FAQ PCB

Even though our pricing is very low, you can still discuss price with us to meet your target in cost reduction, as demanded by the market.

The following listed are the key factors but not limited:

The quantity and size of the PCB.

The Number of Layers

Effective Panelization – Some board sizes and shapes can offer up to 80% Usable Panel Area, with very few “dead spaces”, while others some down to 50%. This would affect your price.

Number of holes the boards is drilled on sophisticated NC drilling machines. These machines are quite expensive and the machine time is expensive too, so less holes means less machine time for drilling and lower cost.

Number of Hole Sizes – the slowest operation in drilling is the tool exchange. Usually the boards are drilled at very high RPM values, up to 60-80.000 rpm. To change the tool, the machine has to stop the spindle, so we must wait until the tool stops rotating. Once the drill action has stopped, the machine must move to the drilling rack, replace the old tool, get new tool, move back to board drill position, drive the spindle again, and wait for the RPM value to reach the set point for the new tool. Each tool change takes approximately the same time as drilling 100-200 holes. Try to minimize the number of drill tools as much as possible. It is best to standardize any holes with diameter differences of only a few mils, if the change will pass your required tolerances.

PCB Laminate Material – when you intend to manufacture your board in volume, the right choice for the board laminate can save a lot of money. For instance despite the superior characteristics of FR-4, all consumer electronics today still is manufactured on old paper FR-2 laminates as they cost two times less expensive than FR-4.

Trace Width / Part Spacing requirements – these characteristics are in close relation to the manufacturing yield. For instance, if your traces are wide enough (>20mils) the board can be manufactured with etch resist single silkscreen printing operation instead of dry film lamination, exposure, developing.

Special board requirements, Controlled Impedances, Via in Pad, Blind / Buried Vias, Microvias, etc. – again, these requirements affect the manufacturing yield.

Yes, we offer full silkscreen as one of our Standard Cost PCB Options, at no additional charge.

Overlapping drill holes will cause a lot of trouble in drilling process; we advise you to choose Tab Routing or V-Score for panel separating purposes.

Our standard laminate thickness is 1.6 mm (0.063″).

We can also manufacture your boards with this non-standard laminate thickness: 0.2mm (0.0079″), 0.4mm (0.016″), 0.6mm (0.024″), 0.8 mm (0.032″), 1.0 mm (0.04″), 1.2mm (0.047″), 2.0mm (0.079″), 2.3mm (0.091″).

Yes, we can, but such materials do require some addition cost, compared with standard FR-4 type material. Please contact us for more price information.

Yes, please have a look at the information below:

Laminate brand: CC-5400

Manufacturer: CKC TAIWAN

ANSI grade: FR-4

Laminate thickness 0.5 mm (0.020″), 0.8 mm (0.032″), 1.0 mm (0.040″), 1.5 mm (0.062″)

Copper thickness 18 um (1/2 oz) or 35 um (1 oz)

Operating temperature Tg > 130 C

Soldering 260C/500F – 40 sec., 290C/554F – 20 sec.

Dielectric constant 1Mhz: 4.0 – 4.5, guaranteed < 5.0

Dissipation factor 1MHz: 0.02-0.03, guaranteed < 0.03

Volume resistivity: Ohm.cm > 5*10^14

UL 94V-0, UL746 CTI 100

We can offer 0.5 oz, 1.0 oz, 1.5 oz, 2.0 oz, 2.5 oz, 3.0 oz, and Heavy Copper PCB options at 3.5 oz, 4.0 oz, 4.5 oz, and 5.0 oz.

We can process Gerber RS-274X and ODB++ files.

No, as these formats do not translate to our PCB Fabrication machinery.

We use green Liquid Photo Imageable (LPI) Solder mask for our PCB production.

No, the solder mask is standard option for our prototypes, so all boards are produced with solder mask and this doesn’t increase the price.

Green, black, blue, red, yellow and white solder masks.

HASL, Immersion Gold, Immersion Tin, Immersion Silver, OSP, Hard Gold, and Soft Gold, and more.

What is the maximum size pcb you can produce ?

While PCB, PCA and PCBA are used interchangeably in the industry, here’s what they really mean:

PCB – printed circuit board. It’s the “naked” board without the electronic components.

PCA – printed circuit assembly. A populated board with all the components.

PCBA – printed circuit board assembly. It’s the same thing as a PCA — a board with all the components included.

PCB is the most commonly used acronym when referring to the circuit board populated with all the components (which is the PCA or PCBA).

A printed circuit board (PCB) is a board used to hold a chip or other electronic components. To accommodate various design needs, a PCB can be a single layer or consist of multiple layers. PCBs can also be single-sided or double-sided in design. Several PCBs can be linked in a single device, using either flexible or rigid connectors.

The answer is both. PCBs can be either flexible or rigid in design. Rigid PCBs are designed not to move, and typically cost less to manufacture than flexible PCBs. Flexible PCBs, or flex boards, are designed to move, twist and fold into the desired configuration, and can eliminate the need for connectors and other components, which can reduce overall production costs. JH PCB can work with you to determine the ideal solution for your design — one that maximizes efficiencies.

A motherboard is a printed circuit assembly (PCA) used exclusively in laptop or desktop computers. While some may refer to a PCA as a motherboard, only those found in computers are motherboards. All other printed circuit assemblies are simply PCA or PCBA.

PCBs are typically made of multiple layers, including RF4 material substrate (such as fiberglass) for insulation, and copper to conduct electric current.

Creating a PCB is a multi-step process that includes:

①　Designing the PCB – advanced software is used to determine the size, dimensions and number of layers needed for the PCB.

②　Printing the PCB design – a specialized printer called a plotter printer is used to print the design, which is made up of multiple layers for the conductive and non-conductive areas. The print becomes the foundation of the substrate, which holds the components of the structure includes copper on both sides of the layer.

③　Printing the copper for the interior layers – the design of the PCB is printed to a laminate that includes a film designed to react with ultraviolet light to properly align the board and the layout of the electrical components.

④　Getting rid of the extra copper – because the design has been cooked and processed with ultraviolet lights, certain areas are hardened and the copper is bonded to the board. The next step is to use a chemical solution to remove the unnecessary copper from the board.

⑤　Inspection and layer alignment – once the extra copper is removed, the design must be scrutinized to ensure all the layer and drill holes align properly. A machine drills a pin through the layers to keep them aligned. Then another machine tests the board for errors.

⑥　Laminating the PCB layers – once the board passes inspection, an epoxy resin layer is applied to laminate the board. Another layer of substrate is applied, then layers of substrate resin and copper foil are applied and pressed together.

⑦　Drilling holes – a computer-guided drill is used to drill holes through the substrate and inner panels at the appropriate places for the design. Once drilling is completed, any copper left over is removed.

⑧　PCB plating – an additional copper layer is added to the board, followed by a thin tin guard to protect the outer layer of copper from being etched off. From there, the PCB receives a solder mask, silkscreen with critical information and placed with a solderable finish.

Costs will vary depending on the size of the PCB you need. One board can run anywhere from a few cents to hundreds of dollars. Our team can help you identify the best solution for your needs and estimate design and production costs.

Many design factors will help determine the total cost of a PCB. For example, the size, number of layers, type of board laminate used, and the total number of boards produced can greatly impact the overall cost.

PCBs provide many benefits for designers and manufacturers of electronic devices. Printed circuit boards:

Save space – They save space in the device by allowing all interconnections to take place on the board itself, without the need for current to be carried through multiple wires.

Allow for asy installation and repair – troubleshooting and diagnostic testing are easy to conduct to address on the PCB, as all components are clearly labeled.

Provide quick assembly – compared to conventional methods of connecting circuits, PCBs save time in assembly.

Stay in place – because all the electronic components are soldered to a single board, they do not shift when moved.

Efficient to mass produce – PCBs can be produced in large quantities at a more cost-effective rate than other power methods of component connectivity.

Provide reliable power – because connections are made with the copper tracks on the board, they are less likely to come loose.

Our experienced team can manufacture rigid single-layer boards as well as multi-layer designs up to 60 layers.

However, your design may require less power. Speak with our engineers to help determine the ideal PCB for your needs.

Our team offers a comprehensive suite of PCB services, including:Custom design services to optimize output and indication Rapid prototyping made even faster and cost-effective with our in-house 3D printer.

Sample runs so you can easily test concepts and tweak designs

Mass production to efficiently accommodate large quantities

If you have additional questions, or are ready to discuss your next project, we’re here to help. Contact us today for your PCB, PCA and PCBA needs.

We promise 100% satisfaction and we are keeping a record of 99% on-time delivery! If you feel you can not receive your PCBs as scheduled due to our fault, you can cancel the order and ask for full refund or credit your JH PCB account for payment of your next order.

If the clearance between the board’s edge and copper features is less than 3.5mm (138mil), or your boards need to be panelized for some reason, Break-away rails (Break-away tabs) must be added at the two longer paralleled edges of the boards to ensure that the boards can be assembled by the SMT machine.

This does happen from time to time, though pretty rare. If this happens, please contact courier company for updated time of delivery. Though legally we are not responsible for the delay, we still will track or phone call courier company for updates. The worst case is that we will remake PCBs for you and re-ship to you. For the extra courier charges, we may talk to courier company for compensation.

As JH PCB fabricate your PCBs in our facilities in Shenzhen China, we ship internationally to your country. As the customs policy in different countries may differ, some customs authorities in some countries may levy customs duty on imported PCBs. If this happens, it is your responsibility to pay. In many countries, the duty may be waived or exempted.

When it comes to plating methods for Printed Circuit Boards, 4 main types of methods are in trends. these include finger plating, through-hole plating, reel linkage selective plating, and brush plating.