PCB services

[WingNut]

Whats the best (value) pcb service?

[kersing]

Any.

You will need to be a bit more specific about what you want out of a supplier. What are your requirements?

[WingNut]

Cost. It can be quite prohibitive to commit a diy project to pcb. But if the quality isnt good its not worth it either. I dont want to spend £50 on a 400 x 400 mm board. So I'm asking for value for money

[kersing]

1 or 2 or even more? SMD or through hole? Where in the world do you want it delivered? Do you want rapid delivery or are you fine waiting up to 10 weeks?

BTW 40x40 cm is a huge PCB.

[WingNut]

Yeah I meant 100mm x 100mm. I just want other peoples experience of pcb services for small projects

[chipfryer27]

Hi

As Kersing says, there are a lot of factors to be considered. Probably each of us in the forum has our favourite for whatever reasons we choose. Perhaps search for a few, look at any reviews and perhaps look at their "online" calculators to establish if they can do what you want and at what cost. Delivery costs can often be far higher than board cost if you are in a rush. All will no doubt accept orders online but make sure your Gerber's match what they are after. Plenty tools available to view and check. Usually if there is any doubt they will contact you for clarification.

I'm rather fortunate in that I can create prototypes very quickly both chemically and by CNC "in-house" so I can test and make whatever changes necessary as I go. Of course that doesn't give me professionally manufactured boards with nice silkscreens but at this stage I don't care. Once I'm happy I then farm them out.

I have had good results from Elecrow and I'm sure there will be others out there at least as good (in fact I've not really heard of any really bad reviews from any of the usual suspects). All the expected options are available regarding the actual board plus of course delivery charges. As Kersing mentions, if you are prepared to wait cost falls dramatically which can be an important consideration. For the budget figure you mentioned, you could probably get ten or so boards couriered to you within a few days. Vast majority of cost being the "rush" charges and courier. Don't forget that you will have customs duties to add in too.

Regards

[WingNut]

Thanks ChipFryer. Yeah there appears to be a lot out there. Eurocircuits seem to be a decent price and turn around time. Has anyone had experience of them?

[steve001]

Hi Wingnut

I have used Euro Circuits before with work for some prototypes they make a good quality PCB. Not the cheapest but you do get what you pay for.

As Chip Fryer says watch for carriage and import taxes.
PCB Train is also another good manufacture and they have a good online calculator
Electrical testing is a worthwhile addition - makes sure no microscopic track breaks (depends if you wish to goto this level)

Steve

[BenR]

Personally I used EuroCircuits for years but they are towards the top end of the scale in terms of cost.

I now use AllPCB and they are very low cost and the quality is just as good if not better than EuroCircuits with about the same turn around time.

While it's nice to buy local I'm kind of kicking myself I stayed with Eurocircuits as long as I did.

[kersing]

Eurocircuits is my go to supplier for professional PCBs. Excellent quality, all the options I need, but pricy. Delivers in 7 days or less.

For very cheap PCBs I’ve used dirtypcbs.com in the past, however their capabilities are (were) lacking, no solder mask between SMD pins causing bridging when reflowing, and not the speediest turn around. I won’t use them again for anything but strictly trough hole projects. Express shipping is very expensive and normal shipping is cheap but takes ages.

JLCPCB is another Chinese option with better capabilities but once shipped and imported not the cheapest. They do ship good quality PCBs. I heard their delivery times are slipping lately.

Another European option is Aisler. From what I’ve been told excellent PCBs, however options are somewhat limited (not 6 colors of solder mask to choose from and limits like that).