One option is to have the stencil supplied etch relief pocket on contact side of the stencil allowing the stencil to gasket to the board. Photo Stencil provides this type of stencil on a routine basis with good results. Regards, -----Original Message----- From: TechNet [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Matt Kehoe Sent: Friday, March 09, 2007 10:01 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: [TN] Paste Volume, off contact vs non off contact We have been processing a family of boards for 3 years. No issues. New PCB Vendor and the boards suddenly will not print very well. Sloppy printing definition. Heavy heavy deposition. Closer inspection reveals that the soldermask is built up .0012-.0019 over the vias, preventing the stencil from gasketing. Vendor claims they are built to print.. Opinions? Pictures at ; http://www.sipad.com/ssiqa/3942vias.pdf http://www.sipad.com/ViasBuildup.pdf The question we are trying to answer is, if your boards came in with mask this thick over the vias would you feel confident in running them without modifing the stencil? Would you expect a significant increase in solder volume? mk --------------------------------------------------- Technet Mail List provided as a service by IPC using LISTSERV 15.0 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 ----------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------- Technet Mail List provided as a service by IPC using LISTSERV 15.0 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 -----------------------------------------------------