Custom Circuit Board design / print recommendations

[ImagineerTom]

After 2 weeks of tearing my (already thinning) hair out with various circuit board companies I'm looking for suggestions for a company who can design and manufacture an (incredibly simple) board for us.

 

I've tried to get my head around PCB cad programs and failed, the various companies I've spoken to want answers to 200 questions about metal grades and compliance standards I don't even understand and also want an arm and a leg for the finished boards.

 

I've got a "napkin cad" doodle of what we need, it has to be a very specific dimension to fit inside something but the circuit itself is basically 5 led's - we've made a prototype on vero board (it really is stupidly basic) but for durability I would like about 25 of them made properly. Any pointers for someone/somewhere that can deal with an electronic idiot like me and make me the boards without having to remortgage the house?

[Hilary Watts]

You could possibly try Sabre Technology. Tim Mitchell (Timsabre) is a regular contributor to this forum.

Hilary

 

[themadhippy]

I use jlcpcb,very cheap,good quality boards and considering the boards are coming from china fairly quick,but you you do need a gerber file.For that I use there sister site easyeda,at its simplest draw in the circuit diagram,hit the make pcb button,layout the components how you want them on the board and press the autoroute button,once done another mouse click and your ordering the boards.Theirs also options to have them assemble the board or order the components from there other sister company lcsc. Edited October 5, 2020 by themadhippy

[ImagineerTom]

I tried easyeda and got nowhere. The online ordering of jlcpcb asks a whole series of questions I don't even understand let alone have an answer for. This is the first time I've ever needed a custom board making; I doubt I'll ever need another one and since after 2 weeks of trying I still don't understand the basics of how it is all done I don't relish spending several more weeks learning a skill and industry I will probably never use again.

[J Pearce]

Worth PMing BigClive to see if he’d take it on? And, as above, TimSabre too.

 

If you’ve no interest in learning PCB design (and you give entirely rational reasons!) then it’s worth farming the job out. There’s probably loads of freelancers desperate for any work atm. A design fee, plus the costs of PCB manufacture.

[bigclive]

If this is for a prop and the circuitry is very simple then it's not uncommon just to hand assemble and wire them without a PCB.

 

Can you tell us a bit more about the circuit? Does it have active circuitry or is it just a group of LEDs?

[themadhippy]

The online ordering of jlcpcb asks a whole series of questions I don't even understand let alone have an answer for

enter the size of your board and how many you want ,then just accept the defaults,if you wanna chuck us over a copy of the circuit diagram I'll give it try on easyeda

[boatman]

If it's only 5 LEDs (and presumaby a connector of some sort) it shouldn't take more than half an hour to lay out on a PCB. If nobody else can help I'm happy to do it for you. Just send me a PM with the a photo of the sketch and the board dimensions. Edited October 5, 2020 by boatman

[bigclive]

How critical is the 75mm spacing between sensors. Is it something that could be rounded to the nearest 10th of an inch like 3"?

 

If you plan on using a connector at the end then the usual pitch is around 2.54mm (1/10") so the width would have to be slightly wider than 15mm.

 

And could the pass through tracks be on the quieter side of the PCB than the tracks going to the LDRs. That would allow thicker tracks and a single sided PCB making service easier.

[ImagineerTom]

It’s into a hand sculpted prop so spacing to within 1/8th is probably fine

No connector at the end, ribbon wire straight to track

Don’t care where the tracks run. All I care about is the positions and dimensions - how it’s implemented doesn’t really matter

[bigclive]

Something like this? Noting that it's 8/10" (about 20mm) wide to allow for decent solder pads.

 

http://www.bigclive.com/LDR%20PCB.JPG

 

Not sure that image worked, so here's a link:-

 

http://www.bigclive.com/LDR%20PCB.JPG

 

Or if width is an issue then here's a slimmer one with the jumper tracks on the front. It's a double sided PCB which makes servicing a little trickier.

 

http://www.bigclive.com/slim.JPG

 

http://www.bigclive.com/slim.JPG

 

If either are suitable, let me know and I'll send you a zip file that can be dumped into JLCPCB for an instant quote.

[bigclive]

(The reason I've marked it as LDR PCB is because your doodle said photo resistors.)

[ImagineerTom]

I assume the single sider will be easier/cheaper to have made so I guess that's my preference - if it fits into the 15mm width requirement then it's perfect

[boatman]

Single sided PCBs from China are only marginally cheaper than double-sided but the latter makes for a much more compact design. What's going to make that board expensive is the fact that it's over 12" long. If you can adapt your design to only three LEDs (which will almost halve the length of the board) it will be much cheaper although you will of course need nearly twice as many boards

[ImagineerTom]

Lets go with double sided then.

The length is a key part of it - if we have to stick 2 boards together then that's doubled the amount of soldering / assembly required and added more points of failure. Since the key reason for getting a board made is to make it faster and more durable than the industry norm of soldering it all with wires and gluing it in place having 2 boards wouldn't work.

 

and thanks to everyone who's contributing here - I'm learning a lot and am being reminded just how wonderful the blue-room members are :-)