JLCPCB Quality control feedback

[Geekachuqt]

Hi Aria,

Just wanted to bring to your attention some feedback I got when ordering some sets of your protoboards.

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Since there are plenty of exposed copper pads ,if simply cover them with HASL which will cause short circuits easily (because we will put tin to the exposed pads).

For such kind of design, we suggest that you can proceed it with ENIG process.

Is changing to ENIG acceptable to you ?

If yes , we will send you the request to pay for the extra.

If you agree to take the risk and no quality complaint , we can proceed it for you but the quality control may not as expected.

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I'm far from any kind of expert on PCBs and this may or may not be them attempting to upsell me, but I thought I would bring it to your attention regardless.

Great work on the boards! Looking forward to building with them.

Kind regards,
Robin

[AriaSalvatrice]

I'm just as far from a design expert!

But I know that I ordered both revisions of my board with HASL without, well, hassle. They didn't give me any trouble and they work just fine. Pad separation is well within their stated capabilities.

It seems that it's very common with JLC to get different feedback from the engineer who reviews your board, even if you send the same board.

Up to you if you're willing to take the gamble, but if you do, be sure to update me whether they turned out good or not! But the way I see it, for a the price of 5 ENIG pieces, you could have 3 different orders of 5 HASL boards. ENIG isn't cheap for prototype runs!

If you want to be super extra safe, you can try out https://github.com/holmesrichards/Protoboard if they would fit your needs (more people have tried out this project).

[Geekachuqt]

I realize that I didn't actually write it, but yes - I had already placed the ordered before I wrote the original message. Just waiting for the arrival now. Looking forward to working with them! Will be a hell of a lot easier than manually sawing experiment boards to size after building my modules. :D

I'll keep you posted on how they turned out. Ordered 10 of them (in black, because who would be caught using green in TYOOL 23?), and will make sure to test them thoroughly!

Sidenote: it was nice stumbling across your name in this section of the synth world too. I know of some of your legacy from the VCV Rack side, having developed a set of modules there myself as well, and I know your name is synonomous with quality work and good ethics. :)