AP Circuits Reviews

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There are 5 reviews with an average rating of 4.2.  

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AP Circuits
Average rating:  
 5 reviews
 by Henry B
Consistently good service

I've made many boards here over the past decade. No issues that weren't of my own making. In a recent case, I had accidentally duplicated the bottom solder layer into the top. The helpful staff at APCircuits "fixed" my goof at no extra cost without any need for me to resubmit my Gerbers. Excellent service. Recommended.

 by bandit
Good PCB house - a bit spendy

I have used APCircuits for 10+ years now. I have never had a bad experience with them.

They have caught minor errors, like an old trace that T'd into the main trace (left over from a re-route). They understand the difference between a row of holes for a header vs breakaway for self-panels.

I get the quick turn without silk. As long as you keep within their parameters (7-mil trace with 7-mil separation) they are spot-on. I had to use a drill density higher than their default limit - very cheap price for the extra holes (penny a hole).

I have used them for small boards and big ones. Universally quality work. Always made the deadline. The one time they did not, they found a serious problem (my fault) and it took a couple of days more, but again that was my fault for not responding to them quick enough.

And the price on the estimator has been the final price.

Are there cheaper houses out there? yes. I found another house I will try for a while. But AP Circuits has been my goto house for 20 years.

 by Andrew
Worst PCB house Ive ever used

Due to chinese new year, we were unable to use our standard board supplies, and decided to use AP circuits. Save yourself the money and headache, and search elsewhere:



We required 50 boards (2 layer, 6mil min pitch). AP circuits is unable to handle 6mil pitch (first modern board house Ive heard of that cannot handle this spacing, 6mil is considered large these days), thus I needed to increase everything to 7mil, fine.



Using AP circuits online quoting system, I entered the board specs, was given an insanely high quote, but we were desperate, and provided our cc number to them. Apparently, the number that gets quoted online is not what you pay. Over the course of 2 days, every support email I received had a different price, always getting larger. For these 50 simple boards, it cost over $700.



When ordering online, they specify a credit card discount of 5%. I was told after my order, that they will not honour this because the board needed to be reviewed by a person. I did not request this, it is just part of their process, so apparently nobody can receive this discount. This "review exclusion" is also not stated anywhere on the website.



Every support email I received was littered with copy and pasted text. There were statements in direct contradiction to each other, yet when asking for clarification, I would only receive more copy and pasted statements with particular words bolded. Not once did I receive anything personalized to my order. In addition, despite my stating in every email that the timing on these is critical, I would receive very delayed responses.



When we finally received the boards, there were shorted vias on every single board. The spacing between these vias were larger than 7mil...



Once getting in contact with them, I received more copy and pasted text, and received 50 more boards 2 days later, too late for our deadline.



I wouldn't touch this company with a ten foot pole.

Response from AP Circuits:We would first like to thank you for your honest feedback. We appreciate any criticisms and take them seriously regardless of the content.To address your concerns as listed we've summarized the following information.With the offshore facility you've been using on holiday, you were looking for a solution that would fill the gap. You elected to work with us even though your design did not meet our fabrication criteria. Your review is a reflection of fabricating a design that exceeded our documented requirements. Our team made every effort to get this right for you, regrettably an oversight in editing failed the first lot which we replaced. Granted, not within the time constraint you required.Unfortunately the shorting which occurred on your first lot of boards, was indeed a CAM error caused by our team's manipulation of your data. The goal of that edit was to give your design the best possible chance of processing success, even though you were advised it clearly exceeded our documented tolerances.Our online estimator provides instant pricing based on the specifications provided. The standard and most affordable laminate we offer is FR4 0.062". Your requirement for FR4 0.039" caused an increase in the price which was clearly stated in your approved quotation and did not increase from this cost. In order to streamline the prototyping process we are unable to provide our quick turn services on all laminate types or thicknesses we carry for the same price as FR4 0.062".Credit card discount is only available when the order is placed on-line and the job loads cleanly without major CAM interaction. When excessive support contact is required to produce the work it adds cost in labor voiding the discount.After review of all emails related to these two orders we believe the feedback requested was clear and direct for the purpose of getting the answers we need in writing to have the order proceed without additional delay. While some of our more common issues can use standardized responses, the emails to you were done by our setup staff with your layout in mind. We try to be thoroughwithout being long winded to ensure you understand our concerns.Fabrication issues are always reviewed with our staff and management. After having received your feedback we immediately issued a replacement order which we shipped the next business day. While these mistakes are rare we know our customers expect quality for their money and hope the replacements were to your satisfaction as we did not hear from you after they arrived.Sincerely,Dan McMuldrochPresidentAP Circuits

 by Ken
a solid PC board house

I've used AP Circuits many times over the years and find them to be a solid board house. Price is not as cheap as Asia but service and questions are looked after right away, quality is good and consistent, shipping quick which is what I value.

 by Dave
Great board house

Have done nearly 20 boards with AP Circuits and always get great product. Great customer service -- very responsive to questions over e-mail. Job status updates via e-mail at every stage.