DIY-ing in Australia. (etchant/enclosures)

[poppyman]

Hello,

I recently moved to Sydney and I was wonderingoif local DIYers could give me a hint to find a good enclosures and etchant seller.

I used to live in France where I mostly bought stuff from banzai, GGG and Dasmusikding...but maybe I should switch to local enclosure sellers or american ones (ebay, smallbear...?)

Also, I came here a few times before and it seems to be impossible to find ferric chloride (to etch enclosures). I went to places like jaycar and they told me I won't be able to find some.
Does anyone know where I could find some...there's gotta be some, somewhere!  

(my apologizes if it's off topic or if it makes some kind of deloyal advertising for a seller or another, this is not my intention).  

Syl

[FunkyGibbon]

Hi,

I also live in Sydney. I use ammonium persulphate for etching PCBs. It's readily available at Jaycar and Altronics. However, it won't etch aluminium. For that I use a homemade salt mordant. Salt, powdered sodium bisulphate (pool supplies), copper sulphate (gardening supplies), and warm water. I've mentioned it previously here:

http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=91548.msg781345#msg781345

Also note these tips on measuring:

http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=91548.msg782010#msg782010

For enclosures, I usually buy from Altronics these days. I occasionally buy powder coated ones from Small Bear, but postage from the US is now much more expensive than it used to be - I have found that the postage generally exceeds the value of the item I am ordering!

Good luck!

Christopher

[jbgron]

You can get Ferric Chloride from Melbourne Etching Supplies although you'll have to pay a dangerous goods surcharge to get it shipped to Sydney.  I haven't been able to find it anywhere else after Dick Smith stopped selling it.  It's great for etching aluminium and is much more reusable than Ammonium Persulphate.

http://www.mes.net.au/products/subcat-30-40.php

[DiscoVlad]

Have you tried Farnell... Element-14 or RS Components? (both have free shipping?)

Jaycar only sell persulphate etchant, and they do have aluminium enclosures, which are ok... Although the metal is a lot lighter gauge than the Hammond enclosures that RS Components sell.

There may also be other suppliers too, but I'm in New Zealand so we're even more limited..

[Ibanezsr500]

For etching boards I buy ammonium persulphate from jaycar.

I buy enclosures from Pedal Parts Australia. Don't buy enclosures from jaycar, they are overpriced and have deep scratches that are extremely time consuming to remove, don't even bother. All IMO btw.

I use hydrochloric acid (38%) and hydrogen peroxide (3%) for etching my enclosures, you should be able to find the hydrochloric at a pool supply store, and the peroxide at a chemist or beauty supplier.

For parts and stuff try Tayda Electronics, good prices and shipping to Aus is cheap. They sell enclosures too, but I have heard that the shipping isn't that fast unless you pay for a faster shipping service.

[poppyman]

Thanks a lot guys, that's great!

Altronics seems to have classic shaped enclosures, so I'll probably go for that to start with.

For the ferric chloride, this "dangerous product" tax thing seems to be really exagerately expensive, I'm gonna have a close look at all the links and figure out what is the best option for me!

I just saw that Altronics had small bottle of ferric chloride in their catalogue. I'm gonna try to drop by and check all that out, it seems that they have a retail shop in  Sydney (Auburn).

cheers!!!

[davent]

.

I use hydrochloric acid (38%) and hydrogen peroxide (3%) for etching my enclosures, you should be able to find the hydrochloric at a pool supply store, and the peroxide at a chemist or beauty supplier.

This works great for etching pcb as well, there's no need to chase down any of the other chemicals.  A hardware store plus a pharmacy should have the chemicals you need. Lots of info on the web for doing boards with this combo.
dave

[Ibanezsr500]

For the life of me I could not etch copper with this mixture. Don't know why, but it could have been sitting a container of water. That's how bad it wasn't working. I went and bought some ammonium persulphate, and it worked beautifully. Still not sure what was wrong, but at least I etched my boards.

[DiscoVlad]

For the ferric chloride, this "dangerous product" tax thing seems to be really exagerately expensive, I'm gonna have a close look at all the links and figure out what is the best option for me!

Yeah, dangerous goods shipping is most definitely not cheap... The company where I work sells (among other things) phosphoric acid used for an industrial cleaning process. If we're sending containers smaller than 5L the shipping costs more than the item, even if it's only going across town.

[greaser_au]

Diggers brand Hydrochloric acid can be bought at Bunnings  fairly cheaply in the building supplies aisle (the one with the plasterboard filler and roof flashing).  http://www.recochem.com.au/index.php/products/consumer_products/acids_caustics/item/diggers_hydrochloric_acid

Have a chat to these guys, too:   http://www.mektronics.com.au/  they sell FeCl  and  (NH4)2S2O8 in powder form (I'd expect the powder to not be a dangerous item- famous last words!!!). not sure if they have an NSW branch. When we still did electronics, we  used to call the SA guy 'the steak knives man' because he had everything  (well, from a tools and consumables perspective)...  

david

[chromesphere]

Welcome to oz! 
Not sure about the acid, but i too dislike the deep scratches in the sides of the jaycar enclosures.  But, i still use them, because i like the shape compared to the 4 site enclosures that have rounded corners on their face and kind of look retro..but in bad way. Its athestics i guess, each to their own.
If you buy 4+ from jaycar you get them a bit cheaper, and once you do the exercise, add shipping etc, you'll probably find the cost isnt much different.  And of course, you dont have to wait for them, you can just go and buy them from the shop.  if they have any haha
I also like the jaycar PCB.  Its strong and well made.   
All other components i order overseas, tayda, mammoth, futurlec, mainly.  The shipping is ok from any of these to oz.
Paul

[rocinante]

Hi,

I now live in sweden, but i am from Australia (albeit brisbane not sydney), but i have ordered from banzai before which worked out pretty well.  You have to wait a week or two for orders, but it works out cheaper than some other options.  I got my ferric chloride from banzai shipped to brisbane and as far as i know i didnt have to pay any surcharge or dangerous goods surcharge??  Not sure how that worked...

+1 pedal parts aus - great clean enclosures.

Good luck!

[poppyman]

Thanks Rocinante,
as a matter of fact, I didn't buy the ferric chloride yet. I bought stuff at banzai the last 4 years and they always have been great sellers. I never bought etchant there and it seems to come in small powder bottle to mix with water. That would be perfect (lower shipping cost etc...)If I can't find a cheaper deal I'll go for that

I went to jaycar just to check random supplies and it was VERY expensive and overall pretty disapointing :/

pedal parts plus aus has really decent prices so I might place an order soon, actually

cheers!

[PRR]

> peroxide at a chemist or beauty supplier

That's maybe two different things.

Drug store peroxide for washing cuts on your hand is pure 3%.

Hair-bleach beauticians, here at least, use a much stronger 10%(?) dose which may be cut with moisturizers (oil) and perfume so the hair does not get icky-dry.

[rocinante]

Thanks Rocinante,
as a matter of fact, I didn't buy the ferric chloride yet. I bought stuff at banzai the last 4 years and they always have been great sellers. I never bought etchant there and it seems to come in small powder bottle to mix with water. That would be perfect (lower shipping cost etc...)If I can't find a cheaper deal I'll go for that

Just a heads up - ive been using that powdered ferric chloride for a while and got a few good etches on enclosures and a pcb or two but now am having no luck.  But i dont think i followed the mixing instructions at all so maybe you will have more luck with the solution.

cheers.