Some names in PCB assembly

We generally use either Advanced Circuits in Aurora, CO. or i-Tech e-Services in Norcross, GA.

I have also used, and recommend, Advanced Assembly

and they are not the same as Advanced Circuits.

Paul

Of course you're right. I don't know why I do that (we never use Advanced Circuits).

pieces to start and looking for some suggestions on pcb assembly outfits. Screaming circuits is one that looks interesting -- any others I can look a t? I'd like an easy online interface and of course good prices. Boards will be simple double sided with a mix of surface and through hole. -- thanks

Thanks for the info. I'll look at AA and screaming circuits.

Question --

Why does screaming circuits want either 5 or 10 % more when you want a part bigger than 0201 ? Not only am I not familiar with assembly but this will be first major experience with SMD as well. Which size do the assembly hous es prefer on basic parts like resistors, caps etc? Only SMD I have used are the big 1206 or 0805 but then I was doing the soldering myself. -- thank s

Is 0201 actually a size? (not?) Sounds incredibly small to me.

You *definitely* don't want to mess with 0201s then. I'd go no smaller than 0805, or even 1206 for my first venture into SMT. I do this stuff all the time and don't go lower than 0402, though I could be convinced to do 0201 for decoupling capacitors (where I wouldn't have to deal with it).

Absolutely. 01005s, too. There isn't a whole lot of space inside cell phones and watches.

Yeah, 0201 is really small. Not as small as 01005 though. The smallest I use is 0603 and no one will have a problem with that size. Going even smaller doesn't buy you so much unless you shrink your trace geometries as well because you still end up leaving space around the part that ends up being more area than the part itself.

They ask for 10% over on the jelly bean parts so they don't have to worry about loosing a few when loading a reel. I doubt they actually waste 10%, but they just don't want to have to worry about every little part.

I recommend you find a local assembly house and get a good relationship with them. I have and that relationship has been worth it's weight in gold. I've ended up transitioning every aspect of manufacturing to them including final test so all I have to do is receive a PO, cut a PO and send out invoices.

--

Rick

So your CA actually builds, packages, and ships the product on your behalf? That sounds pretty interesting. What are some (US-based) companies who do that for small-time players?

-- john, KE5FX

pieces to start and looking for some suggestions on pcb assembly outfits. Screaming circuits is one that looks interesting -- any others I can look a t? I'd like an easy online interface and of course good prices. Boards will be simple double sided with a mix of surface and through hole. -- thanks

Crap -- I misread the checklist -- I was thinking dollars rather than parts count I'm a dumbass. So 1206 or 0805 are good choices? I want THEE most popular s ize for all the caps, resistors etc.

The one I use is Niche in Shippensburg, PA. They also do mechanical assembly although not for me. Not yet anyway.

--

Rick

0603 is likely the most popular size, though smaller is often (but surely not always) cheaper. One thing to consider is that 0402 parts typically come 10K to a reel. There are typically 4K 0603s and 1K 0805s to a reel. Full reels are always cheaper than partial reels. You don't want to mess with cut tapes unless you're only going to make a few units for the life of the program. Even then, the common values are better bought by the reel.

That all depends on the part. Certainly for standard 1% resistors 0603 is a good size for price. If you need more than 1/16th watt you may need to use a larger size or pick a pricier part. Caps are all over the map depending on the requirements. Inductors don't see to be so standard.

Some parts are not available in smaller sizes or become expensive because they are pushing their limits and only one or two companies make it in a small size. You need to check the available part prices individually I think.

--

Rick

They are not far from me, and I might try them for a future job, when and if.

Their website:

Thanks,

Paul

The main thing I like about them is how accommodating they are. They try very hard to meet all my requirements including schedule... although there is only some range they can adjust.

They were recently bought by a company, previously they were privately held. The only real changes are improvements to their facility and a small tightening to their procedures, both good it seems to me.

Where are you located?

--

Rick

I'm in Cockeysville just N of Baltimore. I often go to Hagerstown

and hagerstownkoa.com) and I have a cousin in Waynesboro, PA, and a friend who is/was a professor at Shippensburg.

Paul

--

Rick

Cool. So when you get an order, they stuff the board, (potentially) do the final mechanical assembly, box it up and ship it to your customer, along w ith the export/commercial invoice paperwork for international orders? You just collect payment from your customer and forward the order to Niche, all without ever leaving your chair?

That would scratch soooo many itches around here...

-- john, KE5FX

You go right by Frederick on your way. There is a house concert in Damascus once every three or four weeks. I'm sure I can get you an invitation if you'd be interested. November 20 concert,

--

Rick

The product is a board, no real mechanicals. I developed a test fixture which is semiautomatic only requiring the operator to start the test and paste the results in a spread sheet for a record of the test. I used to do manual testing there so they could fix any bad boards I found. Nice, but this is nicer now.

I have to do the paperwork. I *really* hated doing the export paperwork, mainly because I was never sure I was doing it right. But I'm more comfortable with that now. Even better, I now ship to a intermediate in Texas and don't need to create the export form. Fedex will generate the actual form if I come up with the info for $10. I tried using the federal web site a couple of times for the same form. After dealing with the feds, I realized the Fedex fee was the best $10 I ever spent! I spent more than $10 of my time just trying to enter a password the government site would accept. They have a number of rules like "no words" which include many three letter words (so in essence, no vowels) along with rules about special characters which they don't tell you and you have to figure out by experimentation. God!

While I was dealing with the international shipping I thought there should be a service to deal with this for companies, but I never found one. I guess there are, but for the really large companies. Heck, just coming up with the number from the Harmonized Tariff was such a PITA. I wonder if there are professionals who do nothing but that.

--

Rick

...and what about Schedule B trade number?

What about it?

--

Rick