Society of Robots - Robot Forum

Electronics => Electronics => Topic started by: airman00 on January 10, 2009, 08:56:52 PM

Title: PCB manufacturer/assembler recommendation
Post by: airman00 on January 10, 2009, 08:56:52 PM
Soldering a single Axon by hand is a ~4 hour process that requires special tools . . . I use manufacturing robots now ;D
side note - admin who did you use to make your PCBs for the Axon prototypes?
Title: Re: PCB manufacturer/assembler recommendation
Post by: Admin on January 10, 2009, 09:44:33 PM
I tried 3 different companies and don't recommend any of them. They all had either extremely poor customer service or low quality, two had both. My recommendation is stay away from Chinese and Indian manufacturers ;D



ps - the other thread was hijacked so I split off your question into a new thread
Title: Re: PCB manufacturer/assembler recommendation
Post by: airman00 on January 10, 2009, 11:01:06 PM
So who do you use now ? I need only around one panel a month to be manufactured and am looking for some good/trustworthy candidates.
Title: Re: PCB manufacturer/assembler recommendation
Post by: Admin on January 10, 2009, 11:07:24 PM
Well I'm using anyone right now. I did a large batch and that's it for the year. I'm currently in the market for finding a new company myself.

Note that I didn't just do PCB, but I also did assembly too: they soldered on all the SMD for me.
Title: Re: PCB manufacturer/assembler recommendation
Post by: airman00 on January 10, 2009, 11:21:22 PM
I'll solder on the SMD myself, just need a cheap PCB fabricators (that don't take 3 weeks like BatchPCB). Also need double-layer.
Well, when you find one, be sure to let me know!  ;D
Title: Re: PCB manufacturer/assembler recommendation
Post by: Ro-Bot-X on January 10, 2009, 11:30:47 PM
Try this one, I had my boards done by them.

http://www.pcbfabexpress.com/index.jsp (http://www.pcbfabexpress.com/index.jsp)
Title: Re: PCB manufacturer/assembler recommendation
Post by: Soeren on January 10, 2009, 11:33:45 PM
Olimex!
Title: Re: PCB manufacturer/assembler recommendation
Post by: Admin on January 10, 2009, 11:39:23 PM
Try this one, I had my boards done by them.

http://www.pcbfabexpress.com/index.jsp (http://www.pcbfabexpress.com/index.jsp)

I used pcbfabexpress and wasn't happy with their service. The guy answering emails gave me the impression he didn't want my business. They also seemed very confused about the BoM (bill of materials) specification.

The finished product was perfect, no problems.

Being a bit pricey, with bad emails, I decided to move on. They then called me and asked why. The guy on the phone insisted all other companies had lower quality than his company and he had the best prices . . . an interesting statement to make.

They were great for PCB, but not assembly.


edit: go here http://www.societyofrobots.com/robot_parts_list_PCB.shtml
Title: Re: PCB manufacturer/assembler recommendation
Post by: TrickyNekro on January 11, 2009, 12:09:51 AM
Olimex!
Have you tested them??? I'm from Greece and they seem to be at a very comfortable position!!!