PCB Copy London | Ship the Board, Get Files

PCB Copy London — How the Remote Process Works

PCB copy in London does not require a local lab. You package your board at your bench in Shoreditch, Canary Wharf, or anywhere across Greater London, drop it at a Royal Mail or DHL counter, and our engineers begin reverse engineering within 48 hours of receipt. The deliverable set — Gerber/ODB++ fabrication files, a verified bill of materials, and an optional schematic — ships back digitally while your physical board returns by tracked courier. No face-to-face meeting needed, no IP leaves a secure NDA-covered workflow.

What Exactly Do You Get from a PCB Copy Service?

A PCB copy is a full reconstruction of a circuit board’s design data from the physical artefact. Our engineers photograph, scan, and de-layer the board to extract every copper layer, drill file, and component footprint. The output is a production-ready file package you can send straight to any PCB fabricator.

Why London Clients Choose a Remote PCB Copy Workflow

London has world-class electronics design houses, but surprisingly few offer board-level reverse engineering as a service. The capital’s high operating costs mean most local shops focus on design or assembly, not the painstaking process of photographing each copper layer at 1200 DPI and tracing every 4-mil trace. A remote specialist facility with dedicated X-ray, cross-section, and CAM tooling delivers higher accuracy at roughly 30–40 % lower cost than a comparable London-based outfit — and faster, because the equipment sits idle between your jobs, not shared across unrelated contract work.

Shipping a board from London to our lab takes 2–3 business days via DHL Express or Royal Mail Tracked 48. We cover return shipping on orders above £400. For urgent jobs, next-day couriers cut transit to under 24 hours.

Step-by-Step: Shipping a Board from London for PCB Copy

1. Prepare the Board

Remove any conformal coating samples you want to keep. Place the PCB in an anti-static bag, wrap it in at least 10 mm of bubble wrap, and use a rigid box — a padded envelope is not enough for a populated board. If the board is larger than 300 × 250 mm, note the dimensions on the shipping label so the courier handles it flat.

2. Fill in the Online Brief

Upload photos of both sides of the board, state the layer count (if known), and select the deliverables you need. If you are unsure about layer count, we determine it at intake via backlight inspection and, if needed, a controlled-depth cross-section.

3. Receive a Firm Quote

Within one working day of receiving your board, we confirm layer count, board complexity class (IPC-2221 Class 2 or 3), and a fixed-price quote. No surprises after you approve.

4. Engineering & QA

Our process: high-resolution optical scan → layer separation (chemical or mechanical for multilayer) → CAD trace in Altium Designer → DRC (design rule check) against IPC-2221 → net-list verification against physical continuity. Typical turnaround: 5–8 working days for boards up to 8 layers; 10–15 days for 10–16 layer HDI designs.

5. File Delivery & Board Return

Files arrive via encrypted download link. The physical board returns by tracked courier within 48 hours of project completion. Destructive steps (cross-sectioning for stackup verification) are performed only with your written approval and only on a sacrificial area or spare board.

Pricing Signals for PCB Copy from London

Exact pricing depends on layer count, board area, and component density. The table below gives realistic starting ranges so you can budget before shipping your board from London.

Schematic extraction adds roughly 25–40 % to the base Gerber-only price, depending on net count. BOM extraction is included at no extra charge on all orders.

Common PCB Copy London Use Cases

• Legacy equipment support. A Docklands-based building-automation firm needed Gerbers for a 1990s BMS controller whose OEM had dissolved. We recovered a 4-layer layout with 6-mil trace/space and matched every passive to a current-production equivalent.
• Second-source qualification. A medical-device startup in Cambridge Heath wanted to move fabrication from a single Chinese supplier to a UK fab house but had lost the original Gerber archive after a server migration. We reconstructed the 6-layer impedance-controlled stackup within ±0.5 mil of the original.
• Prototype iteration. A robotics team near King’s Cross had a hand-soldered prototype with no CAD files. We generated a clean Altium project so they could iterate in software before their next spin.

What Can Go Wrong — and How We Handle It

No reverse-engineering process is risk-free. Transparency about failure modes is part of the service.

• Buried vias on 8+ layer boards may not be fully visible on optical scans. We use X-ray imaging to map via stacks; accuracy is typically within ±1 mil of true position.
• BGA footprints under large ICs can hide routing. If the board is populated, we may need a second bare sample or must de-solder the IC — with your approval.
• Black solder mask on fine-pitch boards reduces contrast during scanning. Our UV fluorescence imaging resolves traces down to 3 mil / 75 µm even under dark mask.
• Conformal coating (acrylic, silicone, urethane) must be chemically stripped before scanning. We identify the coating type and apply the correct solvent; turnaround adds 1–2 days.

How Does PCB Copy Differ from PCB Clone?

The terms overlap, but in our workflow “PCB copy” means delivering design files, while PCB clone extends to fabricating and assembling a functionally identical board. London clients who need cloned boards can use our copy files and forward them to any IPC-certified assembly house — or we can manage the full production run, including component sourcing and AOI inspection, as a turnkey add-on.

Serving Engineers Across Europe and Beyond

Our remote workflow isn’t limited to London. Engineers in Manchester ship boards for the same PCB copy service, and we handle projects from Paris-based hardware teams and Amsterdam electronics firms with identical turnaround. Clients in Hamburg and Milan benefit from the same tracked-shipping, NDA-protected process. Wherever your bench is, the workflow stays the same: ship the board, get the files.

Frequently Asked Questions About PCB Copy in London

Do I need to send the actual board, or can I just send photos?

Photos help us quote faster, but the physical board is required for accurate extraction. High-resolution optical scanning, X-ray imaging, and controlled cross-sectioning cannot be replicated from photographs alone. We need the real copper layers to guarantee dimensional accuracy within ±0.5 mil.

Is my design safe during shipping and reverse engineering?

Yes. We execute a mutual NDA before any work begins. Boards are logged into a chain-of-custody system on arrival. All digital files are stored on encrypted servers with access restricted to the assigned engineering team. Physical boards are returned via tracked, insured courier.

Can you copy a board if some components are missing?

We can extract the bare-board layout (Gerbers, drill files) regardless of population status. For a complete BOM, missing components create gaps — we note empty footprints and identify the likely package and pin count so you can source replacements. A partially populated board is better than a bare one for BOM accuracy.

How do you handle boards with embedded firmware or programmed ICs?

PCB copy covers the physical board layout and passive/active component identification. Firmware readout or IC content extraction is a separate service that requires proof of IP ownership or written authorisation from the rights holder. We never extract firmware without documented authorisation.

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