Plating etched PCBs

[pickdropper]

Do you folks tin plate your etched PCBs or do you just leave them as bare copper?

I tried tinning an etched board with solder paste and a small solder reflow oven.  It didn't work very well.  :-)  It was a total mess.  I don't think I am going to bother doing that on any board that isn't solder masked.  A proper stencil helps a lot as well.

I tinned another board by hand.  That worked, but tool a lot of time and a bit of solder braid.

I ordered some liquid tin from mouser and will give that a go.  I hear it is nasty stuff, but we'll see.

So what does everybody here do? 


Btw, let me put in a note on the quality of Haberdasher's etched PCBs.  I beat the living hell out of that first board and it is still usable (and finally reasonably cleaned up).  His boards are really well made.

[madbean]

Liquid Tin FTW.

[pickdropper]

Liquid Tin FTW.

Good.  I am looking for an easier solution.

After you plate a bunch of boards, do you have to dispose of it, or can you put it back in the container and use it again?

[Ettore_M]

If I understood what you are talking about, you want a way to cover your etched pcbs not to get oxidized. If this is the thing you want, check out the Pictures thread at DIYSB for Guero builds and azrael's questions!  (http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=36392.18380) Guero, uses a very interesting way, a transluscent spray paint! 

Hope it helps!!