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Forum Index : Microcontroller and PC projects : Good places to get PCB’s made....
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Grogster Admin Group  Joined: 31/12/2012 Location: New ZealandPosts: 9083 |
Brother are perfectly good as a printer in that respect. Report seem to differ on Brother - some people say they have not had a problem using Brother toner, and others such as myself, report that it never worked from day one. Smoke makes things work. When the smoke gets out, it stops! |
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BobD Guru  Joined: 07/12/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 935 |
I wonder if it is just the difference between genuine and third party toner? Which do you use? |
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| Gordz Regular Member  Joined: 10/08/2013 Location: AustraliaPosts: 55 |
The last Brother I used had a refill toner from China. |
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| Grogster Admin Group Joined: 31/12/2012 Location: New ZealandPosts: 9083 |
I always use genuine Brother brand toner replacements. Smoke makes things work. When the smoke gets out, it stops! |
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| paceman Guru Joined: 07/10/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1329 |
Reading around about the genuine Brother toner it seems either to have "less plastic" in it or else the plastic in it needs a higher temperature to soften and fuse. Either way most people find it's a problem - bit of a pity because mine's a Brother printer and I want to have a go at toner transfer too. One report I found said that non-genuine Brother toner works OK because it's composition is closer to that used by most of the other printers. Unfortunately they didn't say which "aftermarket" toner they used - you'd think though that if it softens at a lower temperature it might gum up the printer! Rather than risk my current Brother printer (HL2070-N) (which has been a good unit) I think I'll look around for a cheap second hand HP, Fuji Xerox, Kyocera or something and give that a go. If anyone has tried an "aftermarket" toner in their Brother and has it doing the toner transfer thing well I'd like to hear about it. Greg |
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| Grogster Admin Group Joined: 31/12/2012 Location: New ZealandPosts: 9083 |
I have two Brother lasers, one at my workshop, and one here at home. Both of them produced printouts that did not transfer using the toner-transfer method, and standard printer paper. PnP might be different, but I suspect not, simply as the PnP people themselves say that they have had reports of problems with Brother toner. Brother is a very popular laser printer here in NZ - in my neck of the woods anyway - and finding a buddy without a Brother printer is actually tricky - they all seem to have Brother printers like I have!  I'm not interested in buying another brand printer, just to try this out, but if I come across someone with a NON-Brother laser printer, I will get them to print a couple of pages for the purposes of experimentation.Smoke makes things work. When the smoke gets out, it stops! |
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jman Guru Joined: 12/06/2011 Location: New ZealandPosts: 711 |
I am in NZ and can print these with my HP printer. I have used my HP printer with a cheap TradeMe cartridge with great success. Even used the Vodafone junk mail paper this also works a treat John |
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| Grogster Admin Group Joined: 31/12/2012 Location: New ZealandPosts: 9083 |
Useful information - thanks for posting.  Smoke makes things work. When the smoke gets out, it stops! |
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| Gordz Regular Member Joined: 10/08/2013 Location: AustraliaPosts: 55 |
I can get a Fuji Xerox P205W Mono Laser Printer from Office works for $30 so I will buy one Monday and try it out. My Epson is getting tired and a toner refill costs more than $30 |
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| isochronic Guru Joined: 21/01/2012 Location: AustraliaPosts: 689 |
I saw a post somewhere that Brother toner does not use polymer (plastic), which is needed for the resist |
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| paceman Guru Joined: 07/10/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1329 |
I don't suppose there's any manufacturer ID on your HP TradeMe cartridge is there John? They might also do a Brother one that would work. Greg |
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| paceman Guru Joined: 07/10/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1329 |
Sounds like a good option Gordon as long as it has reasonable resolution. If it works OK I'll get one of those and use it for the toner transfer work and keep my fancier Brother one for normal network printing. |
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| Gordz Regular Member Joined: 10/08/2013 Location: AustraliaPosts: 55 |
OK bit rushed for time this morning but got the Xerox P205 (1200 dpi) and did a quick test PCB using P 'n' P ( ragged etch when you rush ) and here is the result. Printer actualy cost $48 because the special is finished and I could not be bothered ordering one. |
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| paceman Guru Joined: 07/10/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1329 |
For a 'ragged" etch that looks pretty reasonable Gordon - those tracks look quite fine. The toner they use must be OK for our use too or you wouldn't have gotten that far with it. 1200 resolution isn't shabby either so I reckon it's a goer. Pity about the extra $18 but it's still really cheap - think I'll head out now and get one. Thanks for getting it and doing the test for us all. Greg |
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powerednut Senior Member  Joined: 09/12/2009 Location: AustraliaPosts: 221 |
I've been using Multix brand greaseproof paper bought at the local woolworths. Cheap (i think about $3-5 for the entire role) and I've been getting pretty good results with it. SOIC chips are about the smallest size that I go down to before running into trace thickness problems, but for anything that and up it works fine. *edit* it was a 30 meter roll for $3.50. I use a modified laminator to transfer the toner from the greaseproof paper to the board. |
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bigmik Guru Joined: 20/06/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2870 |
Hi powerednut, Any information available on exactly what modifications you did to the laminator? That sound interesting. Mick Mick's uMite Stuff can be found >>> HERE (Kindly hosted by Dontronics) <<< |
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OA47 Guru Joined: 11/04/2012 Location: AustraliaPosts: 911 |
bigmik, I used instructions to modify a laminator that can be found at ultrakeet.com.au Hope this helps |
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| powerednut Senior Member Joined: 09/12/2009 Location: AustraliaPosts: 221 |
Yup, thats the place I got instructions from too. I've also got some of the pulsar fx paper, which is very nice. I get slightly better results with press n peel, but I think thats because i'm using quite thick boards. anyways, instructions for making boards with the laminator: http://ultrakeet.com.au/write-ups/makepcbs (same process for greaseproof paper as it is for the pulsar fx or press n peel) instructions for modifying the laminator: http://ultrakeet.com.au/write-ups/superFuserV2 I got the laminator itself from officeworks. I bought the parts to make the changes from RS online. Laminator was $19.95 and the parts are about another $11 + postage. Its a little expensive, but it works much better than an iron. It also has the added advantage that your wife doesn't yell at you if stuff gets stuck to it. Some laminators don't need modifying. if it can do more than 160C or so stock, don't bother modifying it. |
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| OA47 Guru Joined: 11/04/2012 Location: AustraliaPosts: 911 |
While we are on this subject, I would like to know what is the favourite method of cleaning the copper surface prior to the toner transfer? |
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| powerednut Senior Member Joined: 09/12/2009 Location: AustraliaPosts: 221 |
As a preliminary cleaner I coat the board in a layer of Detol "classic" anti-bacterial hand wash (the type you need to wash off afterwards, but comes in a handy pump pack), and then I leave the board to sit in that for about 10 minutes while I get everything else needed ready to go. Then rinse off under running water and pat dry with a paper towel. This was discovered by accident, but it seems to do a fantastic job of de-oxidising the board and lifting off grubby fingerprints from myself or the sales droids at jaycar. Occasionally you'll get a stubborn patch, which then needs to be removed with other methods. Unfortunately I don't have a good other method, so in these cases I generally wind up with scratches all over the board surface. |
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