Urgent: Please help me find an alternate turnkey board house - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: RobK
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: March 21, 2017, 08:17:17 pm
content: Hi all,I'm not a frequent poster to this forum but it's been a great resource to me over the years so I thought I'd post here for advice.I started using PCBCart for all my direct-from-China PCB needs after Dave recommended them years ago. I know some have soured on PCBCart after they raised their prices, but the prices still seemed reasonable enough to me and I always found their work to be high quality and reliable. Well now I'm in a time crunch and PCBCart is quoting me 9 weeks on a board I need sooner. So I'm looking for an alternate manufacturerThe PCB I need has six layers and about 46 line items on the BOM. Here's the important thing: I need the PCB made, the parts procured, and all the parts assembled by the boardhouse (i.e. a turnkey service). I need a turn-time of three to four weeks and quantity of 300 assembled boards. There are several QFN packages on the board but no BGA's. I've attached a picture to give an idea of the complexityDo any of you have an established history with a manufacturer such as this and been consistently happy with the results? I'm not looking for advice on where to get good prices on quick-turn prototype PCB's. I need someone who can provide cost effective and quality turnkey work. Handing over thousands of dollars to an unknown company in China always makes me nervous, so I'm hoping to get some advice so I'm not going in completely coldThanks and best wishes,Rob

author: MagicSmoker
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 22, 2017, 10:10:19 am
content: I've been very pleased with turnkey assembly from Sierra Circuits:https://www.protoexpress.com/pcb-assembly

author: alexanderbrevig
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 22, 2017, 12:24:30 pm
content: I've used MacroFab a couple of times, I think they'd be able to meet your deadline esp since you live in the states yourself. Maybe ask them?

author: free_electron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 22, 2017, 03:48:17 pm
content: PCBway or Iteadstudio. i used them several times

author: RobK
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: March 23, 2017, 04:12:52 pm
content: Hi all, Thanks for your responses. MagicSmoker - I've been working with Sierra Circuits for years and agree they do good work. Their "no-touch" service for bare boards is particularly good. However their prices are of course considerably higher than the direct-from-China manufacturer's. I'm still working on obtaining quotes and comparing lead times but will have to place an order by the end of the week

author: MagicSmoker
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 24, 2017, 02:35:20 pm
content: Quote from: RobK on March 23, 2017, 04:12:52 pmHmmm - so you moved the goalposts, then? In the original post you said you were wary of handing over "thousands" to a Chinese assembly house and didn't think any of them would be able to meet the deadline, hence why I suggested Sierra Circuits. If you are going to go Chinese anyway then might as well use one of the established players like Elecrow or PCBWay or the like; they will likely do a good job of assembly, as far as soldering goes, but I'd still worry about the use of counterfeit or "factory reject" parts.

author: sfcircuits
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: April 04, 2017, 05:35:30 pm
content: Hi Rob,Obviously, I'm a little late in replying but take this for future reference if you've already moved forward with a boardhouse - there are several advertisers on EEVBlog. We're also one of them!If you want to give us a shot to quote this or any other project for you, mention this post and someone should give you $100 off your first order:San Francisco CircuitsEveryone's favorite resource these days to find a new boardhouse ispcbshopper.There's also a plethora of companies in the EEVblog wiki. That will probably be too overwhelming to go through, but at the top of the PCB Manufacturing wiki, you'll find several websites with reviews of some boardhouses. I actually contributed a few of those to the wiki a while back.Good luck!