Press and Peel ???????

[glasstone]

Hey All

I bought some press and peel blue, and I use it with my brother 2040 lazer printer. But I cant seam to get it to work, it wont stick to either diecast alubox or PCB material. In other words when I´v finished with the iron and let i cool down, when I pull the PnP of only some of it has sticked on. I treid different warming degrees warming time etc. But I cant get any good results out of it.
I´m loosing my mind here.

Any advice is precious!!

[markm]

The surface of the enclosure or the copper PCB blank needs to be extremely clean.
Sounds like this step of the process may have been overlooked perhaps?

[$uperpuma]

x2 on what Mark said... prep is paramount to getting a clean transfer.   I Use cameo powder copper cleaner to clean up the copper  stock them hit it with acetone for Good measure...   

[axeman010]

Hi

Please don't be offended but have you printed on the correct side of the PnP ?

Should be printed on the dull side.

Axeman.

[aloupos]

If your getting only a partial transfer, this is due to either 1 of 3 things, but probably a combination of them: 

1.  The board wasn't really clean.  I use a green scotchbright pad, and comet cleanser.  I spend about 1 minute scrubbing, then a  good rinse to make sure there is no residue.  After this, don't touch the surface with your fingers, as the oil may cause the toner not to stick. 

2.  The temp of the iron, and how long you iron for.  This is difficult to determine at first.  Every iron is different.  Take comfort in knowing that once you get these settings, they'll work for you every time.  To find the temp and time with my iron took about 4 boards.  Start at the wool setting, and iron a small board for about 90 seconds.  If the iron is too cold, the toner may not transfer.  If it's too hot, the pad wholes will close, and your lines will look a little fatter than on the original trace.  Adjust accordingly, re-clean your board very well, and try again.  When you're happy with the temp, put a little mark on the iron setting for next time. 

3.  Iron tecnique, although there isn't much to it.  I usually alternate between letting the iron sit on the board, and pressing down firmly while ironing. 

This takes practice, it doesn't come to you on the first try.  After about 5 I produce a decent board, although I sometimes need a touch up with marker. 

Take a look at the how to at smallbear, it's very good.  www.smallbearelec.com

[DryRoasted]

Like the above replies, prep is everything!  Personally I use regular tooth paste to clear my boards...  As for ironing, I'm gonna guess but ironing a small board is a whole kettle of fish to a box, after all a board will heat up pretty quick but a die cast box is much bigger and is going act like a heat sink to a certain degree and I'm guessing that it'll take a degree of magnitude longer for the PnP to take

[Mark Hammer]

Ditto on all of this.

1) Make sure you have printed to the dull side of the PNP sheet,  The blue stuff is a coating on the shiny plastic acetate sheet.  The transfer process consists of the dull blue stuff detaching from the shiny sheet and becoming attached to the copper.

2) Preparing the surface of the copper board (and keeping it clean) is extremely important.  I recommend using very fine steel wool to buff the surface until it is shiny all over.  I also recommend doing whatever you can to keep your fingers and your breath off of the copper surface since both will result in a thin residue that can cause very poor adhesion to the copper.

3) People usually take a while until they get the feel of the heat source they are using and learn how long to leave it on and how hard to press, etc.  The visual cue I recommend looking for is to warm the PnP until the "empty parts" between the toner soften and sag enough that the pattern starts to become apparent in low relief, as if the pattern was embossed on the shiny side.  If the acetate sheet is warm enough to soften and sag, then the toner has been warmed enough to attach itself to the copper.

4) Cooling can sometimes be just as important as warming.  Make sure that after you have clearly transferred the pattern uniformly that you cool off the board completely before attempting to remove the PnP.  Now that winter is here (or whatever version of this season global warming has permitted in your area), I find a useful strategy is to simply press the board up against a window-pane to cool it down quickly and uniformly.

Just as a rule, I recommend to folks to make duplicates and sometimes triplicates of any PCB patterns you want to transfer when first starting to use PnP.  There will undoubtedly be errors made and you will want to have a 2nd and third chance on standby.  Since the stuff is expensive on a per-sheet basis, I also recommend printing out all the patterns you want to make on paper, cutting them out, and then arranging them in the most space-conscious fashion on a blank 8-1/2 x 11 sheet and taping/gluing them in place.  Take THAT sheet and photocopy it once or twice to get the darkness/contrast just right and then photocopy to the PnP.  If you have to get someone else to do the photocopying and they are concerned about it melting inside the copier, let them know it is the exact same acetate sheet (in terms of thickness and material) used in overhead transparencies, except with an opaque rather than transparent coating.  If the machine can handle overhead transparencies, it will have absolutely no problem with these.

[glasstone]

Hey

Yaaahoo now it works I just made some fine PCB´s 

I would say thanks to you all for your reply on my problem. This Forum is really great. Thanks Thanks.

May the press´n and the peel´n be with you and me forever JUBIIII

[Cardboard Tube Samurai]

Another tip you could consider is running it under a cold water tap as soon as you stop ironing. I was having similar problems until I started doing this! I have found that cooling it rapidly seems to make it stick better

[disto]

a great tip i found was ironing with your pcb or box on a hard surface instead of on a soft ironing board, im not sure why but it worked wonders for me but it did.

[Ronsonic]

I had nothing but success from my first PnP on.

Scrupulously clean board. Iron on a hard surface with a sheet of paper over the PnP to give the iron some cushion. Fairly high heat on the iron. don't press hard but be thorough. Lift the paper and look at it to see what needs more attention.

Ron

[Mark Hammer]

a great tip i found was ironing with your pcb or box on a hard surface instead of on a soft ironing board, im not sure why but it worked wonders for me but it did.

A nice little hunk of MDF works well.

[MikeH]

+1 on ironing on something hard.  I used a chunk of particle board.  Ironing boards are soft and cushy because your clothes are too.  Copper and fiberglass don't need to be coddled in such a fashion.

[$uperpuma]