BCQLI 100 PCB Circuit Board Thermal Transfer Paper A4 size Transfer Paper DIY Circuit Board Special Paper

I'm experienced with the "Press-n-Peel" blue transfer paper, but thought I would give this stuff a try. Making good PCBs with fine lines takes some practice and proper prep which I thought I would share here.First, the blue press-n-peel has the advantage of transferring an additional protective layer on your PCB when you iron it on. The blue stuff sticks to the toner, and when the transfer is done, your pcb traces will not only have the toner on them, but the blue stuff.This yellow transfer paper simply makes it where the toner is easily transferred off of the paper onto the pcb. I didn't have a problem with this, but I also haven't done any super fine lines yet. With the blue stuff, I can go down to about 10 mil without a problem.With either method, I'd like to explain my process:First, do yourself a favor and make your traces as large as you can if you have the space. There's no point trying to run 10 mil or less if you don't need to, and give yourself some clearance between traces and other pads. For general purpose stuff where I have plenty of room, I run 25 mil traces unless I need to go between some IC pads.I plug in my iron to let it start heating up. I also use Ferric Chloride for etch, and I also have a cheap stirring/hot plate and get it up to 125F. Trying to etch at 70F takes FOREVER. I found that 120-130F works great and I can etch a board in about 2-3 minutes. Hotter than 130F and fumes start to come off the FeCl. I 3d printed an "insert" into the bottom of my glass pan which raises the board off the bottom and allows room for the little stirrer pill to spin. The stirring is great as you don't have to agitate the solution while etching. I use an infrared laser beam thing that you can get for about 50 bucks to monitor the temp but a simple thermometer would work too.Next I cut my board to size and I bevel the edges of the copper slightly with a file. I find that board right from the factor can have their edges slightly raised which makes it difficult to get pressure down near the edge when ironing on. Just a couple of strokes across the edge takes care of that.I then put on rubber gloves so I don't get oils on the board. I scrub the board in 4 directions with steel wool, then wipe the whole thing down with acetone. I then do a 15-30 second "pre-etch" in my etching solution (I use Ferric Chloride) of the entire blank board. I found the pre-etch allows the toner to stick SOOO much better to the copper. After the pre-etch I rinse the board in water and dry it off completely.For ironing, I use what can be described on Amazon as a "Sealing iron" or "hobby iron". It's smaller than a regular clothes iron, and an exact temperature can be set, and there are no holes in the surface of the iron. One thing you need to make sure is that the iron is DEAD FLAT. I did this by running it over finer and finer grits of sandpaper on a slat surface. You're essentially honing the bottom. I went down to 800 grid to make it really smooth. I also beveled one of the edges of the iron with a roundover so I can put additional pressure on a small area. I don't think you can get enough pressure with a standard clothes iron and get good results. I run the iron at 400F (200C). Make sure the iron is fully heated.When I print out my PCB I also include the edge cuts of the board so I can line it up properly to the copper board. I cut it so that I have some extra paper where I can tape the paper to the PCB, but I don't want to iron over this tape because you can't get enough heat and pressure for any traces under that tape.I then start with an overall heating, starting at the tape edge and moving the iron slowly to the edge which isn't taped down (I only tape along one edge). This gets me an initial "stick" to the board. Then I work again starting at the tape edge with additional pressure. Pretty much as much pressure as I can put on the iron while still moving it. I work from one side to the other. The whole ironing process takes maybe 60 seconds for a 2.75 x 4" board, which is what I use for most of my small projects (sometimes I cut that board in half for 2x2.75" if I can fit everything).Then, and a really important part, is that you must let the board cool down to room temp before peeling off, otherwise the toner can just peel right off the copper. I mean, let it cool COMPLETELY. It doesn't take long, 3-4 minutes. I do all this work in my woodshop and I have a table saw with a cast iron top which is absolutely freezing, so I throw it on there for a minute!Once completely cool, slowly peel the toner off. I had 100% complete success using this paper the first time using this method, but sometimes you might need to touch some spots up. You can use a sharpie to do that. If my board is complex with very fine lines, I'll usually have an enlarged printout of the board that I can use for reference and fix any issues.Ok, time for etching. The solution is now up to 120-130F and I put the board in it. I check every minute for progress and pull it out when done. I usually don't use ground planes in my board, so I remove a lot of copper but it will only takes a couple of minutes when the solution is warmed.I then rinse the board in the sink and examine it to make sure all copper is removed. If not, I'll throw it back in for 30 seconds.I then leave the toner on because it makes finding thru pads easier, and drill any necessary holes for the thru holes. I have a benchtop drill press and it works great. I put a piece of MDF under the board for support and have some cheap drills I bought here. The ones I have have a larger shaft and are much easier to use. You can hold the board up to a light to make sure you've drilled all necessary holes out. Don't forget mounting holes! I always use 3mm screws for mounting and drill out 3.5mm holes so I have some leeway.Finally, I scrub off the toner first with the steel wool, then clean up the rest with acetone. You CAN just use acetone, but I found when I do that the whole thing stains the rest of the board, so I try to get almost all of the toner off first with the steel wool.Hope this helps!

So, ok... First off, I've been doing boards since I was uhhhh 14? I'm 49 now, so I've seen a lot with PCB fabrication. I've used Sharpie, tape, decals, photo-resist, and of course, toner. I've even worked in a place that made PCBs the industrial way. Out of all this, toner is my first choice because it's cheap as dirt and all the other methods have their issues.Working with toner, I've used glossy laser paper, magazine paper, clear cutter machine vinyl, and now this paper. Believe it or not, my two favorites are now the vinyl film and this paper. Vinyl actually works very well, you'd be surprised, but it can't do miracles any more than this paper can, and thus you'll still have printer and laminator/iron issues.On my first try, I don't think the laminator was hot enough, and my print along the edge of the PCB cracked and moved a teeny bit in places. The traces came out fine to the eye except for one very tiny crack in one place across the entire board, and since it was in a pad it didn't matter. I etched the resulting board straight away in 1 part hydrochloric + 2 parts hydrogen peroxide, and in a shocking 5 mins it was done. Only one problem - all of the artwork pitted a bit. This is NOT the fault of the paper, not even the fault of the laminator that i use, really. It's the simple fact that laser printers generally don't make a solid coating of toner, period. They print documents, bro, it's what they're actually for.So, the board is going to work, since the pits don't extend through the whole foil thickness. It just isn't very pretty. I've noticed that this paper is a bit more translucent than normal paper, so next time I'm going to print two copies of the art, laminate the first, and use registration marks in the artwork to mount and laminate the second copy over the first. With a little luck, it won't drift out, and I'll get a much better etch due to the 2x thickness of the toner transfer. I'll come back and let you all know how that went.I like this stuff so far. Any method that works the first time, pits or not, has a lot of promise. Once you work out your method, I think this paper will treat you very well.Edit for 2023:A lot of years went by and I tried some interesting alternative methods for PCB fabrication, amounting to a cold process where you mix acetone and alcohol -just right- and apply that to your printed artwork, slap it against your cleaned blank PCB piece, and press hard till it dries. It worked well for me so I stopped using heat transfer... but then I looked back at my older work and was like "IS it better? Is it really?" Pits and cracks and you name it. So I went back to trying this stuff again and was blown away by the superior results. But I also didn't use a laminator this time. Instead, I just whipped out my trusty clothes iron, ramped up the heat to say a 7 out of 10, and LEANED on that sucker nice and hard. Board got so frickin hot I had to let it cool before I could even touch it, lol, but omg what nice results. Not a pit nor crack to be found, and I didn't even have to soak it to remove the paper. It practically just fell off with the artwork neatly bonded to the copper. Just make absolutely sure your copper is CLEAN, like NASA level cleanroom clean. I use steel wool to polish and then a toothpaste rub and thorough rinse to do a final cleaning. Make sure your print is as dense and dark as you can make it. Make sure your heater is HOT, like whoopsie the paper got a little singed kind of hot. Make sure you allow the board to cool so that the ink isn't still molten AT ALL. I think if you do these basic steps, you'll love this stuff.Rick NR417

The paper works as advertised for transferring images. The problem is that it is very thin and hangs up in my laser printer.

I tried to print with this stuff and it jammed into rollers and started burning. It’s all stuck and burnt. I’m glad it didn’t start a fire!

Good value and good performance. Do NOT start an image too close to the starting edge of the paper. It will stick to the fuser before the pickup rollers have a chance to grab the paper, and will cause a horrible jam. It is best to allow at least an inch of blank paper before the image starts.I use 170-degrees-C for 60 seconds. Put a thin silicone sheet between the heat press and the paper. Allow the PCB to come to room temperature by itself (don't use water) prior to gently removing the paper.I've printed lines down to 0.4mm wide. If there are any voids in the final image, you can use a fine-point black Sharpie to fill in those gaps. Use 2-3 layers. The indelible versions resist ferric chloride.