PCB Fab Houses — anyone have suggestions?

[masinyourface]

Howdy y'all!

Trying to decide on a PCB fab house to go with. I'm seriously looking at silvercircuits.com, does anyone have experience with them? What fab house do you use, and why?

[dschwartz]

Check elecrow and makerfabs

[italianguy63]

I use Elecrow.  Great pricing.  Good turn-a-round time (2-3 weeks to the door is typical).  Great quality.  They communicate well-- tell you when the job is processed, and shipped, etc..  They even supply a pic of the boards before they go in the shipping envelope.

I usually do 25-50 boards at a time, so I use the thing called their "small batch" service/pricing.

I have used them for about 4 years with zero complaints.

MC

[Fender3D]

I use this https://www.itead.cc/open-pcb/pcb-prototyping.html. Very fast and affordable and quality too.

Just do not choose SF Eparcel or HK Post: 26 hours from pick-up to Italy, 30 days from Rome to my address (~600 Km)... 

[ElectricDruid]

What fab house do you use, and why?

You don't say where you're based, but something about your greeting makes me think US

For a while I used places in China, but I got so tired of doing the "We've got your PCBs. If you ever want to see your PCBs alive again, send us money" hostage dance with Customs when they arrived at the EU border that I've given up. Now I get PCBs made in Poland, inside the EU and therefore free from random customs charges and the hassle involved in getting things through. This is the place I use:

http://www.pcb-technoservice.eu/en/

Might not be appropriate for you, but it might work for someone. What I would say is be aware of the additional costs of buying from outside your trade area, whatever that is. China might not be as much cheaper as you think after you add the customs and the time spent faffing about.

HTH,
Tom

[alanp]

Heh, everywhere is outside my trade area, for me. And shipping always costs money if I want it in a timely fashion.

I've always used seeed.

[Rixen]

https://www.pcbway.com/

easy to use and accurate online quotation system, good results on the boards, good choices in soldermask colour.

My son also uses them for his electrostatic generator kits: http://www.sparkitelectrostatics.com/

[masinyourface]

I'm based in the USA. What attracts me to silvercircuits most is the number of customization options available.

[287m]

Sorry for bump old thread

Have you guys tried this?
Yesterday, we have some 'discussion' about who the cheapest. 
Annoyingly, we never brave to try.

[Ice-9]

I've been using https://dirtypcbs.com/store/pcbs instant online pricing no need to upload files or email to get a price. very good quality and a good price. My only issue has been sometimes I get the odd blurry screen silk. China based of course.

Now if we could only find a good place that can do PCB+assembly at a good price for low-ish numbers of PCB's that would be a bonus.

[LiLFX]

I've been using https://dirtypcbs.com/store/pcbs instant online pricing no need to upload files or email to get a price. very good quality and a good price. My only issue has been sometimes I get the odd blurry screen silk. China based of course.

Now if we could only find a good place that can do PCB+assembly at a good price for low-ish numbers of PCB's that would be a bonus.

I've heard good things about PCB NG for low volume assembly.

[Obisix]

Hi guys! This is the second time i have been ordering from PCBWay!

I'd like to share my experience with them. I am actually getting better and better at making PCBs on KiCAD. But without the help of PCBWay, I could design PCBs for years and get nothing in real life. I am still stunned how excellent quality the PCBs are.
This time, I have been making some other circuits, mostly power supplies, but I have also set up a test.
I have made my PCB gerbers again with KiCAD, the free software for the all round PCB design. I have sent to PCBWay the gerbers, and in no time, they replied me that everything was okay once again.

Once I have accumulated enough PCB prototypes, I was ready to order once again... I repeat, every 10 pcs of prototype  PCB with dimensions less than 100x100 mm costs 5$.
I ditched the white solder mask, as the last time I ordered it wasn't looking so nice. This time, I was ready to try a new color, the blue one.
So after I placed my order, it took a day for PCBWay to start the manufacturing process. After some days, I checked back to see if everything is alright, and I saw that almost every of my PCBs were ready. After the shipping, the items came in a nice cardboard box. The box was really well packed, and it contained the PCBs in the way I received it last time: had foam padding inside the box, and the PCBs were packed in vacuum sealed bubble wrap.

But let's see what test I made this time!
So I have made a discrete op amp design on a really small PCB. I have made the letters so small, that I was questioning if they could print that small. I attached an image of the actual PCB, the 29mm one. On the close up picture you can clearly read the assignments. It has exceptional quality, as always.
I really have to add one thing here: the blue solder mask is unbelievably beautiful!! I fell in love with it in a moment. I attached some pictures, look at them! The photo doesn't really give it back, but as it has a verrrrry slight green hue, it makes the PCB look like it has a beautiful ocean color. I instantly regretted not asking all my PCBs in this color.
I have been trying out also changing the routing contour. Look at my amplifier PCB attached, where the part of the PCB connecting to the future heatsink has really defined edge, but the other half has rounded corners.

All in all, I can still really recommend PCBWay. It always exceeds my expectations, and they respond really fast to any questions you might have during the manufacturing process. They are just the perfect solution for low quantity prototyping, and their prices are amongst the best! I am really looking forward to trying immersion gold option, as well as ordering larger quantities.
The next thing I'll test on PCBWay how consistent is their quality on different thickness of PCB

[KarenColumbo]

just had a few made at AllPCB - very fast (5 days from upload to delivery to Vienna, Austria), n00b-friendly support.

[italianguy63]

Somewhat related.  I'm still a big fan of EleCrow (China).

Got some prototype boards in just yesterday -- with and interesting wrinkle.

Everything as it should have been.  Great price, great quality, good speed.  In this case, order was made on 05/05/18 and received on 05/29/18.   24 days.  About normal.  (and this was with the super cheap shipping option).  It is faster using DHL or UPS.

Anyway.  On this order I did not receive notification of shipping as usual with a tracking number.  And when I got my package, it had a USPS shipping envelope, with a NEW JERSEY return address.  So, it appears EleCrow has installed a "drop ship" installation.  So, probably shipping in bulk to NJ, and repackaging.  Maybe to get around Customs?  IDK.

MC

EDIT-- looked more closely at the envelope (dug it out of the trash).

Maybe not.  It was actually a DHL global shipping envelope, with a USPS tracking #.  So, maybe the NJ address is merely a DHL business address in the USA for EleCrow.  The package probably did not pass thru NJ.  And, the lack of my tracking # was probably an oversight in Hong Kong.

[njkmonty]

https://jlcpcb.com/