28 Jun
2012
28 Jun
'12
11:23 p.m.
On Thu, 28 Jun 2012, Tony Duell wrote:
Gold plating has become much easier (it actually is /possible/ to even do
a DIY approach with an adjustable current power supply and the right
supplies) but the consumable supplies, including the gold solution are
still somewhat expensive. I've looked into this extensively while
researching repair methods for some boards that I picked up surplus that
someone attempted to -sandpaper- the gold off of the card edge connectors.
[Yes, most likely done by a wannabe get-rich-quick gold fever type
person.] In my case the base copper and tin plate are intact, and I'm
thinking about just sending the boards off to have someone else repair the
plating. The hard part is still justifying the cost, even though the
boards are very hard to find.
Yes, I
realised after sending the email that I would really need the PCB
side of things. I think there are kits for making one-off PCBs, so I could
Yes, there are home etching kits, but making edge conenctor patters is
not trivial. Layign them out and etchign them is, but if you leave them
as bae copper they will oxidise fast and you'll get poor connections.
Tinnign them helps, but the best thign to do is gold-plate them and
that's not somethign you can sensibly do at home (the chemicals involved
are very toxic -- cyanides, for example). Not all PCB manufacturers can
do gold plating either.