ALLPCB & JLCPCB

[wraper]

They normally give the option of a voucher or waiting for the damaged/missing board. It doesn't usually get shipped out though if it's damaged, hopefully they didn't throw away one of the good ones!

The last few times I ordered, they consistently screwed with one of the items I ordered and just provided the voucher, and did not ask if reduced quantity is OK for me.

[Kean]

Had my first problem with JLCPCB recently and been with them for years.

They sent a message saying one of the pcb's was damaged in production and they would give me a voucher off next pcb.
All great no problem, these things happen.
So got pcb's through post and posted them off to my customer.
Next thing I know customer is complaining taht one of the pcb's has a 6mm hole right through the pcb and a track.
Looks like JLPCB put teh bad pcb in the box instead of throwing it out !
A bad pcb is no good to me.
As they are by far the cheapest and best quality (usually) I will let it go this time.

So you are using a budget supplier and not doing any incoming QC before shipping to your customer?

[johnboxall]

JLC are great for those mad ideas you want a board for, or an early prototype, or something nobody with an electrical education is going to see.

They can't print our logo on silkscreen to save their life, always missing a line or two through it. When it's serious time, go somewhere else. And lately, the HASL finish seems to have changed so you need an increased temperature to solder properly.

[DavidAlfa]

I've made several panellized pcbs with no extra cost in the last years.
Yep, sometimes they will ask for more money... When that happens, I cancel the order and try again, it'll eventually pass







However, I recently wanted to try some BGA devices.
Before doing the whole thing, I made some routing tests to ensure my design rules were up to spec.
I select "Pay after reviewing", so in theory the system should review the gerbers ensuring it mets their tolerances and capabilities.
Surprisingly (Or not, chinesium QA, huh), the system approves anything I throw at it.
I intentionally made ridiculous 1th thin traces and 0.1mm vias! And the system says everything's ok, ready for production! Wtf?
So they either re-check it after you pay, or they don't check anything at all, so good luck if you mess something up in the design rules.
Here's an example of what they approved! It's a BGA with 0.8mm pitch, 0.4mm pads.



So how are you really ensuring the DRC is met?

[thm_w]

I've made several panellized pcbs with no extra cost in the last years.
Yep, sometimes they will ask for more money... When that happens, I cancel the order and try again, it'll eventually pass

lol

So how are you really ensuring the DRC is met?

I seriously don't understand why they don't have automated DRC in place. They could pop up a warning or prevent you from submitting the gerbers. The website hints that it will do that, but it never does, as you say.

Instead what happened (to me at least), is they manually or automatically cropped my traces to fit within the clearance rules. Which was OK, but, if they had popped up a warning I could have just checked my rules were wrong and adjusted them.. odd. I've seen other posts here where they instead rejected the design.

[c64]

The boards are fine. The free shipping to here at least makes more difference though. However if you want free you have to take the options that go with it: 5 max, and intriguingly, HASL lead-free, which suggests that they are using the margins of panels of larger industrial jobs for freebies. Not to be outdone, JLCPCB has a lower cost shipping option now.

What is the total cost for 5 pcb with free shipping?

[johnboxall]

The boards are fine. The free shipping to here at least makes more difference though. However if you want free you have to take the options that go with it: 5 max, and intriguingly, HASL lead-free, which suggests that they are using the margins of panels of larger industrial jobs for freebies. Not to be outdone, JLCPCB has a lower cost shipping option now.

What is the total cost for 5 pcb with free shipping?

Up to 100 x 100mm, green, 2 layer, etc., usual settings US$5.90 to Australia. Takes about two calendar weeks to arrive, last mile is usually by Aramex. You can upload your own gerbers and get a quote before putting in any payment information.

[peter-h]

"I suspect miscommunication.  Their ordering page allows ordering of panels in qty of 10's of thousands.
While they can do simple panels, if you have specific routing or tabs requirements then you should arrange the panelisation yourself, and submit panel gerbers."

Sure one can order any quantity but JLC have specifically stated that they will not read any English (or perhaps any text) on the layers, which to me says that one cannot send them any dimensioned drawings.

They are fine for prototyping and I have just ordered another 10 boards, with 4/4 rules, and they are great value at about $3 each, plus stencils and very cheap Fedex shipping. But somebody else gets the volume. And there are plenty of chinese firms who want that business.

[Mangozac]

I don't understand people suggesting JLC is not suitable for volume orders. The only way they can provide the prototype boards so cheaply is the sheer volume of production panels they do!

We regularly order batches in the thousands from them and I personally know several other companies that do as well. Even with complex panel routing (which doesn't require text annotation except for v-groove indications) there are no issues. If I do something really out of the ordinary they have contacted me to confirm my intention.

We've only once had an issue with JLC boards and in that case it was fortunately only a prototype panel where the through hole plate had somehow been separated from the pad on a specific set of holes.

[48X24X48X]

We used JLCPCB for both prototype and volume in the thousand. But we do have other higher end supplier that has admitted that it's best to use JLCPCB for prototype as they can't compete on their prices. Other suppliers can also be cheap but if you place larger order and repeat order. This will removed the setup fee and test jig (if not using flying probe). That leaves your cost per board to a ridiculous few cents depending on your layer and specifications.

[cgroen]

Same story here, a lot of prototypes and a lot of "1000's" orders from JLC (and from PCBWAY)

[AccountRemovedPerUsersRequest]

Thanks for sharing experiences of using JLC. I have been using PCBWAY quite a lot, but after the summer they started to have more issues than is acceptable. I was going to use JLC, but maybe I will try ALLPCB. They also have a premium option that looks good.

A

[alexaraujo]

I was thinking about doing a test with PCBWAY

[alexaraujo]

We could do a poll to vote based on our experiences with PCI manufacturers.

JLCPCB
ALLPCB
PCBWAY

Today I buy 5,000 boards a year from JLCPCB but I have been looking for alternatives because I had small delays from them and ridiculous questioning of batches already produced by them.

[AccountRemovedPerUsersRequest]

My project PCBs are very similar in parameters and characteristics. One month ago PCBWay doubled the price. Today, I took a quote from ALLPCB and it is 1/4 of that price. And I am talking about premium/advanced PCBs (not $2-$5 products).

Looking forward to see the quality/service/lead time/etc.
A

[kellogs]

Am I mistaken or JLC used to wrap stencils between two hard cardboard pieces ? It is the second time stencil arrives wrinkled.

[Mangozac]

Am I mistaken or JLC used to wrap stencils between two hard cardboard pieces ? It is the second time stencil arrives wrinkled.

Ours still come sandwiched between pieces of MDF spoilboard.

[fourfathom]

Am I mistaken or JLC used to wrap stencils between two hard cardboard pieces ? It is the second time stencil arrives wrinkled.

Ours still come sandwiched between pieces of MDF spoilboard.

As have mine (MDF), most recently two weeks ago.  Arrived in good shape.

[Kean]

Am I mistaken or JLC used to wrap stencils between two hard cardboard pieces ? It is the second time stencil arrives wrinkled.

I could be a side effect of the shipping method you chose?

Mine always come between used MDF spoilboard sheets with interesting drill patterns, but I almost always use DHL except for occasional non-urgent PCB reorders.

[48X24X48X]

The empty space they use a Styrofoam and and the side flushed with the stencil they use leftover MDF from their drilling PCB process. This is with framed stencil.
Without frame, they just dumped it inside their blue box.

[DavidAlfa]

Was anyone able to route 0.45mm pad, 0.8mm pitch bga parts with the cheap 4 layer rules?
(0.45mm vias, 0.127mm trace width/spacing).
Pictures of the routed footprint would be appreciated.

[PlainName]

Necro-quote, sorry, but I think you played this wrong.

My experience with AllPCB has ended before the first order:

...
ME 13:05
should I still wait for an answer on Ticket #7A8S9 ?

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Service4 13:05
order number, pls

ME 13:06
there is none

avatar
Service4 13:07
so what is Ticket #7A8S9 ?

ME 13:07
open it and check, pls

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Service4 13:10
DO you have customer ID here?

ME 13:12
yes
-------
ID: --------

avatar
Service4 13:13
can you express your questions clearly
I am sry that I do not know what happened to your order

ME 13:14
there is no order, my request has been created under ticket #7A8S9. And it looks like you do not have access to that ticket
Very odd

I don't see the point of trying to catch out support with this passive aggressive shit. When he asks what the ticket is, why not just tell him? In fact, I had this very situation today (but with Axminster UK) and my approach was to say, this is  my problem and BTW I have a ticket already raised for it (ref xxx). Fixed my problem, maybe yours could have been too if you'd allowed it.

[AccountRemovedPerUsersRequest]

Well... I have now one order experience with ALLPCB (sales support and ordering).
As the first comment, I got an impression that the sales support on chat is not much more than delivering requests to actual sales representatives. At least, they did know much more than what I can read from the web page. And this is ok. First level support is what it is. Everywhere.
The assigned sales representative replied back in no time and gave me all the details I asked. Even contacted me afterwards to check that everything is in order. So, for me the service has been spot on. Based on all the parameters so far, I will probably use ALLPCB as my primary supplier from now on.

A

[Jester]

I have used ALL PCB for about 15 orders of 2&4 layer boards, all simple with 8/8 width/spacing Boards were all pretty decent quality. I had one batch populated ( parts supplied by ALL) that had some 0.5mm spacing parts, all good with only two small issues, one through hole component on one board was not soldered on one lead. All of the boards worked fine after fixing the one solder joint. The other issue was that the boards were not as clean as they should be, white residue that does not clean up well with alcohol.

I actually had a phone call from ALL in China this morning, asking me if I was happy with service and quality, they sent me a follow up email.

I will use them again.