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hi guys. i've got a question about etching, specifically regarding fumes. i've got no issue turning my kitchen or bathroom into an impromptu science lab so i can etch some pcbs or a enclosure or two but i'm fairly sure that there is going to be some fumes involved... they may be toxic or explosive for all i know but that is of little concern. more importantly is if there is a smell, specifically an unpleasant one? if i lived by myself it wouldn't matter but since i dont i figure it'd be best to find out now before i start buying the stuff i'd need to etch.

told ya it was a dumb question.

Actually, it's a really smart questions because it means you are concerned about your health!

Just use proper safety precautions such as gloves, glasses and a face mask. You will be fine.

And do it outside if you can. Or at least open all your windows.

madbean wrote:Actually, it's a really smart questions because it means you are concerned about your health!

Just use proper safety precautions such as gloves, glasses and a face mask. You will be fine.

And do it outside if you can. Or at least open all your windows.

ok... i expect it to be harmful, i mean it is a liquid that is dissolving a metal after all so frankly health risks are expected... but still though that doesn't really answer my dumb little question. does it have a smell that someone might say is "unpleasant" if they come over an hour later? or better yet, say i'm etching does it produce a smell where someone who has no idea what is going on might say something along the lines of "what the hell is that smell?"

Yep, etchant smells pretty fucking awful especially if you are using Muriatic Acid. FeCl isn't as bad, but it leaves impossible stains.

great. looks like its gonna be the ferric chloride. thanks!!

I use the clear stuff, highly recomend it, doesnt stain and the odour is very very faint. Etch's very cleanly plus you can see what it is actually doing. Tryna remember the bloody name at the mo..... it'll come to me

sodium persulphate

i've never used SP, but muriatic acid is foul. so much so that i have sworn off the stuff. ferric stains, but i can deal with that.

from what i read so far on google the sodium persulphate stuff doesnt smell as bad as the other stuff, which is great. does it work on copper and aluminum or just copper? i don't know if some of this chemicals affect different metals in different ways. i'm assuming it probably works just as good on both though.

From what I can recall, it just works on copper, I dont etch boxes so I've not looked into ot anymore but for pcb etching, it is clean, much less odour and easy to work with.

thanks man.