OK.. got the kit from Jameco last night and assembled it. On testing, however, I do not get the 1-second beep. The only time I get any sound from the beeper is if I touch the base of transistor 1, and then it is more of a continuous chirp rather than a beep. Not sure how to troubleshoot. I have checked voltages, and the 7805 regulator is putting out 5v (4.96V actually, on my DMM). Do you think I received an unprogrammed PIC from Jameco? Any help troubleshooting and fixing the problem would be greatly appreciated!

It's quite possible. Do u have a Pic programmer handy? I have heard of this 'problem' before....a reprogrammed chip solves it.

No, I do not have a PIC programmer. If there are any cheap ones available, I would like to buy one. I have never programmed a PIC before, so this will be an opportunity to learn. Is there any way of checking to see if the PIC that Jameco sent me is programmed? (other than the 1-second beep)

No, that is the indicator the firmware is running. Asking Jameco for a replacement PIC that is properly programmed has worked in the past. Ebay item # 311689085628 can program the pics

I added a comment  a short while ago, but it does not show up. I'll try again.

There appears to be a discrepancy between the photo of the add-on board in the pdf documentation and the picture of the two 6-pin connectors showing the sequence of the color-coded wires. 

The pdf document shows the cat 5 cable connected to the add-on board in the following sequence (from right to left, pin 1 through pin 6): green/white, green, brown/white, brown, blue, blue/white. However the picture of the connectors shows this sequence: green/white, green, brown/white, brown, blue/white, blue. So which is correct? I have the kit on order from Jameco and wanted to clarify this issue before building it.

The image shown here is correct.

Hello Ancel.

You recommended item# 311689085628 PicKit3.  That only comes with the icsp cable.  This adapter item# 182330060727  or:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/182330060727?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&var=484877444354&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

is very useful and makes it easier to program a lone pic.  If you do a lot the icsp cable would work but I find these adapters more convenient but that is just my personal preference.

Also this SOIC8 cable item# 112184952077  might be of use with smt parts.  At least with the adapter board it is easier (at least for me) to program Dip pics.

Looks likes some ones ripped this how to off and selling it on ebay for a few dollors...

I am not finding the dropbox link to your latest Hex file.  Can you give us the link to that? I think your project is great and well done.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/y7e505zgkx504oo/AAA3ri2qAptyTXqPpXXD7rTZa?dl=0

Hi,

  I need some help debugging. I just finished the hack and on power up, nothing happens. Is there a timer that I have to wait before the push button is active?. I tried quick push and long push. The laminator was just working as normal but no heat. Please help.

Thanks

Kim

Did you verify the beep on the bench top when power is applied? Is the PIC chip programmed with V2.1 of the hex? No heat implies the relay driving the heater is not engaging so have a look at the wiring of the  main and display PCB 6 pin headers as per the color coded image shown. There is no timer on boot up. As you power up the laminator the unit should beep once. Verify that all the wire jumpers on the circuit board have been installed.

Hi,

  Thank you for the quick reply. I dont get the sound from the board on power up. As for the programming I purchased a pre programmed kit from Jameco. I will try to program a new chip and test. The one I got just has a blue sticker with nothing written on it.

I rechecked all connections and jumpers and it looks OK. I could send you a pic of the board and connections.

Hi, where do I download v2.1 hex file? I see version 2 at Jameco. 

Note the Yellow dropbox link for all design files (incl. hex code) located under the pics at the top of this hackaday page.

Jameco does not supply the wire jumpers on the circuit board...so did you install them using hookup wire?

It works now perfectly after I put in a pic with the V2.1 program. The PIC from Jameco was not programmed. Thanks for the help and making the Hack available for all of us. 

I see these AL13p laminators on sale EBAY #302046270012 as of August 2016.

Now I see them here:

http://www.wayfair.com/Apache-Professional-Document-and-Photo-Laminator-AL13P-AXPC1002.html?redir=apache+al13p&rtype=8&dept=

Is Trulam laminator same as the apache?

https://smile.amazon.com/TruLam-12-Inch-Pouch-Laminator-TL-320B/dp/B00E9JT3Y2/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1468512591&sr=8-2&keywords=trulam

I don't know that brand. EDIT...I purchased the item...and it is identical to the Apache....I transferred the mod and it works with no alterations.

I am looking for the laminator, any recommendation on where to get it?

Also found this on ebay

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Apache-AL13P-Laminator-Mod-for-PCB-Toner-Transfer-Single-Pass-DIY-UPGRADE-/131645012690?hash=item1ea6a77ad2:g:jUcAAOSwhcJWOoBN

That link just provides a hard copy of this info, and helps folks not familiar with hackaday. The laminator is usually sold by Amazon for < $100 but it goes fast.

Thank you for the quick response. I don't have a programmer but I will attempt to program it using a Rpi and this sketch

http://holdenc.altervista.org/rpp/

I have all the part already, and If that does not work I will order a PicKit3.  The whole idea of ordering the kit was to avoid this part.  In any case, with this type of stuff you learn a lot more when there are problems.

Juts tell Jameco the uC isn't programmed and they'll send out another for u. It's happened before.

Some EEPROM programmers like the Willem PCB50 can do it as well.

I also bought the Jameco kit and have the same problem as hwilliams18.  When I do the 12v test on pin 4 and gnd on 3 I get nothing.  I validated everything, my jumpers are in place but no luck.  Any help would be appreciated. 

mike

I am suspicious about Jameco programming. Do u have the ability to program the processor? Also, I think I  shall offer this as a built & tested item, direct. The 3rd party uC kit and then DIY build seems a bit error prone.

Added a new, numbered,  image and video sequence in the 'PICS' dropbox link . Should clarify how it all works to make double sided PCBs in one pass.

We have beeping!!!  Something is clearly still wrong, but the buzzer now sounds when I first power the board, whenever I press the button, and it goes through a beep sequence if I hold down the button for a few seconds.  It turns out my pickit3 did indeed overwrite the OSCAL value when I erased the board.  For whatever reason though when I wrote out the new code you uploaded (Thanks for that) the pickit3 decided to generate and write a new OSCAL.  Hooray for progress!

The good: Pin 4 of the pic goes ground every time I press the button.  The T1 emitter is ground.  

The bad:  The T3 emitter is always around 4V.  While the board is powered the buzzer constantly makes a low dull grumbling sound.  If I turn the pot all the way to the low side the buzzer beeps at full volume nonstop.  Turning it anywhere between the high side and just above the low side seems to have no effect.  Pin 2 and 7 never alternate.  Pin 2 has 4.95V at all times and Pin 7 is always ground.

So all that said...I am lost.  Pins 1-3 are constantly between 3.5 and 5V  and Pin 4 stays around 5V until i press the button.  On the other side of the board I get pretty much the opposite at all times.  Pin 5 stays near ground most of the time ~300mV.  It jumps to about 3V when the buzzer goes off.  During cool down mode it holds steady at .5V then peaks to 3V as the buzzer sounds.  

The weirdest thing to me is the sound of something oscillating constantly. It's impossible for me to replicate the sound via text, but its sounds as if the buzzer is a DC motor that isn't getting quite enough power.  If I hook up my multimeter to just the ground (MP3/DP3) I can watch as the bar graph at the bottom pulses constantly.  I'm having a very hard time describing it, but I'm hoping this information is useful.

I'm eager to hear what you think I should try next.

Ok, this blog makes it tuff to maintain a thread, so email me  at mosaicmerc@yahoo.com so we can walk thru the probs. Pin 3 is an input that reads the 'voltage' from the speed pot to adjust the fwd/back motion of the rollers.

T3 emitter will be 'floating' until connected to the laminator so that's normal, UNLESS you have connection to the laminator...then there is a connection ffault.. Pin 5 ops looks normal. The best way to debug the thing is disconneted from the laminator. We can setup artificial 'relay' loads with  LEDs etc so everything is easily seen. I can also generate & supply code to  verify the operation of each 'pin' of the PIC, but  that's a last resort.

Hi again Mosaicmerc,

I just had a couple quick questions if you've got a minute. I haven't been needing to do any PCBs lately, but apparently am still having the trouble I last had with poor adhesion. I tried a bunch of stuff and am fairly certain at this point that it's a lack of heat issue, although I usually run close to the max around 370. Boards that exit the machine (in mod mode) are warm, but not really hot, and the clothes iron technique still works fine with all the same materials and toner.

Is there anything I might want to know about that sensor I mentioned a few months ago? It appears to be set up for adjustment with that long cutout in the bracket, and if I carefully move it while the unit is running, there's a huge swing in the displayed temp with even the smallest amount of front to back adjustment. Is the little diode looking thing supposed to press against the roller? If so, how tightly, and if not, how much of a gap should it have? I saw in some of the docs that you could run a little over 330F for our PCB transfers, and everyone mentions single pass transfers, but if I did either of those, the paper would probably just fall off the board afterward with no toner making it to the copper.

I also bought an AC power meter, as that rapid relay clicking thing seemed to be tied to excessive current draw and was really bad in one particular area of the house. If it's accurate, it's showing that my Apache is pulling around five and a half amps, and almost 700 watts. The current spec in their book is less than half that at 2.4A. Do you have any idea if their figure is accurate, or does 5.5 sound reasonable for this sort of heater?

Lastly, when I was just in it, the outer housing of the motor gets too hot to touch. Does that sound out of the ordinary?

Thanks and sorry for all the questions!

I did verify that the Apache rollers temp was within 6% of the digital readout. If you have a non contact thermometer you can verify this. The diode 'thing' IS supposed to touch the rollers. I'll have to put a Killawatt on the Apache to verify what it is doing power wise.  The boards are too hot to hold when they exit. I am running about 340°F at the moment for double sided 1 oz, 1.6mm thick board transfers.

Thanks Mosaicmerc,

I'll look into getting one of those thermometers. I had a feeling that sensor was in the right place (touching), and avoided pulling it back as I had read stories of people's machines burning up. If the temp is off, I'll let you know.

I've got a small board to do today and will play around with some lower temps and maybe re-adjust the mod speed pot. Are you running single pass, and do you flip the board on double-sided stuff?

Please post here if you get a chance to check the power consumption, and if you get yours open again for anything, please let me know how hot the motor gets.

Much Thanks!

The Apache draws almost 6A , 700W when heating up. I do single or double sided PCBs in 1 pass. I also run up to 3 boards side by side at once....as the rollers are wide enough.

Thanks again Mosaicmerc,

I had a feeling that spec in the book might have been a bit low. 

I ordered a thermometer, but it will take a few days. I've also got eBay yellow paper on the way. I'm hoping to get my setup as consistent as yours. For the heck of it, I tried disconnecting the mod for one yesterday and manually alternated between forward/reverse. I did get decent adhesion with two or three passes, but was still up around 370F. Should the mod have any effect on the temperature when it's not in "cool down" mode? I'd like to get to the bottom of that relay clicking while heating up issue too, so I'll probably look over my mod and maybe blow another PIC just to be safe before it goes back in.

Take Care

The relay shouldn't click during heat up. Don't activate the fwd/back passes until the Apache has reached tgt temperature. The  heater relay clicks on/off to manage the tgt temp. When the mod is activated , the heater  is 'clicked' off to prevent roller hotpots during the backward pass. If you're getting ok adhesion after a few manual passes and NOT with the mod then something is wrong.

Mosaicmerc,

I just got a chance to check that temp with the new thermometer. It does appear to be quite low. Thermometer is this-  http://tinyurl.com/zfqlzml 

I'm hoping I'm using the thing correctly, as I'm not sure how accurate it is on a non-flat surface. I would point it directly at the center of the top front roller after the temp had stabilized, usually at close range (sometimes 3 inches, and up to about a foot). At 370 (according to the Apache), the readings were in the 320 to 340 range, but weren't very consistent, and sometimes a bit lower. Worse yet, the ends of the roller were very much cooler (below 300), as was the bottom front one. At 300, it did the same and measured something in the 250 or below range.

Is there anything at all I might be able to check for, or any possible way to adjust it (I remember a trim pot on the display board or something)? Also, was your thermometer similar, and how far away was it? When I first got it, I checked a furnace pipe which was too hot to touch, and that also gave a  too-low reading. I'm wondering if it's just the curved surfaces.

I'll probably check the clothes iron next.

-Thanks!

I used  a FLIR E8 passive IR camera., as per the pic in the project showing the temperature range of the rollers. There is no 'adjustment' for the temp range other than the digital display, but I seem to recall adjusting the heat shields which reflected heat from the heaters back to the rollers when I dismantled the assembly to inspect its operations.  There are two heaters, top and below the rollers. If one of them is out of action you could get inconsistent temperatures. Although the 6A current draw seems to indicate they are both running.

Man, that's a nice camera/thermometer! I'm guessing you've got it for something else as well. I'll go in the Apache soon and try to see if anything looks out of alignment. I thought I remembered another mod page actually doing something to those shields, like cutting a hole in one or something.

FWIW, the iron just now didn't even seem to get over 200 degrees at almost the highest setting (where I usually run it). I don't know what to think now, but I won't give up on it. I may try to verify the thermometer readings on something of known temperature if I can work that out.

Take Care

Shiny surfaces do not emit accurate infra red temperatures, dark matte surfaces do.  Colour a part of the surface with a sharpie to make it dark and measure that spot or use a multimeter thermocouple contact sensor.

Thanks for the project.  I ordered the Jameco kit and I finished assembly today.  When I put everything back together and turned on the apache it was clear I have a problem.  The rollers spin, but nothing heats up.  I set the apache to 350, but it holds steady at 85.  The machine also makes no beeping sounds and pressing the tact button on the new board doesn't speed up nor slow down the rollers.  The board seems to have no effect other than disabling the heater.  Any ideas what I've done wrong?  I didn't program the pic because one of your comments suggests it comes programmed from Jameco.  Also I used a 6 pin ribbon cable instead of a cat5, because it seemed cleaner.  

Side question:  I followed the instructions sent by Jameco to tighten the rollers :(  I didn't know not to until I came to this site and read the update.  Any idea how many turns will get me back to default?

There are several jumpers marked on the PCB that must be installed, but don't come as components...they are just wires. If you get no beeps or activity etc.,it is likely they may not have been installed.  Loosen the rollers by about  3 turns each.

Thanks for the reply.  I have jumpers J1, J2, and J3 installed already.  I have verified I have everything on the board and I believe it is all oriented properly.  

Did you get the circuit to beep during the 12V, power on, bench top test before installation? That is an indicator that the uC booted and is running. If that did not work check the 5V supply/ & gnd to the  uC pins 1 & 8.. Do the usual...observation checks, polarity of the transistors, beeper and the 5V reg. Since you used your own ribbon cable for the 6pin connectors you must ensure the pin for pin matching as the color coded pic won't match your build.. Note that the cable is wired 'backwards' on one of the 6 pin connectors. With all that done and all is well, then I'd suspect the uC may not be programmed properly. If you have a PIC programmer this is a DIY fix using the hex file from the dropbox link. If not, Jameco will have to send you a new uC.

The one step I haven't done is the 12v bench top test.  I don't have a bench top power supply to do the test with and I'm too novice to just grab some plug lying around the house.  I guess I'll grow a pair and try some random 12v power supply.  I'll get back to you on that.  

I can use an Arduino to reprogram the pic if I need to.  I'll try that after the 12v test once I figure out how to do that.

As for the ribbon cable I made sure that one of cables is 'backwards'.  So MP1 and DP1 are the same color wire, but the connectors are opposite one another.  It matches the pictures in the guide.

Hey sorry for the long delay.  I went and got a bench top power supply.  If I put 12v + on pin 4 and gnd on pin 3 nothing happens.  No beeps or anything.  I'm not sure if this means anything, but the current readout on my power supply raises and lowers as I turn the potentiometer on the board.  

As for the "5V supply/ & gnd to the  uC pins 1 & 8" test I did what I assumed that means.  (again I'm very very novice).  I left the power supply connected to the board and put one end of my multimeter to pin 1 and the other to ground.  I get a reading on 5v.  If I try pin 8 I am getting nothing which I assume means its grounded.  At one point I accidentally shorted pin 1 to pin 8 through the multimeter and the buzzer started ringing.

I've checked double checked and triple checked the polarity of everything.   The only thing I'm not 100% sure of are the diodes.  The black line on the diode should be on the same end as the white line of the silk screen right?

I am assuming all of this means my pic is not programmed.  I'll get my Arduino set up as a programmer and see what happens.  Let me know if I'm throwing up any red flags here.  Thanks again.

Ok, remove the PIC and reprogram it using the ICSP connections online. I don't know about using the arduino for this..

http://www.best-microcontroller-projects.com/12F675.html

I picked up a PICkit 3 programmer to make sure my Arduino method wasn't the cause of any troubles.  I programmed the pic with Lam_Mod_V2.hex and used the debugger in the pickit to verify that the programming was successful.  Everything went smoothly, but it hasn't fixed anything.  I have also checked every 5v pad I can find to ensure it is getting the proper voltage.  I think in doing so I might have found a problem, but I don't understand circuits well enough to know.  My voltmeter is showing that both the + and gnd pins to the buzzer are constantly at 5v.  Is that normal?  I assumed they would both be at 0v until the buzzer is intended to beep.  

Is there anything else you'd recommend I check?

Thanks again for all of your help!  I'm trying to learn to print PCBs so I can learn how circuits work, but I'm learning a ton just trying to install this mod haha.

EDIT:  Either I am improperly programming the pic or the pic is faulty.  With the pickit3 I can only erase the chip.  Every attempt I make to write out the hex appears to succeed.  However if I try to read in or very the code written to the pic I can see that all I managed to do was fill the pic with zeros :(  If use the "Erase" feature then read it back in I can see that the chip is now filled with 3FFF from top to bottom.  So all I can do is write all zeros or erase.  That...that cant be good haha.

Sorry for bothering you so much.  I am extremely grateful for the help and I am thrilled to finally be working with a pic.

Further Update:  Google seems to think that I was unable to verify or read the code out of the pic because the CP bit is set.  I tested this by creating a new project in mplabX and uploading some simple test code.  After writing the test code to to the pic I can read it back out.  So now I'm sure I am able to program the pic successfully.  

So I suppose I have 2 or 3 questions.  Does Lam_Mod_V2_1.asm or .hex contain code that sets the cp bit?  Every time I write it to the pic the cp bit gets set regardless of what I tell the IDE to set it to.  If this is normal should I be able to read the memory with the cp bit set?  I have no way of knowing if the mod code is actually being written and I cant read it, or if there is a problem with writing.  

My last question is related to the code on lines 137 and 138 in the V2_1.asm.  Pasted below:

call       h'3FF'              ; You have to manually enter this value in the calibration input - sect 9.2.5.1 pdf.

movwf      OSCCAL              ; h'3FF' is where the calibration value is stored. Usually 34xx

I have no idea what this means or how to acquire the value that I am supposed to be putting there.  I've erased and overwritten the pic multiple times so if this is a value I was supposed to read out of it than...I might have bit the pooch.  Do you have a suggestion as to how I should obtain the value?  It looks like there is a comment suggesting details are in some pdf, but I cant figure out what pdf that is a reference to.

Thanks and sorry again.  

mosaicmerc

wrote 9 hours ago






@hwilliams18 


Not getting option to reply so I am doing it this way.
I recompiled the hex code (use version 2.1)  to permit read back and verification.
The
Pickit series of programmers automatically do the OSCAL (oscillator
calibration)  protection by not overwriting that  value which comes in
each 12F675 PIC chip.
You can find out more about it from the 12F675 PDF spec sheet.
You
will see 5V on either side of the beeper as it is ground switched by T1
fed by pin 5 of the PIC chip. When the PIC pin 5 (output) goes logic
hi the beeper will sound as T1 will short its collector to ground and
the beeper will see a 5V Differential across its pads.
Verify that the emitter of T1 sees ground ( zero V). T3 should also be grounded.
T5 won't see ground unless its connected tot he  laminator via the 6pin connectors.

The beeper sounds upon power up and upon any button press.
Pin
4 (input) of the PIC detects the button press by reading a ground
instead of 5V. Ensure that when you press the button pin 4 goes to
ground.

Pin 7  (output) of the PIC drives the motor direction
relay via T5. A Logic high on T5 base switches this transistor collector
to ground like T1.
Pin2 (output) of the PIC powers the Heater
coil Relay (via T3) and switches the (normally closed) Relay to cause
the heater to go OFF  when the Motor Relay is reversed. Otherwise it is
on by default for normal heating.
So If you check the voltage on
Pin 7 vs the voltage on Pin 2 they should not be the same at any time.
Either near 0 or near 5V. If you place your voltmeter across pins 2 and 7
you should see a +/- 'near' 5V alternating every time the motor
toggles. BTW did you adjust your speed control to make sure the  motor
is not in 'reverse' most of the time?

The looks great but where is information on what is required to program the PIC??

See the dropbox link under the pics on the left sidebar. Use version 2 of the hex.

To program a PIC you require a programmer such as a Pickit 2,3 or Willem EPROM programmer. There are cheap Pickit clones on sale on Bangood.com or Ebay as well.

Quick question. If you buy the kit from Jameco does the PIC come programed? I don't have a programmer and to buy one for this one off project would push the price up considerably. Thanks.

Yes, it comes programmed. So the kit is ready to build!

That was FAST. Thanks

mosaicmerc,

Sorry for the delay in getting back to you. Answer, No, the 1 mil I was referring to was in this case was board thickness. My results were so great I transferred several projects to copper. Several projects were log-jammed because I was unable to make any reliable PCB's. So while looking as stock size related to transfer size I used (in this case) a much thicker board. So while I am making some documentation of different size, thickness, etc. I wasn't clear on my notation of the 1 mil thickness of the board. Sorry.   Seemed to me that making a chart of such things may make reliability of transfer a little easier. On a different note, I am re-doing my web site where I had been working on a similar project. May I include links to your work? 

Jumping back to mil size - I have made traces of 0.024 without any problem so far. 

A link is fine . My best reliable results have been 5 mil trace thickness on 1 oz copper with about 8 mil spacing, using commercial transfer paper and foiling and fresh etchant. Same speed & temps as mentioned before. When doing copper pours a minimum .016 isolation is best though.

Thank you. 

I have been using some transfer paper from china, for cost purposes. (got 200 sheets of the stuff) It works pretty well they claim it is A4 size but it isn't. I have to trim about one half an inch from the length and width wise it is a little short making it rough putting it in the paper tray. The blue stuff just got too expensive for me, however that was when the transfers were not working with the iron. May reconsider.

First time with the foil. I like it.!!!!! It all cleans off so well. So many projects log-jamed because of orginal poor transfer. I'm a little like a kid in a candy store right now............must control self......

Thanks again man ! You saved me so much time. I didn't even know they made laminators that reversed and you had the guts to rip a brand new one, impressive.   Must......control.....self......

mosaicmerc, Thanks so much for the extra heads up on temp and speed. WoW..... Works like a charm. Made 3 boards today, ready to etch tomorrow. (little behind on some projects). With the iron I was never able to to that. Can't express how great this is. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you. Did the foil thing, impressive (and needed for spots where toner is weak, (ground pour)). Your suggestions were right on, saved me some time. I tried a 1mil board (have a few small ones), upped the temp and ran two extra times. (5 total) It came out great. It failed the first time but after the changes noted worked. Will etch, drill and tin tomorrow. I use two 12volt fans to cool my unit down. Really works well. I can't open the schematics in Eagle (Ver.6) so I wonder is 12 volts available from the laminator?

If u look at the pic (2nd one) of the laminator OEM PCBs in this project above,  the blue relays (heater & roller direction) run on 12VDC common positive, ground switched.

Now when u say 1 mil. board, is that trace thickness details?

Just finished my mod today. Did a quick print as a test (just had to) before going to bed. Nasty. Need to do some adjustments for sure. Temp needs to be higher, need to slow down also. I'm looking forward to this, conditions are more controllable. Will post my results if anyone is interested. Thanks for your work, great project. I had been working on some "old" broken laminators before this and a microprocessor control system but using a new laminator is so much better. Thanks again for all your work.

Try to adjust for about 1/8" progression per roller 'cycle' @ 350°F temp. I use this for stock 1/32" to 1/16 " dbl sided copper clad, 1oz. Same setting when I do the 'foiling' pass afterward to eliminate pin holing due to printer toner inconsistency.

Man I don't know what I've done wrong here, but my past three or four boards seem like they've gotten progressively worse about toner adhesion. On this last one, I ran my usual multiple passes at almost maximum heat, and it still only stuck in splotches. I've also retightened the rollers using that "reverse the screws three turns" method to make sure I hadn't screwed that up when I was doing aluminum. It also seems like when it does stick, I'm not getting that same amount of fuzzy paper residue embedded in the transferred toner that I normally get from the Staples stuff I use.

I did recently replace the toner cart, but I *think* I got a couple decent transfers after that happened. I've got a couple other types of photo paper here. I'm going to try one of them, and if it's no better, I'll do a clothes iron transfer to try to rule out the Apache.

Take Care

Could be the copper clad itself.  Use some 220+  to 320 grit sanding on it to prep. it. I changed a cart and the pitting increased after a few boards. Which indicates the shaking of the cart during shipping makes it dispense toner better. So shake up the cart some and try again as well.

Thanks Mosaicmerc, I'll shake the cart up before my next board. 

On the plus side, somehow the transfer to a different paper came out almost perfect. It almost looks like I could have gotten by with fewer passes, as the toner is a bit heavy in spots (some of the pad holes are a bit smaller than they printed). This stuff was "Kodak Premium Photo Paper" 61 lb 230g/m 8mil Cat 824 5276. I'm wondering if somehow my Staples stuff may have gone bad or dried up in all this heat. It's been serving me well for years.

Take Care