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HowTo: How to make printed circuit boards
( Robert Stark)
Step 4 : The tank accessories
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| | As you can see in the previous step there are some other accessories involved. The etchant works best if it is heated and agitated. A board that would take 20 minutes to etch just sitting in a cold tank of acid, will etch in about 5 minutes is a warm, bubbling tank.
The heater:
The heater is just a common aquarium tank heater. They come in all shapes and sizes. The one I got was a short one for a small aquarium. A longer one wouldn't fit in the tank properly. I heat my etchant until it's about "almost too hot to wash your hands with" kind of warm. Remember, you want if very warm, not hot.
The agitation:
Agitation is accomplished using an aquarium air pump. You can't see it in the pictures, but glued to the bottom of the big tank is a small length of aquarium hose with holes drilled at 1" intervals. Connect this to a valve and you can regulate the ferocity of the bubbling.
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