Paul, As others have mentioned, there are several, to say the least, things that influence the quality of a drilled hole. Most manufacturers have a very good handle on feed/speeds, hit counts and repoint cycles. There is a bit more information that we would need to help you find the cause of the cracking/uneven plating: How many layers is the product? What type of material? What is the copper weight of the internal layers? What is the board thickness? What is the via diameter? Do you have any specifics from the fabricator? i.e. Backup/entry material used, Stack height the boards were drilled, etc... The answers to these questions will give us a better understanding as to the possible cause(s). At 16:00 01/07/2000 +1100, you wrote: >Dear fab folks ; >could you give me indication of "standard" No. of cycles on small via holes >drill sizes , >on carbide and steel bits please , >and would there be a difference of utilization habits between say US and >SEA/CHINA/SOB regions ? > >Facing patches of cracked vias , suspecting blunt drills > uneven barrel >plate . > >And class 3 , is there via fill (solder) mandatory ? > >Thanks a lot > >Paul Klasek >ResMed > >############################################################## >TechNet Mail List provided as a free service by IPC using LISTSERV 1.8c >############################################################## >To subscribe/unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text in >the body: >To subscribe: SUBSCRIBE TECHNET <your full name> >To unsubscribe: SIGNOFF TECHNET >############################################################## >Please visit IPC web site (http://www.ipc.org/html/forum.htm) for additional >information. >If you need assistance - contact Gayatri Sardeshpande at [log in to unmask] or >847-509-9700 ext.5365 >############################################################## > -- Regis Froats <[log in to unmask]> Process Engineer - Herco Technology Corp. 13330 Evening Creek Drive North San Diego, Ca. 92128 Pho:619.679.2800 - Fax:619.679.7565 ############################################################## TechNet Mail List provided as a free service by IPC using LISTSERV 1.8c ############################################################## To subscribe/unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text in the body: To subscribe: SUBSCRIBE TECHNET <your full name> To unsubscribe: SIGNOFF TECHNET ############################################################## Please visit IPC web site (http://www.ipc.org/html/forum.htm) for additional information. If you need assistance - contact Gayatri Sardeshpande at [log in to unmask] or 847-509-9700 ext.5365 ##############################################################