Catalog of PCB FAQ

Every day we receive many questions about PCB and assembly business from customers around the world. We have compiled the following popular FAQs for new customers to understand our business. View PCB'A Assembly  FAQ
1. About PCBBay

1.1  Who is PCBBay                           1.2 What is your business hours?

1.3   Why can you manufacture PCBs (Prototype and production) at such a low price?   

2.  Quality & Warranty

2.1 What if I am dissatisfied with PCBs from PCBBay? 
2.2 Can i cancel order if i feel i can not receive my PCBs due to PCBBay’s fault after tracking the fabrication status online?

2.3 How does your privacy policy work?

3.  PCB process Capabilities

3.1 Are your PCBs RoHS Compliant?
3.2 What are your capabilities of PCB fabrication?

4.  compliance procedure

4.1 What is ITAR? 

5.  Orders and production

5.1 How can I get a quote?                                   5.2 When does the turn-time begin?

6.  Shipping & tariffs

6.1 How can I track the shipping status of my order?
6.2 What if courier company (DHL etc.,) fails to deliver my PCBs as scheduled?
6.3 Who will be responsible for the customs duty that may be levied at my country?

7.  PCB knowledge

7.1 Why do I need to panelize my boards?
7.2 Why do I need to design Break-away Rails (Break-away Tabs) ?

1.About PCBBay

1.1  Who is PCBBay?

PCBBay is China Shenzhen-based manufacturer specializing in PCB layout design,PCB prototyping, Small and medium batch production and PCB Assembly service all under one roof. We offer quick turn PCBs at a very budgetary price. Thousand of engineers, students and hobbyists are used our PCB prototype for their daily work and study , many companies had commissioned us to produce PCBs and assemble PCBs in batches. PCBBay is committed to making R&D of electronic product simpler, faster, and lower cost.The finished electronic equipment is of high quality and low cost. 

1.2  What is your business hours?

We responde to your email requests or process your online order once we receive them. We start to review your details whenever your order or email reaches us. We work 7/24/365.

1.3  Why can you manufacture PCBs (Prototype and production) at such a low price?

Our large number of daily orders ensure we can greatly reduce the materials’ spending and labor cost. Furthermore, we constantly improve our equipments and develop technical and managerial systems that adapt to flexible setups of machines suitable for fabricating very small number of PCBs without affecting the lead time, cost and quality.in addition, our products are divided into different types, and each type of product is equipped with the dedicated production line for classic design processes. This way we can save a lot of production costs. For example, we have a sample factory that is suitable for the characteristics of PCB samples. it make PCBBay your one-stop destination of low cost PCBs .

2. Quality & Warranty

2.1 What if I am dissatisfied with PCBs from PCBBay?

If you find any defects with your PCBs upon receipt in you hand, or if you feel any dissatisfaction about our products or services, please immediately let us know via support@PCBBay.com, we will respond within 24 hours. We will serve you till you are finally satisfied. We will either repair or re-fabricate your PCB if quality issue occurs, or we will refund full amount to you without returning the defective PCBs. You may also choose to credit your PCBBay account and you may use the credit for your future orders with us. 

2.2 Can i cancel order if i feel i can not receive my PCBs due to PCBBay’s fault after tracking the fabrication status online?

We promise 100% satisfaction and we are keeping a record of 98% on-time delivery! If you feel you can not receive your PCBs as scheduled due to our fault, you can cancel the order and ask for full refund or credit your PCBBay.com account for payment of your next order.

2.3 How does your privacy policy work? 

We respect the privacy of all our customers. We promise we will never share your personal information with any third parties.We are willing to sign an agreement with you for privacy and intellectual property protection .

3. PCB process Capabilities

3.1 Are your PCBs RoHS Compliant?

Yes. But we also offer leaded PCBs.

3.2  What are your capabilities of PCB fabrication?

We have capabilities of manufacturing most of the PCBs for our customers. If you find your PCBs need special processing or you are not sure if we have the ability to produce or not, please contact us at support@PCBBay.com for an answer, attaching your Gerber files and all other files or drawings for us to assess if we can do or not. For the full list of our PCB Capabilities, please refer to Capabilities .

4. compliance procedure

4.1  What is ITAR?

ITAR, International Traffic in Arms Regulations, controls the export and import of defense-related articles and services on the United States Munitions List (USML). Please inform us if your PCBs are ITAR compliant or not after you place orders with us. For details of ITAR, please go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITAR and http://pmddtc.state.gov/

5. Orders and production

5.1  How can I get a quote?

At PCBBay, you can ask for a quotation request by sending email to pcb@PCBBay.com and our service person will quote within 24 hours, do not forget to enclose your Gerber files and all other necessary files for PCB quotation.

5.2  When does the turn-time begin?

Due to the complexity of how to determine the turn time of PCB fabrication, our policy is that turn-time begins immediately after your Gerber files and all other necessary files being received, reviewed by us and re-approved by your side. When all these reviews and approvals are done, we will start fabrication immediately.

6. Shipping & tariffs

6.1 How can I track the shipping status of my order?

PCBBay have the shipping status online in your account . You can also track the shipping status after we send out your PCBs to your address through API of DHL.

6.2 What if courier company (DHL etc.,) fails to deliver my PCBs as scheduled?

This does happen from time to time, though pretty rare. If this happens, please contact courier company for updated time of delivery. Though legally we are not responsible for the delay, we still will track or phone call courier company for updates.

6.3 Who will be responsible for the customs duty that may be levied at my country?

we ship package to your country. As the customs policy in different countries may differ, some customs authorities in some countries may levy customs duty on imported PCBs. If this happens, it is your responsibility to pay. In many countries, the duty may be waived or exempted.

7. PCB knowledge

7.1  Why do I need to panelize my boards?

Panelization is needed when your PCB dimension is smaller than 50mmx100mm, or when your PCB is of any shapes (circular, or odd shape) other than rectangle, your boards must be panelized in an array for fabrication. You can pre-panelize at your side, or we can also panelize for you. In the latter case, we will send the panelization file back to you for your approval before fabrication begins. Panelization is a MUST if your PCBs will use surface mounting machines for assembly.

7.2  Why do I need to design Break-away Rails (Break-away Tabs) ?

If the clearance between the board’s edge and copper features is less than 3.5mm (138mil), or your boards need to be panelized for some reason, Break-away rails (Break-away tabs) must be added at the two longer paralleled edges of the boards to ensure that the boards can be assembled by the SMT machine.