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I don't think anyone is using JLCPCB for the quality. People use it because it's very cheap, good enough, and they have other services (assembly, association w

I don't think anyone is using JLCPCB for the quality. People use it because it's very cheap, good enough, and they have other services (assembly, association with LCSC that make it even more compelling). In the US, OSHPark's boards are definitely better quality, but you can't beat the JLC price.

hakfoo 4y ago
A counterargument: their prices make the "PCB" quality tier available for projects that would previously have been resigned to the lower "ball of bodge wires" or "breadboards/stripboards" levels of quality. I was recently in a situation where I wanted to fit a new MCU/breakout into an existing PCB designed for a different one. I figured if I liked the results, I could redesign the PCB for a 100% conversion later, but I already had the old boards. While some of the pinout differences could be papered over in the software, the physical fitment seemed like it would be a tangle of bodge wires or maybe trying to use ribbon cables to tack everything together. Then I realized PCBs were an option. I could put all the cross-wiring on a PCB about half the size of a baseball card, fab a stack of them for $10 delivered, and have a product that's clean and reliable enough to use without worry.
- Teknoman117 4y ago
  They're so cheap that I've almost completely given up on breadboarding/protoboarding hobby stuff. Throw a design together, have it show up a week or so later, solder it together, do some testing, reorder if you goofed up too much or bodge wire the ones you did order (a component I used neglected to mention one of its output was open-collector...) Admittedly, it does feel a bit wasteful to order 5 of something that is going to be a one-off. Problem is, ordering all the little SMT adapters modern components need and protoboarding it usually costs the same... Examples: https://github.com/teknoman117/P80C550-EVN https://github.com/teknoman117/P80C550-EVN https://github.com/teknoman117/M68K-BUS-VOLTAGE-CONVERTER https://github.com/teknoman117/M68K-BUS-VOLTAGE-CONVERTER https://github.com/teknoman117/ACORN-CLE-DVI https://github.com/teknoman117/ACORN-CLE-DVI https://github.com/teknoman117/PCIEX1-SMA https://github.com/teknoman117/PCIEX1-SMA
  - sircastor 4y ago
    I ended up spending about 6 years (in short bursts) doing this for one project - all the iterations were error-fixing on my part. I started out with OSHPark (I know the owner personally) but I wasn't able to manage $30 a run when I wasn't very good at PCB design to begin with. JLCPCB made iterating on real PCBs possible. I have found JLCPCB's quality to be fantastic. The only exception being I think once the silkscreen looked a little crummy because it was matrix printed (they offer a nicer process, but I was not concerned with it.
junon 4y ago
I use JLC and haven't run into any quality issues I've personally noticed, but I'm also very new to PCB services. Can you perhaps expand on the quality issues you've faced with JLC?

hakfoo 4y ago

A counterargument: their prices make the "PCB" quality tier available for projects that would previously have been resigned to the lower "ball of bodge wires" or "breadboards/stripboards" levels of quality. I was recently in a situation where I wanted to fit a new MCU/breakout into an existing PCB designed for a different one. I figured if I liked the results, I could redesign the PCB for a 100% conversion later, but I already had the old boards. While some of the pinout differences could be papered over in the software, the physical fitment seemed like it would be a tangle of bodge wires or maybe trying to use ribbon cables to tack everything together. Then I realized PCBs were an option. I could put all the cross-wiring on a PCB about half the size of a baseball card, fab a stack of them for $10 delivered, and have a product that's clean and reliable enough to use without worry.

Teknoman117 4y ago
They're so cheap that I've almost completely given up on breadboarding/protoboarding hobby stuff. Throw a design together, have it show up a week or so later, solder it together, do some testing, reorder if you goofed up too much or bodge wire the ones you did order (a component I used neglected to mention one of its output was open-collector...) Admittedly, it does feel a bit wasteful to order 5 of something that is going to be a one-off. Problem is, ordering all the little SMT adapters modern components need and protoboarding it usually costs the same... Examples: https://github.com/teknoman117/P80C550-EVN https://github.com/teknoman117/P80C550-EVN https://github.com/teknoman117/M68K-BUS-VOLTAGE-CONVERTER https://github.com/teknoman117/M68K-BUS-VOLTAGE-CONVERTER https://github.com/teknoman117/ACORN-CLE-DVI https://github.com/teknoman117/ACORN-CLE-DVI https://github.com/teknoman117/PCIEX1-SMA https://github.com/teknoman117/PCIEX1-SMA
- sircastor 4y ago
  I ended up spending about 6 years (in short bursts) doing this for one project - all the iterations were error-fixing on my part. I started out with OSHPark (I know the owner personally) but I wasn't able to manage $30 a run when I wasn't very good at PCB design to begin with. JLCPCB made iterating on real PCBs possible. I have found JLCPCB's quality to be fantastic. The only exception being I think once the silkscreen looked a little crummy because it was matrix printed (they offer a nicer process, but I was not concerned with it.

junon 4y ago

I use JLC and haven't run into any quality issues I've personally noticed, but I'm also very new to PCB services. Can you perhaps expand on the quality issues you've faced with JLC?