|
Here are a couple pictures of a template I made for etching the power section on the (up to) 144v 600 amp controller. There is just enough space for 12 diodes and 12 mosfets.
I used Microsoft Paint. I would just like to share that Microsoft Paint is not a very good program. There, I feel better.
I made the picture in Paint and saved the size as 8" x 7" (I love that feature), which just so happens to be the perfect size so that in the real world, once it gets printed on real 8.5" x 11" paper, that it can be transferred somehow to the PCB. (I would love suggestions on how to do this better than what I did! Would ironing work? A hot air blower from sears doesn't work.) OOh, maybe using an overhead projector transparency? Print the ink onto that, and then push that onto the copper sheet?
What I did was use a box cutter to cut out enough of the paper so that I could use a permanent marker to transfer the picture to the PCB, and fill in the gaps pretty easily.
I'm just experimenting at this stage. Printing a picture of the etching and transferring that to the PCB somehow would be a nice feature for people making their own with a kit! People could use a box cutter, but that is like 1 hour of my life that I definitely want back.
This assumes using a 1 inch thick aluminum heat spreader right down the middle.
NOTE!!! The way the first thumbnail is oriented right now is flipped top to bottom. It assumes you will find a way to lay it face down the the PCB and transfer the ink to the PCB somehow. If you want to cut it out with a box cutter, you better flip top and bottom in Paint first!
|