Several times had unstripped solder mask/resist remain in holes preventing solderability, but not in the way you describe. Also, had legend ink/resist applied in assembly house not cure and do what you describe during rework. The ink was an LPI type and the assemblers used it to cover dogbones that had been scuffed during solder wicking activities and didn't cure it properly. Earl Moon --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Technet Mail List provided as a free service by IPC using LISTSERV 1.8d To unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text in the BODY (NOT the subject field): SIGNOFF Technet Search previous postings at: www.ipc.org > On-Line Resources & Databases > E-mail Archives Please visit IPC web site (http://www.ipc.org/html/forum.htm) for additional information, or contact Keach Sasamori at [log in to unmask] or 847-509-9700 ext.5315 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------