Ordering PCBs from China

My experience of ordering PCBs in China for a few months with different designs and shipping methods. It's definitively more convenient and economical than etching at home.

plz share :-)

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#electronics #diy #pcb #bitluni

[Rickr]

Thanks. I just placed an order, but would like to see more on using EasyEda.

[manickn]

This is the best video on JLCPCB. A proper honest review.

[AJBK]

They get away with the low price because they use our designs to fill in unused space on bigger boards.
Agreed, JLPCB refund orders superfast, I've messed up 2 designs and its always a pleasure working with their support people.

[ZsomborZsombibi]

This week LCSC told me shipping cannot be combined due to custom declaration issue.
They sent me for free in another package.

[Hugatry]

Great video, bitluni! Nice to hear about post-order stuff, like what happens if there is a problem etc.

[Mico]

Services like these are a true revolution in DIY world. Its amazing that we are now able to design and have our boards built for very low amount of money and without the need to order thousands of parts

[northshorepx]

Really cool review. Thanks for pointing out the things that most reviews don't talk about!

[tablatronix]

Looks like a few changes in the last month, 5 boards instead of 10 for $2, free color soldermask!, lcsc combined shipping not free but discounted (for now)

[UweGrassme]

I also can recommend JLCPCB. During the past 4 months I ordered 7 different boards. There were no problems though these were the first PCBs I ever designed.

[murraymadness]

I've used them a few times now, particularly because they will install the smd parts for relatively cheap, but the last board I did had two 0603 caps missing.
I'd also point out I've made my own too, and always do smd so no drilling holes, and then I manually edit the traces substantially to reduce the copper etch traces to minmal and make big pads and fat traces. two weeks is forever when you are trying to get product out, and usually first batch needs reversion, so 4 weeks too long.

[welshdave]

Great info, much more than other youtubers have put into videos about JCL PCB, they also supply stencils which is something I did not know till a designer told me they came with his boards, really nice quality, these were 4 layer boards with QFN and BGA parts, I had fun hand placing them before they went though the oven.

[stormtrooperelite]

JLCPCB is alright. I messed up my design by not including the keepout in my gerber (something that can be easily done from the pcb itself that I included just in case but oh well) and they refunded the same day allowing me to correct it and send again. A month later though and my PCBs arrived and they are nice.

[colormaker]

JLCPCB has been good to us. we have ordered 30 diffrent boards in the last 6 months. good quality for the price. PCBway is also a good source in you want aluminum clad which JLCPCB does not offer. Great review.

[Rick_Cavallaro]

I've used several of the inexpensive PCB fab places recently. They all put out good quality boards. But JLCPCB is currently my go-to. Not only are they unbelievably cheap (and quick), but if you buy components from their sister company (LCSC), not only do you save on shipping, they'll populate the boards with those parts at no cost!
For the record, I have no association with them, or any PCB fab company.

[ElektrischInkorrekt]

We had some failures with our last pcb manufacturers.
Our last one hasn't dried the solder stop mask, so we had to throw away 100 smd-mounted PCBs. (At our wave soldering process the solder messed up our PCBs. The solder did stick all over the whole PCB, even at the solder stop mask.)
Other scenarios we recently had are: displaced solder mask, forgotten to insert the circuit. (Yes, we got PCBs with prints but without the circuit...), Short circuit between nearby lanes, etc....

[tigercat]

JLCPCB and PCBWAY are fighting it out, which is great for us. JLCPCB with free colors is now cheaper than PCBWAY. The quality and turnaround is the same for both.

Pro tip - the manufacturer will add an ID number to your board (on a silkscreen layer); you can specify an area where you want them to put it so they don't ugly up your beautiful board design. For JLCPCB put the text JLCJLCJLCJLC where you want them to put their number and add a note to the order reminding them to do so.

[peut]

I have the same positive experience with JLCPCB, no hassle and very responsive and clever support staff.
You are also the first reviewer that pointed out the autorouter in EasyEDA, which I use all the time, Some versions have problems (routing across holes for instance ) but that can be easily fixed. New versions are regularly supplied.
The best feature of EasyEDA is the huge number of available footprints and the ease with which you can make your own, if needed.

[pyotrleflegin]

What a marvellous video! I have often wondered if this service was worthwhile, and it would seem it is - thanks for the heads-up.

[SmashCatRandom]

I use both JLCPcb and PCBWay for prototyping and small runs of PCBs. I find JLC are best on price, although when I've ordered, different colours etc increase cost quite quickly. They offer custom sized stencils too, which is nice when you do not want a full sized framed stencil. PCBWay can be faster if you pay the extra for express manufacturing. I've had them produce boards in under 1 day! The shipping time (via DHL to UK) is usually around 3 days for me from both PCBWay and JLC. I think the quality of both is about the same - PCBWay is better if you go for green PCBs though, as JLC seem to use panels with writing on them at times, which doesn't look too good - but ok for prototyping.

Currently PCBWay offer PCBA and JLC do not, although a JLC sales person told me they will offer PCBA this year! I'll be interested to see the price.

[Synthetech]

Nice to know how cheap PCBs can be today.
I would be interested in seeing a vid showing how to use EasyEDA.