1.How large is Gold Phoenix?

In 2011, Gold Phoenix has more than 300 employees in China, our sales volume is around 1Million dollars/month. We are one of the biggest customers of FEDEX and DHL.

Back to top

2. What is Gold Phoenix’s Privacy Policy?

At Gold Phoenix we recognize that privacy is of utmost importance, and we do not sell or rent any individual personal information to any third party.

Back to top

3.What happens if I have a problem?

We are committed to your satisfaction and we ask that you contact your salesperson immediately if you have a problem of any kind. You can file a complaint on our website; the case will be closed only when you are 100% happy. Also, we would like to hear any suggestions you may have for improvements. You can also check our warranty at http://www.goldphoenixpcb.com/html/qca/warranty/index.html.

Back to top

4. What is your company’s the lead time?

For prototype orders 2 layers we can do 8 hours, 1 day return and 3 days return or 5-7 days return (standard time). 4-8 layers 6 days; 10-12 layers 12 days. Production orders around 10-12days
The price info is listed on
http://www.goldphoenixpcb.com/pcb-special-price.html

Back to top

5. How do you keep your prices low?

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. Also the our factory is located in China, the labour cost is low in China.

Back to top

6. How can I know Gold Phoenix is dependable?

You can use Google to search our company, we are very popular PCB house online. You can also check http://myworld.ebay.com/tigeryesh. We sell PCB boards on ebay for 3-4 years, our feedback is 100%!

Back to top

7. How GP control the quality?

Please check “Quality Control System” at our home page.

Back to top

1. How to reduce the cost of printed circuit board?
The PCB price is related with size, min clearance, min hole size, and number of layers. If you just get the lowest price please design your board as simple as possible. For the standard spec of the PCB will be : 2 layers 0.062”, FR4 , 1oz, HAL, hole size>15mil, clearance>7mil, square shape, without slots. You can also get more info from our document “PCB Cost Cost Analysis of Printed Circuit Board”

Back to top

2. Why there is a setup fee?
Setup fee is charged for one-time only. It is the photo fee used for etching the PCB. At high quantity there is no setup fee. We just charge unit price per board.

Back to top

3. What kind files your company needed to make PCB?
We need Gerber files 274X files, and NC drill files to make PCB.
Bottom copper layer ; Top copper layers; Inner layer1( for multi-layers); Inner layer2 (for multi-layers); silkscreen top; silkscreen bottom (if you have); top solder mask and bot solder mask; Border layer( Layer used to define the shape of the board).

Back to top

4. What is V score Vs Tab-routing?
V scoring is probably faster and easier but has limitations. It an only work with square shape, and V score line can only go from edge to edge. Once assembled the scored grooves can be sliced apart using what is sometimes called a pizza cutter type de-paneler or even snapped apart depending on design and how close the component lands are to the edge of the boards.
Tab routing can handle odd shapes but usually leaves nubs or small pieces of laminate on the edges that may need to be sanded off. Also, tab routing in high volumes takes a lot of time on the router and may drive your cost up.
If the vendor has scoring in house and the boards are square that would probably be the cheapest but if they have to send out for scoring that can drive up cost. Some tabs also have small holes drilled into them to help the breaking apart of the individual boards but again, this can drive up cost. If you use tab routing make sure you make the tabs big enough to be strong and make an array that can be handled but not so big that the boards cannot be broken apart.

Back to top

5. Do you charge extra fee for different color of solder mask such as blue, red, yellow, black?
For high quantity there is no extra charge. For small orders cost extra USD20, you can check http://www.goldphoenixpcb.com/pcb-special-price.html for more info.

Back to top

6. When should I have my boards electrically tested?
GP give free testing for all boards more than 2 layers. We feel that Electrical Test is an essential component to the PCB 's manufacturing process, however in rare instances customers may determine that the added expense is not justified in particular situations. It is only to accommodate these situations that we break out this process as an option.
-Our goal is to ship all boards with zero defects and Electrical Test is a critical part of this quality process. While Electrical Test will not eliminate the possibility of any defects being present on boards that you receive it will significantly reduce the likelihood.
-When Electrical Test is ordered Gold Phoenix will warranty the bare boards for defects in materials and workmanship for 90 days from date of shipment. We will replace or issue credit for any bare boards that are returned and confirmed by GP to be non-conforming to the order specifications and/or the applicable quality and acceptability standards. We will not accept liability for any cost in addition to the value of the bare boards including but not limited to components, labor, business interruptions and any other consequential damages or losses.

Back to top

7.Does GP bevel gold fingers?
Yes. We do bevel gold fingers unless otherwise specified. We do NOT bevel solder fingers unless specified by customer.

Back to top

8.What does CNC Rout points mean?
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. More than 6 routing points will be consider as complex shape board by GP.

Back to top

9. Are you MIL SPEC 55110 approved?
No. However, you can Prototype (Standard Spec) with us because we use the same materials, specifications, and processes. GP is UL approved, our UL code is lised on the home page.

Back to top

10.To what acceptability standards do you build?
IPC-A-6011/6012 latest revision with inspection based on IPC-A-600 latest revision: Class 2 Prototypes (Standard Spec) and Class 2 Production (Custom Spec). We can also make boards need comply with IPC Class 3.

Back to top

11.Why do I need to allow for more space between copper features when ordering thicker copper?
Glad you asked!

The most common unit of measure for the copper thickness on a printed circuit board is ounces (oz). But how thick is that? It's the resulting thickness when 1 oz of copper is pressed flat and spread evenly over a one square foot area. This equals 1.37 mils (1.37 thousandths of an inch).
Most PCBs are constructed with 1 oz copper thickness. At Gold Phoenix, if we are not given specific specs, we will assume 1 oz when quoting and building your design. If you have determined that your design requires more current than 1 oz can carry, you'll need to consider increasing the copper weight or increasing the width of your traces.
Of course the thicker the copper the higher the cost, but there are certainly times WHERE this is necessary. The cost increase is not only due to the raw material costs but processing thicker copper weights takes more time and is a little trickier to do. Etching the spaces (air gap) between traces is more difficult than etching a trace of the same width as your space.

Bare Laminate
Printed circuit board material is purchased from the laminate supplier pre-clad with copper on both sides. The laminate looks like a solid sheet of copper. This pre-clad material comes in various laminate and copper thicknesses so PCBs can be constructed with different thicknesses and finished copper weights.

Imaging
Because the production panels are completely covered with copper, the excess copper needs to be removed to reveal your design. To do this, a 1:1 size image of your design is photo plotted onto a film. The copper clad panel is coated with an etch-resistant material and your image is then transferred onto the etch resist.

Etching
Next, the panel is submerged in a chemical bath where only the protected areas of the panel will have copper remaining. This is where the spacing between your copper features are critical.
Etching is a subtractive process, meaning excess material is removed; therefore, there is no way to prevent the chemical solution from removing the sides of the traces as it etches down toward the bare laminate.
As soon as the chemicals begin etching down toward the laminate, they also begin etching laterally underneath the resist. Since the copper closest to the resist will be exposed longest, these areas will have the most lateral etching resulting in a trapezoidal shape to copper features. As you can imagine, the thicker the copper, the more time it will take for the solution to etch all the way down to the bare laminate to define your pattern.
One of the many things that is done during the tooling and setup of your order is the size of your copper features are slightly increased to compensate for lateral etching. This compensation will reduce the spacing between features. This, combined with the longer required time spent in the etchant, is why more space is needed between elements on thicker copper boards. If elements are too close together, it won't be possible to etch down to the laminate before the copper features are reduced too significantly or are etched completely away.

Back to top

 

12.What is Gold Fingers?

Gold fingers are the gold-plated connectors that are on the edges of the printed circuit board. They are similar to fingers in that they are long and narrow.

Why Do Gold Fingers

Gold contact surfaces are often used on circuit boards with membrane switches which are a technology of choice for industrial, commercial and consumer products.  When PCBs will be repeatedly installed and removed electroplated gold is used for edge-connector contacts or as they are more commonly known: Gold fingers.  It is a card-edge connector when need insert this board to other devices such as motherboards, chassis, etc. also be called bonding finger as it need plate gold on Copper nickel layer.

Gold and Thickness

The connectors where circuit boards connect to other boards are usually gold plated.  Gold is ideal for any connection application because it is an excellent conductor, is easily plated and is extremely resistant to tarnish.
Usually, fingers are done by hard gold or immersion gold.  The gold thickness is requested to be from 5 micro inches to 15 micro inches.  30 micro inches to 50 micro inches are also chose by many customers because fingers are mainly used for plugging many times.

Holes in Fingers

It is up to you to define the length of gold fingers and relate this info to the fabricator.  We do not suggest putting holes in fingers area. If you have holes in the fingers area, it's better non-plated holes.

Bevel and Chamfer

Normally in order to insert the PCB board to other devices slot smoothly, gold fingers need bevel.
The gold finger bevel default value: 45 angles. 

Chamfer Angle range: 20°、30°、45°
Chamfer depth: L 

Formula for Chamfer depth:  L=(D/2-T/2)/tgα
D：board thickness (mm)        T：surplus thickness (mm)       
α：Chamfer Angle                    L：Chamfer depth (mm)   

A few design rules are required for gold fingers /edge connectors:
1, No solder mask or silk screening can be present in the plated area
2, For panelization, always place gold fingers facing outward from the panel center
3, We do bevel gold fingers unless otherwise specified. We do NOT bevel solder fingers unless specified by customer.

Back to top

1. What if I need to cancel my order?
A prorated cancellation fee will be charged for cancelled orders depending on fabrication status at the time of cancellation. Please contact your Salesperson immediately and follow up with a e-mail to confirm and provide written record for any verbal cancellation.

Back to top

2. WHERE should I send my files to get a quote or place an order?

a. For QUOTING, you have 2 Easy Options: you can upload the files and send RFQ through our website, or send emails to sales@goldphoenixpcb.com attaché gerber274X+NC drill file. If you need assembly please also attach a BOM with digikey part numbers.

b. For ORDERING, you have 2 Easy Options, you can place order online after you receive our formal quote. Or you can also order by send us email or call us.

Back to top

3. Will you allow me to put several part numbers together and run as one printed circuit board order?
Yes, but there are rules. When the designs on the panel are different extra fees will be charged for multi-project panel. Regulations for multi-project panel are below:
*Panelization of the multi-project panel must be done at customer side. We do not offer service to panelize multi-project panel.
*We need 40mil clearance between the boards.
*We can also separate the multi-project panel if the number of different projects on the panel is less than 10, otherwise de-panelization must be done at customer side.
*If all designs on the panel are square and the same size, V score can be applied to the panel and number of project is 20.
*For multi-layers PCB we charge an extra fee for each design you added to the multi-project panel, 4 layers we charge $80/design, 6layers extra$100/design, 8layers extra $150/design. You can get the quote online at http://www.goldphoenixpcb.com/pcb-special-price.html
*To order multi-project panel, customer must allow 15% fail rate for the small unite on the panel.

Back to top

4.What happens if UPS, FedEX, or DHL is late in delivering my order?
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 shipment errors. We regret when this happens but we cannot be responsible for delays by these carriers.

Back to top

5.Who is responsible for import fees and custom charges my orders?

All GP orders and made in China and will be shipped directly from China to you.
GP never bill our customers any duty or tax, you will pay the duty and tax when the order across the border. Canada business do not pay the HST, you will get the tax refund latter but you will pay the HST first. For USA business different province will have different tax rate.

Back to top

6. How do you define your turn times and cut off times?
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 and confirmed to customer EST 4:00PM. For example if you order the board Monday, one day turn means that we make the board Tuesday and ship on Wed. If you order 8 hours turn, then we will ship the order on Tuesday from China. FEDEX will need 3-4days to delivery the order. Since the PCB is made in China, so if you order the board on Thursday, 1day turn you can have the board following Tuesday, 8 hours turn you will have the board following Monday.
Please Notice that our Office hours are Monday- Friday EST: 8:30AM-5:30PM, and our factory in China will be closed on Sunday and they sometimes open on Saturday, so lead time is calculated Monday-Friday. For example if you place order Friday 6:30PM EST, the lead time Is calculated from following Monday, if you place order on Thursday 6:30PM EST the lead time will be calculated from Friday since you miss our cut off time. So 1 day turn means that your order will be considered ship on time if it is shipped by following Tuesday and following Monday.

Back to top

7. If I receive a price using the online quote matrix, does that guarantee price; turn times and quantities?
If an order is quoted online it is not guaranteed to be accepted by GP until it passes our engineering review and customer receivables account is in good standing.

Back to top

8. Will RoHS Lead-Free Custom Spec Boards be marked with lead-free symbol?
RoHS compliant lead-free Custom Spec boards will be marked with a lead-free symbol if requested by customer. If not specifically indicated on fab drawing or requested in separate document, the lead free symbol will not be added. No symbols of any kind are added to protos other than the work order number for fabrication identification purposes.
We can also include a RoHS certificate with the RoHS board we made if customer required. The RoHS finishing we offer are Lead free HAL, ENG Gold, Immersion silver.

Back to top

9.What is the specification of the material GP use to make PCBs?
We listed the date sheet of the material we use please down the files:
( FR4 Tg170,FR4 Tg140,VT901 TG250,Flex Board Material,Aluminum Material )

Back to top

 

10.What is SH Fee?
The SH fee is the shipping and handling fee for the components when GP order
the parts. If the parts are from Digikey or Mouser and import into China
we pay :

1)   17%-20% value add tax,

2)   $50-$200 custom clearance fee

3)   Shipping cost.

4)   Document fee for tax return when we export the products so we can

get the tax back 6 months latter
So for small orders we bill USD120 SH fee, for big orders we bill 10% SH
fee. If we can order all parts in China the
SH fee we bill is USD30. For big orders 10% is less than the tax we pay when
we import the components because we can get tax
back 6 months later, so this help our customer save some money.
The benefit you get when GP order the parts is that:

1)   We will take care all the issues during this process, for example components quality, parts is wrong.

2)   We will 100% warranty the components.

Back to top

 

1. How can I pay GP?

After you receive the quote from us you can:

1) Login your account and pay the order online use paypal or VISA.Master Card; Or we can send you a paypal invoice you can pay the paypal invoice with your credit card.

2) You can send us a paypal payment directly to credit@goldphoenixpcb.biz from your paypal account and reference the quote number you received.

3) Or you can mail us a check or send us a wire transfer.

4) You can call us at 1-905-339-2881X112 to pay use your credit card over the phone, please give us the quote number when you place order.

5) If you want mail us a check or send us a wire transfer please let us know then we will send you an invoice with the payment instruction by email.

6) For larger orders we prefer you can send us payment use paypal by mass payment to save the 3% paypal fee for us, for this payment method we will email you the Payment instruction.

Please always send us a notice email after you send the payment. We will send you a confirmation email after your order is processed.

Back to top

2. How can I get terms from GP?
We only consider give customer terms if you have work with us for more than 1 year, and continuous give us orders. The volume of the order should be at least USD5000/month.

Back to top

1. How can I get a quote for PCB Assembly?

You can send us email to sales@goldphoenixpcb.com, in the email please attached BOM, Gerber files, and tell us the QTY you need, you can also visit http://www.goldphoenixpcb.com/html/asmprice/SMT-Specials.html

Back to top

2. Do your company source all components in China?

Most of our ICs and high value components are sourced local in North America form digikey or mouser. If you need us to source the components please send us BOM with digikey or mouser’s part number. We use the same price listed on digikey or mouser’s website as our cost, we charge customer handling fee and shipping cost to send the parts to China. The handling fee is min USD50 and shipping cost is min USD50 depending on the complexity of the BOM.

Back to top

3. Why GP source most of the ICs from digikey or mouser?

The reason we buy the parts from digikey and mouser is that they 100% guarantee the quality of the components. If the components have quality problem we will end up loss a lot more money. We do source some components in China, like resistors and caps, and some ICs directly from manufacture in China for volume orders.
If you want find lowest part cost, then you should do the research and find the supplier you want, you can give your supplier’s contact info to GP, and we will buy the parts for you and bill you handling fee and shipping cost.

Back to top

4. Can I supply the components?

Yes you can supply the parts. When you ship the parts to China please keep in mind the import tax. Please click “shipping instruction” for more info

Back to top

5. What is the advantage to let GP source the parts for me?

There are two reasons to let GP source the parts

1) We will give warranty to any components we provided. If the parts we provided have problem, we can replace the components.

2) GP have an OEM license in China, so if we buy the parts you do not need to worry any import tax to import the parts to China. And GP usually can get the parts through Chinese custom in 5days. Keep in mind the import tax in China is around 20% on the value of the shipment.

Back to top

6. What need we complete your PCB order?

Bill Of Materials-in Microsoft Excel format. Please highlight in red any components we will not be placing, or any parts that are not included in the kit. BOM should include: Part number, reference designator, description, and footprint (package). Like below:

Gerbers 274X Files- Please send us all Gerber files generated by your CAD program, as if you were sending them for fabrication. At a least we need silkscreen, copper and solder paste layers for assembly.
Assembly Drawings -Are not required for assembly, but they do help to ensure all special PCB Assembly instructions are carried out properly.
Kit Requirements for Assembly:
Components - 5 extra minimum (or 5%, whichever is more) for discrete parts. We can place parts on cut tape of any length so there is no need to buy reels. For ICs, QFPs and BGAs we ask for 1 extra per order. PCBs - Please have a silkscreen which indicates polarity and 1st-pin markings.

Back to top

7. Does GP offer any coating after assembly?

Yes we can coating the board after assembly. The data sheet of the material we use is can be download .

Back to top