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Classic now available in Blue - PCB from PCBWay

A project log for You Are Here

Various PCBs in location pin shape with a LED to guide the way and they are #not_a_badge

magicwolfiMagicWolfi 03/17/2019 at 02:040 Comments
And again I got the opportunity to order PCBs, this time from PCBWay. I decided to grow the family of pins and introduce the Classic Pin in Blue. Design files stayed the same as the red one with one exception, I added the name of the PCB order (with a bad typo nicely hidden by the battery :) on the component layer to make sure that nothing got added to silkscreen of the front side. And it sort of worked, as PCBWay added an additional lot number on the component side. So the business end looks wonderful as planned.
The order process is as easy and straight forward as you could wish.The order website interface is accessible here (https://www.pcbway.com/orderonline.aspx) and very easy to use. Adding Gerbers, all PCB order info, quantity and additional parameters and pressing order button is done in no time. I opted for the lead-free RoHS plating as those boards are planned to be sold on my Tindie page.
PCBWay also just introduced a Gerber Viewer, which helps to control that the design files are processed as expected. The tool was not available when I ordered, but I just gave it a test with my data and it looks very nice. You can choose between layer and board view. See below:

This seems to be an open source tool and good on them that they mention Mike Cousins as the creator (Kudos to him for living the open source spirit).

The board quality is very good, all pad and silkscreen features came out aligned perfectly as designed. Silkscreen resolution is very high and good enough for artistic features.
Soldering was very good, the lead free plating was very good to work with. And it works and looks beautiful.

On a few boards, the soldermask was flowing into the big opening on the other side of the reverse mounted LED. I have to rework them, not big deal.
For the shipping option I picked E-Packet (10-15 days) and it arrived through Canada Post after 10 days. Perfect.
I am really happy that PCBWay gave me the opportunity to testdrive their service and the project fulfillment experience was flawless. If you want to know more about their services, please contact luna@pcbway.com.

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