Where to get some good PCB fabs? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: buton
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: May 08, 2017, 06:08:31 pm
content: I am based on the US...I am about to start a Bake to Order maker store, I will begin with my trusty toaster oven to offer a good price to makers(some of us are cheap).I like oshpark quality is great, but i dont think they will do a custom silkscreen color.so i tried pcbway( i know they spam the forum lol) yes they are cheap. but the quality is not where i want it, mainly on the silk screen their result for printing 0.032 size text(eagle) were not consistent some boards look good and some not.While typing this i found out why my pcb looked bad lol... accidentally i left some text as .024 size.( my fault) but the .032 text should have been great and it wasnt, as i said pretty inconsistent from board to board.(lack of quality control)I have some friends on the industry that they use on their businesshttps://www.we-online.com/web/en/leiterplatten/willkommen_/Willkommen.phphttp://redboardcircuits.com/I also found Macrofab which is great and kind of expensive for a maker, i have tried them once and their quality is really good for prototypes.I used sierra circuits also... not bad i will need to send them a quote for my fabhttps://www.protoexpress.com/https://www.c3circuits.com/coast to coast circuits..Made in the US will cost a lot, dont know if a maker is up to paying for that quality... any suggestions?thanks

author: rea5245
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 08, 2017, 06:51:49 pm
content: Check outPCBShopper.com. It is a price-comparison site for 25 different PCB fabs in Asia, North America, and Europe. It also lets you read and write reviews of the companies.Disclosure: I run the site.- Bob

author: young
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: May 10, 2017, 07:20:36 am
content: I have saw an article when browsing the manufacturer's website before. They introduced a few good quality Chinese manufacturers through a comparison price, hoping to help you.This is the website of that article:http://www.wellpcb.com/news/pcb-fabrication-service-comparison.html

author: rea5245
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 10, 2017, 11:42:30 am
content: WellPCB reviews its competitors and concludes that WellPCB is the best choice? Imagine that!- Bob

author: ansonbao
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 11, 2017, 07:20:17 am
content: I have banned our sale post here.Thanks for your suggestion.I will ask our factory engineer to pay more attention about the silkscreen.

author: MarkF
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 11, 2017, 11:03:49 am
content: I've been usingSilver Circuitsfor my boards. Their production runs have five colors available: Green, Red, Blue, Black and White.

author: mbless
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 11, 2017, 07:15:00 pm
content: Quote from: rea5245 on May 08, 2017, 06:51:49 pmHi Bob,I love PCBShopper, so thanks for making it!I was wondering if it's possible to add the type of silkscreen process the fab house uses? I've had some that looks like they used a dot matrix printer!

author: rea5245
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 11, 2017, 08:27:02 pm
content: Quote from: mbless on May 11, 2017, 07:15:00 pmI don't think that most manufacturers specify the silkscreen process they use, so I wouldn't be able to get that information. But if you get boards from a company listed on PCBShopper, and you're not happy with the silkscreen (or even if you are) you could leave a review to let others know.- Bob

author: jmelson
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 19, 2017, 05:40:49 pm
content: I've been using E-Teknet in Arizona. They are not the cheapest, but they really know what they are doing. I've had several thousand boards of a couple hundred different designs done, and maybe had 2 bad boards over that time. They contract with about a dozen houses in China, but they either own those fabs or have their own QC people in house to monitor quality 24/7. They are happy to do low-volume prototypes.I've gone through a bunch of other PCB fabs in the past, and the cardinal sin to me is taking my money for 100% electrical test and then NOT doing the test! You can tell if the flying probe tester has been used as there are tiny dimples in the pads. You have to use at least a strong magnifier to see them. The worst thing is building up a whole 4-layer board with parts and then discovering there's a short on an inner layer, SOMEWHERE on a power pour that goes to 100+ pads. Never had that with E-Teknet.Jon

author: Kean
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: May 26, 2017, 11:01:53 am
content: Quote from: jmelson on May 19, 2017, 05:40:49 pmEven worse is when it happens and they actually did do the e-test. Because if something goes wrong (i.e. they make a mistake) during panelisation and short an inner layer, then the e-test software will be quite happy to give a pass because it would be using the gerber data to determine valid test results. In my case when this happened it was some kind of glitch in their panelisation that put a thick line on an inner layer right through the TH JTAG connector and shorted all JTAG pins to GND. The same PCB in every panel had the issue, and was easy to seee if held up to the light.

author: buton
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: May 30, 2017, 03:55:48 pm
content: thanks for the suggestions.. i will look into that..

author: fourtytwo42
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 30, 2017, 04:05:58 pm
content: One last one I have used several timesdirtypcbs.comlots of options and web based quotes. Been happy with the results, only problem is minimum batch size is 10 or lucky dip usually gets you a few extra.

author: Daque
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: June 25, 2017, 05:55:19 pm
content: Quote from: fourtytwo42 on May 30, 2017, 04:05:58 pmAre the shipping charges reasonable?Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

author: marshallh
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: June 26, 2017, 02:15:50 am
content: You might be very pleased by the quality from U&I (quickturnpcb.co.kr), I got top notch quality and it was pretty good. (Ordered several panels)Avoid US fabs unless you want to deal with eye-watering prices. I've been quoted between 5 to 20 times higher than the highest quality chinese fabs. Generally, if a US fab has good rates, they are always subbing out the boards overseas. There are exceptions though.

author: endevor100
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: June 26, 2017, 05:54:01 am
content: I've been really happy with dirtypcbs. $17 for a 10 pack of 10cm x 10cm boards and $12 for a 10 pack of 5cm x 5cm. I usually go for the $20 5-8 business day shipping, but I believe they have something a little cheaper if you've got time to wait. They are also really flexible on you design, if it fits within dimensions they quote they don't really care what you do in there. So if you wanted to make a 10cm x 10cm panel of like 9 TSSOP DIP breakouts you would get a 10 pack of boards (meaning 90 breakout boards) in 2 weeks for $40.

author: fourtytwo42
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 27, 2017, 12:52:06 pm
content: Quote from: Daque on June 25, 2017, 05:55:19 pmAll inclusive, there's another thread here about themhttps://www.eevblog.com/forum/manufacture/dirtypcbs-com-any-one-used-them/

author: Gabriel Raby
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: July 13, 2017, 02:47:18 pm
content: i know they spam the forum lol. Totally agree with you. They also advertise boardly. But action speaks louder than words. Let's see how they could keep good quality in $5.

author: Muxr
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 13, 2017, 04:10:29 pm
content: Quote from: fourtytwo42 on May 30, 2017, 04:05:58 pmI second dirtypcbs. I had nothing but pleasant experience using them. For prototypes I will still mostly use Oshpark, but if I need more runs of PCBs. I go to dirtypcbs.

author: zeqing
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 10, 2017, 03:40:32 am
content: Quote from: Gabriel Raby on July 13, 2017, 02:47:18 pmabsolutely agree with you, it is absolutely impossible to produce the PCB with 5$. only a market trick

author: zeqing
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 11, 2017, 01:57:44 am
content: Quote from: blueskull on August 10, 2017, 06:00:03 ami know how they processing the orders. but even that the price is too low, actually i know that there some plenty of "express PCB " fab in shenzhen such as HQ PCB and JLC PCB, starting fee about 7$ for the most little PCB... for even lower 5$, or 4.4$, i do not think the quality ensured.

author: asmi
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 13, 2017, 09:45:17 pm
content: Quote from: blueskull on August 11, 2017, 02:04:10 amMy problem with OSHPark is that delivery is VERY slow (about a month from my experience). I'd rather pay a bit more but get them in a week from PCBWay/Allpcb, and since I tend to batch orders, shipping cost is amortized over several boards.

author: zeqing
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 15, 2017, 08:18:11 am
content: Quote from: asmi on August 13, 2017, 09:45:17 pmdo you mean the PCB production lead time or shipping time? the PCB production lead time normally 3~5 days for a standard factory, if longer, they may wait for some others order with the same spec so they can produce them together to reduce the cost. for shipping time, using the airmail package would be a bad solution....my experence with Makerfabs not bad, about 1 week i got the package and the price/quality acceptable.