Electronics > Projects, Designs, and Technical Stuff
Am I paying too much to have PCBs made?
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sentry7:

--- Quote from: rs20 on November 03, 2015, 01:17:13 am ---
--- Quote from: sentry7 on November 03, 2015, 01:14:02 am ---The bad part is that now, I have no way of moving the work I've already done to other CAD packages.

--- End quote ---

Heh, it's almost as if that is part of their business plan...

--- End quote ---
I know...makes me wonder.  ::)
fivefish:
rs20, can you provide some examples of what kind of errors you're talking about?

ExpressPCB has the "walled garden" approach to customer retention. Locks you in.
All is dandy until you try to escape -- then you realize you've been screwed over.
rs20:

--- Quote from: fivefish on November 03, 2015, 10:09:37 am ---rs20, can you provide some examples of what kind of errors you're talking about?

--- End quote ---

Obviously design rules check catches the things that are certain to make the board fail, but I'm talking about unnecessarily iffy clearances, pour segments which are almost islands, tracks that don't quite reach the pad (so are technically connected but unnecessarily thin), and so on. Also, tented vs non tented vias, unwanted silkscreens, verifying that graphics on the solder mask layers have been interpreted correctly. As well as more aesthetic things. These things can be lost in the CAD package where you're seeing everything at once.

I also just genuinely enjoy looking at all the layers and how they correlate together.
oodavid:
I too need to start thinking about PCB printing. Do any of the suggested board houses do Pick n Place too?


--- Quote from: sentry7 on November 03, 2015, 01:14:02 am ---The bad part is that now, I have no way of moving the work I've already done to other CAD packages. The good news is that with the better software, it should be a breeze to redo the one board I've designed already. It could've been much worse.

--- End quote ---

Will you make an exact replica or do you think the new board will end up different?
rs20:

--- Quote from: oodavid on November 03, 2015, 10:57:22 am ---I too need to start thinking about PCB printing. Do any of the suggested board houses do Pick n Place too?

--- End quote ---

Are you getting hundreds or thousands of boards made? Watch Dave's video tour of a pick and place facility to understand why getting 10 or less boards pick-and-placed for you is unreasonable.
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