Buying PCBs+Assembly (approx $800 US) from China... don't want to get ripped off

[tom66]

I'm in the process of buying some PCBs+assembly (still shopping around) for 20 PCBs including assembly, at a cost of $800 or so. About $570 of that is component cost. I don't want to get ripped off, I could send money and never receive my PCBs, or get dud boards. So, how do other people manage it? As I'm just a student, this is the little money I have raised for this project.

Any tips and help appreciated! How did others go about this problem? At the moment, the manufacturer is quite small fry, so I was looking at a bigger company (like PCBcart) to lessen risk, but there's still the possibility of me getting a set of dud boards.

[Lance]

You could get the boards and assemble them yourself, then again I don't know how complex the project is. Where are you looking, and what are the company policies for defective boards?

[tom66]

You could get the boards and assemble them yourself, then again I don't know how complex the project is. Where are you looking, and what are the company policies for defective boards?

Unfortunately the boards are too complex for myself to manufacture at a reasonable price. Defective board policy is unknown to me; I'm more worried about whether or not they'd actually honour such a policy, and not really whether or not they have one. They can claim to have one, and then disappear when it's convenient.

[allanw]

Pure PCB/component costs are $570 and they're charging you an extra $230 for assembly? That seems extremely cheap for assembling 20 boards with that many components. What is this place?

[mitpatterson]

Pure PCB/component costs are $570 and they're charging you an extra $230 for assembly? That seems extremely cheap for assembling 20 boards with that many components. What is this place?

I think he ment that the $230 was for the boards, and the $570 was for the parts including assembly, at least thats how i take what he has said

[tom66]

Pure PCB/component costs are $570 and they're charging you an extra $230 for assembly? That seems extremely cheap for assembling 20 boards with that many components. What is this place?

The $230 is for assembly, including PCB etching/manufacture. The person is PCBtracy, but I do not know the company, which is why I am less confident.

There are about 40x SMT 0603 resistors, 20x SMT 0603 capacitors, plus some big components (1206 caps/resistors, TQFP.) A few through hole parts. Mostly surface mount, though. I attach an image of the prototype PCBs with no components, so you can see the relative complexity.

[Psi]

I'd be more worried that i've made a mistake on the board or circuit somewhere than i would be worried that a company would rip me off.

....The person is PCBtracy, but I do not know the company....

Ah, so is this a person you found on ebay or something? because if it is then that does seem a bit risky.
It could be someone working out of their garage who makes smt stencils, places components by hand and reflows in a modified toaster oven

Of course that doesnt mean they'll rip you off, they could be very profesional and be very good at it.

[Hypernova]

Pure PCB/component costs are $570 and they're charging you an extra $230 for assembly? That seems extremely cheap for assembling 20 boards with that many components. What is this place?

The $230 is for assembly, including PCB etching/manufacture. The person is PCBtracy, but I do not know the company, which is why I am less confident.

There are about 40x SMT 0603 resistors, 20x SMT 0603 capacitors, plus some big components (1206 caps/resistors, TQFP.) A few through hole parts. Mostly surface mount, though. I attach an image of the prototype PCBs with no components, so you can see the relative complexity.

That's doable with a sharpened copper rod for a tip, literally, I did TQFP with a 10 year old Dick Smith iron and a tip  I machined myself during high school.

Unless you are really pressed for time just solder them yourself.

[tycz]

The person is PCBtracy,

 

That made me smile.

My advice is to ask her questions until you're either confident or not. What are you worried about? No Chinese company I've every delt with has blatantly ripped me off (manufacturers, retailers, brokers, etc), so I don't think that's a problem. Far more likely is a communication problem, make sure they have all the details and understand them.

You got a PCB quote during the new year?

[frank26080115]

I found some Google results for this "PCBtracy" person. Kind of sketchy but if you think about it, there are much better ways of scamming people than PCBs. You generally want to scam stupid people, not engineers and people who build RC planes (the kind of people he advertises to judging from the search results). But this person doesn't sound like a "company" so it sounds really risky.

I just finished my 2nd year of university and I've invested a chunk of money into my own product like you, I went cooperated with Seeed Studio to source the parts and to get PCBs made. Seeed Studio also helps Dangerous Prototypes with all of their products. Seeed Studio doesn't do anything but contact the right people for you (as in buy the parts from suppliers, send files to PCB maker), so this might bump up the costs slightly (unless they get a cheaper deal somehow)

Good luck.

[sonicj]

I just finished my 2nd year of university and I've invested a chunk of money into my own product like you, I went cooperated with Seeed Studio to source the parts and to get PCBs made. Seeed Studio also helps Dangerous Prototypes with all of their products. Seeed Studio doesn't do anything but contact the right people for you, so this might bump up the costs slightly (unless they get a cheaper deal somehow)

neat. kinda like RBBB meets metaboard?

from what i gather, pcbtracy is a rep/broker for these guys. some positive reviews from established posters on other forums. i get the feeling its safe, but then again thats a decent chunk of change to gamble with. personally, i would get a quote from seeed.
-sj

[AdShea]

Looking at the board, I'd say you could probably do that easier (and cheaper) with a hotplate or toaster oven.  Sparkfun has some great tutorials on how to do all that.  The real question is how do you value your time, I could probably populate one in an hour or two but I've a bit of experience in fine-pitch soldering.  If you're unsure about your design, I'd say order some boards (the ITead Studio deal would probably work great for that level of detail) and build up the first one or two yourself to verify function and see how hard self-building the boards is.

[Leo Bodnar]

Are you supplying the components yourself or they will be provided by assembler?

If you are sending components in be prepared that they will be stopped by Chinese customs and demanded import duty to be paid for.  This can take a month or two  If you hesitate they will confiscate the shipment.  Happened to me !

If the components are supplied by assembler working from his bedroom be prepared that they will be the lowest quality possible because each yaun saved is yuan earned.  USB connectors that bend like they are made from tin cans, pin headers with tin instead of gold surface, etc.  Happened to me too!

Basically, if you are not prepared to lose your money better pay 50% over and have them made locally.

P.S.  You have what looks like a few unmasked vias under the xtal.  Murphy says they will be shorted.