Poor Arduino Uno Build Quality – Updated
October 1, 2010
Well I don’t know if they ran out of time, picked the wrong PCB fab house or got monkeys to make these new boards but it looks like something went wrong…
Massimo Banzi has since commented on these issues on the Arduino Blog.
Anyone who receives an Arduino board with a poor build quality can get a refund/replacement with no questions asked. Sounds like this problem should be resolved soon.
Unfortuunately they PCB design for both the Uno and Mega2560 are still not up to scratch. Maybe this is one of the first things that needs to get fixed up soon for the next board revision.
Moogle’s ideas on the board design and issues.
Pics found of the Arduino Mega 2560:
It appears the header spacing isn’t correct (on the Mega at least):
It has been confirmed that the headers on the mega are approximately 0.01″ out from what they should be but apparently the old Mega board also had this issue. This is an issue in the PCB design rather than the boards themselves.
Arduino Uno:
From these pictures I know I will have to be convinced that build quality has majorly improved before I go and spend my money on one of these boards in the future.
From the blog post by Massimo Banzi, as a refund/replacement will be given to anyone with a bad board, maybe I will get one but I might wait a bit for everything to die down first and perhaps the second revision to arrive.
Arduino: the good, the bad, the ugly – robint91
The Arduino Uno Disappointing Failure 
– Moogle
Arduino Forum Thread – Various
Arduino Manufacturing Problems – ChemicalOliver
October 2, 2010 at 8:07 pm
[...] know I am not the only one who has received a board like this and I felt this decline in quality control should be brought to [...]
November 26, 2010 at 2:57 pm
Thanks for using a couple of my pictures. Might have been nice if you’d asked before sponging off my host though…
Worth noting, while the headers are a bit off on the 2560, the rest of the board is top notch.
November 29, 2010 at 5:23 pm
Sorry, it is automatic on WordPress for me to just link to images. I will change those.
I have seen a new board personally now and I can say that the one I saw was much improved over what we all saw originally, perhaps still not quite up to the perfect standard we were used to (edges were still a little rough) but I am glad to see the issues seem to have been sorted.