JLCPCB SMT Assembly Service

[SteveyG]

JLCPCB have finally launched the SMT assembly service for those outside of China.



I placed an order yesterday, so I shall use this thread to show how things go.

Limitations are:
- SMT assembly limited to one side of the PCB only. If you have components on the other side you must assemble these yourself
- You cannot supply parts yourself, they must come from the JLCPCB component library which is a subset of components from LCSC
- SMT assembly only - no TH parts
- Unlimited number of basic components can be placed, but a maximum of 10 different types of "Extended" parts can be placed. Basic components look to be mainly standard passive parts.

The only problem I faced when ordering is the list of components that was in the Extended parts spreadsheet didn't match up with what was available when ordering. I originally designed the board with a BME280 sensor on it, switched over to the Sensirion SHT31 which was in the Extended parts database. When ordering, this part wasn't an option so will need to be assembled at my end.

If everything goes OK then PCBs might be in my hands in a week or so, so it should be interesting to see how it pans out and what the quality of the assembly is like.
I think the components accounted for around $60, so the actual assembly cost was around $24 on the 10 PCBs.

[tglev]

How did you get past the first screen where you upload your gerbers?
The next button does not work for me.

[SteveyG]

How did you get past the first screen where you upload your gerbers?
The next button does not work for me.

Were you able to select all the PCB options and see a preview of the PCB?

[tglev]

Yes, that page worked as normal.
Was also able to select quanties, panel the pcb and so on.

[SteveyG]

Yes, that page worked as normal.
Was also able to select quanties, panel the pcb and so on.

So you managed to select the side to be assembled?

After that, you should be able to click "Next" to begin uploading the BOM and CPL files

[tglev]

That last part, where you can turn SMT assembly switch to "on", is completely invisible for me on the page.

It also does not show up after adding the gerbers.

[SteveyG]

Are you signed in to your account?

[tglev]

Yes

[DTJ]

JLCPCB have finally launched the SMT assembly service for those outside of China.

- You cannot supply parts yourself, they must come from the JLCPCB component library which is a subset of components from LCSC

I'll be interested to see how this goes.

I guess they will not buy in parts that are not in their standard stock?


How is this company for just supplying bare boards? Are they reliable?

[tglev]

I guess they will not buy in parts that are not in their standard stock?


How is this company for just supplying bare boards? Are they reliable?

They won't buy parts that aren't in their stock and they won't accept parts supplied externally by the customer.
I have found them quite reliable for just bare boards, have been using them for a while and the PCBs are great quality. Especially for their low price point.

[48X24X48X]

Can I use my own KiCad library but still use the parts from their list or it is strictly using their EasyEDA software only?

[tglev]

You can use your own library.
What I have understood is that you can select which component goes where during the order process.

[thinkfat]

I think their parts catalog is a bit too limited for me right now. I just checked one of my recent projects:

They have STM32F072 but only LQF, I want QFN
They have just one ISSI LED driver in their list and not the one I need.

They do have the LEDs I want, though

[mskeete]

Just finished placing two PCBA orders.
The first was easy, just a few passives.

On the second one, all the IC's were out of rotation (90 degrees one way or the other) compared to proteus.
I had to edit the placement file and reupload a few times until it looked right.
I'll post a pic of what turns up in the post

[ddavidebor]

What browser did you use?

[SteveyG]

Just finished placing two PCBA orders.
The first was easy, just a few passives.

On the second one, all the IC's were out of rotation (90 degrees one way or the other) compared to proteus.
I had to edit the placement file and reupload a few times until it looked right.
I'll post a pic of what turns up in the post

I had the same issue, but it got corrected during the audit.

[DBecker]

They have a good selection of STM32 parts in their "basic" collection.  There are more in their "extended" range, but for many it would cost less to upgrade rather than pay a setup fee.

[bd139]

Watching this thread avidly. I've got a design on hold waiting for this. I've carefully picked parts from their parts library so I can low ball the turnaround cost.

[DBecker]

Is there any easy way to search only for 'basic' (no setup fee) parts using their search engine?

What is the matching process from my BOM to their list?

[mskeete]

What browser did you use?

Firefox. Yesterday I tried Firefox and Chrome
When back to using Firefox but deleted all my JLCPCB cookies
I was also in contact with support so maybe they fixed it for me

[voltsandjolts]

I'd like an option to show only the 'basic' components.

I thought some AVRs would have been in the basic range, but no. All Microchip micros seem to be extended.
Another good reason to learn STM32

Edit:
Is there a downloadable spreadsheet somewhere listing all the basic parts?

[SteveyG]

I'd like an option to show only the 'basic' components.

I thought some AVRs would have been in the basic range, but no. All Microchip micros seem to be extended.
Another good reason to learn STM32

Edit:
Is there a downloadable spreadsheet somewhere listing all the basic parts?

You can search for basic parts by clicking the checkbox when actually placing the order but not when searching on the main page. I will ask for the option to be added to the general search too.

[SteveyG]

Watching this thread avidly. I've got a design on hold waiting for this. I've carefully picked parts from their parts library so I can low ball the turnaround cost.

Mine will be a few days extra as I chose the ENIG option, but I'll report back as soon as I have news. I'll also be uploading a video as soon as the PCBs arrive.

[voltsandjolts]

Here's your choices for 'basic' (no extra setup charge) microcontrollers:

STM32

STM32F030F4P6	TSSOP-20
STM32F030C8T6	LQFP-48
STM32F103C8T6	LQFP-48
STM32F103CBT6	LQFP-48
STM32F103RCT6	LQFP-64
STM32F103R8T6	LQFP-64
STM32F103RBT6	LQFP-64
STM32F103RET6	LQFP-64
STM32F103VET6	LQFP-100
STM32F103VCT6	LQFP-100
STM32F103VBT6	LQFP-100
STM32F103ZET6	LQFP-144
STM32F107VCT6	LQFP-100
STM32F405RGT6	LQFP-64
STM32F407VGT6	LQFP-100
STM32F407VET6	LQFP-100
STM32F429ZGT6	LQFP-144
STM32L151C8T6	LQFP-48

STM8

STM8L051F3P6TR	TSSOP-20
STM8L101F3P6	TSSOP-20
STM8L152R8T6	LQFP-64
STM8S003F3P6TR	TSSOP-20
STM8S103F3P6	TSSOP-20
STM8S105C6T6	LQFP-48
STM8S105K6T6C	LQFP-32
STM8S207R8T6	LQFP-64

STC

STC15F2K60S2-28I	LQFP44
STC12C5A60S2-35I	LQFP44
STC89C52RC-40I	LQFP44

TI

MSP430F149IPMRG4

LQFP64

[SteveyG]

I'd like an option to show only the 'basic' components.

I got feedback that this is getting added to the web page now.

There is also a bug at the moment whereby you can only place a total of 10 extended parts, even if they are all the same item. This will be fixed also.