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Source for cheap flex circuits? — Parallax Forums

Source for cheap flex circuits?

Clock LoopClock Loop Posts: 2,069
edited 2010-12-07 08:17 in General Discussion
My source for flex circuits is insane expensive, so are pcbs...

I need to make over 300 pcb's that are 1 inch X 1/2 inch in size each.

My sources for flex and regular pcb's are too expensive to make purchase possible.

They only need to be dual sided, with very minimal copper.

Anyone have cheap sources for pcb design? ... (preferrably flex)

CL

Comments

  • W9GFOW9GFO Posts: 4,010
    edited 2010-12-04 13:24
    I've never ordered flex circuits but I do know that Advanced Circuits offers them and they will make smaller PCBs than their online quoting system supports.

    Rich H
  • Clock LoopClock Loop Posts: 2,069
    edited 2010-12-04 14:35
    W9GFO wrote: »
    I've never ordered flex circuits but I do know that Advanced Circuits offers them and they will make smaller PCBs than their online quoting system supports.

    Rich H


    Yea, I have used AC before also, but each pcb ends up being around 20$ to 30$ a piece.

    At the size, 1in X .5, you'd think the cost per pcb should be a few bucks each at quantities of 300 +.

    I guess I may just be back to using personal etching solutions, or even DEAD BUG style.

    I was hoping to find a supplier other than AC for affordable flex, because when I contacted them about flex, they just shrugged me off and said, " flex orders range in the thousands" the sales rep didn't even bother to answer my other questions that I asked, most likely due to the sales rep knowing I wasn't some big company willing to drop 1K+ on a flex design. Basically they said that that small of a flex circuit, at quantities of 300 wouldn't be worth them doing business with me.

    I didn't realize pcb/flex manufacture was that expensive. (i suspect it isn't, this is about volume, and AC doesn't REALLY care about the low volume sales)
  • W9GFOW9GFO Posts: 4,010
    edited 2010-12-04 14:59
    That is really expensive, I paid about $.80 each for boards (not flex) that are three times the size of yours, quantity 600.

    Rich H
  • $WMc%$WMc% Posts: 1,884
    edited 2010-12-04 18:53
    W9GFO wrote: »
    That is really expensive, I paid about $.80 each for boards (not flex) that are three times the size of yours, quantity 600.

    Rich H
    '
    Could you fill us in on the details to get this pricing?
  • W9GFOW9GFO Posts: 4,010
    edited 2010-12-04 20:28
    $WMc% wrote: »
    '
    Could you fill us in on the details to get this pricing?

    First, submit your gerbers to get a quote. Then when you go view the quote matrix, enter various quantities of boards to see where the best value is. For me, 600 boards did not cost all that much more than 200 boards. They are going to get a couple hundred bucks no matter how small the order but the price per units drops rapidly when you get a few hundred boards. Also, Advanced Circuits gives up to $250 (50% off up to $500) off your first two orders. My first order I actually paid only $.40 per board.

    Rich H
  • markaericmarkaeric Posts: 282
    edited 2010-12-04 20:34
    Might it just be cheaper to use a standard PCB and some ribbon cable if your design allows for it?
  • $WMc%$WMc% Posts: 1,884
    edited 2010-12-04 22:37
    W9GFO wrote: »
    First, submit your Gerber's to get a quote. Then when you go view the quote matrix, enter various quantities of boards to see where the best value is. For me, 600 boards did not cost all that much more than 200 boards. They are going to get a couple hundred bucks no matter how small the order but the price per units drops rapidly when you get a few hundred boards. Also, Advanced Circuits gives up to $250 (50% off up to $500) off your first two orders. My first order I actually paid only $.40 per board.

    Rich H
    '
    I thank you for your input.
    '
    Its not often that one can get input from some real PCB house users.
    '
    I think this will really help the thread.
    '
    Thanks again

    '
  • TonyWaiteTonyWaite Posts: 219
    edited 2010-12-05 07:17
    Hi Clock Loop,

    Just to chip in my own experience: avoid small-batch flexi manufacture like the Plague!

    I've had a variety of flexi's made by two different flex specialists - factories that do nothing else but military flexible circuits.

    Their technology seems less up-to-date than with 'rigid' manufacturers; therefore leadtime, quality, yield and pricing were worse.

    The particular designs connected parallel buses for IDE and Ultra-320 SCSI signalling, so I used flexi-rigids in an effort to give me the most predictable signal quality. It should have been a good outcome but ended up costing a fortune because of process issues.

    I still support the design in legacy kit, but it costs me about £500 GBP *each* for the flexi-rigids, ordered half-a-dozen at a time.

    An earlier iteration used SCA2 ribbon cabling and was unsucessful - hence the move to flexi-rigid. In retrospect it would have been better to have reworked the mechanical design to remove the need for dynamic cabling altogether.

    Regards,

    T o n y
  • Jay KickliterJay Kickliter Posts: 446
    edited 2010-12-05 17:30
    Check out GoldPhoenix.biz. They're out of china. They do a great job with rigid PCB's, but can't speak for their flex circuits. According to their website 100 in^2 of 2 layer flex is $280.
  • StarManStarMan Posts: 306
    edited 2010-12-07 08:17
    Try PCBcart. I have had good experience with them with flex boards. For flex circuits, you will need to get a custom quote beyond filling out the standard form. But the cost shouldn't be more than rigid boards. Tooling is typically in the $50 - $100 range and is a one-time charge. I am not affiliated with them at all.
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