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Safety
Safety
This machine has many safety precautions built in, however, please follow the rules below.
Never grasp moving components when the system is operating.
Never open any covers while the system is operating.
Never touch any of the chemicals that the machine uses.
Use protective gloves when necessary.
The safety data sheets for all the chemicals used in the Contac S4 can be found here
Rules
Rules
Always get a staff member's approval before operating the machine.
You must get approval before bringing in any materials not provided by the makerspace.
How do I get access to this machine?
How do I get access to this machine?
Because this is such a lengthy process and the chemicals expire regularly, please check with a staff member if the machine is available and ready for use. We may recommend outsourcing boards that need through hole plating.
How Does it WOrk?
How Does it WOrk?
The LPKF Contac S4 is a machine that allows for the addition of copper plating on a circuit board. A primary example of the use of this machine is for copper through hole plating for double sided PCBs. The LPKF Contac S4 uses a lengthy chemical process to add on the copper. The boards that go through the machine will come out with an additional 18um copper added onto the initial board. The use of vias in double sided boards will need copper through hole plating to conduct current through the middle of the board, which will have added copper as need below.
An example of a via in the image above. The copper plating on top is connected to the copper plating on the bottom through the hole (via).
More resources
More resources
To do copper plating is a process that happen part way through the double sided PCB fabriation process so please check out this guide as well.
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