet above a table and add a bit of foil on top if it
deosn't already have a reflector. Place the pcb, film, and a top piece
of glass or plexiglass, on the table. Try 10 minutes to start. This
will cast much sharper shadows than any light box can.

A tanning lamp isn't bad, and they're cheap.

The sun is pretty far away, too.

John

Hi John,

Noted. Tell you what I do have.. A full size sunbed in the bathroom, hold
on.. Eight 100W 6' tubes.

I've just been playing with the idea of fitting one of those small 25W 9"
U-shaped tubes in a 12"x10"x5" flight case, or an 22W 8" circular tube.

But with what you've said here it's made me wonder..

Thanks again (and to everyone)

Aly :)
 
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