A metallurgist I am not.... We have brass eyelets that we solder wires into. I am unable to obtain detailed information on the specific alloy, but the vendor told me it was 70% Copper, 30% Zinc. We are soldering using 63/37 solder and RMA flux. During soldering, the eyelet appears to change to copper in the non-soldered areas. A brief search of some Tech-Net archives has told me that the Zn will diffuse out and create solderability problems. But is the end result that the material appears to be copper as in my case? As a side note, I tried a water sol flux and observed the same condition. I then tried simply heating an eyelet with an iron - no flux or solder - and there was no change, so it appears to be flux related. I also cut a piece up to verify it is solid brass, not plated. We tried brushing the eyelet after soldering and it appears that you can restore the brass finish to some extend. Anyway, I have confirmed with the supplier these should have been hot solder dipped, and we have already ordered replacements. But I am now faced with a question I cannot answer - what is the reliability concern of this phenomenon, if any? These solder joints get conformal coated, and then the entire PCB is RTV'd into a case, so it is well sealed. Can I continue to use the existing stock, or is this a serious reliability issue? Thanks! Kevin Glidden Manufacturing Engineer Astronics Luminescent Systems Inc. 4 Lucent Drive Lebanon, NH 03766 P: 603-643-7766 x3152 F: 603-643-5947 --------------------------------------------------- Technet Mail List provided as a 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/contentpage.asp?Pageid=4.3.16 for additional information, or contact Keach Sasamori at [log in to unmask] or 847-615-7100 ext.2815 -----------------------------------------------------