Question on PCB 's

[Ice-9]

Hi All,
I'm about to put in an order for some pcb's to be made for me. The manufacturer states its possible to have "HASL: Hot air solder leveling or "ENIG" electroless nickle/immersion gold. There is no real difference in price but as i'm hand soldering my boards is there any reason i should choose one over the other, (although i do like the look of the gold pads on the PCB's.

[R.G.]

Hi All,
I'm about to put in an order for some pcb's to be made for me. The manufacturer states its possible to have "HASL: Hot air solder leveling or "ENIG" electroless nickle/immersion gold. There is no real difference in price but as i'm hand soldering my boards is there any reason i should choose one over the other, (although i do like the look of the gold pads on the PCB's.

A manufacturer is offering gold flash for the same price as hot air solder leveling? Wow.

I never use either. I use solder mask over bare copper with tinned pads. See if you can get a discount for that. If you're thinking about paying enough to get either one, get solder mask instead.

[markeebee]

According to my colleagues that know a lot about these things:

ENIG is usually more pricey. It has a 'flatter' surface and gives more consistent results in surface mount applications. HASL is possibly better for through-hole hand soldering because solder flows on it's surface slightly better. But the differences are pretty small.

I can't wait to see what it is you're cooking up, Mick! Judging by your recent posts it sounds like something interesting is about to happen.   

[Ice-9]

A manufacturer is offering gold flash for the same price as hot air solder leveling? Wow.

I never use either. I use solder mask over bare copper with tinned pads. See if you can get a discount for that. If you're thinking about paying enough to get either one, get solder mask instead.

Well it's not exactly the same price, I have asked for a quote for 100 PCB's that also has solder mask and screen print, the gold flash is only $2 more @$141 total compared to $139 for the HASL.

According to my colleagues that know a lot about these things:

ENIG is usually more pricey. It has a 'flatter' surface and gives more consistent results in surface mount applications. HASL is possibly better for through-hole hand soldering because solder flows on it's surface slightly better. But the differences are pretty small.

I can't wait to see what it is you're cooking up, Mick! Judging by your recent posts it sounds like something interesting is about to happen.   

It's nothing excitng really it's the first time i will be getting boards made and am totally unsure if "from cad to manufacture " will be correct . This is only a pcb to hold power socket, jacks, switch etc but if it works out well i have a few projects i want to get made up, one will be FV-1 based and another will be an auto wah i'm playing with. 

[Processaurus]

https://www.freedfm.com/!freedfmstep1.asp

Have you seen this website?  It has a robot that automatically checks your gerber files, and tells you if any common errors were made.  It has saved me some heartache in the past.

[Ice-9]

https://www.freedfm.com/!freedfmstep1.asp

Have you seen this website?  It has a robot that automatically checks your gerber files, and tells you if any common errors were made.  It has saved me some heartache in the past.

Thanks, i will submit my gerbers there before sending off for manufacture.

[Ice-9]

UPDATE- I just wanted to let you all know the process i went through to get the PCB's
I took the plunge after checking and rechecking my pcb design and submitted it to the manufacturer. It was done by filling in a web page form that just asked the spec of the board, eg size, layers, soldermask, colour etc. so i just ticked the boxes i wanted then submitted the form. I then got a price for the amount of PCB's i wanted and it took me to a paypal payment method, which then gave me a link to send my files to. I messed around making gerbers and stuff but eventually settled on sending the file i saved from the layout program.

I was then contacted the next day suggesting i might have 2 problems with the layout. First was the lettering on the silk screen was a little too small and would be unreadable. The second thing they wanted to check was along one edge i have two sets of headers and one of the drill sizes was 0.1mm bigger than the others. I fixed these two errors and sent the files back, they then sent me the gerbers they created from my files just to check for mistakes. Ohh i also went for the gold/nickel finish.

Being happy with these i gave them the go ahead to make the PCB's. I started this process on 24th Feb and i received the PCB's on the 10th March (14 days total including 2 weekends. that was fast)

So here are a few pics of the PCB's both sides of the board and two pics of a partly populated board (unsoldered as yet, just wanted to check the components would fit)




The total cost per PCB including all taxes and postage was $1.67  £1.10

[Ice-9]

I forgot to mention what is on the PCB.

True bypass switching, led and led resistor, polarity protection, place for 100uf etc capacitor, a pcb mounted psu socket and connections for a boss style psu socket so i can use either, battery connections with strain relief, provision for pulldown resistors, input and output jacks and finally header/wire points for in-out- positve and ground to effectcircuit.

[modsquad]

 

[jkokura]

That's freaking unbelievable beautiful. What a genius idea.

Is it sized for a 125B, a 1590B? What about if you wanted to use a 1590BB or whichever box of the first two it doesn't fit?

Jacob

[Ice-9]

This one is for the 1590b enclosures as most my builds go in them. I could use them on bigger enclosures if i wired the jacks up instead of mounting them on the pcb

[therecordingart]

Please tell me you are going to sell some of these. 

[chuckmoose]

What a fantastic idea!  The only thing I see is that for the average DIYer the square hole for the Boss style PSU adapter would be a challenge.

[Ronsonic]

Nice board there. You'll enjoy soldering to gold, solder just loves it some gold.

This is going to speed up your builds. It doesn't take many pedals to realize how much time is spent on the basic stuff that is unchanged from pedal to pedal.

[Ice-9]

What a fantastic idea!  The only thing I see is that for the average DIYer the square hole for the Boss style PSU adapter would be a challenge.

I have included the solder points for the other round hole psu adapters as well so there is a choice. the one pictured (MXR type)  which requires a hole drilled to match the pcb position a round hole is fine as it lines up flush to the inside of the enclosue so the square end doesnt need to pop through the enclosure , or the other type (BOSS) which can be mounted anywhere in the enclosure and has a nut to mount it through the enclosure. I will populate the boards with both and get a picture up so you can see what i mean.

[Scruffie]

That is awesome-tastic... i've always wanted to use those PSU jacks as they're cheaper and easier to get here in the U.K... that and I love having everything on board.

I see what you mean about the DC Jack, you fit the switch and jacks to the enlcosure in the right positions and then you just line up the drilled hole on the outside with the jack hole on the inside and the Square block doesn't actually go over the edge of the board.

[modsquad]

Lining up that little bugger with a hole on the enclosure sounds a little tougher than I think it is.   Or there is some trick that makes it easier.   I would be willing to try in order to have everything mounted on the board.   Although I have about 20 neutrik jacks though.

[Scruffie]

I think it'd be pretty simple, seeing as it's sized for a 1590B someone could just do a standardised drilling template and presto, you've got the correct holes every time for your jacks, switch & DC socket (which would save alot of time from my standard drilling too). I don't see how it would be any harder than making sure the jacks and switch are lined up so that they fit in properly though even if you just sharpie marked where the holes should go... I think it's a great idea and I certainly wanna get some of the boards if they're available, if they're not... you're a tease Ice-9

[StereoKills]

Black with gold plating is one of my favorites......sexy! Plus, I think they're easier to solder. Great idea and a great price too, how many did you have to make to get that cheap?

[therecordingart]

I'd be in for at least 5 of these if you are planning on selling.