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Frequently Asked Questions
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General Company Questions
Quote and Order Questions
Manufacturing, Production and Technical Questions
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General Company Questions
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How long has Advanced Circuits been in business?
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Advanced Circuits was formed with the purchase of Seiko Circuits in 1989. Since that time, the company has achieved phenomenal growth and is currently the country's leading quickturn manufacturer of printed circuit boards.
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What are your hours for doing business?
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Our normal business hours are Monday to Friday 8am to 5pm MST. Our business and
sales offices are closed on weekends and on all major U.S. holidays, but our
manufacturing facility operates 24 hours a day. However, through our website, Advanced
Circuits' customers can
get quotes, place and
track orders, and have their designs checked 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
In addition, unlike our competitors, we provide live technical assistance 24 hours a day.
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Where is Advanced Circuits located?
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We are located in Aurora, Colorado U.S.A., the northeast suburb of Denver. Our
facility is two hours from renowned Rocky Mountain skiing, 20 minutes from the
eclectic charms of downtown Denver including all major sporting venues, and 30
minutes from award-winning golf courses. Perfect for our staff who play as hard
as they work!
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Are you a public or private company?
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Advanced Circuits is a private Colorado corporation employing 200 employees. In 2005, Advanced Circuits was recognized as one of the Top 50 Fastest Growing Technology Companies in Colorado for the 7th consecutive time.
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How do you keep your prices low?
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We keep our prices low by constantly implementing more efficient manufacturing
processes, developing systems that allow us to quickly change setups, maintaining
partnerships with suppliers, and conservatively managing our business.
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What happens if I have a problem?
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We are committed to your satisfaction and we ask that you contact your salesperson immediately if you have a problem of any kind. If you ever feel that you've received a product or service that was below your expectation, please feel free to email directly Advanced Circuits' CEO
John Yacoub
. Also, we would like to hear any suggestions you may have for improvements.
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How large is your facitlity?
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In 2003, Advanced Circuits moved into a new manufacturing facility totaling 62,000 square feet.
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Quote and Order Questions
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How do I keep my order from going "on hold" from the CAM step?
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There are multiple reasons that an order gets placed on hold, such as corrupt files,
omitted information, or missing connections. To avoid having your order placed on
hold, please review the
Causes for Order Holds document and take advantage of our
FreeDFM.com service to have your files reviewed before submitting an order.
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What if I need to cancel my order?
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Call your sales representative immediately if you need to cancel an order and follow
up with a fax or email to confirm. Orders already in process are subject to a
cancellation fee. Please ask your
sales representative for details.
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Why can't I get a quote for a dimension less than .5"?
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Our matrix is set to 0.5" as a minimum dimensional unit for quoting only. If you have a dimension less than 0.5", enter 0.5" as the dimension and you will be able to get a quote. If you place an order from this quote, be sure to put the actual dimensions in the COMMENTS section of the order. Your printed circuit board will be fabricated to your actual dimensions. There may be additional costs associated with your smaller dimensions.
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Where should I send my files to get a printed circuit board quote or place an order?
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For QUOTING, you have 3 options:
a. Go to www.FreeDFM.com and upload your files. You will get a quote back within
minutes in addition to a report on the manufacturability of your files...plus a discount
if you place an order off the quote your receive.
b. Go to www.my4pcb.com, log in, and manually enter your specs to create an instant quote.
c. Attach your files to an email to
orders@4pcb.com
or to your AC salesperson
For ORDERING, simply browse and upload your files during the order process from our
website, which begins with your quote. From the quote screen, click on price for quantity
and turn time selected. File Upload screen follows quote page. If files are not available
at time of order, you may also attach files to an email to your
AC salesperson and we will process your files with your order.
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When I quote for a circuit board reorder, why do I see a Tooling NRE
charge on the quote sheet?
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This Tooling NRE is listed but would not apply to your order if you were reordering
from a previous production order or from a prototype without making any changes or
revisions.
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Will you allow me to put several part numbers together and run as one printed circuit board order?
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You are welcome to panelize circuit boards together to make one order. To do this,
all your files must come to us pre-panelized. However, we cannot rout these into
individual boards. They will be shipped to you as a tab routed array or as an un-routed
array as you specify. Available on
$33 each orders at an additional lot charge of $50.
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How do I account in quoting for an internal cutout or irregular rout requirements?
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Follow the perimeter outline or internal cutouts and count one CNC Rout point for
each "turn" in direction. The CNC points reflect how many times the router bit turns
or stops and is used for cost analysis. Use 8 CNC rout points for a circle and for
each individual pcb in a tab-routed array and 3 for a radius. Use 2 for a narrow slot.
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How do you define your "Protos Shipped on time or Free" policy?
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We guarantee shipment on our protos within our standard proto turn times which is 3 days for double-sided and 5 days for multilayers. If we ship after these time intervals, we will upgrade the method of shipment at our expense if necessary to ensure ontime arrival to customer. If we cannot upgrade the shipping, we will, when requested by customer, provide a credit to offset the cost of the boards.
For proto orders placed with expedited turns less than these standard times and shipped late, an expedite cost credit for each day beyond the order ship date will be available to the customer up to the time when the standard turntime is exceeded. If the applicable standard turn time is exceeded, then the "Free" aspect of this policy will apply. Exceptions to policy if shipment upgrades can be made are detailed above.
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Under what conditions will Advanced Circuits change my requested method of shipment?
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Our intent is to always ship iva the carrier you choose and to use your shipping account number if provided; however, all the carriers (UPS, FedEX, and DHL) have different pickup schedules during the day and evening. Our last pickup is provided by UPS. If your order is ready for pickup after the final pickup time by your requested carrier, we will change the carrier if possible as we assume that it is more important to you that you receive your order on time as expected rather than what carrier is used. In so doing, we will not be able to use your shipping account number. We will ship it on our account and add the shipping charges to your invoice. If you request a change to this policy, we will be glad to hold your order until the following day's scheduled pickup by your preferred carrier.
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What happens if UPS, FedEX, or DHL is late in delivering my order?
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We work very hard to make sure all your PCB orders get shipped on time. There are occasions, however, when the freight carriers have delays and/or make shippment errors. We regret when this happens but we cannot be responsible for delays by these carriers.
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Who is responsible for import fees and custom charges on international orders (outside the U.S.)?
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All international customers are responsible for their own custom charges and import fees on all orders.
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How do you define your turntimes?
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The day order is processed and confirmed to customer is counted as Day 0. 1-day turn orders, for example, ship next business day. Same-Day orders ship same day if received by 8:30 am. Mountain Time.
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Do you schedule out shipments?
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We will schedule out shipments over a 6-month period; however, the order will be manufactured at the discretion of Advanced Circuits to maximize production capabilities and cost efficiencies. If for any reason this order is cancelled at any time prior to the final scheduled shipment, any or all of the completed order will be subject to a cancellation fee which may be up to 100% depending on the manufacturing status at the time of cancellation. Customer is liable for all completed product quantities.
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Manufacturing and Production Questions
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Does Advanced Circuits bevel gold fingers?
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Yes. We do bevel gold fingers unless otherwise specified. We do NOT bevel solder
fingers unless specified by customer.
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What is your standard bevel on a printed circuit board?
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Our standard bevel is 30 degrees leaving a .030" edge (+/-.005") on a .062" board.
Optional bevels are as follows:
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Does Advanced Circuits ever have any leftover stock from previous orders?
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We usually do have some quantity of "overage." Prototype stock is kept for
approximately 45 days; production orders usually six months. Please call your
salesperson for availability.
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What does CNC Rout points mean?
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Each corner or "turn" on your pcb is a rout point - that is every time the router
bit turns or stops. Each radius is three points. Count 8 for a circle and for each
tab-routed pcb in an array configuration.
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What is tab route?
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A tab route is used to create arrays, often called "route and retain". The customer can place more than one board (same or different design) up in a given area in an array or panelized configuration. This is typically for the convenience of the customer or for assembly requirements that utilize pick and place machines to load components. The PCB's are then separated by breaking or cutting the tabs. Tabs are usually 0.100" in width and are placed with at least 1 on each side of the boards.
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What does "scoring" mean?
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This is a "v" groove cut into the top and bottom surface of an array of multiple PCB's or between a board and rails to be removed after assembly. The cut is usually 1/3 top, 1/3 bottom, leaving 1/3 uncut in the middle. This process is used when removing the tabs of a tab route is not a viable option, this does result in a less smooth finished board edge. The boards are typically set up side by side and end to end with the edges adjacent to each other. After assembly the boards are broken or snapped apart.
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Can you handle Controlled Impedance requirements?
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Yes. Call your salesperson for more info.
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Can you process my dielectric requirements?
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No problem. We will run this as a Production order. Be sure to send us your core and
stackup details.
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What is the difference between proto and production?
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The difference between proto & production is not a quantity or turntime issue, but
rather has to do with the range of specs covered.
Click here for a complete list of
these specifications.
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What files to you need to manufacture my printed circuit board?
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We require gerber files (274X or 274D with an aperture list), an excellon drill file,
and a drill tool list (may be included in excellon drill file). We can use other
formats such as ODB++ or AutoCAD dxf to create gerbers for you. Please send any
non-gerber formats to
convert@4pcb.com
for review.
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When do I pay a tooling NRE fee for my printed circuit board?
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You will only pay a Tooling charge if you go directly to Production without having
ordered a Proto as a first step. We do not charge Tooling for Protos and neither do
we charge Tooling if the proto is reordered for Production.
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If I only have a minor change in my design, do you charge Tooling NRE?
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When we make any change to your printed circuit board, we assign it completely new tooling. This helps
prevent old artwork or cnc programming from being used. Even a minor change will require
the same process as new files, so a tooling charge may apply. Please contact your
salesperson for details.
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What is Test NRE?
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The Test NRE is a one-time "non recurring expense" for electrical test. This charge is
optional but when paid, all circuit boards will be tested each and every time that part
number and revision is ordered without additional charge.
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What core thicknesses does Advanced Circuits use for multi-layer circuit boards?
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.005, .008, .010, .014, .020, .040, .059, .093 cores
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What is the thickest printed circuit board you can process?
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.125"
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What is the thinnest printed circuit board you can process?
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.020" if ordered with solder HAL plating finish. Thinner if other plating options are
used. Contact your salesperson for details.
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What is the largest pcb Advanced Circuits can fabricate?
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16" x 22"
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What do you need if I want my pcb panelized in array format?
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We recommend you send us your complete array pre-panelized. This allows you to set up
the array exactly the way you want it. If you need us to set up your array, please be
aware that additional engineering time may be billed.
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What file generating software would you recommend?
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We regularly see several different layout packages. The most common include Pads,
Protel, OrCAD, and Eagle. The most commonly overlooked item in any layout software is
good support. This can be the most important feature, especially when using a new
software package. AutoCAD files may require an additional charge for conversion to
gerber. Send all AutoCAD files to
convert@4pcb.com
for review.
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Do I have to have my printed circuit board electrically tested?
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Electrical testing of your printed circuit boards is certainly not required. However,
the more complex the product the higher the probability that it may suffer defects that
could affect the electrical characteristics of the board.but which could not be detected
from visual inspection alone. There are a large number of variables that affect the
decision to test a board such as layer count and complexity of design, criticality of
potential time loss for project, and expense of components to be loaded.
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Can I order a different copper weight when I go to production from proto?
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Yes, you can. The unit price may change but we will waive any Tooling charge.
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How can I determine the trace width I need for my design?
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Some engineers have found the following web site helpful:
click here.
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Are your proto's built differently than production?
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No. Our prototypes use the same premier production processes as our production circuit boards.
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Are you UL "Underwriters Laboratory" approved?
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Yes, you can use the following web link to access our UL registration.
Underwriters Laboratory
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Are you MIL SPEC 55110 approved?
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No. However, you can prototype with us because we use the same materials, specifications, and
processes.
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To what acceptability standards to you build?
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IPC-A-6011/6012 latest revision with inspection based on IPC-A-600 latest revision: Class 2 (Prototypes) and Class 2 (Production)
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What CAM software do you use?
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We use Gerbtool to edit and view.
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Can you build RF applications?
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Yes. We stock several RF materials such as Rogers 4000, Teflon, Duroid, and Polymide.
All of the pricing is subject to change at any time without notice. We reserve the right
to refuse any order at any time.
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For more questions and answers from the European Commission
click here.
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