PCB Proto manufacture

[JohnB]

I know this question has been asked before but any recommendations for a PCB prototype manufacturer. In the past I have used PCBTrain but they are looking very expensive now.

[trastikata]

I've been using JLCPCB PCB and assembly services for years. Very inexpensive and good quality.

[John Lawton]

I've been using PCBWay for some years now. Prices are good apart from the high cost of carriage  which sometimes exceeds the cost of the boards.

As an experiment I used OSH Park for an in-house board that I only needed one of and in no hurry.
They made their standard quantity of three for me with free first class mail from the USA. The boards are fine as long as you can accept purple solder resist
Cost was £24 all in.

[JohnB]

Thanks, I have just had a quote from JLCPCB, they were came in at a 10th of what PCB train were asking and with a better turn round.  I'll try PCBWay and see how they compare.  No wonder this country is in the proverbial when there are companies 3000 miles away in high wage high wage economies who can deliver the goods an order of magnitude less than the UK offering.

[TimB]

I use JLPCB for PCB's and masks. Fantastic service and price. I use their Global Standard Direct Line shipping as its a low price and delivery is pretty quick not more than a week.

I use PCB way for pcb assembly. JLPCB will only place parts they have in stock and they never have the parts I need.

For say 50 parts assembly in the UK I recommend https://pcba.uk/ they use jlpcb for the pcb's

[Oskar-svr]

Hello friend, I recommend https://jlcpcb.com/ fast delivery time, super quality, they handle various thicknesses, you can order to manufacture from 2 layers to 8, they incorporated a new material of the Flexible type, and very cheap, regards

[Peter Truman]

My 'goto' manufacturer is PCBCart in China. They do a special deal for prototypes but are happy to do complex 4+ layer boards with assembly both sides. Cost is reasonable in my opinion - especially for production stuff.

Freight is a bit of an issue but small qty is maybe A$40 by DHL or UPS

I've used them for 15 years plus - never an issue with dodgy parts and always get back to me with any DFM or BOM issues.

Highly recommended

[Wimax]

Hello !

I recommend Jlcpcb, very high pcb and assembly quality.
If your project needs components not in jlcpcb stock you can have them purchased by jlcpcb and stored in your "private warehouse". When ordering you can use them as those in the catalog, the service is perfect. The price of the pcb's is really unbeatable, even the assembly does not cost much considering the quality of the work as well. Unfortunately, shipping costs and taxes (customs, vat) often affect more than 30%.

[JohnB]

Well I have placed my order for prototypes with JLCPCB. only a small board about 4.5x2.5 inches.  5 boards for a fiver.
Shipping costs £19 but compared with the PCBTrain quote it was a bargain.

[JonW]

I use JLC and LCSC pretty much every week and they are extremely good value for fast turn small batch builds.  If you run a business and factor in the board assembly time, the SMT is a no-brainer.  They do struggle with small BGA's, however, their processing in PCB and SMT is getting much better as the volume increases

[Wimax]

I tried several times to search for European alternatives to make complete prototypes (pcb and assembly), maybe to try to decrease shipping costs and taxes, but I always had to give up...the quotes were always exaggerated, often limited to pcb only. What makes one wonder is that the excuse of quality does not hold up either because that of the big Chinese suppliers (jlcpcb, pcbway etc.) is very good ! The only way the European Union has come up with not to be left out of the competition has been to charge VAT even on amounts below 22 € 

[John Lawton]

FYI, for UK assembly I use Soumac Assembly Services Ltd in Portsmouth and have been very satisfied with their quality and service. I always supply them with full kits of bare pcbs, paste stencil, BOM and a component positions file. They always ask if there is any uncertainty over supplied components or other details.

I can't compare their prices with overseas assemblers as I've never used them. I would have some concerns with using Chinese assemblers if they were also sourcing components over possible use of conterfeit or substitute parts and the likely costs and delays of shipping full kits to them.

[JonW]

That is always a concern; however, I tend to use many of the higher-end Chinese manufacturers for simple Silicon and only get them to stuff the RLC components as these are time-consuming parts to fit. LSCS are one of China's biggest Disti's so very much doubt they would use counterfeit parts and you can send your Mouser or Digikey order to them (as long as the devices are not restricted).  If we have to build in volume then we have our own SMT line and purchasing but the cost of stopping the line for small developments is too expensive.

I'll make a note of that company, though as we sometimes need to SMT in the UK for some sensitive customers.

[JonW]

Just out of interest John, what's their turnaround time like?

[Wimax]

Yes John,

the risk of falling into the hands of non-serious suppliers is always there, but it must also be said that China is big, we can say there is China and...China. The names we have mentioned are of large, modern factories with hundreds of thousands of customers all over the world, not just hobbyists or small manufacturers.

[trastikata]

Regarding JLCPCB - one thing I've noticed over time - don't order on Friday or Saturday!

Because of the time zone difference your order gets processed by the weekend shift and things are not always perfect  , however I've never had issues with the orders submitted in week days.

[Wimax]

Regarding JLCPCB - one thing I've noticed over time - don't order on Friday or Saturday!

Because of the time zone difference your order gets processed by the weekend shift and things are not always perfect  , however I've never had issues with the orders submitted in week days.

They are usually very fast, even I had a processing delay for a pcb of a week some time ago. I contacted customer service and it was put into processing immediately, what's more they gave me a voucher as "compensation".
It was not my request, the pcb was not urgent nor had I complained, I thought there were problems with the gerber files.

[JohnB]

@trastikata - Too late, I have already submitted them and its been approved.  We'll see what turns up.

[John Lawton]

Just out of interest John, what's their turnaround time like?

They usually quote 10 working days.

[JonW]

Hmm that's pretty good, I will investigate, thanks John
Do you have to supply re-reel parts or can they accept tape only?