Hi Gramsey, The SJ strength is not an issue—however, the solder joint height is. If the gap between the soldering pad and the component metallization is small, that connection fractures relatively shortly in the live of chip components [depending on the size of the T-cycles, of course] and the solder connection hangs onto dear life by the fillet—I look at this as a Band-Aid approach. It is much better to increase that SJ gap because that dimension, h in the Engelmaier-Wild creep-fatigue model, is a primary parameter in increasing reliability. That increase can come from stacking the CC off the PCB, by gluing it down [the glue thermal expands during the soldering process creating a sizable gap], by swimming it up [only possible if you do not have a fillet] creating a solder ball/column. Werner Future workshops: Reliability Issues with Lead-Free Soldering Processes, June 17, London Interconnect Failures and Design for Reliability for PCB PTHs, June 17, London Pb-Free Soldering Processes—Survival, Quality, Reliability, August 18, Orlando Reliability Issues with Lead-Free Soldering Processes, September 22, Schaumburg Failure Mode and Root Cause Analyses Reliability (Fatigue, Brittle Fracture, ENIG), September 22, Schaumburg ************** Get trade secrets for amazing burgers. Watch "Cooking with Tyler Florence" on AOL Food. (http://food.aol.com/tyler-florence?video=4& ?NCID=aolfod00030000000002) --------------------------------------------------- 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 -----------------------------------------------------