Homebrew PCBs

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "mcjonster" <mcjonster@...>
To: <Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Sunday, October 18, 2009 7:51 PM
Subject: [Homebrew_PCBs] electrical testing - worth it?


> Does anyone have an opinion of paying extra for electrical testing?  A 
> place like gold phoenix charges $99 for 155sq inches and $20 extra for 
> e-testing.  How high is pcb failure rates normally and when is e-testing 
> using recommended?  I think if I use bigger traces I can avoid the extra 
> $20 fee but if I soldered everything to it then it would be a huge pain if 
> something didn't work.
>
> If it's like 1 in a million that might have problems I'd say forget it but 
> if it's like 1% or something then it'd definitely be worth it.  The guys 
> at Gold Phoenix don't seem to speak english very well so I thought I'd ask 
> here.

Someone on the SparkFun forum had serious problems with their cheap BatchPCB 
service (they use Gold Phoenix) - several of his boards had shorts and they 
weren't anything special. I don't usually bother with testing on boards I 
have made by PCB Pool and PCBtrain, the quality is excellent. I would if I 
was using 6/6 mil designs, though, just to be on the safe side. I'd advise 
testing with GP.

Leon