Karl, Thermal releifs on plated through holes, in general, are required when attempting to solder a component lead in a hole that is connected to a large copper area (ie. plane). If you are not soldering something into a hole, such as noraml interconnect vias, thermal relief is not necessary. If you are attempting to solder fill a vias for test purposes, then you may have to continue thermal relieving. Regards, Gary Ferrari Tech Circuits 203 269-3311