Maker Pro
Maker Pro

Simplest dry film developer solution

bigone5500

Apr 9, 2014
712
Joined
Apr 9, 2014
Messages
712
I'm looking for a simple solution for dry film photoresist developing. I have been looking around and some of the ingredients I'm not sure if I can get. I'd prefer to use household items to make the mixture.

This is the film I have: Dry Film

Thanks for any input.
 

bigone5500

Apr 9, 2014
712
Joined
Apr 9, 2014
Messages
712
Ok. So I have been watching some videos and they mention using washing detergent as being an alternative developer.

Anyone use this method?
 

bigone5500

Apr 9, 2014
712
Joined
Apr 9, 2014
Messages
712
That doesn't seem as simple as I'd like it to be. However, sometimes a task cannot be simply completed.
 

bigone5500

Apr 9, 2014
712
Joined
Apr 9, 2014
Messages
712
I played around with my dry film today and it worked great. My solution for developing was about 1 1/2 cups of warm water with about 3 Tbsp of Purex crystals. I mixed the crystals around and dissolved them well. I then immersed the board and with my fingertip, I rubbed the surface until the mask was gone. I then rinsed it in cool running water. Only problem was my mask was inverted. I would have been etching all my traces away.

It only seemed to work.
 
Last edited:

bigone5500

Apr 9, 2014
712
Joined
Apr 9, 2014
Messages
712
The above post may not be accurate...

The board I tried to etch did not etch very well. I suspect it was due to some film being left on after developing. I am going to have to find something that works more reliably.

Suggestions?
 

Canobi

Jul 25, 2014
87
Joined
Jul 25, 2014
Messages
87
You require sodium hydroxide my good man.

Recipes are as follows:
1 tea spoon to 1Ltr for developing (use @ around 30°C).

2 tea spoons to 1Ltr for stripping (use at around 30°C, or 35-40°C for faster strip time).

For the developer, warm the solution to somewhere around the 30°C mark and use a brush to develop rather than fully immersing the board. It can take longer this way if the solution is below optimum tempreture, but if you haven't got a thermometer and overshoot the mark, it can strip more than you'd want pretty quick so it's best to have it in hand just in case it needs to be quickly dunked in water to stop the process.

Sodium hydroxide developer also works for solder resist film too and I use the same process as described above.

<edit>Forgot to say I etch my own boards and in the beginning I did look into alternatives myself but the sodium (which I get from ebey) gives the best results IMHO. I didnt get on with the etch resist film, kept getting bubbles in it, even after checking for dust/temp/dirty rollers. Doesn't happen with the solder resist film so switched to pre sensitised boards instead.

IMG_20151003_200704.jpg
 
Last edited:

bigone5500

Apr 9, 2014
712
Joined
Apr 9, 2014
Messages
712
You require sodium hydroxide my good man.

Recipes are as follows:
1 tea spoon to 1Ltr for developing (use @ around 30°C).

2 tea spoons to 1Ltr for stripping (use at around 30°C, or 35-40°C for faster strip time).

For the developer, warm the solution to somewhere around the 30°C mark and use a brush to develop rather than fully immersing the board. It can take longer this way if the solution is below optimum tempreture, but if you haven't got a thermometer and overshoot the mark, it can strip more than you'd want pretty quick so it's best to have it in hand just in case it needs to be quickly dunked in water to stop the process.

Sodium hydroxide developer also works for solder resist film too and I use the same process as described above.

<edit>Forgot to say I etch my own boards and in the beginning I did look into alternatives myself but the sodium (which I get from ebey) gives the best results IMHO. I didnt get on with the etch resist film, kept getting bubbles in it, even after checking for dust/temp/dirty rollers. Doesn't happen with the solder resist film so switched to pre sensitised boards instead.

View attachment 22379

Thank you sir. I will have to locate some sod. hyd. somewhere. Maybe a hardware store will have some.
 
Top