FAQ about PCB Specification

Using Standard Service - would PCB without Soldermask & Silkscreen cost less ?

No. For Standard Service, it is using a shared setup. Normally up to 8 different  segments per setup. Soldermask & Silkscreen would be standard in that process. However, if for technical reasons you need those layers removed, please let us know under "special request" section of the order form. 

What is Soldermask ? What is Silkscreen ?

Soldermask is the green layer that cover the traces. This is an epoxy based coating and it is designed to be heat proof up to 300 degree celcius for a minimum of 20 seconds. This allows for wave soldering without damaging the underlying traces.

Silkscreen layer also kown as legend or nomenclature is the white printing on top of the green soldermask layer. Silkscreen print serves as a a visual guide during assembly. This is especially useful for surface mount boards  where all pads appear to be random rectangles.

What is Immersion Silver finishing?

Up to recently, Hot Air Solder Levelling (HASL) is the industry standard for most PCB final surface. If you have ordered PCB in the past it is very likely you will be getting this Tin/Lead solder coated finishing on your PCB. At Silver Circuits , due recently implemented RoHS lead free requirement - we no longer produce board with HASL finishing. All our PCB is made with Immersion Silver finishing.  The final surface would be shiny white.

How is it different from the HASL finishing ?

The soldering temperature for Immersion Silver surface is higher by 20 degrees celcius. The wetting property may not be as good as HASL boards if you solder using a soldering iron and Tin/Lead solder. This is because the core flux for Tin/Lead solder is not designed for Immersion Silver surface. But good pre-fluxing prior to  soldering surface would help significantly. For wave-soldering assemblers, the difference would not be noticable.

Lead free Tin/Silver solder is known to solder very well with Immersion Silver finished boards as the flux is designed for this and other lead free finishing.

Does this mean my Tin/Lead solder will not work Immersion Silver surface ?

It will work. But the in general, it may take slightly longer to to get the pad to accept the solder. For example, if you normally take 0.5 seconds to solder one pad , it may now take 0.7 seconds. It takes some getting used to as the wicking effect is not as strong when compared to HASL boards.

Soldering to Immerison Silver finished boards is more like soldering to Gold finished boards.

Can I have PCB made with copper layer thicker than 1 oz?

Yes, thicker copper layer is an option with Full Panel Service. We can make PCB with copper thickness up to 3 oz.

Can the PCB be made with FR4 thinner than 0.062" (1.5mm)?

Yes, we have 0.032" (0.8mm) 0.020" (0.5mm) FR4 in stock. This option is only available with Full Panel Service. FR4 thicker than 0.062" is not available.

Can I have my PCB made using materials other than FR4.

Yes, we can make PCB using Arlon, Rogers & PTFE material. But customer needs to send in those materials for processing. We do not keep stock of these materials type because it is rarely used and tend to have too many configurations. For materials sent to us by customer, our requirement is that the panel size be either 9"x12" or 12"x18". Unused material would be sent back to customer.  We can arrange to purchase these materials for larger quantity orders (20 of 8"x11") panels or more.

FAQ regarding order procedure & payment

What is the quoted currency on this website?

All pricing on our website is in US Dollars.

How do I place a PCB order with Silver Circuits ?

Follow the Order page (on the menu bar above). Complete the shipping details and PCB requirement. This will bring you to a page where you can upload your CAD/CAM files. Once the order is placed, please allow up to 1 working day for us to review  the uploaded file and get back to you on the final cost. 

If we are satisfied that the uploaded file is good for production. We will also send you a payment request by e-mail. You can follow included link to secure server for further payment information by Credit Card.   If we require further changes to the file, we reply and request for new set of CAD/CAM files.

How is payment made ? What cards do you accept?

All orders up to USD 1000 can be made using Credit Card. We accept Credit Card payments using Google Checkout service. This service is similar to Paypal.  We can accept Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Discover Card.

For orders exceeding USD 1000 we require customer to do a direct wire transfer to our bank account. We have accounts with First National Bank in USA and Public Bank in Malaysia.

My company can only place and order with Purchase Order system with wire/TT/check payment. Can you accept this order ?

Yes we can, but the minimum order value should be USD 200.00 to justify the additional administrative work involved. We will add USD 25.00 surcharge for orders that is less than USD 200 in value that is not paid by Credit Card.

How do I get an official quote ? I need this for a Purchase Order.

We can provide official upon request. When we give you an initial quote by e-mail, just reply to that e-mail and let us know. Again, due to the administrative time involved, please ensure that the order has a minimum order value of USD 200.00 for non-online orders. 

Do you offer Credit Term?

In general, no. All orders should be paid in advanced.

With my company, getting a Purchase Order and payment  can take some time. Can you fabricate the boards in advance prior to receiving the payment ?

Yes, we can do that. Just let us know about this situation under the "special request" section of order form. We often get started on production upon placement of order, even before payment is made.

Do I need a quote before I place an order?

This is not a requirement. But if you are planning to panelize your boards, it is a good idea to first get a quote and to confirm that the expected panelization is feasible.

FAQ on  design technical issues

Regarding the hole size. Would be submitted hole size be the final hole size ?

Yes, the submitted hole size is the final hole size within a tolerance of 1 mil. But it is always a good practice to ensure the hole is a minimum of 3 mils larger than the lead size. When designing custom library parts with your CAD system, you will also need to take into account the lead tolerance. For example, some larger leads with 0.050" diameter may have up to 5 mils tolerance. This means the lead can be anywhere between 0.045" to 0.055".  So using 0.53" hole in such circumstances may not work alll the time.

When panelizing, what is the required gap in between boards ?

We need 0.060" (1.5mm) in between boards. So for example, if the promised panel size is 11"x8" and you intend it panelize it 4x4. The maximum board sized should be 2.70"x 1.95". For more details on panelizing, please look into our panelizing page.

How do I specify internal cutouts/milling in my design ?

All internal cutouts/slots/milling should be specified on the same layer is the board outline. The the minimum slot size is 32 mils. For more details on special cutout requirements, please visit our CNC routing page.

FAQ about shipping

How long does shipping take ?

It depends on the destination location. In most parts of the developed world, delivery by FedEx is normally 2 days (excluding weekends) . For example, if we ship out the PCB on our Monday, it will arrive to customer at destination Wednesday .

Shipment to some regions such as Middle East, South America and Africa may take up to 4-5 working days.  Please refer to our shipping chart for more accurate details on shipping transit time.

Do you ship using services other than FedEx ? My area is not within FedEx service network.

For our normal shipment, we use FedEx exclusively. If the shipping address is not within FedEx's service area, we will be using Postal Expressmail. This service normally take 4-5 working days and reachable to all destination served by postal service.

Expressmail service in general cost more than FedEx as we do not have corporate discount for Expressmail. To find out more about Expressmail rates, please visit Malaysian postal Expressmail page 

Is there any quicker service available ? Overnight ?

Shipments within Malaysia & Singapore is delivered overnight by default. For shipment to all other countries, the quickest available service is the standard 2 working day FedEx International Priority.

Would I be billed for import duty or sales tax?

This is subject to local regulation. For most country, PCB does not carry an import duty. Sales tax is applicable in countries with a federal sales tax system such as Canada's GST and VAT applicable in most of Europe

 The table below shows the duty/tax rate to countries we frequently export to.

For a more comprehensive details on Import Duty and Sales Tax, you can refer to Apec Tariff database at www.apectariff.org . The Harmonized Tariff code for PCB has heading of HS 8534.  Search for "Printed Circuits".

Who collects the sales tax / duty ?

Your local Customs agency. In countries where sales tax is applicable you will be presented with an invoice upon delivery. This is payable Cash on Delivery (COD)

How much does a PCB normally weight ? How much can I ship in a 1 lbs (0.5kg) shipment ?

On the average, 100 sq inch of 0.062" FR4 PCB will weight  0.4 lbs to 0.55 lbs depending on configuration. Due to weight of packaging material (0.3 lbs) only 0.7 lbs of PCB can be included in the first lbs of shipment.

In some cases, such as tab-routed or v-scored panels - the panel support boards (to avoid breakage during shipping) may add to the shipping weight.  To help our customer save on shipping cost, we will always use the lightest possible packaging method. 

Your shipping rate is much lower than simlar businesses in Asia and Europe. Why is it so?

We practice an honest shipping costing. If FedEx bill us $10, we bill our customer $10. Most other PCB business in this region uses low price to bait customers in only to hit them with this excessive shipping and handling cost. So while some competitors may appear to cost less than us at a glance.  But do the math and you'll find the inclusive of shipping will often be higher than our total shipped cost.

FAQ after sales

The PCB came in and it looks great! But where is my invoice?

For each parcel shipped out we will include 4 copies of our commercial invoice. 3 will be taken out by the time it reaches the destination leaving 1 copy. Occasionally, Customs officer may take all copies of the invoice and leaving none in the parcel.

In such circumstances, you can contact the salesperson in charge of your order and he will send a PDF version of the invoice.

The board that I received is not mine. What should I do with it?

In some rare occasion (1 in 2000 parcels) we tend to make mistake when sorting out PCB for delivery . If you receive a PCB that is not yours, chances are that another customer is  having your PCB. Normally the customer is within the same country as you are.

Please contact us immediately so we can arrange for a swap. . So you just need to use our FedEx account to send the parcel to each other.