| Electronics > Projects, Designs, and Technical Stuff |
| Toner Transfer |
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| BradC:
Ok, so I've been doing toner transfer PCBs for a few years now. I have a great HP2200d on my desk that serves double duty as a general purpose monochrome office printer, and when required I pull the gold-plated genuine HP toner cartridge out of the zip-loc bag and use it for toner transfer. The *problem* is that these cartridges last about 5 years *tops* before the wiper blade takes a set and I get ghosting on the images. I've put up with this because it meant I only had to buy a new HP cart every 5 years and the whole thing is so damn reliable. Now, I'm due a new cart due to ghosting (I can make a board, but it can only be smaller than about 8cm as that is roughly the drum circumference) and find the clusterfuck that is now HP (thanks Carly _there_really_are_no_words_for_how_I_feel_about_this_oxygen_theif_ Fiorina) has actually discontinued the cartridge. Experience says that cheap toner doesn't transfer as well (I can do 8/8 down to 6/6 with the genuine HP toner and Puslar paper). So I'm a bit up the creek without a (paddle/outboard/jet) right now. So, what I'm looking for is a recommendation for a printer that does awesome toner transfer, has a reliable supply of genuine toner, a 500 sheet feeder + duplexer and costs fuck all (my 2200d+feeder was less than $50). A big ask? Maybe. But seriously, let's take cost off the table. Does anyone have any recommendations? The 2200d makes an awesome office printer as I have a complete spare unit for parts, a full service manual and the office grade toner is 0.6c per page so it costs nothing to run. If I had to buy a dedicated "board only" printer for the 10 times a year I make boards, I'd figure something out and slide it past the wife. It's just the aftermarket toner for the 2200d doesn't make good boards (or I haven't yet found one that does reliably). Maybe this is the push I need to move from toner to UV. Hrm.. build a light box, deal with dry resist lamination and producing adequate negatives, or buy a new printer than does awesome toner transfer... what to do? Ideas? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller? |
| Buriedcode:
I think you'll get quite a few replies along the lines of "just get your PCB's manufactured, its cheaper". I still occasionally make my own for single sided jobs using toner transfer, and whilst I can have a working board in a few hours, with all the hassle of it, and the arse that is drilling accurate 0.6mm holes, I end up with something that isn't that good, and actually costs more than getting 10 of the same boards from China in 3 days. The only except is one-off large boards (200mm x 200mm +). With that said I use a Cannon LBP2900i with generic blue toner transfer paper and using a laminator could manage 8/8 spacing with ease. Bought a replacement toner cartidge of ebay - looked like a cheap copy, and got the same results. Its one data point, but it works. |
| Jwillis:
I have had good luck with a Brother MFC 9440 CN I picked up at a second hand store for 50 bucks.I just use the refill kits and seem to work fine.Rollers and belts are easy to find as well. I'll be retiring the toner method soon in favor of negative dry resist .But a good printer is still essential for creating the negatives.The box I'm building uses a digital microwave oven timer ,10 amp SMPS, UV led strips attached to an aluminum plate and a key pad I made (using the toner method) .Kept the fan to keep things cool .Unfortunately the timer seems to have a cool down for anything over 5 minutes.So I'm rewiring the solenoids to use the lamp circuit instead of the magnetron circuit. Lamp solenoid isn't rated high enough to handle the SMPS. Life is taking me away from my projects ,but I'll post some schematics and photos when completed and tested.Fingers crossed. |
| In Vacuo Veritas:
just get your PCB's manufactured, its cheaper |
| SeanB:
F8unny enough I get better results from refurbished cartridges than from the OE HP and canon cartridges. The C4096A cartridge is not one I use any more, but here the refurbished one is around $35 for a remanufactured unit from my favourite supplier, which has a new drum, new wiper and a nice dense toner fill in it as well. Bonus is the refill also gives about double the pages before it runs out as well. |
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