PCB Fabrication: Linear Power Supply

The final phase for the ‘Winter Training 2016’ involved fabrication of
a Linear Power Supply as well as soldering of a Switching Power
Supply.

A printed circuit board (PCB) mechanically supports and electrically

connects electronic components using conductive tracks, pads and
other features etched from copper sheets laminated onto a non-
conductive substrate. Components (e.g. capacitors, resistors or
active devices) are generally soldered on the PCB. Advanced PCBs
may contain components embedded in the substrate.

PCBs can be single sided (one copper layer), double sided (two
copper layers) or multi-layer (outer and inner layers). Conductors on
different layers are connected with vias. Multi-layer PCBs allow for
much higher component density.

Fabrication Process
Steps to design the board layout for a PCB have already been
discussed. Foe a quick recapitulation, first the schematic of the board
is drawn in the Eagle CAD followed by its board layout through
placing of components, routing etc. Now comes the fabrication part.

In our case we will be using ‘Toner Transfer Method’ for the

fabrication process.
Following were the steps involved during the fabrication process:

 Printing the board layout

 Sanding
 Pressing
 Removing the paper
 Needling
 Marking
 Etching
 Scrubbing
 Acryo-foam Spray
 Drilling
 Soldering
 Testing

Apparatus Required
S.No Apparatus
1 Laser Printer
2 Glossy Paper
3 Household Iron
4 Copper Clad Laminate(1.6mm thickness, Cu layer = 30
microns)
5 Etching Solution(FeCl3)
6 Kitchen Scrubs
7 Rubber Gloves
8 Sand Paper
9 Drilling Machine
10 Drilling Needles(0.9mm,1.5mm,3.0mm)
Components Required(for Soldering)
Components Value Note
C1,C5 4700uF 25V, Polar
C2 10uF 25V, Polar
C3,C6 0.1uF Ceramic
C4 100pF Ceramic
D1,D2,D3,D4 1N5399 Diode
R1 1.5K Resistor(1/8 W)
R2,R4,R5 2.2K Resistor(1/8 W)
R3 1.2 Resistor(1 W)
R6 680 Resistor(1/8 W)
R7 0.22 Resistor(1 W)
Q1 MJE3055 Power Transistor
LED1 3mm Red LED
IC1 LM 723 Voltage Regulator
PR1,PR2 10K PRESET
XL1,XL2 - XLR02
Spacer - Quantity-4
IC Base 14 Pin -
Heat Sink - -
Detailed Procedure

Printing of the board layout: The board layout (designed on Eagle

CAD) is printed on a glossy paper through a laser printer.

Sanding: It involves rubbing the copper clad laminate with a sand

paper. This is done to remove the oxide layer which gets deposited
over the copper layer when exposed to nature for a long time. If
sanding is not done, the Oxide layer being insulating in nature will
hinder the flow of current during the working of the PCB.
Pressing: In this step, the board layout paper is inverted and placed
over the copper clad such that the entire surface is covered by the
paper. This set-up is then pressed using a household iron for around
2-3 minutes. The toner being plastic melts turning into a glue like
paste and transferred onto the board.

Removal of paper: In the previous step, the board layout paper

completely covers the copper surface. Since the ink has already been
transferred from the paper to the copper surface, this step involves
removing the paper from the surface. This is done by placing the
copper clad in cold water and gently rubbing the paper.
Needling and Marking: The copper clad obtained in the previous
step might contain some paper still sticking with the tracks. These
are removed with the help of a needle. Due to improper pressing and
some other factors, tracks might get distorted or erased. These
corrections are done with the help of a permanent marker. The final
board obtained is something like this:

Etching: This is the most important step of the toner transfer

method and hence done very carefully. The board obtained in the
previous step is placed in a bucket containing FeCl3 solution and stir
continuously for around 20-25 minutes. The FeCl3 solution reacts
with the Copper which is not covered by the ink and gets removed
from the board. Thus only the copper portion which was covered by
the ink remains while the remaining part is removed.

Equations involved in this step:

 FeCl3 + 3H2O > Fe(OH)3 + 3HCL

 The basic etching reaction takes place in 3 stages. First the
ferric ion oxidizes copper to cuprous chloride, which is then
further oxidized to cupric chloride.
 FeCl3 + Cu = FeCl2 + CuCl
 FeCl3 + CuCl = FeCl2 + CuCl2
 As the cupric chloride builds up at further reaction takes
place.
 CuCl2 + Cu = 2CuCl
Scrubbing: In the previous step, the board obtained has its copper
tracks covered by ink. This step involves removal of that ink. This
is done by applying some dish-washer liquid over the board and
scrubbing it gently with the help of a scrubber. However it must
be ensured that scrubbing is not done too hard else the copper
track will get removed along with the ink as well. After removal of
the ink, wash the board properly.

Acryo-foam Spray: The board after scrubbing only contains

copper tracks corresponding to the board layout. The board in
this step is sprayed with acryo-foam to prevent oxide formation
over the tracks.
Drilling: The next step after Acryo-foam spary is drilling. All the
holes (for through-hole compoents, screws etc) are drilled with
the help of a drilling machine. Drills of 0.9mm, 1.5mm and 3mm
diameter have been used.
Soldering: This is the penultimate step in PCB fabrication process.
The soldering station is first switched ON. The temperature is set to
350oC. The component to be soldered is inserted through the holes
drilled earlier. The copper pad surrounding it is heated using the
soldering iron and finally the soldering wire is touched to the heated
pad which melts, thus surrounding the pad and permanently fixing
the component to the board.
Testing: This was the final step for the Linear Supply Board
fabrication. Testing was done in two parts.

Firstly, passive load testing was done where Open Circuit Voltage and
Short Circuit Current was noted.

Secondly, active load testing was done where output voltage of the
power supply was measured as a function of load current. The
following curve was obtained:

10
9
8
7
OutPut Voltage(V)

6
5
4
Output Voltage
3
2
1
0
0.0227
0.0577
0.1814
0.2609
0.3586
0.4736
0.5636
0.6736
0.8114
0.8777
0.9818
1.0409
1.0818

1.1182
1.1591
1.1636
1.1727
1.1818
1.1

Load Current(A)
Soldering: Switching Power Supply
On the last day of ‘Winter Training 2016’ the students were asked to
solder Buck-Boost Switching Power Supply followed by its active load
testing.

The working of a Buck-Boost Switching Power Supply has already

been explained.

Coming to the soldering part, the following components were

required:

REF VALUE NOTE

USB MINI USB SMD
C1 100uF Polarised Capacitor
C2 10uF Polarised Capacitor
C3 100uF Polarised Capacitor
C4 1nF SMD-0805
C5 0.1uF SMD-0805
C6 0.1uF SMD-0805
D1 1N5819 Diode
IC1 MC34063 DIL08
IC2 LM7905 TO220
J1 JP3Q Jumper
J2 JP3Q Jumper
L1 100uH Inductor
LED1 Red SMD-1206
LED2 Green SMD-1206
R1 1K SMD-0805
R2 1K SMD-0805
R3 0.22 0309/12
R4 6.8K SMD-0805
R5 1K SMD0805
US1 Small Heat Sink
SL1,SL2 M02 Amp Quick
Connector
 After soldering, the board will look something like this:

Just like the linear power supply, active load test was performed on
switching power supply as well and thus output voltage was
measured as a function of load current. The active load tests yield
the following result:
6

5
Output Voltage(V)

2 Series 1

Load Current(A)