Painting pcbs

[Somerandomtechyboi]

Just wanna paint rams to make em look better, mainly looking for a fast and cheap method

 

What methods can i use for painting pcb?

 

I assume its ok for the paint to get under the ics as long as its non conductive but correct me if im wrong on that

[Poinkachu]

2 minutes ago, Somerandomtechyboi said:

Just wanna paint rams to make em look better, mainly looking for a fast and cheap method

 

What methods can i use for painting pcb?

 

I assume its ok for the paint to get under the ics as long as its non conductive but correct me if im wrong on that

Just the PCB?
UV Solder Mask

[Somerandomtechyboi]

51 minutes ago, Poinkachu said:

Just the PCB?
UV Solder Mask

So just apply with a paintbrush and put the rams under the sun? I assume also nonconductive

 

Any alternative methods i may be able to use?

[Poinkachu]

19 minutes ago, Somerandomtechyboi said:

So just apply with a paintbrush and put the rams under the sun? I assume also nonconductive

 

Any alternative methods i may be able to use?

UV Solder mask is non conductive.
It's something usually used to protect the copper layer on PCB after a repair or something.
https://learn.adafruit.com/how-to-solder-mask-pcbs
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solder_mask

Rather than sun, use a cheap UV light used for nail painting, less chance of dust and/or debris falling on it while curing.

Keep in mind that I only give you what I think is safe to use on standard use.
https://www.ablcircuits.co.uk/why-are-pcbs-green/

Basically : Try at your own risk.
 

Alternative method? maybe plasti-dip like Linus back then.
But yeah that thing is quite pricey in your country.

 

[buckyball]

So you're going to apply a layer of insulation to your expensive semiconductors?

 

Hmmmm, maybe not such a cool idea....

 

If you do apply color, be careful not to get ANY on things that make electrical contacts. This includes every PCI slot, M.2 connector, SATA port, USB, audio and fan headers, MOTHERBOARD POWER CONNECTORS, etc.

 

On second thought, just... don't. You'l thank me later.

[Somerandomtechyboi]

7 minutes ago, buckyball said:

So you're going to apply a layer of insulation to your expensive semiconductors?

 

Hmmmm, maybe not such a cool idea....

 

If you do apply color, be careful not to get ANY on things that make electrical contacts. This includes every PCI slot, M.2 connector, SATA port, USB, audio and fan headers, MOTHERBOARD POWER CONNECTORS, etc.

 

On second thought, just... don't. You'l thank me later.

I dont care about aesthetics usually, i just wanna paint some rams black since im trying to sell overclocked bare pcb rams, ill be using an open top heatspreader so the ram pcb will be very visible so thats why its gotta look decent

 

I will most likely never bother with mobo painting unless if i see a buisness opportunity in that too, nor will i bother with aesthetics unless it involves making money or improving sellability of a product, so no mobo painting or shield crap for personal use

 

19 minutes ago, Poinkachu said:

Keep in mind that I only give you what I think is safe to use on standard use.
https://www.ablcircuits.co.uk/why-are-pcbs-green/

Basically : Try at your own risk.

You can also give some less safe solutions, i mean i can test on garbage 1gb ram sticks cause im not idiotic enough to potentially nuke a 4gb or 8gb stick with more unsafe solutions unless i test them first and they work completely fine

[mariushm]

I think it's a bad thing to do. People that buy computers from you will think you're scamming them when they realize the ram sticks are from factory that color. 

 

But if you want to keep going with this... maybe try plasti dip paint , it's paint with some plastic/rubber particles in it ... here's an example : https://www.amazon.com/Performix-11203-Multi-Purpose-Coating-Aerosol/dp/B0006SU3QW?th=1

Use kapton tape or some other protective tape to cover the gold contacts and then spray from a few inches across the whole stick - when it dries out you should get a matte layer of paint, which should not be conductive, but you'd have to test.

I'm also thinking acrylic paints, but not sure how conductive they are. 

 

You also have the option of coating the sticks with a very thin layer of conformal coating, it's a transparent layer that insulates exposed contacts.  Basically you'd cover the surface of the ram chips with kapton tape or something (because the surface needs to remain clean to make contact with the ram heatsinks), and the ram gold contacts, then you'd spray the whole stick to give it a thin layer of conformal coating, and then you remove the tapes.  I'm not 100% sure, but you should be able to paint over the conformal coating once it's fully dry. 

examples of conformal coating 

using silicone   https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/techspray/2102-12S/10440570 or https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/chemtronics/CTSR-12/5251702

using urethane https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/techspray/2104-12S/13590618

 

UV solder mask would also work to cover exposed pads, but would look ugly if you cover surface mount resistors and capacitors on the stick with it. 

 

[SimplyGone]

How are you going to sell overclocked RAM sticks?  Overclocking RAM is very CPU/Motherboard dependant.  You'd never be able to guarantee the speed unless you were selling the motherboard CPU and RAM in a bundle

[Mling]

Ram heat spreaders. 

[Somerandomtechyboi]

19 minutes ago, mariushm said:

I think it's a bad thing to do. People that buy computers from you will think you're scamming them when they realize the ram sticks are from factory that color

I am literally just gonna make open top heatsinks out of aluminium strip rolls and prob but some crude timings and branding on it, also even if i use uv solder mask its not gonna be perfect so thats another indicator that its just oced bare pcb

 

17 minutes ago, SimplyChunk said:

How are you going to sell overclocked RAM sticks?  Overclocking RAM is very CPU/Motherboard dependant.  You'd never be able to guarantee the speed unless you were selling the motherboard CPU and RAM in a bundle

Test it in my z77 + pentium (z77 hasnt arrived yet) and detune it 66mhz or something like that, ofc ill put a disclaimer too

 

The speeds >2200 are for newer than x58 and speeds <2200 are for x58 and older, id just ask the consumers for their system spec and tune rams accordingly, if its a crappy oem/lowend non oc then just 1600/1866 with lower cl (spd), if its an oc chipset and non oem board then 2200+ (xmp)

 

Newer than x58 ill only give upto 1.9v xmp, older than x58 is limited to 2.1v, ofc ill give settings for 2.2 and 2.46v+ depending on ic but not in the form of set and forget xmp just so if they slightly degrade cpu imc then they willingly took the risk

 

Anything im missing here?

 

1 minute ago, Mling said:

Ram heat spreaders. 

I can make cheaper ones myself and the only ones available seem to be crappy closed top hyperx heatspreaders and closed top is terrible for cooling

[Somerandomtechyboi]

And ive pretty much come to the conclusion that spreading uv solder mask is the most convenient way to paint the pcb, no need to go outside and have a setup for spray painting

 

Though i also wonder if nail polish might work, i mean them liquid metal and subzero oc folk use it for covering smds so i wonder if i can just cover the whole stick with it