JLCPCB Isolated Designs

[liamski]

Hi,

Just wondering if anyone else has had issues with JLCPCB getting boards with isolation slots manufactured as "single designs"?

I submitted a design yesterday that, looking at it as a human, you can see it's a single design with isolation but the JLCPCB system tells me I have to pay more for multiple designs per board. I've been backwards and forwards a little with the support people and they just say because you have no copper going from one side to the other it's two designs.

The boards has two isolated DC/DC converters and an RS485 isolation chip, the silk for these is clear but obviously I have no copper going from one side to the other, that's the point. One thing about this particular design is that the slots totally "eat up" the silk screen that passes over the isolation barrier so I'm thinking the automated system is getting confused.

I just added some silk screen to the design that would remain after the slot cuts and re-submitted the design as an experiment, I await the results.

Anyhow, just curious to know if anyone else has experienced similar?

Thanks.

Liam.

[Psi]

I've never had that happen myself, but it doesn't surprise me.
There is price to pay for going with the cheaper fabs, service isn't the best.

[liamski]

In case anyone else ever has this it looks like the bit of silk screen I added did the trick, it's now "in production".

[Psi]

My last JLCPCB order was supposed to be black but came as matt black.

Not that i really care that much, but yeah, you get what you pay for and JLCPCB is cheap.  Though interestingly not if you want castellated holes on all 4 sides of your PCB. Then PCBway is half the price of JLCPCB.

I'd hate to think what it would cost for an octagon shaped PCB with castellated holes on each side at JLCPCB, since they charge by the number of sides.

[liamski]

I did a black front panel last week and I quite liked the "matt" look.

[Psi]

I did a black front panel last week and I quite liked the "matt" look.

Yeah, mine was front panel stuff too.
The issue with matt black is that it shows fingerprint oil quite badly.

The issue with gloss black is it 'can' look terrible, all patchy and crap, if they fail to apply it correctly.

I prefer the gloss black when it's a good quality gloss black, but if its going to look shit then i much prefer matt black which never has that issue.

[liamski]

I agree about the fingerprint issue. You've got me thinking now, wonder what matt black would look like with an acrylic conformal coating...

[glentek]

A late reply to this thread - I just received my latest board from JLC which is 15 separate circuit blocks, each with mounting holes and copper pour, but with incrementing component designators. The boards are delineated with thick lines on the silkscreen layer. I've done this about 4 times with no issues from JLC.

[Guy Shemesh]

so.. how do you break the boards from the panel ? or you don't, just use them as one big piece?

It's quite common that manufacturers will demand more for different designs on a panel. The usual range is 7-12$ more for each design, making it almost pointless to bother to panelize (perhaps saving a little if you use ENIG)

[glentek]

I used a hacksaw and cleaned the edges with a bench disc sander. A guillotine would be nice.

[TK]

My last JLCPCB order was supposed to be black but came as matt black.

Not that i really care that much, but yeah, you get what you pay for and JLCPCB is cheap.  Though interestingly not if you want castellated holes on all 4 sides of your PCB. Then PCBway is half the price of JLCPCB.

I'd hate to think what it would cost for an octagon shaped PCB with castellated holes on each side at JLCPCB, since they charge by the number of sides.

They switched from gloss black to matte black, so if you select black, it will be matte

[digsys]

I do similar to glentek.
I have the opposite experience to others posts. I had terrible trouble with PCBWay demanding that my multiple artwork, often piddly little adapters etc with NO vgroving / routing etc were multiple jobs and they wanted several times the "extra board" cost added. This went on for ages. They NEVER backed off, no matter what I did or explained.
I switched to JLC and have NEVER had an issue ! In fact, on one occasion, when I decided that there were too many different boards on the panel, and sent it in as 2boards, I had a fight over them counting it as one. No routing - No V-Grove is ONE board they kept saying. I gave up and let it pass :-)
I also have band-saws etc to cut them up into dozens of  pieces, no big deal. Doing it for years.

[Alti]

Hi,
Just wondering if anyone else has had issues with JLCPCB getting boards with isolation slots manufactured as "single designs"?

I had same issue.
I used U-shaped 2.5mm isolation slot on a 60x80mm PCB at JLCPSB and this has been qualified as two designs and doubled the price. I am not sure if it is the lack of trace connection or the isolation slot that triggers that issue but next time I'd be putting only some un-plated holes and changing that  with a small file into oval shape afterwards. Not tested.

[Guy Shemesh]

OMG Guys 

I almost can't believe you're manually cutting PCBs

[digsys]

  ... I almost can't believe you're manually cutting PCBs 

LOL So? I have the original "Printed Electronics" automated PCB routing table (one of the first here in Melbourne OZ), plus a custom routing setup I use for front panels, but I prefer using the band-saw. (Trick is to select the right blade.) It's fast, NO setting up required, do 1-2 boards in seconds .. I don't even use guides. Last month alone, I've done a few 100 PCBs. Run them on the belt linisher for 5 secs after and jobs done.
I rarely do it for larger "production run" PCBs, as there is no point, but shitty little adapters / converters / etc etc it is PERFECT ! Next customer :-)

[Guy Shemesh]

Well digsys you have outsmarted these factories 

I do remember few years a go I could make a panel with 10+ boards and they would only charge me as one. Now they have rules.. for them there is no difference in process (nor the cost) if they add a milling path between sub pcbs.

By the way, something interesting I sometimes use when I need more quantity, is panelize with the *same* design, this adds nothing to the cost and you could have rout with proper mouse bites etc..

[Kasper]

It seems they sometimes charge extra for slots. I wonder if they'd get more or less complaints if they added a slot charge to the auto quoter.

[Kasper]

I made a panel with 6 irregular shaped boards and included test tracks and headers on the panel and they only charged for the 6 boards. 

[MarkR42]

I had a board which was too small for their assembly service, so I panelised two boards and they didn't charge any more for the boards (of course I had to pay for the components). It was fine.

Obviously the panel had no traces or anything else connecting the two boards except for mousebites