In Your Experience (PCB making question)...

[Jon Wilder]

When designing a "prototype" PCB (i.e. the initial PCB designs you go through in an attempt to get the "perfect" layout) is it much better/economical to make your own or have them made by a PCB manufacturer through one of their "proto special" offerings?

 

[peufeu]

That depends a lot on your circuit !

Simple circuit, single sided => destroy bathroom with chemicals.
Double sided plated through holes => manufacturer (I'm French so I use Olimex).
4 layers => advanced circuits

 

[cobra1]

I make my double sided boards at home, but thats just because im too impatient to wait for them to be made proffesionally

 

[3v0]

Only think about making your own PCBs if you will be doing it frequently.

If you are only doing the one design have the PCB made.

 

[SABorn]

If you dable in electronics, it is well worth making your own boards.

It might seem a big step to start with and you will have some not so perefct results, but after a few boards it will all start to come together, and you will look back and thank yourself for having a go to start with.

I find it so simple to design a board and produce a pcb of good quality, and often it takes me an hour from the time i sit at the computer to sticking components in the holes.
I really dont understand the hobbiest not making their own boards.

Its cheap, its easy, its quick.

Pete.

 

[shortbus=]

When designing a "prototype" PCB (i.e. the initial PCB designs you go through in an attempt to get the "perfect" layout) is it much better/economical to make your own or have them made by a PCB manufacturer through one of their "proto special" offerings?

The least expensive solution is to first breadboard or Vero board the circuit. Even circuits made in simulators like LTSpice, don't always work in the real world. At least without a little trouble shooting.

 

[ash20]

i prefer making the pcb at home.... it increases our onboard perfection, increases our skill and we ourself can determine the cost and time needed and dont have to wait for them to make and send...

 

[cr0sh]

I've never made a PCB at home (I have yet the need to) - but I would say that if you have a new design (and it isn't more than single or double sided), then making the PCB at home would be a good design step, from a debugging standpoint. You could have the PCB in-hand relatively quickly, you could test it, make modifications as needed, transfer those notes and changes to your PCB design software, and try again. Ultimately, its might end up being a loss of time and some materials, but it might end up being cheaper than professionally printed PCBs that have problems or bugs still in them. Once you have your design debugged fully (whatever that means to you), then you can spend the time finding a cheap PCB maker to run off the final copies - knowing that they will be perfect, or very close to it.

 

[SODA]

Hi,

To learn to make your own pcb's, is a good thing. To me it's cind of a art to make pcb's.

If you gonna use transparency's, then the best printer for the job would be the "HP P1102".
It give you a dark crisp image.Before you print the layout, first open it in w/paint and make a mirror image next to the original one. You can line it up by drawing angles to the edges of the layout and then draw a thin line from one layout to the mirror layout. The good thing about this is, when you finished the printout you fold the two sides over each other and stick it with masking tape. This will not only make your printout darker, but it will also prevent it from any scratches.

Use 2x ultra violet tubes, the one's they use in insect killer units.Remember to place the transparent and the pcb between 2 non reflecting glasses. It will prevent the ultra violet rays from bouncing away from your pcb. Trust me on this, i made pcb's for the last 30 years and it came out perfectly. Set your timer to at least 15min. Remember to overexpose is better than to under expose. When you spray the boards with the photo resist, spry at least 2 coats with 1 action. If you mess it up, it's better to clean the board with thinners and start over , as to try and add a 3rd coat

Mix the ferric chloride 1kg to 1L water. If you use something else for the etching ask the dealer how to mix it. Mix the costic soda 9gram to 1L water. It best to use some kind of a wind compressor so you get a kind of a bubble bath with your etching of the board. Set the timer to at least 10min if the room temp is about 25c.Lower room temp will cause longer time.

Remember to use latex gloves when you work with the FeCL3 and costic soda.

When the etching is finished, clean the board with either acetone or thinners. I use thinners because it's cheaper and it works just as good.

All you have to do now is to do the drilling. Please make sure to use a Dremel drill stand if you use the 1mm drills you buy from an elect. store, because it brake off easily. I'm used to do my drilling with drills i got from my Dentist . I asked him for all the used drill he's anyway going to throw away. The drills you get from the Dentist usually got diamond points and last fore ever.

Good luck.

 

[Boncuk]

Hi Jon Wilder,

your question isn't quite clear to me.

As it seems your are talking about the PCB design. Getting your PCB designed by commercial manufacturers it will cost $$$!

If you have your design finished, double and triple checked for any errors, you might turn your design into a manufacterer's, mainly if the design has to be double sided with lots of vias.

Perform a DRC after the board design is finished. Frequent errors are "distance errors" which can't be fixed during the manufacturing process. Distance errors automatically lead to shorts when soldering parts into place since the solder stop won't cover a trace too thick leading through two adjacent IC pins.

The standard minimum distance is 0.2032mm using Eagle. I always use 0.254mm for extra safety.

Here is a small example using trace widths of 0.6096, 0,4064 and 0.3048mm. The first one is extremely dangerous, although the trace has no connection with the solder pads it's passing. However the solder stop mask leaves a small portion left and right of the trace uncovered calling for a short circuit.

Angle errors have no (or little) effect on a functioning circuit but they will make the PCB design look ugly. 90 degree trace junctions should be modified for twice 45 degree angles in and out. By the time the etchant has cleanly etched the 90 deg angle some traces might have fallen victim to it.

Regards

Boncuk