I recently ordered some tinyPEPPER ESC PCBs from elecrow. Usually I order my PCBs from OSHPark, but this time I wanted to test the PCBs in 0.6mm thickness which is not available on OSHPark. The ordering process was straightforward and the PCBs arrived fine. The black (left) PCB was made at elecrow (0.6mm, 2Oz copper, HAL finish), the one on the right was made by OSHPark (0.8mm 2Oz copper, gold finish):
Beside the different finish (HAL vs gold) you can also make out a quite drastic difference: elecrow is not able to place soldermask between the QFN pads… But let’s have a closer look with a more detailed picture. The purple PCB on the left is OSHPark, the black on the right is elecrow.
This is a totally different quality! Have a look how the solder mask is applied between the qfn pads. The soldering of the elecrow board went fine as well. It just felt awkward not to have solder stop between those pads where you apply lots of the slimy soldering paste.
I think i will stick to the OSHPark service for boards for now 🙂