I had some PCBs made with 22 boards per panel (small boards). I
wanted a single panel for prototypes, but it turned out I could get 6
panels for only $500 more. This would get me through the first round
of production if I didn't need any changes. The day the maker was
supposed to ****p them, I got an email saying they had a poor yield and
only got 116 good boards out of 7 panels vs the 132 I ordered.
So now I have a concern about the quality of the boards. I was told
the failed boards had problems with the plating in the 10 mil holes I
used for vias. They claim that the "good" boards have no quality
issues. My concern is that the vias may be marginal and open once
they are temperature cycled a bit.
I am not sure how to handle this with the vendor. I guess I could
just flat out tell them that I am concerned with investing some
$18,000 building up over 100 boards only to have my customer see
failures in the field. I don't feel like they have done 100% on this
since they did not provide the quantity I requested.
They have offered to rebuild the entire set of panels if I am not
happy with the result, but that would be a week delay. I also don't
know if they are willing to let me use one of the current panels and
remake the rest.
Anyone have experience with 10 mil via holes and reliability issues?
If you have a problem with an order like this, is it reasonable to use
one panel and reject the rest?
