SMD and PCB assembly service

[retepsnikrep]

I'm thinking about my next project and going smd but with the pcb assembled for me. What services have people used for this. Any good links?

I already use pcbcart for my pcb's, now i want to get the boards made up somewhere.

The collective mind on here has always served us well with ideas?

 

[Andrew Cowan]

What size/pitch SMD?

I've always soldered up my SMD boards myself - it's not too hard with the right equipment. I'd imagine it would be pretty expensive to have the boards s9oldered up for you, unless you are talking about large quantities (1000s). If I were you, I'd do learn to do it yourself.

A

 

[RexLan]

I use solder paste and do mine in the toaster oven. They come out perfect and I can even re-flow components on the bottom side of the PCB.

 

[MartinM57]

There you go - send your PCBs and components to Andrew Cowan c/o Southampton University, plus a few beer tokens and he'll do them for you. That will keep him out of the Uni Bar and so not spending his own money - then when he does get there, he'll be spending yours

PS at small quantities of boards (<100) learn to do them yourself with a soldering iron. It's not hard if you go no smaller than 1208 size passive components and get used to soldering SOIC ICs

 

[retepsnikrep]

I use solder paste and do mine in the toaster oven. They come out perfect and I can even re-flow components on the bottom side of the PCB.

Care to post a few pics and some more details?

Thanks for ideas so far. Getting somone to do it is not a bad idea. Hmm

 

[womai]

Actually PCBCart does assembly, too. The order process for that is not automated yet so you need to get a quote from them by emailing your request to them, and then if you are happy with the price they send you a Paypal invoice. Huang is a nice guy who always reacts very promptly to any requests or questions (and writes an excellent English). I use them for the DPScope and have successfully run hundreds of boards through their assembly. As you would expect for a China based vendor their pricing is hard to beat (and assembly quality is very good for the price) - initially I was hand-assembling the DPScopes myself because none of the US based assembly houses could give me a price that was even remotely realistic for what I can sell the scope for...

Of course all that only makes sense if you plan on assembling at least a few dozen boards.

Other than that, in the US there is Screaming Circuits or Pcbfabexpress.

Wolfgang

 

[Dippy]

Any professional assembler will frighten the doo-dah out of you for assembly of just a few boards.
Prices will in my experiences with a couple of UK assemblers vary hugely with component count and type.
A pro company will also expect and charge you for the paste mask. One or two PCB makers may chuck it in. A St.St. will usually cost.

By the way, Mega sell double-side resist coated thin copper sheet. You can etch your own paste mask/stencil.
And , IMNSHO , when you have loads of little SMDs to put down a mask, paste and an old credit card (squeedgee) makes a world of difference.
And top quality fine-pointed , curved-ended tweezers are good.

I had to lay up 2 tight boards with a hoorible amount of 0603 and 0402 the other day. Without a decent paste stencil I would have gone nuts. Warm the paste to 35oC before squeedgee and be very clean.
(Don't tell anyone - use leaded paste. Easier and gentler on components).

At the end of the day whether you DIY or give it to Andrew depends on the contents of the board.

 

[RexLan]

Care to post a few pics and some more details?

Thanks for ideas so far. Getting somone to do it is not a bad idea. Hmm

It is pretty simple. Solder paste hold the parts well then I put mine in the oven at 400 degrees and watch it carefully. As soon as it flows I pull it out. Does not take long. You can then do the back side the same way because the new parts will flow at a much cooler temp before the other parts start to get hot enough to re-flow.

Good link here to see it flow
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5lksMvmqQc

Here is a good write-up and lots of info on Google search.
http://store.curiousinventor.com/guides/Surface_Mount_Soldering/Solder_Paste_and_Toaster_Oven/

I have made a lot of these GPS race car timer systems with Jeremy.
GPXT - I design build these uses a 28x Picaxe.

 

[Andrew Cowan]

As RexLan says - syringe the paste onto the pads (or use a stencil if there are several hundred of pads/you are doing lots of the same board).

Then place the componets with some fine tweezers, sticking them to the paste.

Then heat the board - I use a SMD hot air reflow gun, or you can use a reflow oven/toaster oven. The solder melts, the components get soldered, then it solidifies.

Give it a go yourself before you pay someone else to do it.

Andrew

 

[NXTreme]

SparkFun has some pretty decent tutorials on toaster oven and hot-plate surface mount soldering. It seems to me like hot-plate would be easier for one sided boards, but then again, I've never done either so I wouldn't know. Old toaster ovens are pretty cheap, especially if they come with the last 20 years worth of bread crumbs and turkey grease. Good luck!