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Outsourcing PCB production

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IamSmooth

Tue May 19 2015, 03:05AM

Registered Member #190 Joined: Fri Feb 17 2006, 12:00AM
Location:
Posts: 1567

I'm at a point where I'm considering having a company make my circuit board and populate it with components. I would make the housing for it. I know some have done this here. Does anyone have a company they can recommend so I can call and get prices/info?

Thanks

Alex Yuan

Wed May 20 2015, 04:03AM

Registered Member #9614 Joined: Mon Jan 14 2013, 10:00PM
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Posts: 44

If you don't mind the wait then go for Seeedstudio. I ordered 10 UD2.5 boards and I got 13 at ~$3.30 each. Takes about 30 days?

If you can't wait then OshPark does 2 layer boards at $5 per square inch and you get 3 boards.

mister_rf

Wed May 20 2015, 07:39AM

Registered Member #4465 Joined: Wed Apr 18 2012, 08:37AM
Location: Bucharest, Romania
Posts: 145

My personal experience is related to the ELECROW

I have placed there few orders for the PCB prototype production. Good communication and very good quality IMO.

They promote also different type of services, including PCB Assembly services, to get the full service from components sourcing, soldering and testing, but I have never tested that service for my own small experiments.

Dr. Slack

Wed May 20 2015, 09:50AM

Registered Member #72 Joined: Thu Feb 09 2006, 08:29AM
Location: UK St. Albans
Posts: 1659

If you just want a few bare test PCBs to assemble yourself, prior to outsourcing the complete assembly, then dirtypcbs.com has an interesting business model. You get 'approximately 10' 4x4 DS PTH boards for $25. if you want exactly 10 it costs twice as much, as they leech capacity from the edges of big jobs run by other PCB manufacturers.

Wolfram

Wed May 20 2015, 12:56PM

Registered Member #33 Joined: Sat Feb 04 2006, 01:31PM
Location: Norway
Posts: 971

Dr. Slack wrote ...

If you just want a few bare test PCBs to assemble yourself, prior to outsourcing the complete assembly, then dirtypcs.com has an interesting business model. You get 'approximately 10' 4x4 DS PTH boards for $25. if you want exactly 10 it costs twice as much, as they leech capacity from the edges of big jobs run by other PCB manufacturers.

I've just started using these guys, and the quality is on the same level as my previous supplier, Iteadstudio, surprisingly good considering the price. I've attached a picture showing what a board from dirtypcbs.com looks like. The slightly small via annular ring is my fault, as I managed to send them gerbers without a drill file. They somehow still managed to drill it, so I won't criticise them for using a slightly large drill for the vias. The board is marked as electrically tested, so it should be fine even if it looks a bit tight.

mikeselectricstuff

Thu May 21 2015, 06:51PM

Registered Member #311 Joined: Sun Mar 12 2006, 08:28PM
Location:
Posts: 253

You need to provide a bit more info - volumes, your location, type of board (SM/TH), complexity etc. to get a meaningful answer

Carbon_Rod

Fri May 22 2015, 05:53AM

Registered Member #65 Joined: Thu Feb 09 2006, 06:43AM
Location:
Posts: 1155

Oshpark is around 30 days sometimes.
The boards are fine for 0.5mm pitch parts, but they simply fail to mill out areas too small for the route-out bit. Thus, I'd recommend someone else if you have surface mount parts mixed with mechanical though-hole tabbed components.

IamSmooth

Sun May 24 2015, 02:09AM

Registered Member #190 Joined: Fri Feb 17 2006, 12:00AM
Location:
Posts: 1567

mikeselectricstuff wrote ...

You need to provide a bit more info - volumes, your location, type of board (SM/TH), complexity etc. to get a meaningful answer

I would try a run of 25 boards
Two-sided with vias
A mix of surface mount (resistors and caps) and IC sockets and a few other thru-hole components.
Each board is about 1" x 3"

IamSmooth

Tue May 26 2015, 02:20AM

Registered Member #190 Joined: Fri Feb 17 2006, 12:00AM
Location:
Posts: 1567

Looks like my PCB Wizard program does not do Gerber files. I'll need that with any of these production facilities. How good is Eagle? It seems pricey for my limited use. I went to the company site and it looks like I have to pay a subscription fee. Is that correct?

Any other programs for PCB design?

...

Tue May 26 2015, 04:12AM

Registered Member #56 Joined: Thu Feb 09 2006, 05:02AM
Location: Southern Califorina, USA
Posts: 2445

I would recomend KiCad

Make sure you are using one of the more recent releases, it has seen rapid growth over the last few years and the most recent version is really a decent piece of software which IMHO surpasses the paid version of eagle.

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