Toner transfer printer - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Wimberleytech
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 22, 2018, 07:37:07 pm
content: I have been using a Brother printer for the now-and-then toner transfer PCB projects.The Brother died the other dayI still have an HP1102w which I have NOT used for toner transfer work because with a non-HP toner, it just does not print dark enough.I have reviewed this forum for this general topic and at least one other person used the HP for TTF.Question: For those who use HP for TTF, do you buy genuine HP toner cartridges?If not, then what brande do you use?Thanks!

author: Wimberleytech
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 22, 2018, 10:32:54 pm
content: Quote from: wilfred on May 22, 2018, 09:49:56 pmQuoteI have read other places about bumping up the density and 1200dpi but the driver for my HP1102w does not have either option.One thing I have been doing is post processing the PCB transfer with that film stuff. Maybe that would make up for the light printing??How about I drop over and get one of those Brothers from you. How far are you from Texas?

author: KL27x
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 23, 2018, 12:23:31 am
content: Heh. I might have relevant experience.I started out using w/e was the cheap Brother printer 10 years ago, but it only worked with generic refill cartridges. And those generic refill cartridges quickly degraded (the drum?) - blacks started to become washed out and streaks and other artifacts would appear all over. From what I can tell, the genuine Brother toner for this specific printer (350N is the model of the refill, IIRC) had a higher melting point. I'm guessing the fuser in this model is too hot for the generic refills, despite what the sellers claim.Now I use HP 1102W. I have only ever used the genuine cartridges for this printer. It works fine for me down to 8 mil traces. 6 mil is where fine breaks start to occur.FWIW, in Eagle, it is important to check the box next to "black" in the print menu, else it will print some of the layers with fine stripes and/or shades of grey. Specifically, the top and bottom copper layers come out fine, but pads would grey out and degrade in the etch. It was several boards before I noticed the cause of this subtle problem.

author: Wimberleytech
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 23, 2018, 12:59:41 am
content: Quote from: KL27x on May 23, 2018, 12:23:31 amHey THANKS! I have arrived at that point in life where a little extra money to get it right is the proper course! I will purchase the genuine HP toner!

author: james_s
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 23, 2018, 01:04:06 am
content: I'd always heard that Brother printers didn't work for toner transfer due to using a toner with a higher melting point? Maybe I'm getting confused with another brand?What I'd really like to have is a laser printer that could print directly on copper clad with a straight through path. I'm actually a little surprised nobody has created such a beast.

author: wasyoungonce
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 23, 2018, 08:44:39 am
content: Quote from: james_s on May 23, 2018, 01:04:06 amNot correct for newer brothers. Low value Brother LASER return unused toner back into the toner hopper (look for a waste bottle on cheap Brothers...there is none). Thus new and old toner are mixed, They us a variable corona wire to increase electrostatic charge for the toner as it gets older.In Australia they us a flag gear kit to count cycles and thus this tells you time to replace the toner. Yes you can re-set it but print quality will decay.I refill my HL-L2305W (a $100 AuD) with non oem toner for around $7 AUDhttps://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies.cfm?t=2688113#r2I did have a HL-2270DW and it ran for years doing toner transfer just fine (oh I print highest density I can). The HL-2270DW cost around twice the new printer and they both do great toner transfer on generic refills I do.I could be wrong but I believe many brothers in USA use a LED to indicate low toner. This is easily tricked.Quote from: james_s on May 23, 2018, 01:04:06 amI've seen inkjets do such. They bake the ink post print and the printer type suits a flat platen for PCBs to print upon. I think they don't work that well???

author: Wimberleytech
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 23, 2018, 01:46:33 pm
content: Quote from: wasyoungonce on May 23, 2018, 08:44:39 amMine is (was...LOL) an MFC-7860DW which is relatively new. [Sadly, I have a brand new unopened cartridge for it].I use cheap transfer paper from China and some art foil to cover the ink. I use a lamination machine rather than an iron. Works pretty well. I only use it for quick one-off things here and there--I leave real PCBs to the professionals.I imagine that the PSU was killed by an overvoltage event. I know I could fix that, but, geez...the teardown and rebuild would take a day probably--is that really worth it?? No--except for the self-satisfaction of bringing it back to life.

author: wasyoungonce
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 23, 2018, 02:11:31 pm
content: Yeah I also use higher temp roller fuser and can do double sided PCBs if I allow for alignment errors by bigger pads etcI also use decent cheap Chinese thermal paper which works well.But my last batch from all PCB for 10 dual sided PCBs was $25 delivered. In 3 days from order.I mean, wow I couldn’t make crappy ones silkscreen’d masked and drilled for that price!Brendan