Hello community.
I wanna assembly my first PCB board and I’m facing the challenge of find the cheapest parts as possible. As a first step I’m using the website octoparts because the board I have have an digikey number associated with the component in project. Octoparts have a problem if I select lowest price overall ever shows me some supplyer that I only can order to me more pieces than I need. Example 1000pieces.
To look for cheap electronic parts you really need to look at cheap electronic functions.
If you settle on a specific chip you are constrained by the market. If you step back and look at what you need there are opportunities to realise a cheaper version
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What components can be replaced by some equal from another manufacturer. Without edit schematic? Is there any tool to find similar components from a manufacturer part number?
Unsure how you expect anyone to answer that… also this isn’t really a kicad question
Take a TLV3601 £4.64 now take a tl331 … 65p each … if a tl331 meets the functional needs thats £4 saved
What quantity are you making?
All parts are much cheaper in quantity.
I Just need 4 pcb board
Shipping is going to be a bigger concern than parts pricing.
You need to to a Pareto analysis of your design. It’s generally not worth saving a millicent on a resistor.
There is the link for the octopart bom.
https://octopart.com/bom-tool/BsWFDLG5 .
I hope that this help.
I’m not going to do your work for you.
You just need to realize that there are limitations on how cheap a board can be made in unit quantities.
I’m not asking that. I’m shared that only to know the kind of components that can be replaced by a similar with same characteristics without changing design.
Only you know the specifics of your design.
Generally, R’s and C’s are easy to substitute, unless you need very strict TempCo or precision. Active devices are much more difficult, and you are the one who needs to make that decision. I have found that connectors (headers, etc.) are way overpriced, and I try to buy them on AliExpress when possible. But, for a 4-board run, it probably doesn’t make sense to do that.
We are trying to keep this KiCad forum focused on KiCad. Often off-topic questions related to electronics or PCB design are tolerated and there are no strict rules, but based on my personal instinct and opinion I’m going to close this thread.