Seek PCB thinner than 1.6mm

I've got some 8 mil (0.2mm) copper clad on ebay, but all you really need is two strips of aluminum foil, card stock, and some double sided tape. Or buy some copper foil tape at the hardware store.

When I was faced with the same issue I used aluminum foil and waxed paper to get a meter into the battery circuit of my Pentax digital camera. If you want something more permanent try a piece of one of those almost impossible to open plastic blister packs with copper strips super-glued on. Solder the wires to the copper strips before you glue them to the plastic or you'll have a sloppy mess. That should be thin enough for what you want.

In any old broken down piece of electronics.

You might try some Kapton wiring with copper on both sides.

Everyone sells 0.8mm which is the next standard size down. Most PCB suppliers will go down to 0.5mm as standard, and thinner if you ask them. The thinner stuff (down to 0.1mm or below) is actually pre-preg or core used in multi layer PCB's. It is actually surprisingly flexible and you can actually use it as "flex PCB" in designs that call for a curved board that doesn't move after installed.

Dave.

.8 mm is also common.

Bob

double sided

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D from BC myrealaddress(at)comic(dot)com BC, Canada Posted to usenet sci.electronics.design

Awwwww! Sorry about the awful typos! Blush. The English version of what I mean to say is ...

I want to create a probe to put in between two AA or two AAA cells to determine the current flowing. The probe could be made up of a piece of double-sided circuit board with a wire coming from the contact area on each side. All I see in the catalogues is 1.6mm PCB. Where can I get a bit of thinner board?

On 22-Mar-2009, IGNORE what john wrote WITH THESE TYPOS...

Aren't most circuit boards in TVs, printers and that sort of thing about 1.6mm thick?

I haven't seen flexible PCB with different contacts on both sides. (I sometimes see felxible PCB with the same contact on each side.)

I tried the flexible PCB in the link and tried to glue two pieces back to back so the contacts faced outwards but the adhesive started to spilt after a number of insertions.

or

I figured a bit of thin circuit board might be stronger.

Sorry, I just don't like to use eBay! Farnell UK has a lot of similar prototypng board (if that's the right category) but it either 1.6mm or single sided.

Here is what I got:

Try to find a local supplier for Kinsten PCB products. They do a 0.4mm double sided sheet 300 x 150 x 0.4mm for around AU$10

That's nice! But as I want just a fragment then I am limited to getting it from a parts supplier.

Following that up, the thinnest I came across was 0.8mm which isn't all that wonderfully thin:

or

As an alternative I thought of Flat Flexible Cable but can't find double sided.

john wrote in news:Xns9BD67FEC64CF2451E7A@195.188.240.200:

AA batteries have to have a bit of space for a spring to adapt to, so the question isn't how thin the board should be, but how easy it is to insert it between ends of batteries. 1.6mm is a bit thick but you already found 0.8 and

0.4. 0.4 is probably ideal. Double sided can be had from RS Components, as a single small board. (Might need to find an account holder if you haven't got one). Sharpen an edge so it slides easily. If you try for anything finer you'll need more than you think, it will need renewing too often.

RS order code: 292-6948 £4.27 plus VAT. (Free delivery if spending over £30 before VAT). It's photosensitised, but just get it. Splitting hairs and agonising over alternative sources is NOT worth the difference between parts of £4 or so. This way you guarantee the surface is in awesome condition too. To get rid of the cladding, peel the plastic film off, expose both sides to sunlight for a few minutes each side, then wash off with a kitchen sponge and dilute caustic soda solution. Ideally, cut strips off it before peeling, so you have a good store. Keep it dry and cold, in case you ever want to use it as the maker intended.

FR4 / G10 sheet

Copper foil tape

Oh now that looks close!

I use Farnell because I don't need an account and nowadays they don't charge any extra (delivery or handling or small orders) if ordered on the Net. Archimedes' Lever had posted this link to a datasheet from Farnell and now I can see the same products there that you mentioned.

This led me to this selection table at Farnell:

I'm hoping "4/10" means 0.4mm thick so this one may be right:

I hope it's a good choice because I haven't used this stuff before and I see a lot of alternatives illustrated in that PDF datasheet.

Not the flexible printed connector strips.

john wrote in news:Xns9BD6C9D1C7F83451E7A@195.188.240.200:

get the RS one, it's more clearly described. If the Farnell decription is correct, it's a single sided paper-thin FR4 board. I've used stuff like it but it won't be useful for your need. I used it to make an LED mounting that conducted heat to a heatsink, it's so thin that conduction is good, if you use a large area of copper. But I wouldn't use it for anything that needed rigidity. 0.4 mm is 400µm, not 35µm. From what I saw of Farnell's listing for all PCB's (not just CIF), there's 0.8, which you saw already, then nothing other than standard thicknesses, or this paper thin one. You could check by phone, ask them if it's a typo for 350µm, or if it really is the paper thin stuff. By the time you get that thrashed out it will have been easier to find an RS account holder.

I have some 0.009 inch thick (rigid) PCB which aint so rigid due to the extreme thickness. How much and what size? I have 3 sheets 4.5 by 6.0 inches, and 7 sheets 8 by 12 inches.