Wolfgang, After looking at the pictures I have a question. Are these connectors mounted to the PCB with 90 degree leads? If so the only way to get the sort of "tilt" showing is if the leads have been bent. In any case the fact that the connectors may "fit" does not alter the fact that they will still transfer stress and strains not designed for. These additional stresses could shorten the lije of the solder joints plus the change internally between the male/female interface can cause unusual wear on the gold plating. If this is a class 3 product fix it and argue about whose fault it is later. David A. Douthit Manager LoCan LLC --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 To temporarily halt delivery of Technet send the following message: SET Technet NOMAIL 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 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------