Hello, readers welcome to the new post. In this post, we will discuss Ordering Instructions at JLCPCB. JLCPCB Established in 2006, JLCPCB is at the forefront of the PCB industry. With more than 15 years of continuous innovation and improvement based on customer needs, they have grown rapidly to become the world’s leading PCB manufacturer, providing rapid production of highly reliable and cost-effective PCBs and creating the best customer experience in the industry. Ensuring quality and continuous improvement are the two main principles of our company. their advanced PCB technology enables them to provide high-precision boards suitable for industrial, military, aerospace, and medical applications.
They continuously invest in top-quality base materials and advanced equipment for fully automated production lines, enabling them to offer our customers high throughput with consistently high quality.
In this post, we will clarify woe points that users face during placing orders at JLCPCB for their products and different services. There are some operations performed by the JLCPCB after getting the order to avoid any issues here are some instructions discussed that will helpful for you before placing any order on JLCPCB. So let’s get started
Ordering Instructions at JLCPCB
- First of all, we discussed instructions for PCB orders and then instructions for stencil order
Instructions for PCB orders
Solder-resistance bridges
- For solder resistance, bridges normal space between pads required 0.254mm and special measures are taken for solder mask bridges or in some cases not needed
Proper English descriptions and other attachments in the zip file
- There is no consideration for English descriptions and other descriptions in zip files such as PDF files, excel DXF, etc and PCB creation is done on the basis of the Gerber file that you sent so must focus on a clear and good Gerber file. Ensure that there are accurate values are added in the Gerber file and if you have any additional important points add in the remark area before order placing
PCB file and GERBER file in the zip file at the same time
- If you send PCB files and Gerber files in zip file they will consider Gerber file and ignore PCB files
Plated edges/ slots Dimensions
- If there is a need for edge plating or plated slots then define their length as not more than 6 millimeters and also make a note of it before ordering placing or they will not create it. If there is no note about it then they will make it in the normal process.
Problems related to software incompatible
- Some different users use different software for board designing and the software that JLCPCB uses for the Gerber data process is not the same as the software used for desing that causes software incompatibility. As there is no warming related to this problem during data importing in software, they do not have any method to notice it and cannot confirm it with customers So they are responsible for half of the order issues related to software incompatibility
Markings on base materials
- Due to security reasons, there are some markings on the base material that are based on the base material and they do not have any method to remove it. They do not have an idea about that which board will have which type of marking, so some boards have chances to have marked. Must check it that is acceptable for your before order placement
Designs about slots/CUT OUT/ millings/ v-cut
- Ensure that there are V-cut lines, cut-outs, milling, and slots in the same layers with an outline of the board. If it is not lie in the same layer as with the outline of the board it will be missed. So please check it before order pacing. If it is missed due to their not being in a similar layer with the board outline JLCPCB will not be responsible for it.
Gerberview Error
- The Gerberviewer existing on the website is only for reviewing files fastly before paying for your rider. In some cases, there can be some errors on the site to show it exactly, therefore good is to check your file accurately before order placing
Silkscreen/ texts
- For a clear silkscreen on board, the width of text and spaces between letters are required to be not less than 0.15 mm with a height of about one mm. The acceptable ratio for width to height is 1:6. If the outline font is designed and a solid portion is filled with lines then the filling line needed to be not less than 0.155mm and the hollow part to be more than 0.2mm
- Normally they will not check and modify the silkscreen in the Gerber file but texts can be widened to 0.15mm if it is not enough. And they do not get the comparing related unclear texts caused by non-standard design. Ensure that the silkscreen is according to JLCPCB capability before order placements
- When silkscreen overlaps to openings they will follow the principle of opening first. In simple words, they will not consider silkscreen and open the board only. Under circumstances, if your need to keep the silkscreen on open make sure to add the note in remark column so they can inform their engineers to pay attention to it to fulfill your requirements
Silkscreen on Aluminum PCBs:
- They currently support white and black screen printing colors for aluminum plates. The white screen print will be applied to the green and black solder mask ink, while the black screen print will be applied to the white solder mask ink.
- Please note that screen printing is not recommended on a bare aluminum surface due to its low level of adhesion and will therefore easily peel off the surface.
- The white screen print was not clearly visible on the off-white bare aluminum surface. Please specify your requirement in the remark column if screen printing on bare aluminum is actually required.
4 Layer PCB
- Generally, they do not make three layers of PCB baord if your order is four layers and the other is one internal layer they will process it with the four-layer process and will confirm yours again. So check whether is any internal layer missing or not when order placement
About repeat order
- Normally order reputation is directly generated on the basis of the production file for your previous order and they will not make any variation to the production file anymore. Therefore make sure you do not leave any notes related to order changes when you place an order. The repeat order will not longer be manually checked by their engineers
- Note: The engineering fee will still charge by the system since our engineers need to re-penalise the boards manually.
About the items in the board outline
- A board outline is basically to show what your PCB looks like when it’s done. So all those that need to be cut by the plate outline should be added to the plate outline layer, such as cut lines, grooves, milling, and cutouts. So remove the unnecessary to avoid confusion. Please note that if there is both a GKO layer and a GM1 layer in the Gerber file, their engineers will ignore the GKO layer and make the boards according to the GM1 layer. If there are GMI, GM2 or GM2, GM3, and GM4 layers in the Gerber file at the same time, they will use the one with the smallest number after the letter GM as the contour layer by default. For example, if there are GM2, GM3, and GM4 layers in the Gerber file, we will follow GM2 as the contour layer and ignore GM3 and GM4.
file generated from Easyeda
- Easyeda is free online software that they provide for PCB desing and you can place an order on JLCPCB easily and fastly. But if there is manufacturers errors due to desing errors they will not be responsible for it
About JLCPCB panel
- Normally if you select the JLCPCB for a panel of PCB during order placing, generally they will panel your order with V cut in rectangular and round shapes only. If you have a panelized board yourself but select the one pcb during the order placing a number of desing in the Gerber file must not be more than five, then they can cancel the order. If Pnale by the customer has been a select number of designs in a panelized Gerber file must be not more than ten
Remark field
- There is a note field when you place your order so you can leave a note in case of import, but they do not recommend using this option as all orders with an English note will take longer to go through the audition process.
About the board that is larger than 200mm*250mm
- For a board that is larger than 200mm*250mm as there is board is larger and they will try to make it but it good board is not enough for the quantity you order in the website due to huge charges of production, they will send a good board and refund the difference to you
Design about the thickness of board outline /slots/CUT OUT/ millings
- Generally, they suggest that design of 0.15mm for plate outline thickness, slot, cutout, and milling. But if the thickness of the board outline slots cut out, and milling is greater than 0.15 mm, they will follow the center line to make the board outline, cut out, and milling.
About the board within or equal to 50mm*50mm
- For smaller baord that have dimensions 50mm*50mm, the size of board is smaller and it is difficult to mill accurately during the milling process. They suggest that panelized the small board to have fewer problems
Solder mask layer
- A layer of solder mask is a must-layer. Ensure that you have added it to your Gerber file. If the solder mask layer does not exist or the solder must layer is empty, the board will be created as fully covered through solder mask ink as default. So desing solder makes layer accurately if you have a good solder mask opening. And if you want the complete board to be covered through tin ensure to remark it when order place
Other instructions:
order cancellation
- For orders that are missing some layers, e.g. the board outline and drilling missing, they will cancel the order directly. If no drill etc. is required, you should note this when placing the order, otherwise, it will be canceled directly during the audit process.
About orders beyond JLCPCB capabilities
- For orders that do not according to the JLCPCB capabilities, they will directly cancel the order and send you an email to inform you of the reason. Before you pay for the order, please check your file carefully to save the loss due to cancellation.
stencil production file
- Generally, you select JLCPCB for the penalization of PCB if there is no stencil order they will not make a production file for stencil as engineers that make production files not know how to make a production file for stencil
About Removing Order Number:
- For these orders, choose the order number removal service or specify the location service, they will usually follow the instructions of the clients when making the boards. Just in case, they also recommend clients to choose a Production Confirmation service that can check it.
Generally, it will not affect the function of the boards if JLCPCB forgets to remove the order number or enter it accidentally, in this case, we will refund the order number removal fee.
Instructions for Stencil ordering at JLCPCB
Stencil thickness
- As there is no option to select the thickness of the stencil on their website and their engineers will choose the thickness for you on the basis of your file. If there is any certain thickness that needs then make a note about it when you place an order
English descriptions and other attachments in the zip file
- There is an English statement or some other descriptions that exist in your zip file like PDF files, or DXF files excel, etc that will not consider and the stencil will be completed on the basis of the Gerber file. If there are certain requirements then mention in the remark field during order placing
Tooling holes
- If tool holes are required for your order, please make sure the circles are padded in the solder paste layer, otherwise, they will not make it for you.
Solder beading treatment
- Solder balls, a defect that can result in short circuits, are generally related to excessive solder paste deposits that, due to the lack of “body”, are compressed under the discrete component and then become a solder ball. The most common place to see solder balls is on the side of chip components such as resistors and capacitors.
- On the JLCPCB, the template hole for components (except the diode) greater than or equal to 0805 will be slightly reduced from the size of the pad as shown below to avoid solder balls.
Note: If you do not wish to use this solder bead modification for your template, please indicate so when placing your order.
About the spacing for different designs in your stencil file
- Generally, if the stencil size is large enough to add different designs to the template, they won’t change the spacing between your designs But if the stencil is not larger they make set the spacing for these desing that can be added on the stencil. If there is no variation that can be made on the panel make sure to make a note about it during the order placement
Direction of stencil
- Normally if there is no note about the point where to put cutting on the stencil long side of the board will be on the same side as the long side of the stencil automatically
apertures for thru-hole components in stencil
- The aperture for through-hole elements will not be created by default in the stencil. A special note is needed when the order is placed
Other instruction
Complaints about the reorder order
- Please check or test the order when you receive them, if there is any problem, once the problem is confirmed, if it is a problem from JLCPCB, they will offer to refund the order or rework. If there is no feedback and the order is re-ordered, if there is any problem with the order that is ordered for the first time and the order for the new order, we can bear the loss only for the order that is ordered for the first time.
