PCBs from PCBWay

[BaronVonVaderham]

Hey guys,

 what’s your experiences with using PCBWay as a supplier when based in Europe?

 To be a bit more specific, I’m wondering about order quantity for the same pcb. 
most of us typically only need a single pcb, maybe two at most, for each panel. That’s relatively expensive for them (and thus for us). However, if I order, say, 10 different PCB’s, does that compensate, or is there still a desired minimum for each pcb? 
i noticed that some communities tend to order bulk for those that want to participate. 
 

The other is about delivery times and prices to the eu. How fast/expensive are they in practise?

 

 Finally, what’s the general quality like?

Edited February 9 by BaronVonVaderham

[Vinc_Vega]

Hi,

PCBway is okay, but not cheap.

A good European based company is Aisler.  https://aisler.net/

You even can upload Fritzing, KiCad or Eagle files and they have a good preview for the PCBs.

It's a while ago when I last ordered there, but round about 12 Euros for 3 double sided boards was okay for me. No idea if the "Beautiful Board Budget" still is available as an option. Delivery mostly took them two to three weeks.

Regards, Vinc

[ollk22]

Absolutely fine, in fact I am frustrated that where I work they are not on our system!

[98abaile]

23 hours ago, BaronVonVaderham said:

Hey guys,

 what’s your experiences with using PCBWay as a supplier when based in Europe?

 To be a bit more specific, I’m wondering about order quantity for the same pcb. 
most of us typically only need a single pcb, maybe two at most, for each panel. That’s relatively expensive for them (and thus for us). However, if I order, say, 10 different PCB’s, does that compensate, or is there still a desired minimum for each pcb? 
i noticed that some communities tend to order bulk for those that want to participate. 
 

The other is about delivery times and prices to the eu. How fast/expensive are they in practise?

 

 Finally, what’s the general quality like?

 

Pretty sure the minimum for each PCB design is 5. If you want pick and place assembly, it's 2 assembled green boards or 5 in any other colour.

Delivery took about 2 weeks when I used them.

EDIT: Sorry, I just remembered that I used JLCPCB, but I think it's the same for PCBWAY.

Edited February 10 by 98abaile

[LASooner]

Pretty sure the minimum for each PCB design is 5. If you want pick and place assembly, it's 2 assembled green boards or 5 in any other colour.
Delivery took about 2 weeks when I used them.
EDIT: Sorry, I just remembered that I used JLCPCB, but I think it's the same for PCBWAY.

In increments of 5. I Just ordered some PCB's from PCBWay and the amount for the unpopulated board was the same amount for both 5 and 10 units, so size will definitely place into the price you get. My board was 4"x4" so I'm sure how it gets cut up on the larger waferboard plays into it.

Sent from my Samsung Chromebook Plus using Tapatalk

[Rapti]

I order my pcb's on JLPCB. Minimum quantity is 5pc. But the quality is perfect. And they are really fast.
From ordering to my home adress in switzerland it takes about 5 days. This inludes manufacturing.the prince for each PCB is very low.

Gesendet von meinem SM-G988B mit Tapatalk

[No1sonuk]

I've used them a couple of times.

Similar delivery times to the UK.

The only problem I've had is when I asked them to make two different SMT boards named "Board A" and "Board B".  They made Board B the wrong way round (tracks on the bottom) because they assumed the "B" meant it was the bottom layer, not the top layer.

[ramzessii]

Good time of the day!

I apologise for shifting this topic slightly. I'm trying to build some panels despite having an insignificant understanding of electronics, programming and designing in CAD however, I'm learning. My first project was A-10C AHCP panel and it works brilliantly well. My second (current) project is more ambitious - A-10C UFC. Although panel drawings are available on the internet, part of the learning curve I opted to draw my face panels in Inkscape. Now that it's done I want to create an electronics schematic and a PCB for which I have multiple options in terms of software - Fritzing, KiCAD, CircuitMaker and Fusion 360. Now to my question - 

When creating the PCB layout - how do I know where exactly I need to position every component, for example, tactile switches, so that they would match my face plates once it is all sandwiched together? Surely there must be a way which I'm not aware of? If I were designing my own device the layout would be up to me but when replicating an existing design it is important to place everything exactly where it is meant to be. Thank you.

Regards,

Janis

 

[Vinc_Vega]

Hi Janis,

If you have the option to export the panel's faceplate (or better a prepared PCB from your CAD system) as jpg or an other supported graphic format, you may import it into the PCB software and place your components.

 

Edit: for fritzing:

Go to the PCB tab, adjust the size of your board and load your image file to to the PCB. Only svg files are supported for import.

See below for example of the Warthog's CMSC panel.

 

Regards, Vinc

 

Edited March 27 by Vinc_Vega

[ramzessii]

Marvellous, thank you Vinc_Vega! I shall try this.

I'm yet to find a way how to achieve the same in Fusion 360, but I'm sure that for now, I can stick to Fritzing - after all, it should be easier to learn than Fusion.

Kind regards,

Janis

[No1sonuk]

I use Fusion360 for my physical designs and KiCAD for schematics/PCBs.
I export the component positions sketch from F360 as a DXF and import that into a drawing layer in KiCAD's PCB design module.

The cool part is, if you have 3D models for the parts in KiCAD, it can produce a 3D model of the board you can then import back into the CAD software and check it fits!
 

[Vinc_Vega]

I did it the way around: drawing in 3D, exporting to a 2D vector graphic program and than importing into fritzing 

Regards, Vinc