The other day, I ordered an aluminum substrate for the first time on PCB Way. It is PCB designed to make LED lighting with high color rendering LEDs lined up.
When I ordered this PCB, it was manufactured at a tremendous speed, and it arrived in a very short period of time.
Order to PCBWay
Shipping the day after order is placed
I ordered the aluminum board and stencil around noon on June 15. PCBWay allows you to track the progress of your PCB production on the web.
In my case, two hours after the order is placed, manufacturing has begun.
It's fun to watch as the progress progresses steadily. And by noon the next day, production was complete and ready to ship by 4pm.
How quickly.
Delivery was also fast
I chose DHL for delivery.
Pickup was at 8:00 pm on the day when it was ready to be shipped, and it arrived in Japan early the next morning. Then, the next afternoon, it arrived at my house.
In summary
Day 1
・12:20: Order PCB and stencil
・14:00: Manufacturing starts
Day 2
・13:00: Completed manufacture
・16:00: Ready for shipping
・20:00: DHL pick up
Day 3
・5:40: Arrived in Japan
Day 4
・13:30: Delivery completed
To my surprise, I received the PCB and stencil three days later.
This is the first time I've experienced this speed. Usually, it's normal to wait a couple of weeks for packages coming from China. I was very surprised that it arrived three days after I ordered from PCBWay.
It is possible that the timing of PCBWay production and the timing of DHL delivery processing were good, but this speed is amazing.
I ordered the parts needed for mounting from Digikey at the same time, but that one hasn't even been shipped yet. I was stumped.
Let's look at the PCB
The PCB and stencils arrived like this. I ordered the stencil in a size of 190*290, but it came cut in a nice small size. Even if it was big, it was difficult to store it, so I was saved that it was cut to the proper size.
The PCB is nicely done. Silk printing is also beautiful. The character size this time is 1mm in height and 0.15mm in line width, but it is printed nicely without being crushed.
Assembly
Printing solder paste
I haven't received the parts I need from DigiKey yet, but I'd like to try to assemble it with the parts I have on hand. First, as usual, place the unwanted board around the PCB and secure the PCB in place.
Align the stencils and secure them with tape.
Stir the solder paste to soften it. Solder paste can be stored at room temperature at CHIPQUIK TS391LT50. It is very convenient because you can use it immediately when you want to use it.
Place the solder paste on top of the stencil and extend it with a credit card to print.
The solder paste was printed nicely.
Mounting
High color rendering LEDs will be mounted using an electric vacuum pick.
This high color rendering LED is a color rendering CRI90 high color rendering chip LED that I used when I modified a smartphone ring light.
On Digikey, "JE2835AWT-00-0000-000A0UF957E model number, which is sold under this model number. With a CRI90, color temperature of 5700K and brightness of 64lm, this LED is super clean and bright and can be used for shooting lighting.
Mounting is complete. I haven't received the parts from DigiKey yet, so the resistors I've installed are the ones I had.
Reflow
I reflow in a convection oven that can keep the temperature inside the oven constant.
With a thermometer at 100 degrees for 3 minutes, 140 degrees for 1 minute, and 160 degrees for 1 minute, the temperature profile is good for low temperature lead-free solder.
The aluminum PCB is cooled by a tabletop blower because it is difficult to cool down. I used a soldering mat that I bought at Akihabara department store.
It can withstand up to 500 degrees, so it's ideal as a mat for soldering and for placing reflowed PCB. You can buy it online as well, so this mat is highly recommended.
Operation check
Dazzling! !! It is perfect without bad solder. It is a very beautiful color.
The current is 1.2A, but the heat dissipation was not enough and the PCB became very hot. As expected, with a total of 14W LEDs, the amount of heat output is large, and heat dissipation is not enough with an aluminum substrate alone. A heat sink is required. I ordered the heatsink from AliExpress, but I think it will take about a month to arrive, so I can't make it at all. The PCB I ordered from PCBWay arrive too quickly.
Anyway, the high color rendering LEDs have very good colors. Digikey's High Color Rendering LED is not so expensive and the color is nice and I like it very much. The ring light I made earlier is a little reddish white because the current when it is on is too small. However, if it flows more than 50mA, it glows in a very beautiful white color. The color temperature of 5700K is beautiful. The color rendering index is as high as 90, so the colors of various objects look very vivid.
I also like PCBWay. I'm also ordering a CPLD board now, and I think that the PCB will arrive tomorrow, so I'm really looking forward to that. I think that only the board will arrive before the parts required for mounting arrive.
