After reading the mail by Jamie Baumgart on Solid vs. Crosshatch fill areas I realized there is another area to consider. I occasionally have customers who wish to have large areas on the SURFACE of boards to serve as ground shields. Those large areas tend to have the same problems as internal areas AND they also have the problem of poor reflow quality. The solution is to convert the areas to crosshatch patterns which yields much better quality boards. If the customer fears the crosshatch, then we try to pursude to go SMOBC to prevent the reflow problem, but are back to the problems of solid fill. My concern however.... Does the crosshatch area actually achieve the ground shielding or does it just act as a "screen door". What is the curve of grid width / line width vs shielding ? If anyone can shed some light I would be grateful. -- Robert Blomstrom Advanced Interconnection Technology, Inc. - Atlanta Phone: 404-938-9387 x226 3289 Montreal Industrial Way, Tucker, Ga. 30084 fax: 404-934-9885 e-mail address: [log in to unmask]