Peter, You have to have solderable surfaces. Ni, most often, is not one. Often, these shields, fences, mode blocks, or R/F barriers by other names are formed of other materials as well. German silver, or so it's called, often is used and it is a total bitch to solder without very active OA flux application. We sure don't want that. Pre-tinned surfaces often do well. Using bolted aluminum mode blocks work better but for size. I know you're at your customer's mercy here so you should try fluxing the tabs and tinning them before attempting installation. Only problem there might be the limited slot sizes. 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 To temporarily halt delivery of Technet send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet NOMAIL To receive ONE mailing per day of all the posts: send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet Digest 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 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------