Here at Eurocircuits we constantly aspire to lead the market and surpass our customer expectations by offering the ultimate electronics service.

We now offer resistors and capacitors for free!!!

After importing your BOM, we crosscheck your selected manufacturers part number for every resistor or capacitor line against our equivalent generic alternative list and where we are able to find a match then we offer that part for free!! That’s right Free, no strings attached!!

When you select our assembly service in the PCB visualiser

You can then upload your BOM to the PCBA visualiser:

After the import stage, wher we find a generic component equivalent, we automatically select this component to replace the component in your BOM. You can identify these component replacements with the component lines with Blue check marks:

For resistors and capacitors, you can see in the summary that these components are marked as “free”:

What is the benefit to you?

What could be better than “free” components? Well, firstly we keep reels of the components on stock, therefore guaranteed availability. Being reeled components means automatically pick and placed = higher accuracy and faster production. In addition components are stored in optimal conditions this reduces the possibility of oxidation affecting solderability and quality.

But why do we do we offer the components free?

Nobody does anything for free and this is the case here, the benefits for us is huge,

• We source larger volumes and therefore obtain a better purchasing price
• We only purchase occasionally rather than investing time for every order identifying and sourcing
• Always available, this means that once we receive the completed bare PCB we are not waiting for component deliveries, production can commence during the next available production slot
• Components can then be loaded and placed to our Pick and place machine, this means higher accuracy and faster placements, this mean higher throughput and yield on our side.

Why not take advantage of our experience and expertise and benefit?

If you do not wish to benefit from this option then we can still use your original manufacturers part number and place the individual orders but you will be charge for the “non” generic components at the normal component price.

To switch off free components then in the PCB visualizer you should select the option:

Other changes to our assembly service, where a none E24 standard value is identified for a generic replacement we will round up or down the value to the nearest compatible E24 generic value. We now apply a 20% component price surcharge to components supplied by customer, we have applied this policy to resolve the additional costs incurred for component handling, this price is automatically calculated and can be found in the component line in the summary tab.

We have also explained in greater detail how the PCBA Services work in our PCBA Visualizer & Services section on the website.

Should you have any questions about any of our services, please feel free to get in touch via email, telephone or instantly with our online chat during office hours. We will be more than happy to help.

Why not follow us on our social media, keeping up to date with all of our latest news?

Customer papers

Recently our customers have shared these white papers and application papers with us:

How to Prevent Emission Problems on Board Level – NEW Posted on behalf of CNRood, active in the BeNeLux & Sweden. For many, the result of an EMC test comes as an unpleasant surprise. Large amounts of money and time are spent in re-designing the product, which causes heavy delays. The main cause of these additional costs and delays can be related to the designer’s opportunities, knowledge and desire to perform an EMC test on the product as early as possible. In this article, the author will give some simple advice and examples of test methods useful for avoiding undesired emission.

Suitability of an enhanced low melting point alloy for a handheld device – NEW Posted on behalf of Interflux Electronics NV. Current lead-free soldering temperatures can damage temperature sensitive components. Moreover they can cause a shift in the properties of some components which can impact the functionality of sensitive electronic devices. An easy way to solve this problem is to use a soldering alloy with a lower melting point that allows for lower soldering temperatures. Currently however these alloys have limitations in shock and vibration resistance.

Intelligent Power Switch for Raspberry Pi – NEW Posted on behalf of Peter Boxler. A Raspberry Pi does not have an On/Off switch and there is no easy way to shutdown the Pi while keeping the file system intact. This Intelligent Power Switch brings a clever solution to this problem: Power-On the Pi by pressing a pushbutton and also properly Power-Off the Pi with another press on the same button.

Low-cost calibrator delivers -5V to +10V DS with 70-µV error – NEW Posted on behalf of Jordan Dimitrov. Calibration, the stage of truth in the design of every test and measurement device, is done with calibrators, sophisticated highly accurate multifunctional instruments, which cost thousands of dollars. In many cases however you do not need to go to the edge of technology.

If you are an active Eurocircuits’ customer and you feel like you have some interesting story to share with our Eurocircuits community, then please send it to us by e-mail. We will evaluate the content and if it fits the scope of what we publish then we will take it on board and inform you of it.

Production

Eurocircuits TV has started to capture the production steps one by one. Here’s what is published

• How do we deposit copper on the tracks and in the holes using our galvanic line – NEW
• How do we expose soldermask – two methods – NEW
• Making of a 4-layer PCB by Eurocircuits.
• New ATG flying probe testers installed

eC-tools

We publish articles as tip & tricks or videos on Eurocircuits TV to help our designer customers to maximise their efficiency by using our tools.

• Eurocircuits Tips & Tricks – How to order the most cost effective PCB
• Eurocircuits Tips & Tricks – Problem identification and Auto-Repair
• SMS messaging for time critical orders
• PCBA Visualizer – user guide

eC-equipment

Here we release articles about our eC-equipment and their use.

• Eurocircuits Tips & Tricks – Cost effective solder paste printing
• eC-reflow-mate V4: – the new V4 released for shipment !

If you would like us to produce a blog or white paper on a particular aspect of PCB manufacturing technology or PCB soldering, e-mail us at euro@eurocircuits.com

Come and meet us at

The best way to share ideas and knowledge is face to face. Check out our eC-calendar

• 29 November – LED event – Technopolis – Mechelen – Belgium
• 30 November – LED event – 1931 – Brabanthallen – De Bosch – The Netherlands

Eurocircuits meets students

Supporting student projects is a top priority for Eurocircuits as students are our tomorrows customers. Learn how creative these students are and what they have accomplished.

• Road Arrow Team of the Belgrade University, Serbia – NEW
• Université de Liège – département d’Electricité, Electronique et Informatique Institut Montéfiore, Liège, Belgium – NEW
• Aristurtle Racing Team – a student project of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece – NEW
• Centaurus Racing Team – a student project of the University of Thessaly, Greece – NEW
• Formula Electric Belgium – a student project from the University of Leuven, Belgium
• Aristotle Racing Team – a student project from the university of Thessaloniki, Greece
• Project MARCH – make people walk again. – a student project from the University of Delft, Holland
• Grammoon competing at Eurobot – a student project from Engineering School HELMo Gramme in Liège, B
• University of Patras Racing Team – a student project from the University of Patras, Greece
• Formula Student Team Delft – a student project from the University of Delft, Holland
• Punch Powertrain Solar Team – meets Eurocircuits – a student project from the KU Leuven, Belgium
• Linköpings University Formula Student – a student project from the University Linköping, Sweden
• Chronox – a student project from the University College PXL, Belgium
• TU Delft Solar Boat Team – a student project from the University of Delft, Holland
• STORM Eindhoven – a student project from the University of Eindhoven, Holland
• Eurocircuits’ PCBs in the most efficient urban concept hydrogen car of Green Team Twente – Twente, Holland