DEPARTMENT OF HUMANITIES & APPLIED SCIENCES

SUBJECT: BASIC WORKSHOP-II SEM-II

PCB LABORATORY EXERCISES

Experiment No: 03

Aim: Introduction to the process of PCB design

Keywords: Printed circuit board, Flow Chart.

Theory:

(A) PCB

PCB is a thin (usually 0.5-3 mm) board made of fiberglass, composite epoxy, or other
laminate material. Conductive pathways are etched or printed onto board, connecting
different electronic components on the PCB. There are single sided (one copper layer),
double sided (two copper layers) or multi-layer up to 10+ layers PCBs. Beside the
conductive layer most PCBs contains solder mask layers (a thin lacquer-like layer of
polymer that is usually applied to prevent solder bridges between closely spaced solder
pads) and silk screen layers (displaying text information for soldering or application).
` (B) Flow Chart of PCB Design:

1] Circuit Layout

The Schematic is the representation of the electronic system using abstract, graphic
symbols. Drawing a Schematic is always the first step of designing a PCB. Usually PCB
design software contains separate tools for Schematic and PCB design. By using Sprint
software we can easily draw the circuit diagram.

2] Remove Oxidize layer

To remove oxidize layer on PCB we can use Steel Wool.

3] Negative Film Making

The following two process is carried out for negative film making:

a) Using Tray Method:-

i) Chemical A – Sodium Carbonate.

ii) Chemical B - Metol (monomethyl-p-aminophenol hemisulfate), phenidone (1-phenyl-
3 pyrazolidinone) or dimezone (4, 4-dimethyl-1-phenylpphenylpyrazolidin-3-one) etc are
Hydrocarbons
iii) Negative Developer Solution: Prepare a solution of chemical A (1 spoon) + chemical
B (1spoon) & 1.5 litres of water in a Tray no. 1.
iv) Water: Fill 1.5 litres in Tray no. 2.

v) Fix Ag Fixer: Fill 1.5 liters of water in a Tray no. 3.

b)Using Sprint Software:

i) Draw a layout of circuit using Sprint software

ii) Take an inverted printout on OHP sheet
4] Proto Contact PCB Art Work Film Maker
Use tape to fix the circuit printed trace paper on the photo lith film, black side of film facing
the trace paper. Now keep this on glass of Proto Contact Film Maker, trace paper facing
downward. Close the flap TIGHTLY. Turn the machine on and expose the film by pressing
the push switch for 10-12 seconds.

5] Photo Resist Dip Coating

Photo resists are classified into two groups: positive resists and negative resists:

a. A Positive resist is a type of photoresist in which the portion of the photoresist that is
exposed to light becomes soluble to the photoresist developer. The portion of the
photoresist that is unexposed remains insoluble to the photoresist developer.

b. A Negative resist is a type of photoresist in which the portion of the photoresist that is
exposed to light becomes insoluble to the photoresist developer. The unexposed portion of
the photoresist is dissolved by the photoresist developer.

6] Proto-Cure Baking and Curing Oven

Put Copper Clad in Baking and curing oven. Set the timer for 2 minutes & temperature
nearly 70 degree Celsius.

7] Double Sided UV Exposure Unit- Ultra Violet Exposure

In this process, the Copper Clad + Film pair is exposed to the Ultra Violet Rays in the UV
Chamber, so that after developing the UV Exposed Copper Clad sheet, the exposed part
gets rough compared to the other part which was not exposed to ultra violet. This rough
surface as we know is the required part of our Printed circuit board.

8] LPR Developer & Blue Dye:

Put Copper Clad in LPR Developer then wash with tab water and then dip in to blue dye.

9] Proto-Etch Etching Machine- Etching Process

In this process, we hang the Copper clad sheet having the design of PCB printed on it with
a Blue dye as in the previous step. So now after dipping the sheet in Ferric Chloride
solution, the part of PCB which is covered with the Blue dye remains as it is but the part
which has no dye on it, dissolved in the solution of Ferric Chloride after undergoing
chemical reaction. Hence we are now left with the Printed Circuit Board as required; with
the design printed on it in the form of Copper Tracks.
10] PCB Drilling Machine- Drilling Process
Drill the PADS in the blue colored trace on Copper Clad after the Blue Ink was applied on the
developed copper clad; using required drill bit size (Usually 0.8mm or 1 mm). Use the machine
in 5000 RPM and drill it slowly.

11] Soldering Flux Procedure

Fluxes can be made from hydrochloric acid, zinc chloride or rosin. Flux is an acidic material
that is designed to clean oxides from the solder joint, and help transfer heat to the solder joint.

12] Roller Tinning Machine- Tinning Procedure

PCB tinning is the process of coating copper traces with layers of tin, which will prevent it
from any possible degradation, oxidation, or corrosion. The tin plating will also help mask
copper traces while the circuit board itself is being etched.

13] Soldering Procedure

Placed the components as per circuit diagram on PCB using soldering

(C) PCB design rules:

There are many rules and advices to design a good PCB. During the design it is also
important to keep the rules given by manufacturer of the PCB.

1. Check the precision limits of the selected manufacturer: Keep the minimum routing
width (usually 6 mils, but there are manufacturers with better precision), minimum distance
between routes etc. In most of the PCB design software there are design rule tools to check
these limits.

2. Use wider routs for power supply and ground: routing width effects the resistance of the
track. Therefore tracks conducting significant amount of current should be wider to
minimalize the voltage drop.

3. Do not use 90 degree wire breaks: rout wires with obtuse angles (more than 135
degrees) to avoid reflections and manufacturing problems.

4. Board outline: Do not place wires or holes very near to the board outline, because it
can be damaged during the cutting process.

5. Drill Holes: Always use a bigger hole than the diameter of the pin, because the hole
galvanization process will result in a smaller hole. Data sheets usually contains the
recommended drill hole size.
Conclusion
 Experiment No: 04

Aim: To draw Circuit Layout of Glowing LED Circuit and study of process carried out
for Negative Film making.

Keywords: Printed circuit board, Sprint Software.

Theory:

Glowing LED Circuit

A Glowing LED circuit is an electrical circuit used to power a light-emittingdiode (LED).

The circuit must provide sufficient current to light the LED at the required brightness, but must
limit the current to prevent damaging the LED. The voltage drop across an LED is
approximately constant over a wide range of operating current; therefore, a small increase in
applied voltage greatly increases thecurrent. Very simple circuits are used for low-power indicator
LEDs.

An LED is a special type of diode used as an Optoelectronic device. Like aPN junction
diode, it conducts when forward biased. However, a special feature of this device is its ability to
emit energy in the visible band of the electromagnetic spectrum i.e. visible light. The simplest
circuit to drive an LED is through a series resistor. The simplest circuit to drive an LED is
through a series resistor.

This basic circuit is used in a wide range of applications, including many consumer
appliances such as mobile phone chargers, as a bulb in the homes and industries, in the
motorcycles and cars, at the traffic light signals, etc.
330Ω

Fig.1. Glowing LED Circuit Diagram

1] Layout design of the circuit

1. Design the Layout of PCB, using Sprint software.

2. How to use Sprint Layout 6.0
a. It is an efficient application that is used to design and edit the Printed Circuit Board
layout.
b. Choose layer type C1/C2 which is Copper layer for single sided PCB design.
c. Adjust the width and height of screen according to your circuit requirement.
d. Choose components from Macros which is indicated on right hand side of software
and dragit on screen and set its component name, value, etc.
e. After this we can connect our circuit using track and pad.
f. Adjust track and pad width according to required conductivity.
g. Using Text tool you can write text on circuit which is helpful for analysis the
front side of circuit.
h. Then do print setting, in this firstly choose A4 page, then Layer selection, soldering
mark or drilling mark(if required) mirror image and to take positive printout of
circuit we can choose inverted form.

3. Take printout of the layout on the rough side of the trace paper. Rough side of trace
paper gives you better quality.

Fig.2 Negative Layout of Glowing LED circuit

2] Negative Film Making

The process of exposing the photo-lith film to yellow light in the presence of the trace paper and
its development to create negative film of the PCB design is done in dark room. Use only Red light
throughout this process.
The following process is carried out for negative film making:

(i) Chemical A – Sodium Carbonate.

(ii) Chemical B - Metol (monomethyl-p-aminophenol hemisulfate), phenidone (1-phenyl-

3-pyrazolidinone) or dimezone (4, 4-dimethyl-1-phenylpphenylpyrazolidin-3-one) etc
are Hydrocarbons.
 (iii) Negative Developer Solution: Prepare a solution of chemical A (1 spoon) + chemical
B (1spoon) & 1.5 litres of water in a tray No. 1.

(iv) Water: Fill 1.5 litres in tray No. 2.

(v) Fixer Solution: Sodium Thio-Sulphate. Prepare a solution of 2 cap of fixer & 1 litre
of water in tray No. 3.

Procedure:
1. Take out the negative film from the black envelope. Cut the negative film into the desired size
of the layout. It is to note that negative film has two different sides, one is white & other is black.
Black side is used for exposure purpose.

Caution : Don’t open the black envelope and photo lith film in daylight or normal light.
Otherwise, the negative paper will be exposed and no further process can be carried out with it.

2. Use tape to fix the circuit printed trace paper on the photo lith film, black side of film facing
the trace paper. Now keep this on glass of Proto Contact Film Maker, trace paper facing downward.
Close the flap TIGHTLY. Turn the machine on and expose the film by pressing the push switch
for 10-12 seconds.

Caution: Do not turn on the machine before placing the negative paper (photo sensitive film)
over on it.

3. Take out the exposed film. Put it in tray No. 1 (Developer Solution) for 2-3 minutes & stir
solution gently. The film will change its color first to white and again to black, at this time the
circuit will appears on it clearly. Now without any delay take it out immediately.

4. Now, wash in tray No. 2 (water) for 1- minutes & stir it gently. DO NOT touch it.

5. Now put it in tray No. 3 (Fixer) for 1-2 minutes & stir it gently.

6. Wash the film in tray No. 2 (water) & then dry it.

Fig.3 Positive Layout of Glowing LED circuit

 Fig.4 Tray No 01, 02, 03

Fig.5 Proto Contact PCB Art Work Film Maker

Conclusion:
 Experiment No: 05

Aim: Etching Process of PCB using Ferric Chloride solution

Keywords: Ferric Chloride Solution

Theory:

Chemical Etching

Chemical etching is usually done with ammonium persulfate or ferric chloride. For PTH (plated-
through holes), additional steps of electroless deposition are done after the holes are drilled, then
copper is electroplated to build up the thickness, the boards are screened, and plated with
tin/lead. The tin/lead becomes the resist leaving the bare copper to be etched away.

The simplest method, used for small-scale production is immersion etching, in which the board is
submerged in etching solution such as ferric chloride. Compared with methods used for mass
production, the etching time is long. In spray etching, the etchant solution is distributed over the
boards by nozzles, and recirculated by pumps. Adjustment of the nozzle pattern, flow rate,
temperature, and etchant composition gives predictable control of etching rates and high
production rates.

As more copper is consumed from the boards, the etchant becomes saturated and less effective;
different etchants have different capacities for copper, with some as high as 150 grams of copper
per litre of solution. In commercial use, etchants can be regenerated to restore their activity, and
the dissolved copper recovered and sold. Small-scale etching requires attention to disposal of
used etchant, which is corrosive and toxic due to its metal content.

Chemicals Required

1. Ferric Chloride in the etching machine.

2. Water: Fill 1.5 litres in a tray.
Procedure:

1. Start the etching machine heater, 15 minutes before using it so that the Ferric Chloride
solution reaches and maintains itself at the operational temperature during etching and also
the process takes less time.

2. Put the clad in the etching machine and turn the timer on.
Caution: Check the clad between 4-6 minutes for the progress. Don't keep it inside too long;
otherwise the required copper can also get etched.

3. When the etching is done wash it with water. Hence now we have our Printed Circuit
Board ready to be used.

Fig.1 Etching Process of PCB Fig.2 PCB after Etching Process

Conclusion:
 Experiment No: 06

Aim: Drilling, Tinning Process of PCB and placing of components using soldering technique.

Keywords: Drilling bit, Flux, soldering, battery (5-9 V).

Theory:

Drilling Procedure
Drill the Pads on Copper Clad using required drill bit size (Usually 0.8mm, 1 mm). Use the
machine in 5000 RPM and drill it slowly.

Fig.1 Drilling Process of PCB

Fig.2 PCB after Drilling Process

Soldering Flux Procedure

Fluxes can be made from hydrochloric acid, zinc chloride or rosin. Flux is an acidic
material that is designed to clean oxides from the solder joint, and help transfer heat to the
solder joint.

Tinning Procedure

PCB tinning is the process of coating copper traces with layers of tin, which will prevent it
from any possible degradation, oxidation, or corrosion. The tin plating will also help mask
copper traces while the circuit board itself is being etched.

Soldering Procedure

Placed the components as per circuit diagram on PCB using soldering wire and solder Gun.
Use the 5-9 V battery for check the circuit connectivity.

Conclusion: