Hi Tore, Victor, and All, This problem is nothing new--though a solution sure would be. What is happening is that you have a small crater-wall-like solder joint at the periphery of the pad and no metallic connection on the pad itself--you can take a look at this in my reliability column in Global SMT & Packaging magazine: Engelmaier, W., "Soldering: Quality & Reliability Issues," Global SMT & Packaging, Vol. 1, No. 2, August 2001, pp. 52-53. You can eliminate the problem from your product by doing a proper ESS, but that is all after-the-fact [assembly]. Werner Engelmaier Engelmaier Associates, L.C. Electronic Packaging, Interconnection and Reliability Consulting 7 Jasmine Run Ormond Beach, FL 32174 USA Phone: 386-437-8747, Fax: 386-437-8737 E-mail: [log in to unmask], Website: www.engelmaier.com --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Technet Mail List provided as a free service by IPC using LISTSERV 1.8e 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 or (re-start) delivery of Technet send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet NOMAIL or (MAIL) To receive ONE mailing per day of all the posts: send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet Digest Search the archives of previous posts at: http://listserv.ipc.org/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 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------