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PCB FAQ

A. General Company Questions

1. What kinder of PCB maker you are?

Answer: We specialize in manufacturing Rigid FR4 PCB, Flexible PCB, Metal core PCB, RF/Microwave PCB as well as PCB assembly, mainly focus on the fabrication services of quick turn PCB prototype, small to middle volume PCB orders.

2. What certifications does SysPCB have?

Answer: We have been certified to ISO9001:2008, ISO14001, TS16949 and UL certification and complied with the ROHS & WEEE requirements for lead free products through SGS test.

3. What’s your payment term?

Answer: For the new customers in the initial period of cooperation, basically we use the terms of T/T in advance or COD, for qualified business accounts we use credit payment terms such as net 30 days.

We accept payment by Wire transfer(T/T), PayPal, Western union etc. If you want to use PayPal for small orders, we will need 5% PayPal handling Charge as the profit is small.

4. Will you sign a non-disclosure and/or non-competition agreements?

Answer: sure, it’s our responsibility to protect the interests of our customers.

B. Orders & Quotes Related

1: what is the Cost for PCB?

Answer: We will need information files and information to determine the actual costs, Gerber
File, Size of PCB, Material and Quantities etc. will affect PCB cost. To get a quote, please send your inquiry to sales@syspcb.com.

2. What information is required for a quote?

Answer: Please use Gerber data, PCB fabrication notes and the quantity you need when you request a quote. This will give you an accurate quote in a short period of time.

3: How can I send files to you?

A. Contact a sales representative, tell you requirement and send Gerber file to his/her email.
B. Sending email to: sales@syspcb.com.

4. Can I use any software?

Answer: Yes, you can use any software you like! However, your software has to be real PCB software capable of outputting Gerber ('RS-274X' or 'RS-274D with Dcode') and NC Drill( Excellon format) files.

5. How long is my quote valid?

Answer: Quotation is valid for 30 days from the date you receive it via email. If you want to confirm the quote is still valid after the expiry date, please contact your sales representative.

6. Do you check my artwork?

Answer: Yes, We check your artwork based on Gerber files or AutoCAD files. We could provide some suggestions to you with free of charge if you need, on our design rules such as increasing clearance, trace width or pad size to decrease cost and make your ordered boards coincidence with our manufacturing capability.

7. What do you do with my Set-up & E-Test Fixture cost?

Answer: The Set-up charge is used for our preparation of tooling and film process etc., if re-order more than 3sq.m, no Set-up charge. The E-Test Fixture cost is used for our preparation of E-Test Fixture, E-Test Fixture cost is only charged one time, it means that you will not need to pay for repeat orders of the same PCB layout files.

8. How do you send the quote to me upon submit of my online quote request?

Answer: You will receive the feedback in 24 hours via your email address, so please make sure that you left a correct and valid email address.

9: How to count Build time & Delivery date?

Answer: Build time is counted with business day. Delivery date is normally the next day of total lead-time counted.

10. How do you ship the boards, what carrier do you use?

Answer: Normally our shipment terms based on FOB by using DHL, FedEx, UPS and TNT. We also do other shipment terms which required by customers, such as FOB (Hong Kong).

11: How to track my orders?

Answer: After PCB finished and shipped out, our sales responsive will send you the tracking NO. You can also find the responsive on line.

12. Do you have Minimum Order Requirement (MOQ)?

Answer: No, we don't have MOQ, the fabrication of quick turn PCB prototype is one of our most important services, and even one piece is acceptable for us.

13. How quickly do you respond to a PCB quote request?

Answer: Normally we will respond to a PCB quote request in 2 hours during our working time, however, complex PCBs may need more time for an accurate quote. In this time, we will assess your data and specification for manufacturing suitability and evaluate the availability of non-standard materials.

14. What lead times can you offer?

Answer: We have quick turn services for PCB prototype, for detailed lead time please refer to the service column，Most orders with small up to middle volume PCBs could be delivered 8 to 15 working days, depending on your requirements and the complexity of the order and volume ordered.

15. We need Fast delivery, can this be done?

Answer: We do provide Express service upon clients’ requirements. This depends on the Quantity and the difficulty of boards, and there will be express service charges

16: What can I do if I receive unsatisfied PCB?

Answer: Products produced by SYSPCB are manufactured under ISO9000 series quality control system. All the boards we ship are UL approved. We can also provide higher standard boards that can met US military standard on demand. We promise free re-make for any fault board or re-fund.

C. PCB Technical Questions

1: What is solder mask?

Answer: Solder mask is the film covering most of the copper area except the pads. If you have access to any electronics devices - you will see that the copper circuit is actually protected by a lacquer like layer - this is the solder mask, the color is normally green.

2: What is Silkscreen?

Answer: Silkscreen is actually a process of screening ink using a stencil prepared by lithographic method. Purpose of this is to apply a nomenclature to aid in assembly. It is those little white labeling of component that makes manual assembly significantly easier. Although not an absolutely needed feature, it is nice to have when you have many components and would like to know what goes where.

3. Why should circuit boards be electrically tested?

Answer: Electrical test is very important after the processes of PCB manufacturing, because this is the only way for any PCB manufacturer to ensure the PCB board shipped have zero shorts or opens. Visual inspection can never be 100% effective. Especially, if the defect is under the solder mask, electrical test is the only way to catch it.

4. What should be shown in drill file: Drill diameter or finished hole diameter?

Answer: Please provide finished hole diameter in your drill files.

5. What is your standard specification PCB?

Answer: The following is used for our standard specification boards: FR4, 1.6mm thickness, 1oz copper weight, white silkscreen, green solder mask, HASL/HAL(Lead free) finished.

6. What solder mask do you use for PCBs?

Answer: We use LPI solder mask for the standard process of PCBs.

7. Are there any other color options for the solder mask?

Answer: Although green is the standard color we use for PCB soldermask process, we can also provide the following colors: red, white, blue, black, yellow, etc, please check our capability column.

8. How to reduce the cost of circuit boards?

Answer: The PCB price is related with many factors, such as layer counts, raw material, board thickness, copper thickness, surface treatment, min hole size, total hole quantity, min trace width/spacing etc.
If you want to get the lower price, please avoid using small holes(less the 7.8mil) and fine lines(less than 4mil).

9. Can I put multiple designs in the same board layout?

Answer: We don't recommend this. It will result in additional engineering costs.

10. To what acceptability standards do you build?

Answer: All our printed circuit boards are built based on the acceptance standard of IPC-A-600 Class2.For special requirements, we can also produce PCB compliant with IPC Class3.

11. Can you manufacture my PCBs from a picture file?

Answer: No, We can not accept BMP, GIF, TIFF or JPG pictures as the manufacturing file as these formats are not good for PCB manufacturing. But you can use these files to request a quotation. If you send us actual PCBs, we can copy it for you.