(ROLL<Roll on the last line> LOL<laughing out loud>)

                Gore now has a "room temp" bath that doesn't fume so bad.
        You can find a low grade crude oil reclaimer that can use the spent
        as an additive to their process. (?) The issue of voids in FR-4 I've
        never encountered. I guess all the soap rinses and "Light tight" 
        containers of methanol must have fixed that issue.
        Many people are now using plasma with helium. (Doesn't work on epoxy
        or poly though)
        It's not as bad as it was. (If you're line operator is still around)
        (BTW-Cut down your time in catalyst. Don't allow it to build way up
        in thickness or you'll get adhesion bubbles.)

        Groovy
______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: Re: SPEEDBOARD PLATING
Author:  [log in to unmask] at SMTPLINK-HADCO
Date:    2/27/96 4:42 PM


John,
     
I agree with Fred Paul, Tetra-Etch (Metalic Sodium and Naptha) and Shipley 
(250, 321,  the old stuff).  In a different life, we ran small lots of PTFE 
with normal FR4 production.  The only thing I want to add is that the PTFE 
boards would look great, but the next two to four lots of FR4 run right 
after the PTFE lots would be prone to voids.  Assumed it was Naptha in the 
baths.  Soooo, (like any seat-of-the-pants production shop), we always ran 
the PTFE as the last racks of the shift.  Never had problems the next day. 
Baking the PTFE did not seem to make a difference.  It looked like an 
activation problem, but since another solution exisited, the possiblity was 
never pursued.  If your production is up, this may be a direction to 
follow.
     
Smear problems were usually traced back to wrong feed/speed settings, bad 
drill bits, Drill-type stuff.
     
As an aside, we were fortunate in that we had an operator who kind of liked 
the smell of naptha.
     
     
     
>Mr. Gully,
>        When we (at FLUKE PCB Mfg. Operations) used to produce Teflon PCB 
>Multilayers,
>we sandblasted, deburred, and then applied Tetra-Etch, (or Bond-Aid 
>TL5-12) to the holes.  We then processed
>them through our normal Shipley Electroless Copper Process.  We had very 
>good results, however, the
>process was not designed for large numbers of PCBs.  We used 3M Co. 
>Bonding Film No. 6700 as the
>thermoplastic bonding agent.
>
>References:
>
>Tetra-Etch
>W.L. Gore & Associates
>1505 N. Fourth Street
>P.O. Box 1389
>Flagstaff, AZ 86002
>(602)526-1290
>
>
>Bond-Aid TL5-12
>Shamban West
>24412 S. Main St.
>Suites 101-103
>P.O. Box 4997
>Carson, CA 90749-4997
>(213)513-6656
>
>RT/Duroid
>Rogers Corporation
>Microwave Materials Division
>100 S. Roosevelt Avenue
>Chandler, AZ 85226
>602  961 - 1382
>
>
>Regards,
>
>FRED J. PAUL:   [log in to unmask]                        FLUKE CORPORATION 
>Sr. Process Engineer                            POB 9090   M/S 55
>PCB Operations                                  EVERETT, WA 98206 
>direct: 206 356-5734   fax:     206 356-6070            Corporate: 
>206 347-6100
     
     
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