Building an Etch Tank

I've been looking online at different plans for etching tanks and had
an idea that I hadn't seen applied anywhere. I'm wondering if anyone
has built a setup that had an etch tank and water tank that shared a
common wall. The heating element would be on the water side, so that
there wouldn't be as much of a buildup from sediment in the etching
solution. Do you think that there would be an acceptable amount of
heat transfer through the plexiglass divider to keep the etching
solution at the proper temp? I'm thinking that there would be 1
gallon or less of liquid in each side. Also, would it be advantageous
to have bubble agitation in the rinse (water) side as well?

 

[Mike Harrison]

On Thu, 26 Jul 2007 16:46:43 -0700, jcargile2001@yahoo.com wrote:

I've been looking online at different plans for etching tanks and had
an idea that I hadn't seen applied anywhere. I'm wondering if anyone
has built a setup that had an etch tank and water tank that shared a
common wall. The heating element would be on the water side, so that
there wouldn't be as much of a buildup from sediment in the etching
solution. Do you think that there would be an acceptable amount of
heat transfer through the plexiglass divider to keep the etching
solution at the proper temp? I'm thinking that there would be 1
gallon or less of liquid in each side. Also, would it be advantageous
to have bubble agitation in the rinse (water) side as well?

1 gallon is a huge amount of etchant....

Don't see an advantage of bubbles in the water, or even a water tank at all - an 'empty' tank with
spray bars at the top will be much more effective.

Sediminet on th eheater is a minor issue compared to clogging of the holes in the bubble bars, so
probably not worth doing anything unusual to deal with it.