SeedStudio offered me a coupon to evaluate their PCB service “Fusion“. I am currently working on a new project, so I gave this service a try. I used the following options ordering the two boards:
| PCB Dimensions | 68mm*108mm |
| Impedance Control | No |
| Surface Finish | HASL Lead Free |
| Minimum Solder Mask Dam | 0.4mm↑ |
| Copper Weight | 1oz. |
| Plated Half-holes / Castellated Holes | No |
| Minimum Drill Hole Size | 0.3mm |
| PCB Color | Blue |
| Base Material | FR-4 TG130 |
| No. of Layers | 2 layers |
| PCB Quantity | 5 |
| Blind or Buried Vias | No |
| PCB Thickness | 1.6 |
| Trace Width / Spacing | 6/6 mil |
I payed $27.40 for five boards with the option shown above and there were additional $20 shipping costs.
My board design has a very low quality class B4: Minimum drill size is 0.35mm, minimum trace size and spacing is 0.2mm.
Ordering and Shipping
The order process was very simple. The website provides an assistant with all possible options and calculates a quote in real time. I just noticed these minor things:
- The shipping cost is not displayed in this quote.
- The dimensions were not correctly extracted from my Gerber files.
The production of the boards and the shipping was quite fast, the whole process only took 10 days until the packet with the boards arrived.
The boards were well protected in the package, so there were no scratches from the shipping of the boards.
Quality
The boards have a good quality for the chosen options and the price. The alignment of the layers is not perfect, but everything is in an acceptable range.
The front side of the two boards.
The back side of the two boards.
Closer Inspection
The silk screen has a good resolution, straight lines are looking good on the board and small text (1mm) is well readable.
The graphical solder mask gaps are looking good, also the large plated 3mm holes. The tolerances of the holes are well in specification.
The HASL looks very shiny. I ordered a lead free HASL, so I will check the composition of this layer later.
Update 2018-02-15: I tested the used HASL and I can conform it is lead free (below 0.2% lead).
The next image shows a TSSOP landing pattern.
Even Closer
There is a noticeable misalignment between the solder mask and the copper layer. This misalignment is in the range of the additional solder mask gap they applied to the design, so I had no problem with soldering.
The alignment of the holes with the copper layer is almost perfect.
I also like the look of the tented vias. These via holes are specified as 0.35mm holes in the design and most of them are perfectly covered with the solder mask.
Conclusion
I think SeeedStudio Fusion is a good PCB manufacturer, producing a good quality of boards for prototypes. I already assembled and used the boards in my prototypes successfully and found no issues with them.
The costs for the production of this boards was quite low. Here are comparison with quotes for the same board inclusive shipping:
- Eurocircuits (= best quality): ~$178
- OSHPark (purple, 6pcs): $114.50
- SeedStudio Fusion: ~$52
- PCBWay: ~$54
This is no competitive comparison, these were just the services I compared. One of my requirements was to have the boards blue, purple or red. This is one reason why Eurocircuits is very expensive here.
I hope I could give a good impression of the quality produced by SeeedStudio Fusion. If you have questions, miss some information or just have any feedback, feel free to add a comment below.
Have fun!