OK, this might lead to a productive result of this discussion:

Steve days: "We fill via's with conductive epoxy, and plate over everything with ENIG."

Is this a rule?  Every board?  Why?  You may be incurring needless cost.  If you do require fill on all boards because of your products, are you taking advantage of that fill in places where it's not needed, but exists anyway?  There's always another way to look at everyday things.

There are a lot of things we all do, because we always have.  I am enjoying this discussion because I like to re-think some of the things I get used to thinking are just simple concepts.   For example, I never really thought about Veronika's point that vias that are plated closed are closed, but not filled.  I've always included a note allowing small vias (<.35mm) to be plated closed.  Only to make it easier for the fabricator, increasing yield and lowering costs.  I'm not looking for any design benefit, and as Veronika pointed out, there really isn't any.  (That I currently recognize)

Pete

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