Poison RS circuit board

[jeff1500]

I made a circuit board out of Radio Shack board. Brown stuff with 0.1" space holes.

When I cut it and ground it to the shape I wanted it gave off a horrible chemical vapor. I figured, oh well, never use that stuff again.

I just opened the flashlight I put it in for inspection after about a month and got hit with enough off-gas to give me a headache. Yuk, Yuk, Yuk.

This is the only piece of circuit board I've ever bought. Surely other kinds can't be like this?

Anyone had a similar experience?

 

[dat2zip]

I only use Fiberglass type board. I know the brown stuff you are referring to. I didn't know it gave off such bad gas

Why did the flashlight give off the yuch stuff? Was this from heat or something on the board?

Just wondering?

 

[Silviron]

I'm not an expert on this, but I think that the smell was probably formaldehyde or urea, used as part of the resin that binds the particles together that make the board.

Heat releases it for a long time, and grinding wil release it on stuff that is 20 years old.

 

[jeff1500]

I ground it to the shape I wanted and then put it inside the flashlight. I don't think anything even got above room temperature inside the light. It's just four leds at about 20 mA each.

The light seals pretty well, but not water tight. I remember when I bought the stuff, the smell was in the package.

The smell when I ground it was very strong and nasty.

No more brown board for me. The next piece will be another kind.